Hello, Moonbeams! It's a bright and sunny day in Humboldt County and I'm your grateful guide, Jessika TuCrow. This installment of Tarot & Tea marks a milestone for this weekly blog, as it's my first writing to be done remotely of behalf of my darling Moonrise Herbs. I am moving out of state in one week, but fortunately I've been blessed with the opportunity to continue this wonderful Moonday meditation and remain an active part of the Moonrise community. So, without further ado, I present this week's card... the contemplative Seven of Pentacles. This one is about considering the progress we've made so far. It's pretty much the final stretch before harvest, and the farmer pauses to reflect upon their work. They examine the state of their garden closely, taking stock of the potential for both coming rewards and any possible issues which might pop up to affect the outcome of their payment. Drawn from The Herbal Tarot, this card presents Rhubarb as its plant representative. The farmer on the card seems to be deeply considering whether they even wish to continue growing Rhubarb. Maybe they ought to switch it up after this and go into a different line of work. Rhubarb, being a perennial garden plant that takes years to mature, definitely leaves one with plenty of time to lose focus and wander off before harvest even comes. Sometimes, we have to weigh what the crop is worth to us against our reasons for wanting to try a new strategy right now. In a sense, the Seven of Pentacles is a crossroads: we can either continue down the road we've been traveling, or take a turn in a fresh direction. We're really not obligated to our current path in life. We always have choices, and they are ours alone.
The tea that I've selected to reflect the Seven of Pentacles is Darjeeling. This sublime black tea can serve as an ideal companion for times spent in serious contemplation. Considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the most desirable teas around, Darjeeling has been nicknamed the Champagne of teas. When properly brewed, Darjeeling presents a complex bouquet of subtle aromas and flavors to delight the senses, from delicate floral notes to a deep, underlying muskiness often compared to Muscat wine. Originating in the Northern Himalayas of India, Darjeeling comes from Chinese tea stock which was brought to India by Archibald Campbell in 1841 and within fifteen years there were multiple British companies exporting the delicious tea. Something about the soil in that region is just magical for tea cultivation! Interestingly, the amount of tea sold as Darjeeling each year worldwide exceeds 40,000 tonnes while the region's production barely reaches 10,000 tonnes in total. The adulteration of luxury teas, as well as falsification of origin is a huge problem in the global tea trade. You can always rest assured that our Darjeeling tea is totally authentic and unblended, organic and certified Fair Trade!
The deck I'm working with this week is The Herbal Tarot by Candis Cantin-Kiriajes of EverGreen Herb Garden and Wholistic Ministry in partnership with Michael Tierra of East West Herbal School of Planetary Herbology. How's that for credentials? Aesthetically, The Herbal Tarot basically resembles an herbal Smith-Waite (also called Rider Waite) Tarot deck, making it is an awesome basic deck and very easy to work with for beginners and experts alike. An absolute favorite of herbal witches, The Herbal Tarot has so much to offer as it invites the reader to deeply ponder the properties of a medicinal plant in relation to the energy of a particular Tarot card. I've personally learned a good amount about both herbal medicine and Tarot by using this deck over the past couple of years. Looking at the magickal properties of plants can also be an interesting way to approach this deck, and I've used it at times to confirm what herbs ought to be used in spellwork. In reading for Tarot clients using this deck, I have even seen it offer up suggestions for possible herbal remedies that could be used to address the situation at hand. In some years of use, I've also realized that a couple of the herbs assigned to certain cards still don't make that much sense to me. (Two of Cups = Uva Ursi? Let me know if you can explain that one!) All-in-all, I still give this deck a solid five stars for a great concept beautifully executed. If you read Tarot and love plants, you definitely need this deck!
Find the incredible Herbal Tarot here: https://store.moonriseherbs.com/products/the-herbal-tarot
And our incomparable Darjeeling Tea here: https://store.moonriseherbs.com/products/darjeeling-organic-1-oz
#moonriseherbs #tarotandtea #tarot #sevenofpentacles #herbaltarot #darjeelingtea #contemplation #choices