I've got an idea...

(and I'd appreciate your vote on this poll)

A quick heads-up before I get to my idea: Assuming all goes well at my post-op check-in (🤞🏻), I plan on opening my books to my tarot reading waitlist next week.

I’ll be opening space for my seasonal tarot readings, and perhaps some other fun options for both new and returning clients in May and June.

Join the waitlist or read an overview of my approach if you’d like to be kept in the loop.

I’ve set-up a bit of a bed-based workspace for myself while I recover from my appendectomy. I’ve been trying to move around as much as I can safely, but I’m a bit sore. Today I decided to crack open a book I knew would distract me from the discomfort and likely inspire me— The Phenomenon of Man (a.k.a. The Human Phenomenon) by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. It did both.

I’ve written a tiny bit about my appreciation for de Chardin’s work, but I don’t believe I’ve shared just how much some of his ideas have shaped my approach to spirituality in general and tarot specifically. Like, isn’t this tiny snippet from The Divine Milieu just ::chefs kiss:: so good?

“… We must not forget that the human soul, however independently created our philosophy represents it as being, is inseparable, in its birth and in its growth, from the universe into which it is born.”

Amen.

I love a good tarot book, and I’ve been heavily influenced by many tarot practitioners and theologians along the way, but the work that’s most informing my own tarot system at this point isn’t directly related. My particular brand of mysticism draws inspiration from de Chardin to Tool and a whole lotta ground in between, and I’d bet more of us find that to be true than the current “spiritual aesthetic” might lead us to believe.

Anyway, I was reading this book and thinking about how much I’d love the opportunity to read non-tarot shit like this with other people who are looking to broaden their idea of tarot’s utility both for individuals and the whole.

For example: I spotted The World while reading the Introduction by Sir Julian Huxley in the reprinting of the 1959 edition of The Phenomenon of Man, describing de Chardin’s belief in the supreme importance of personality (emphasis my own, 1950s language is not):

“A developed human being, as he rightly pointed out, is not merely a more highly individualised individual. He has crossed the threshold of self-consciousness to a new mode of thought, and as a result has achieved some mode of conscious integration— integration of the self with the outer world of men and nature, integration of the separate elements of the self with each other.”

Did you pick up on The World, too? Or maybe another card comes to mind for you? Or it makes you think of something else entirely?

All of this is to say: I’d like to read The Human Phenomenon/The Phenomenon of Man with other nerds, and I was wondering…

A few things to know about this rag-tag nerdy book… Club? Cauldron? Salon? Circle? Rhombus? Whatever:

• It will be virtual, probably consisting of some interaction here on Substack, along with a moonthly-ish Zoom discussion if folks are interested.

• It will be free (tips/subscriptions welcome).

• The pace will be slow. There’s a lot going on. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want more things to in my life that make me feel like I’m falling behind. 

• It will be for curious, open-hearted earthlings who are interested in real conversations with other curious, open-hearted earthlings.

What say you? Let me know in the poll above, and/or feel free to reply with a comment.

Until next time,

sara

P.S. I’m giving Substack Notes a whirl, and I welcome you to join me there. I appreciate the quality of posts I’ve encountered there so far— though I don’t know that I’d count mine among them…

Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I’m not sure how often I’ll post, but you can count on more #deepthoughtswithsara like the one above. ;)

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How to join

Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to full stop., you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!