0:01

Welcome to Back on the Broomestick,

0:03

a modern witch's spoken word grimoire,

0:05

where two witchy friends from way back

0:07

are reconnecting to their pagan roots

0:09

after a long period of mandanity.

0:12

We're re-walking the path of the

0:14

wise and trying out all the

0:16

latest spells, rituals, and magical theory

0:18

in today's witchcraft and pagan practices.

0:20

So grab your wand and your

0:22

incense, your cauldron and your crystals,

0:24

and join us as we get back on

0:26

the Broomstick. Hi,

0:29

and welcome to Back on the

0:31

Broomstick. I'm Layla. And I'm Shell.

0:34

And on this episode, we'll be

0:36

sitting down with the creator of

0:38

the Tarot of the Cosmic Seed,

0:40

Lelania Simone. This deck is

0:42

flipping gorgeous. Now, I want people

0:44

to take a sea and grab your

0:46

tea, because this one is going to

0:49

throw you off the damn roller coaster.

0:51

We all know the history of

0:53

me and Tarot decks. I have

0:55

actually, actually, I'm so glad we're

0:57

going to talk about this deck

0:59

tonight because I have actually

1:01

taken this deck out of the

1:04

box. I have put it in

1:06

my Laura Tump to Sakharov, beautiful

1:08

tarot bag, and I am actually

1:10

carrying it with me. I am

1:12

still carrying with me the Coleman,

1:14

writer Smith, you know, the Coleman.

1:16

Smith writer weight that you know

1:18

Smith weight that one the Smith weight

1:21

Coleman deck still carrying that with me

1:23

but I I've put this in my

1:25

bag I think I'm gonna use this

1:27

one on the regular Lela I'm

1:29

glad everybody sitting down for this

1:31

because I know you are all

1:33

sitting there dumbfounded shock I think

1:35

I'm gonna use this one on

1:37

the regular there. Well do you

1:39

remember when we made our Spotify

1:41

blend and it was like 98%

1:43

match? Yeah. Because Spotify knows. Yeah,

1:45

Spotify knows we're best friends. Well,

1:47

guess who also put this deck

1:49

in a bag and has been

1:51

using it on the regular? Let's

1:54

all show our surprised faces. Yeah,

1:56

right? I took this deck out and

1:58

from the moment I saw the purples

2:00

and the glittery blue, and okay

2:02

I admit it, even the blue

2:04

edges, I was hooked. You know,

2:06

to be honest with you, the first

2:08

card that pulled out to me,

2:10

you know, I have this this

2:12

thing for Dragonflies, the lovers card,

2:14

and the minute I saw that lovers

2:17

card, I was like, oh my God,

2:19

I need that to be a tattoo.

2:21

You stole that Dragonfly thing for me.

2:23

I like. I probably did,

2:26

but that's okay. We share everything.

2:28

But for me, it's the night

2:30

of Wands, but for me, it's

2:33

the night of Wands, I just

2:35

freaking love that card. These cards,

2:37

okay, so these cards are gorgeous.

2:39

It's a collage type deck with

2:42

photos with traditional artwork. It's put

2:44

together edge to edge. The colors

2:46

are dual-toned, saturated, gorgeous. And I

2:49

love cards that are edge to

2:51

edge. I love that whole picture

2:53

thing. And there, you know, I

2:55

guess there's a use for having

2:58

borders, but these are damn

3:00

gorgeous. They could be art

3:02

pieces in and of themselves.

3:04

The pictures are inclusive. The

3:06

symbolism is full of depth

3:08

and meaning. We both are

3:10

using these cards on the

3:12

regular because they're so powerful.

3:14

They're so gorgeous and they're

3:16

so chock full of meaning. I

3:18

can't put them down. I feel like

3:21

the minute I put them in my

3:23

hands, it was like they just gave

3:25

out that vibe like I need to

3:28

talk like I need to talk. Yeah,

3:30

even the blue gilding, you know, I

3:32

usually hate gilding and I, it's growing

3:35

on me and I'll explain why in

3:37

a minute, but these are gilded

3:39

in blue and it's stunning.

3:41

I just love them. So to join us

3:43

in our wonderful discussion tonight

3:45

about Terror of the

3:47

Cosmic Seed, we just

3:49

happened to have the author. We

3:52

would like to welcome Lilania

3:54

Simone. The creator of the...

3:56

Terro of the Cosmic Seed

3:58

here with us today, welcome.

4:00

Lelania. Thank you. I'm excited

4:02

to be here. Now I understand

4:04

that the taro of the cosmic

4:07

seed was originally a kickstarter deck.

4:09

Is that true? Yes, it was.

4:11

About five, I want to say

4:13

almost, it might begin on towards

4:15

five years or so, four or

4:18

five years from me. What inspired

4:20

you to start that? I had

4:22

been reading the taro, I had

4:24

been reading the taro, and as

4:27

I was doing that. I couldn't

4:29

find myself in any of the

4:31

tarot decks that I was working with

4:33

at the time. And so that inspired me

4:35

to the idea of creating a deck

4:38

which felt very daunting the idea

4:40

of creating 78 separate pieces of

4:42

artwork. So it was something I

4:44

kind of put on the back burner.

4:46

I didn't have, though I've been an

4:48

artist my whole life, I didn't have

4:51

the skill set in the digital world

4:53

yet to do it that way and

4:55

I knew that was going to have

4:57

to be the way. I did it

4:59

and then I discovered procreate a friend

5:01

of mine showed me procreate and and

5:04

then it was the beginning of

5:06

that path and I literally

5:08

did a few tutorials and then

5:10

I kind of really learned how

5:13

to do that type of artwork as

5:15

I was working on this deck. Now

5:17

my question is, when you do that

5:19

and you go through that process, do

5:22

you start at the beginning and work

5:24

your way card through card through the

5:26

progression or are you kind of all

5:29

over the place? The person that I

5:31

am has to start at the beginning.

5:33

And so I started with zero and

5:36

then I went through the majors and

5:38

then I can decide which minor

5:40

suit to start, it can be any

5:42

of them, but in that one I

5:44

started with the cups. And so yeah,

5:46

then it would be the beginning to king

5:49

and so on. Okay, interesting. Sometimes I'd

5:51

be working on a card and I

5:53

couldn't figure it out. And so I

5:55

would skip it and do the next

5:57

one and then come back. Okay, okay.

6:00

once in a while, but generally I

6:02

went straight through. Because I'm just thinking,

6:04

you know, if you're working on the

6:06

strength card, you know, what if the

6:08

world is coming through to you? Mm-hmm.

6:10

Yeah. I think there was probably a

6:12

few exceptions, but all in all, yeah,

6:15

I was a straight there. In the stack,

6:17

there actually are. 79 cards. Yes. You

6:19

have a 23rd card in the major

6:21

Arcana called the Cosmic Seed, right? Yes.

6:24

Did you go straight through to that

6:26

as well or did you do that?

6:28

So the first edition did not have

6:31

the 79th card. When I did a

6:33

second edition I wanted to make it

6:35

different so that it had something to

6:38

add. So I made some small adjustments

6:40

to the artwork and I changed the

6:42

box and the card backs and I

6:44

added the final card. Now what

6:47

was the inspiration behind

6:49

the Cosmic Seed card?

6:51

Because folks are used to

6:53

that regimented 78, you know,

6:55

that 78 card debt. You

6:58

know, I wanted to kind of

7:00

open it up into the

7:02

more infinite aspects that we

7:04

all hold that really none

7:07

of the cards actually speak

7:09

to. you know there's a there's magic in

7:11

the in the priestess and you know

7:13

there's some more expensive energies and some

7:16

of the other cards but I feel

7:18

like this kind of opens us up

7:20

to our pure potential and not everything

7:22

can be contained in these cards and

7:24

so this kind of gives you an

7:26

opportunity to you know create your own

7:28

way. I love that. Oh, that's funny.

7:30

I just opened up to it, by

7:33

the way. Oh, that's awesome. I love

7:35

a deck with an extra card. One

7:37

of my favorite decks to read with

7:39

back when I read professionally is the

7:41

Londa Terro. And that also was a

7:43

79 card deck. But who are you

7:46

really card? And I found that having

7:48

an extra card like that added... so

7:50

much more depth to readings when it

7:52

would come up than I expected it

7:54

to. But I'm looking forward to it

7:56

because I do find that it's surprising

7:59

how much one card, just adding

8:01

one card can really change everything

8:03

and just give it so much

8:06

more. I have a couple of

8:08

decks. One of the decks that

8:10

I love is one of the

8:12

Noelle decks. Oh my gosh, my

8:14

cat. And she had like three

8:17

cards in her moon child deck,

8:19

I believe. And I actually

8:21

had to take them out. Oh,

8:24

and generally, I think, you know,

8:26

when I do find decks that

8:28

have extra cards, I'll take them

8:31

out because my brain, you

8:33

know, it just throws me off.

8:35

And so I don't, I didn't

8:37

know if people were going to

8:39

keep it in or take it

8:42

out. And you can't. That's the

8:44

thing. You know, you don't have

8:46

to keep those in if you

8:49

don't want to, you know, there's

8:51

the freedom to do that. inclusive

8:53

and accessible is you don't have

8:55

kings and queens. You don't have

8:58

pages and nights. One of my

9:00

favorite cards in the whole deck

9:02

is the action of wands because

9:04

you have renamed the knights to

9:06

action and the energy coming off

9:09

that particular card gets me every

9:11

single time I just I love

9:13

it. What process did you go

9:15

through to kind of decide to

9:17

to rename, say, the pages are

9:19

the messengers, the knights are the

9:22

actions, the queens are now nurturers,

9:24

which I love because not all

9:26

the cards are feminine, but they're

9:28

still the nurturer, and the same

9:30

thing with the kings, they're called

9:33

mastery, and same thing, those are

9:35

not all masculine cards to kind

9:37

of represent that we can be

9:39

all of these things. Tell me

9:42

a little bit about the process,

9:44

the thought process that went into

9:46

that. Absolutely. Well, I took out

9:48

all of the hierarchical more colonial

9:51

cards across the deck,

9:53

including the emperor and the

9:56

empress, because I wanted it

9:58

to be accessible to the

10:00

modern person who is reading it and

10:02

has no connection to kings and queens.

10:04

I also always had a hard time

10:06

reading the courts. You know, people say

10:09

that they can or should be read

10:11

as people in your life or people

10:13

in your world. And I had a hard

10:15

time with that. So I decided that

10:17

I was going to present them as more

10:19

of an energy signature. And so I had

10:22

to sit with that for a while and

10:24

I knew that the queen was going to

10:26

be the nurture and the king was going

10:29

to be the mastery and it was really

10:31

kind of trying to sort out what was

10:33

I going to call the pages and the

10:35

nights and then you know after I sat

10:37

with it for a while it came through

10:39

as this is the energy that we're working

10:42

with here. And I like that because the

10:44

one thing I think that sets this deck

10:46

apart from the vast majority of

10:49

decks. It is very

10:51

inclusive and it doesn't

10:54

necessarily give the stereotypical

10:56

gender assignments. So I

10:59

like that inclusiveness where this

11:01

deck is for all people

11:03

of all flavors and I love

11:06

that. Awesome. Thank you. I did

11:08

kind of still give, you know,

11:10

the nurtures and the mastery, they

11:12

all have crowns. you know, they

11:15

still have their like, their, their

11:17

regal energy to them. So that's

11:19

kind of still a nod to

11:21

that traditional style. It's very traditional.

11:23

This deck is very traditional. It

11:26

follows the Smith weight, symbology, and

11:28

imagery. reimagined. So as much as

11:30

it is new and fresh and

11:32

wonderful, it's very easy to read

11:35

as a reader, whether you know

11:37

the cards or not, if you

11:39

know the traditional symbology of the

11:42

riderweight Smith decks that you're used

11:44

to, this will obviously come very

11:46

easy to you, but there's so

11:48

much more to it, there's meat to it.

11:50

But if you don't know that, you

11:52

can still pick up these cards and

11:54

look at the richness of the color

11:56

and the layering of the imagery that

11:59

you've got in each. card and come

12:01

up with a story and

12:03

let your subconscious and your intuition

12:05

just flow with it in such

12:07

a beautiful way. You know, it

12:10

really was that artwork and imagery

12:12

that kind of sucked me in

12:14

immediately to this deck. You know,

12:17

I have a good share of my

12:19

own decks. I am a collector addict,

12:21

to whatever you want to call

12:24

it. I call it a lover of terro.

12:26

The first thing I usually do is

12:28

I go through and I pull out

12:30

the cards that immediately, that first look,

12:33

first glance, pull me in and resonate

12:35

with me. And you know, Layla and

12:37

I look at a lot of decks and there'll

12:39

be times where I'll have five or

12:41

ten or so and I'll be like,

12:43

you know, that's a good five or

12:45

ten. Great. If I was going to

12:47

create a magpie deck, these five or

12:49

ten would be in. I couldn't stop

12:51

with your deck. In the end, I

12:54

ended up counting them because I was

12:56

so like, I was like, what the

12:58

hell? This is almost like a damn

13:00

equal pile. I had 30 cards

13:02

that immediately just first glance, just

13:05

open the deck, first glance, 30

13:07

cards I put in my resonate pile.

13:09

And it's not that the others did

13:11

not resonate with me. It was just

13:14

at a first glance. I was based

13:16

it on a first glance. And there

13:18

were 30 cards in that first. And

13:20

I was like, I'm like, this

13:22

deck is definitely got something to

13:24

it. And the more I touched it

13:27

and carried it around and shuffled it

13:29

up and did one card pulls

13:31

with it, the more I kind

13:33

of literally got tied to this

13:35

deck. I love these pictures. They're very

13:38

all encompassing. I was telling Layla before

13:40

you came on, one of the

13:42

first cards I saw was the lover's

13:44

card. And my first thought was, I want

13:46

a tattoo of this. You have such an

13:48

array of artwork. And first of all, Layla

13:51

and I were talking, you do have some,

13:53

I don't want to call them like portrait

13:55

cards necessarily, but there's cards

13:58

that have people. on them

14:00

in a fashion that they almost look

14:02

like they could be real people in

14:04

your life. Are some of these cards

14:07

based on real people in your life?

14:09

The one card that is a real

14:11

person is the messenger of swords who's

14:13

my daughter and the rest of them

14:15

are cards that I... pulled from stock

14:18

imagery and open source and public

14:20

domain imagery. I hope your daughter

14:22

appreciates that more than anything in

14:25

the world. She does. That's pretty

14:27

amazing because the people in these

14:29

cards are part of what draws

14:32

me to it. They seem very

14:34

alive and very vibrant and so

14:36

when you look at these cards,

14:39

their expressions add so much, you

14:41

know, everything about them. gives more

14:43

meaning and depth to the card.

14:46

So I'm a little surprised

14:48

there's just one person that's somebody

14:50

that you know because they just

14:52

they're so expressive. The thing

14:55

about some creating something like

14:57

this is the process of

14:59

finding the imagery probably took

15:01

longer than anything else because

15:03

to find that perfect frequency

15:05

to represent that card and

15:08

to have them really embody

15:10

that embody that is really not

15:12

an easy thing to do. And I

15:14

didn't realize it was going to be

15:17

so complicated when I started. And so

15:19

sometimes I would just really create a

15:21

library of images that I loved that

15:23

I hoped maybe one of at some point

15:26

when I get to the card, I'll be

15:28

able to go through these images and I'll

15:30

be able to say, oh, that's the one.

15:32

It was the most complicated part of it.

15:35

Because also I want them to have their

15:37

arms in the in the right place. If

15:39

you're going to hold a cup or you're

15:41

going to hold a sword or you know,

15:44

there's all these different aspects of it that

15:46

were just kind of complex. Yes. That's a

15:48

part of the magic. Like we've talked about

15:50

spellwork before and part of the magic of

15:53

that is going to look for the ingredients.

15:55

You know, if you don't have say a

15:57

particular thing and you need to substitute

15:59

it. with something else, part of the

16:01

magic is going to find that, putting

16:04

your energy towards that. So just

16:06

you spending all that energy looking

16:08

for just the right thing added

16:10

to the energy of these cards. Now

16:12

this one, the eight of coins, this

16:15

is just a gorgeous card and Shell

16:17

and I both read charms. We do

16:19

a little bit of charm casting and

16:22

that's exactly what this card reminds me

16:24

of. It's like my grandmother's table with

16:26

the buttons. It's so bright and it's

16:29

buttons and coins and it looks like

16:31

peonies and scissors and there's just so

16:33

much to each of these cards.

16:35

From what I understand your mom

16:37

gave you your first tarot deck? Yeah,

16:40

she did. I was, I want to say I

16:42

was somewhere between 18 and 20.

16:44

And I think the first deck she gave

16:46

me was the Daughters of the Moon.

16:48

Do you know this deck? Oh, I

16:50

know that deck. It's a circular deck.

16:52

It went out of print. Quite a

16:54

long time ago. They ended making a

16:56

second deck. which I can't remember the name

16:58

of now, which is still in print

17:01

through US games, but that one was

17:03

very impactful for me. It was each

17:05

one, each card is a goddess, I

17:07

believe, and I really loved that. I

17:10

like when cards kind of veer

17:12

away from the traditional stereotypes that

17:14

the right or wait decks

17:16

kind of stuck with. I always

17:19

looked at myself as a magician,

17:21

but according to Rider Waite, the

17:23

magician is always a man. So

17:25

I really like decks that kind

17:28

of veer away from that norm.

17:30

Yeah, I appreciate that too.

17:32

One thing about this deck, and

17:34

listeners of our podcast will know

17:36

that I'm not a huge fan

17:39

of gilding, however, it's growing on

17:41

me. And your deck kind of...

17:43

really was the one to change

17:45

my mind. I don't like gilding

17:47

because it tends to flake and

17:49

peel and dent very quickly. If

17:51

you use it a lot that

17:53

gilding stops looking pretty very quickly.

17:55

And so it was kind of a complaint

17:58

of mine. But the blue on this. first

18:00

of all is gorgeous and second I

18:02

track solid still oh mine is not I

18:04

realize that that's part of growth right we're

18:06

not always going to be bright and shiny

18:09

and beautiful as you as you have adventures

18:11

as you as you go through your life

18:13

you're going to start to pick up some

18:15

Knicks and some chips and you're not going

18:17

to be quite as sparkly as you were

18:20

before. Right? Actually, that's awesome. But you're

18:22

going to be unique and you're going to

18:24

you're going to show some of these things

18:26

that you have done in your life. And

18:28

I think that's okay. With Knicks come wisdom.

18:30

And you also have the memory too, like

18:32

you can remember the shine and you know

18:34

that kind of will give you a little

18:36

warm feeling in your heart. And you know,

18:38

honestly, I think they're more feeling in

18:40

your heart. they're much richer and have

18:42

more stories to tell I guess. I

18:45

love that. I don't even mind the

18:47

gilding. Do you use tarot regularly? Do

18:49

you do tarot poles for yourself? So

18:52

I find that it comes in and

18:54

out of my life in my shop

18:56

for about a year and a half

18:58

I read for the public and I

19:00

realize that that was hard for me

19:02

to give myself in that way. Yeah.

19:05

And so I often will pull oracle

19:07

parts for myself for myself. And

19:09

I also have an Oracle deck

19:11

out, it's called the Oracle of

19:13

Awakening, which I really actually love

19:15

pulling those cards because I feel

19:17

like that was very channeled. And

19:20

so I'm always like, when I

19:22

read the book, I'm like, wow,

19:24

that's awesome. But I'm like, thank

19:26

you spirit for that message. But

19:28

no, not as often as you

19:30

would think, I really feel like

19:32

my, my connection to it is

19:34

through the artwork. And I'm constantly

19:37

working on. on a deck like there's

19:39

you know one coming through red will

19:41

wiser i'm actually in the midst of

19:43

another one that i'm gonna kick start

19:46

here in a few you are picking

19:48

my interests that part of me is

19:50

like always like i'm knitting or i'm

19:52

making you're a maker yeah that's what

19:55

really struck me is that you do

19:57

all these different things and you create

19:59

our you're a metalsmith, you just said

20:01

you're a knitter, you know, you always

20:03

have these projects going. Is that how

20:05

you kind of express that mystic energy

20:08

in your life? Is that how you

20:10

kind of get that out there? I

20:12

feel like it is the, it is

20:14

what makes my life worth living and

20:16

breathing outside of my child. who's

20:18

not 20 so she's grown up

20:20

and moved away. Child. It

20:22

really is like I, you

20:24

know, if I'm sitting in

20:26

front of, in front of

20:28

the TV, I have a

20:30

project in my lap. It's,

20:32

it's just, it's like what

20:34

makes life happy for

20:36

me. Everybody has different

20:38

ways of contributing to the

20:41

world on all different kind of levels.

20:43

And I feel like this is your

20:45

great spiritual contribution to the world. And

20:47

I thank you for it because I

20:49

am so in love with this. You

20:52

know, my intention really was to touch

20:54

people so that they could see themselves from

20:56

wherever they were in the world. She accomplished.

20:58

I love that. Thank you so much. That

21:00

means a lot. You have other projects that

21:02

you have created before and your Oracle deck

21:04

is a similar type of collage art. It

21:06

looks like it could be a companion to

21:09

this. Like I want to get both of

21:11

them and use them together. I want to

21:13

use the Oracle deck on top of the

21:15

tarot deck and really see how the energies

21:17

there kind of go because that's another thing

21:19

about this deck. Now I'm going to get

21:21

a little mystic for people. I'm going

21:24

to get a little witchy here, but...

21:26

Shell and I both, when we pulled

21:28

this deck out of the box, could

21:30

feel the joy and the happiness and

21:33

the energy and the light. It literally

21:35

came out of the box feeling like

21:37

love. Yeah, and just good strong energy.

21:40

I just love what you put in

21:42

here. But I think your Kickstarter came

21:44

with like a journal. Is there ever

21:47

any thought that you might put out

21:49

like that journal type book with the

21:51

artwork in it? Because that was

21:53

gorgeous. full color and I may

21:56

have one or two of those

21:58

left summer around here. love

22:00

to do if the if the tarot

22:02

does well for Redwill and you know

22:04

they're able to keep keep it around

22:07

and keep publishing it I would love

22:09

to do an expanded accompanying book because

22:11

that was my first of course my

22:14

first deck and I really put so

22:16

much into the artwork and I had worked

22:18

on it for so long when I got

22:20

to the book I was like okay

22:22

let's you know let's get

22:24

some important pieces of information

22:26

but keep short and sweet.

22:28

And I've had a lot of requests for

22:30

some expanded information that kind of touches on

22:33

the symbolism and the choices and the colors

22:35

and all of that. And I would like

22:37

to be able to offer that at some

22:39

point. So I hope that maybe we could

22:41

do a deluxe set, you know, a few

22:44

years in or something. This would definitely be

22:46

the perfect act to have a

22:48

color book companion with, absolutely. And

22:50

I could see something like that

22:52

being a standalone, an excellent standalone

22:54

book too. Awesome. Now talking about that

22:56

with all of that being said,

22:58

was there anything in particular in

23:01

this deck that you loved working

23:03

on? Like was there a suit

23:05

or a particular card that that

23:07

really made you happy or that

23:09

you you more enjoy than any

23:11

other? There's several parts that I

23:13

really love. I love the seven

23:15

and the eight of cups. I

23:18

enjoyed those so much because those

23:20

came from really just the feeling

23:22

of what those cups could mean.

23:24

the seven is um hands kind

23:26

of in the ocean and there's

23:28

these little bubbles with the

23:31

different options all the different

23:33

possibilities in front of you

23:36

and the eight is um is like a

23:38

very old ruin that is set in the

23:40

sky with eight bowls of water full

23:42

of roses and you can walk

23:44

through the portal kind of in

23:47

and so for me that's a

23:49

very meaningful card the the the

23:51

rider weight the the rider weight kind

23:53

of is like a going away or

23:55

leaving or kind of endings or you

23:57

know, there's few ways to read that

23:59

but I've always loved reading that

24:02

card as like leaving the

24:04

material behind and going deeper

24:06

into the spiritual. And so

24:09

that's what that, that's what

24:11

that feels like for me. And

24:13

then one of the cards I

24:15

really loved was the Ten of

24:17

Wands. And because to balance the

24:19

energy, that card has a woman

24:21

who is, has baskets over her

24:23

shoulders and one of them has

24:26

her child in it. Yes. And

24:28

I wanted to really portray

24:30

that, you know, sometimes we have

24:32

to carry a heavy load. It's not

24:34

forever. And sometimes, you know,

24:37

it's a load that we gladly

24:39

carry. And it doesn't mean that

24:41

it's not hard. Right. So I kind

24:43

of feel like that really kind

24:45

of captured that. What a beautiful

24:47

way to envision that. I love

24:50

how you put that. And all

24:52

of these cards are envisioned that

24:54

way. Now, the colors on them

24:56

are very jewel-toned, you know, they're

24:58

all very rich, deep colors. And

25:00

was there a reason why you

25:02

kind of strayed away from the

25:05

more, I guess they're not really

25:07

pastels, but brighter colors of say like

25:09

the traditional Smith weight decks?

25:12

I am definitely a jewel-toned

25:14

girl. Like if you were to look

25:16

at my clothing when I go out

25:18

into the world, I'm in magentas and

25:20

turquets and teel and that's how I

25:23

roll. That's how I roll. And also

25:25

as I started this whole digital art,

25:27

I just went with the colors that

25:29

I loved and I didn't really have

25:32

color theory. I don't have any like,

25:34

I don't have any training. So that's

25:36

why also there's like, every card is

25:39

like its own piece of art and

25:41

it doesn't necessarily mean the first card

25:43

is going to go with the fourth

25:45

card, right, visually, because. They're each

25:48

just their own creation. They're

25:50

almost standalone art. They really are. It's

25:52

really a trip. Like now going forward, the works

25:54

that I'm doing, they all have a different level

25:56

of coherent. So I love this debt because

25:58

it's just so free. like I didn't

26:01

have any of those constrictions or expectations

26:03

I was just trying to to get

26:05

each card done in the way that

26:07

felt right and now I'm like okay

26:10

well can we have a color theme

26:12

for each of these suits like you

26:14

know everything has changed but Yeah.

26:16

The whole the whole color scheme of

26:19

these just it's a part of

26:21

the ambience that makes this deck

26:23

so wonderful that the purples

26:25

the blues the turquoise like

26:27

it just all works it

26:29

all came together so perfectly

26:31

with this deck. Sometimes when

26:33

I look at that deck and I see

26:35

like you pull out the the sacred

26:38

masculine card and it's just

26:40

like here is yellow. And everything else

26:42

is so purple. So it's kind of

26:44

funny to me when I see it

26:46

laid out sometimes. I'm like, oh, that

26:48

was an interesting choice. Yeah, well, because

26:50

as you're working through it, you don't

26:52

necessarily know what combination is going to

26:54

come up and how that's going to

26:56

present itself to other people. Now in

26:58

the booklet, there was a little terro

27:00

spread that you put in there. And

27:02

is that something that you created? Yes,

27:04

that's my my go-to spread. That's how

27:07

I read when I read when I

27:09

read for anyone for anyone or myself.

27:11

below that card. So it looks like a

27:13

tree. There's the tree. I pulled the first

27:15

card, which is the thinner card

27:17

that represents the person. That's the first

27:19

card. And then I pulled two cards

27:21

under it. That's the root. Oh, okay.

27:24

And then I continue with pulling the

27:26

cards. I like the root because that

27:28

kind of gives you some some place

27:30

to kind of understand why we're here

27:32

in the present. So it doesn't

27:34

necessarily mean the past. It could be

27:36

current events that are impacting why. this

27:39

present card is here. Kind of like

27:41

the base. Exactly. Could be what's holding

27:43

you down or holding you steady. Awesome.

27:45

I really liked that spread actually. I

27:47

am a spread fanatic. Shell and I

27:50

create them, collect them, all that stuff.

27:52

So when I used it I was

27:54

like, oh this is good. And so

27:56

I was very happy with it when

27:58

I first tried. it out. I'm going

28:01

to, if you wouldn't mind, would it

28:03

be okay if I put up a

28:05

graphic with the extra two cards at

28:07

the bottom? Absolutely. Perfect. I'll definitely credit

28:09

it to you, but I want to

28:12

show our listeners with the extra two

28:14

cards. I'm going to try that right

28:16

after we're done recording. I'm going to

28:18

pull those cards and see how it

28:20

goes. Throw that route in there. It

28:23

just kind of gives you a little

28:25

more context for everything and I like

28:27

that. Sometimes still like I'll get hired

28:29

to do like an event and I'll

28:31

just do something. I was going to

28:33

ask you if you still read publicly.

28:35

Yeah, every once in a while, like

28:37

something will come up and you know, like

28:39

I said, I have a little metaphysical shop

28:41

here in Denver and we get calls sometimes

28:44

and I'll be like, I'm having this event

28:46

and we're looking for a reader for like

28:48

three hours and if it feels like a

28:50

good match, then I'll go out and do

28:52

it. I'll just do five parts spreads. Yeah,

28:54

it's hard to give yourself like that

28:57

though. It's hard to put yourself in

28:59

front of people like that and and

29:01

and read for them to be open like

29:03

that for a couple hours. So it's a

29:05

big energy exchange. Yeah, I always feel like

29:08

for me, terror reading was an

29:10

opportunity to give spiritual counsel

29:12

and I'm sure all terror leaders

29:14

feel like that to some degree. Someone

29:16

is coming to you. with whatever is

29:18

going on in their life and they

29:20

are looking for some guidance and so

29:22

my connection with spirit is such that

29:24

I would use the cards as a

29:26

framework to bring through the energies and

29:28

the messages for this person. So that

29:30

kind of we had a visual representation

29:33

of what was happening and so that's

29:35

that's what felt like was happening for

29:37

me and it was powerful to be

29:39

able to do that but also I

29:41

realized I was drained every time and even though

29:43

I would put protection and I would do

29:45

all these things. I was like, you know,

29:47

I just don't know that that's for me.

29:49

And I so love and respect the people

29:51

who do it. We have some incredible

29:54

readers at our shop and I'm always

29:56

just amazed at that. But you can

29:58

get gassed out very easily. really

30:00

can. Yeah. Now you said that you

30:02

are in the middle of working

30:04

on a new deck. Is that

30:07

a terro or an oracle? So

30:09

I right now I'm working on a

30:11

deck that is called the Myth

30:13

Weaver terro. And it is

30:15

every card I'm doing kind of

30:18

a linocut style digital technique. So

30:20

every figure on the card is

30:22

black. and then all of the

30:24

details have been carved out. Oh,

30:26

and so really you can see,

30:29

it's just like the black and

30:31

then we have, you know, I'm

30:33

all about the backgrounds and

30:35

I use vintage flowers everywhere

30:37

in this deck and so every single

30:40

card represents either a god,

30:42

a deity of some sort

30:44

or a mythological figure. or

30:46

a mythological creature from world

30:48

mythologies to, from like the

30:50

very common ones to the

30:52

more obscure ones. I really

30:54

want to represent, you know, like

30:56

Santeria and the Aztecs and the

30:59

Maori and all types of different

31:01

mythologies that people aren't really familiar

31:03

with. Yes, you hear the Greek

31:06

and the Celtic mythologies all the

31:08

time. It's nice to get more.

31:10

Exactly. So there's a little Greek,

31:13

there's a little Celtic. Celtic and

31:15

then there's the Mayan and we

31:18

have Japanese and so I'm deep

31:20

in it now and probably just

31:22

over halfway done and so

31:24

that's really really exciting. Well

31:27

congratulations that's a good marker.

31:29

That sounds like something I

31:31

need on my wish list.

31:33

So I do have the

31:36

Kickstarter launch page up. Oh,

31:38

okay. I'll put links to

31:40

it. Okay, awesome. Just for

31:42

me personally, what is the

31:44

transition from Kickstarter to, to,

31:47

like, because this deck, we

31:49

got through a red wheel

31:51

wiser. What's the transition from,

31:53

like, Kickstarter to red wheel?

31:55

Is that difficult? So I

31:58

had started working. on. So

32:00

my third deck is called the

32:02

Weiss Earth Medicine Terro. And that

32:05

is a terro deck that is

32:07

all nature. So it's plant, animal,

32:09

and insect. And each card has

32:12

a traditional meaning, but it also

32:14

has the medicine that is being

32:16

offered from that particular animal or

32:18

plant. And so it kind of

32:21

doubles as a terro slash oracle

32:23

and the cards are oracle

32:25

sized. And so I presented

32:27

that to Red Wheel Weiser and

32:29

I introduced myself in a proposal

32:31

and said this is what I

32:34

am, this is what I've done,

32:36

this is how I can show

32:38

you that I am established and

32:40

that I have a platform and

32:42

this is what I'm working on and

32:44

they were super excited and I was

32:46

hoping that they would take my wise

32:49

earth and they said we want it

32:51

all. We want it all. Yeah, I

32:53

don't blame them. Yeah, that was a

32:55

big surprise. I actually had originally

32:57

also received an offer for the

33:00

Wise Earth from a different tariff

33:02

company that we all know, but

33:04

they weren't as kind. And so

33:06

it was very easy to make

33:08

a really lovely decision to an

33:10

offer that I couldn't refuse. We

33:12

love Red Wheel. Yeah, they're so

33:14

great there. They're so kind.

33:16

They're so loving. They wrap

33:19

around me in this beautiful

33:21

way and they've just been

33:23

incredible every step. And between y'all

33:25

you brought us a freaking fabulous

33:27

tarot deck that I just I

33:29

can't get over and and I

33:31

I'm just shocked that I have

33:33

found a deck that has taken

33:35

me a back like this because

33:37

it is a rare instance it

33:39

really really is it collects them she

33:41

does not use them all she's

33:43

like two or three she'll use

33:45

on the regular so. me falling in

33:47

love with a deck and using it,

33:50

that happens once in a while, but

33:52

her, it's like super rare. Rare. And

33:54

I love this so much, so, so, so

33:56

much. I love it because that means

33:58

you feel the spirit. of it.

34:00

That means you fill my spirit. Thank

34:02

you. That means a lot to me.

34:04

Yes, and it's beautiful. Thank you. It

34:06

comes through on your Instagram too. I

34:09

do follow you on Instagram. I'll put

34:11

links to your Instagram. I'll put links

34:13

to your Instagram in the show description,

34:15

but it comes through there too, just

34:17

your loving spirit. Hello. You describe a

34:19

little bit on your Kickstarter page about

34:21

growing up in Denver and you're a little

34:24

bit of a wild child. And then

34:26

you said in your early 20s, you

34:28

kind of felt that magic, you felt

34:30

that call and Colorado, to me, the

34:32

whole place is magic. So I'm, I'm

34:34

not surprised that you felt that there,

34:36

but would you mind telling us a

34:39

little bit about that, that moment in

34:41

your life? I grew up in the

34:43

80s. I am generation, a generation

34:45

where we X. They called us.

34:47

So. I grew up in the

34:49

hood in Denver when crack and

34:52

gangs was running the streets, was

34:54

running my neighborhood. It's really my

34:56

experience was a lot

34:58

of danger, violence. There was death,

35:01

it was crazy. I went to

35:03

Catholic school in the middle of

35:05

the hood, and it was the

35:07

nuns that really held us and

35:09

kind of kept us grounded in

35:12

all of that madness. And so

35:14

we were very Catholic. And my

35:16

mom actually even worked for the

35:18

church at the time. When I became,

35:20

when I turned 19, I moved to

35:23

San Diego with the girlfriend of mine,

35:25

and I was, I was, I've always

35:27

been an artist and I was

35:29

looking for, went to the library

35:32

to look for goddesses. I had

35:34

heard of Greek goddesses and I

35:36

wanted to draw them and I

35:39

accidentally found the goddess religion. And

35:41

I had up spiritual awakening because

35:43

I had no idea there was

35:46

anything else. And I hadn't explored

35:48

anything outside of my religion.

35:50

And so it was a

35:52

spiritual awakening. And I came

35:55

to understand that becoming awake,

35:57

consciousness was really an unfl-

35:59

that happened throughout your life and

36:01

it wasn't just there's no end to

36:04

it it's just going to continue and

36:06

and I had I decided to devote

36:08

myself to that and so at a

36:10

very young age I was 19 maybe

36:12

20 that's when I started meditating and

36:14

and really devoting myself to a spiritual

36:17

path and whatever that look like and

36:19

so that's just been unfolding around

36:21

me since. And then your mom who

36:23

worked at the church gave you your

36:25

first stack and the rest is history.

36:27

Isn't that awesome? Well, she said that

36:29

she had, you know, she had grown

36:31

up Catholic and she wanted to give us

36:34

a spiritual foundation. And so

36:36

that was kind of the, what she knew

36:38

as well. And so actually she's also

36:40

during that time after I left

36:42

expanded into her own spiritual path

36:45

and even for a while had joined

36:47

a coven. She, she's a very wise

36:49

woman. I love that. I love that you

36:51

guys kind of went through that. It sounds

36:53

like almost at the same time. At the

36:56

same time. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah,

36:58

my mom did something similar. She

37:00

now describes herself as a heathen,

37:02

but she You know, it took

37:04

her a little while to kind

37:06

of come to that, but she's

37:09

this cute. She's awesome. She's like

37:11

72 at 73 and she just

37:13

runs around and she won't say

37:15

she's a witch, but she'll say

37:17

she's a heathen. So I think

37:19

it's adorable. Knowing your mother,

37:21

I think she just likes

37:24

calling herself. Neither. Yeah. She does

37:26

a great job with that. But tell

37:28

your mother, thank you. because I do.

37:30

I really do love this deck. I

37:33

have gotten a lot of, you know,

37:35

I've used it during meditation, I've used

37:37

it during my daily card polls, and

37:39

I can't pull just one. I tend

37:42

to pull at least three, five or

37:44

do a whole spread, partly because

37:46

they speak to each other and they

37:48

speak to me so well. The stories

37:50

come out from them very, very clearly.

37:52

Like we said at the beginning, this

37:54

is something that a seasoned reader will

37:57

find so much meaning in, but a

37:59

beginner will be able to grab these

38:01

cards and just dive right in with

38:03

no problem. Absolutely. So I do love

38:06

that about them. But thank you so

38:08

much for coming on this show, Laania.

38:10

I really appreciate it. Thank you. And

38:13

thank you, thank you for creating this

38:15

above all things. Thank you because this

38:17

is this is a gift to the

38:20

universe. It really is. Thank you. Thank

38:22

you for seeing me. Thank you. And

38:24

everyone can see themselves in this deck.

38:27

This deck is not just as much

38:29

as I love Pamela Coleman Smith and

38:31

her artwork. It's all. It's the 1800s

38:34

theme. Yeah. And this includes everyone. This

38:36

looks more like what I see when

38:38

I go out in the world. And

38:41

I think that that's important. Could you

38:43

tell our listeners, where can we find

38:45

you on all your socials and contact

38:48

info? So the deck is available at

38:50

any large distributor now, target.com, Amazon.com, but

38:52

you can also get it directly from

38:55

Redwill and Weiser. I am at Lelania

38:57

semone.com if you want to read more

38:59

about me. And my Instagram is the

39:02

dot cosmic seed. My upcoming Kickstarter is

39:04

called the Myth Weaver Terro. So you

39:06

can Google that and it'll pop up

39:08

on Kickstarter as a launch. we're going

39:11

to make sure people can find you

39:13

because we know there's going to be

39:15

a lot of our listeners who you're

39:18

going to want to get their hands

39:20

on this deck. They're going to be

39:22

shocked that I actually found a deck

39:25

that I want to use on the

39:27

regular and that alone is going to

39:29

spark interest. That's awesome. I'm so glad.

39:32

Thank you for being on my side.

39:34

Yes, oh my gosh, very much so,

39:36

especially nowadays, man. We all need to

39:39

stick together. Thank you so much to

39:41

Lilania Simone for joining us on this

39:43

episode. This was so fun. I love

39:46

when we get to do this. I

39:48

love her. She's amazing. And her artwork,

39:50

I'm just in love with that too.

39:53

I am being serious. This deck is...

39:55

worth a look-see. You know it takes

39:57

a lot to please me and this

40:00

one knocked it out of the park.

40:02

It's fantastic. If you are okay with

40:04

a collage-style deck, and I know not

40:07

everyone is, it's not as collagey as

40:09

the ancestor terro. Right. But it is

40:11

collage. So if you're not a fan

40:14

of that, you might not like this,

40:16

but it's still gorgeous. but we'll put

40:18

links to everything in the show notes

40:21

and you can also check us out

40:23

at back on the broomstick.com, on Instagram,

40:25

on Facebook. You can also check out

40:28

our amazing fan run Facebook group back

40:30

on the broomstick podcast discussion group. I

40:32

love those people on that by the

40:35

way. Those witches are awesome. Fabulous group

40:37

of folks. Conversations, the tips, the tricks,

40:39

the magic that's going on in that

40:41

group and we jump in once in

40:44

a while too. Check us out. If

40:46

you want to send us an email

40:48

back on the broomstick@gmail.com, you can also

40:51

give us some likes, some reviews, some

40:53

stars, we love all of it. So

40:55

thank you again for listening, we will

40:58

see you next week. Be wise, be

41:00

wicked. And keep it witchy folks.