Tag Archives: healing

The Visual History Of Tarot Cards

September 28, 2026 The Silo Leave a comment

Conventional, creative, and centering uses of the cards to help you get inspired and come home to yourself.

Tarot imagery has inspired artists for centuries and continues to do so today. The iconography, the storytelling element, and, of course, the mystery of the unknown have a huge pull for any creative.

I personally came to this field later in life, or you could say that it found me.

As a kid, I wasn’t allowed to dabble in such tools. Growing up in the church, these kinds of practices were considered ungodly, and I ended up with a complicated relationship to magic, metaphysical, and occult items, even in a strictly artistic sense. On one hand,, they fascinated me and drew me in; on the other, they felt wrong and uncomfortable due to past programming. As I explored the cards more, they showed me a few interesting paths that surprised me, inspired me, and helped me see them in a whole new way.

I ordered a deck during COVID, when many of us were naturally drawn to healing tools and modalities. To be honest, the cards felt intimidating and even scary, especially when confronting some of the more intense ones like the Tower, Death, the Devil, and others. I set it aside, unsure of how to engage.

A few years later an amazing author and fellow Substacker, Chelsey 🔮 Tarot for Creativity, found me through our commn publisher Chronicle Books. I recorded an episode about her book Tarot for Creativity, and her framework for journaling and self-reflection rather than divination took me in a new direction that was gentle, curious, and non-condemning. I still use her brilliant book today, and it opened doors to even more resources and creatives that inspire me.

Chelsey Pippin (Mizzi)

My friend Sarah Potter Sarah Potter , a celebrity tarot reader, changed my life. Her book Sober Magic uses the tarot journey combined with the 12 steps to help individuals (myself included) move away from drinking and into more presence, self-awareness, and healing. Thanks to Sarah and her tarot guidance, it has been 10 months since I had my last drink.

In terms of navigating the scary cards, I have to shout out Tarot for the Wild Soul Lindsay Mack. The “bad cards” no longer intimidate me, and I found compassion, curiosity, and a deeper, less obvious meaning when interacting with certain images and messages. There are no doubt millions of amazing creators, experts, and readers who can guide you on how to use this tool, but I appreciate pracitioners who bring a gentle, trauma-informed angle.

Tarot for the Wild Soul

Today I want to share a snippet of visual art history of this practice based on a beautiful exhibition I visited at the Morgan Library.

Artist and Writer Ekaterina Popova at the Morgan Library

Morgan Library

Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951) and Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1942). The Fool, from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (Deck “C”). London: William Rider & Son, ca. 1921–31 (first published in 1909). Chromolithograph. New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, PML 199373.

The show consists of two parts. The first explores the origins of tarot in Renaissance Italy, and the second its contemporary interpretations by artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Among these creators are familiar names like Pamela Colman Smith (1878 to 1951), Leonora Carrington, and Chris Ofili.

According to the museum, “Created as a courtly game of skill, tarot was not associated with occult secrets, divination, or the power of fate until centuries later. By the twentieth century, the cards came to serve as a source of inspiration for artists, offering an alternative to the strictures of modernist aesthetics and allowing them to explore other universes and imaginative possibilities.”

As I got more interested in the world of Tarot, I started to notice the influence of the cards on artists. At a surrealism exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the gift shop featured a deck by Dalí. And it wasn’t until I visited a Leonora Carrington exhibition at L Space in NYC earlier this year that I realized the artist herself had made a stunning deck.

Remedios Varo, Leonora’s best friend, is featured at the Morgan Library as well.

The inspiration for this exhibition was the Morgan’s Visconti-Sforza Tarot cards, the most famous deck to survive from the Renaissance.

Below, I am sharing a few of my favorites from the show.

I am curious. Do you use Tarot in your creative practice? If so, how?

Bonifacio Bembo, Death from the ViscontiSforza Tarot Cards. Italy, Milan or Cremona, ca. 1456-58. The Morgan Library & Museum

Chris Ofili (b. 1968). Midnight Conjurer, 2026. Ink, watercolor, staples, and paper collage on paper © Chris Ofili. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Leonora Carrington at the Morgan Library

For The Silo, Create! Magazine and Ekaterina Popova.

Earth

Plants That Cure With Real Healing Powers

July 23, 2025 The Silo 2 Comments

A fever, stomach pains or a simple case of the sniffles can send people rushing to the pharmacy for a drug to cure their symptoms.

But Mother Nature provides a number of medicinal plants with healing properties that also can nurse you back to health, a fact more North Americans are beginning to discover.

Doctor Sodhi -” more North Americans realize the effectiveness of remedies found in nature”

“The use of herbal medicine, although traditional in many Eastern cultures, had been only a minor fad in Western medicine until recent decades,” says Dr. Virender Sodhi, founder of the Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medical Clinic , which provides complementary and alternative medicine.

That trend has been shifting as a growing body of studies and research has demonstrated the effects of traditional remedies on chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, says Sodhi, author of the new guide, “Ayurvedic Herbs: The Comprehensive Resource for Ayurvedic Healing Solutions”.

That’s not necessarily news to ailing people in other parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa. For centuries, they have found relief through herbal medicines derived from shrubs, vines, trees and other plants, Sodhi says.

Here are four examples, a couple of which are recognizable by better known names and purposes.

American licorice is a native, perennial legume that grows in temperate climates of North America. Licorice, which grows in Europe and Asia, is the root of varieties of the Glycyrrhiza plant.

• Glycyrrhiza glabra. Most people would recognize this plant by its more common name – licorice. It has been used for centuries in the traditional and folk medicines of Asia and Europe to treat ailments ranging from the common cold to liver disease, Sodhi says.

Most Americans likely encountered licorice as children because the sweet root of the plant is used to make candy. Licorice can cure more than a sweet tooth, though. It can protect people from the influenza virus. In cell line studies it was shown to reduce titer of the influenza virus by 90 percent and have strong immune modulation properties.

It’s an important ingredient in many herbal preparations, Sodhi said, especially for bronchial conditions. Because of its expectorant properties, powdered licorice has been used for centuries to treat coughs. Modern cough syrups often contain licorice extract.

• Piper nigrum. This flowering vine’s berries, when still unripe, are used to produce black pepper, but spicing up food isn’t its only talent. Piper nigrum has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-spasmodic properties that make it ideal for treating digestive disorders, Sodhi says.

It doesn’t stop there. Drug resistance is a major concern in cancer patients. Piper nigrum can reverse multiple drug resistance many fold and significantly increase the apoptotic effect of many pharmaceutical drugs.

CLICK me to discover more about Frankincense

• Boswellia serrate. Commonly known as Frankincense, this herb has powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Several patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s colitis have gone in to remission using a Boswellia preparation.

In brain tumor patients it has reduced cerebral edema by 75 percent. Sodhi has mentioned case studies of many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and ulcerative colitis who went into remission.

• Bael. Commonly known as “golden apple”, this fruit-bearing tree indigenous to the hills and plains of central and southern India has numerous uses. The fruit promotes healthy digestion and is used medicinally to treat such conditions as diarrhea, dysentery and cholera. The leaves, roots and bark of Bael also have medicinal value.

They help relieve acute bronchitis, heart palpitations, intermittent fevers and many other ailments. Dr. Sodhi has observed 100 percent success in treating patients of clostridium difficile, who did not respond to standard medical protocol of metronidazole (Flagyl), Dificid (fidaxomicin), or vanconycin.

Reviews

Discover Life with Less Pain, Better Health, More Strength, Mobility and Improved Performance

May 19, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

The Bod-e-Tune Naturopathic Health Aid is designed to protect you from interference from electronic devices that may alter your body’s natural electrical frequencies and can potential cause many health issues.

You are at risk, your children, loved ones and even your pets are all being affected by EMF’s.

Bod-e-Tune tunes the cells of your muscles, bones and nervous system optimizing cell function and allowing the body to do what it should naturally.

Bod-e-Tune utilizes the latest in Nano Technology Research and people world-wide are reporting exciting results with conditions, such as;

* Arthritis

* Joint Pain

* Muscle Pain

* Carpal Tunnel

* Fibromyalgia

* Migraines

* Chronic Fatigue

* Old Injuries

* Neuropathy

* Increased Strength

* Increased Stamina

* Better Nights Rest

* And Much More

We are continuously exposed to electrical pollution from cell phones, wifi, tv’s, lights, microwave and other electrical frequencies. Bod-e-Tune is a tune-up to the electrical frequencies of the cells of your muscles, bones and nervous system. It puts your frequencies where they should be and protects you from interference.

This allows your body to achieve a significant improvement in cell function instantly and allows your body to function at a significantly higher level.

Daily functions such as getting up out of a chair, walking, lifting, anything requiring the use of strength, balance and flexibility become easier. Within days of wearing your Bod-e-Tune Health Aid, you may experience less pain, greater flexibility, possibly more energy and improved game play allowing you to perform daily activities as you did years earlier.

So whether you simply want to be protected, you have a pain that you would like to get rid of or you are a sports enthusiasts who is looking for better game play, the Bod-e-Tune Health Aid may be just what you have been missing.

Results of an independent blind study show an average of 48.9% increase in strength and stamina alone from wearing the Bod-e-Tune Health Aid.

In the laboratory, chronic exposure to low level electromagnetic fields clearly affects growth and development, stress response, immune response and many neurological functions. This is not surprising because at the cellular level we are all electrical beings. Epidemiologic studies relate electromagnetic fields to birth defects, psychosis, childhood leukemia and to other cancers, especially brain and reproductive tumors.

Close up view of a frequency tuning disc.

The Bod-e-Tune Health Aid does not do the healing, it tunes your frequencies and allows your body to do what it should do naturally and do it better. Bod-e-Tune works in much the same way as tuning up your car for better performance. By tuning up and enhancing the functioning of the cells of your muscles, bones and nervous system your body works faster, better and stronger, the way it was meant to.

Be sure to visit our website for more details and watch our information videos and our customer testimonials.

Culture

The Role of Proper Dental Care In Your Well-being

November 20, 2019 The Silo Leave a comment

The average person doesn’t take too much care of their oral health. Sure, they will brush their teeth twice a day. And, if they are really particular, they may even floss on a regular basis. Beyond this, however, few people really pay attention to what is going on with their teeth and gums.

While this may seem like a suitable way to live, rest assured, it isn’t. What most people fail to understand is just how important good dental care is for their well-being. If you, yourself, are cynical about its significance, take a look at the facts below:

It Can Prevent Irreversible Problems

If you don’t really think about your oral health often, you may not understand that the tissues in your mouth can be a little different. This is especially true in the case of your gums. Now, in many parts of your body, the tissue has the ability to grow back. So, if there is some loss, this typically isn’t too much of a big deal.

This isn’t the case with gum tissue, though. So, if you experience recession due to gum disease or a similar issue, this loss will be permanent. Fortunately, if you visit Barrie dentists near you once or twice a year, then you will be able to keep this issue at bay. In turn, you will be able to prevent gum loss from happening in the first place.

It Can Reduce the Risk of Recurring Issues

There are few things that are more annoying than tooth problems that just won’t go away. Of course, these conditions aren’t just painful, they can also be rather dangerous too. Recurring infections, for instance, can do permanent damage. This is especially true in the case of wisdom teeth that are unable to correct themselves.

If you see your dentist as needed, though, there is no need to worry about these problems. They will simply inform you when your wisdom teeth have to be removed. This can often be done before your teeth cause too many issues. Then, by undergoing the necessary procedures, you will be able to prevent these conditions from coming back.

Dental Health Impacts Your General Health

It is easy to imagine that your dental health can only affect your mouth and gums. The truth, however, is that it can actually have an effect on your general health as well. Understand, diseases and infections in your mouth can travel to other parts of your body, including your heart. They can then take up residence there and cause extensive damage, resulting in serious diseases.

The team at Barrie Smile Centre will help you stay on top of your oral health.

If you stay on top of your oral health, though, then you will be able to stop these infections from occurring in the first place. At the very least, you will be able to catch them in their earlier stages and ensure that they don’t spread any further.

As you can see, oral care needs to be taken more seriously. So, make sure that you visit a dentist as often as you should. You may never know when such a precaution could end up saving your life! For the Silo, Michael Adams.

Culture

Are More Native Children In Gov’t Care Today Than At Height Of Residential Schools?

June 18, 2015 The Silo Leave a comment

Truth and Reconciliation Report – One Oneida Woman’s Perspective

Indian Residential Schools are a large part of Canadian History. I use the present tense. Every Canadian lives with the fallout of these schools which were to, “Kill the Indian in the Child.” Cultural Genocide the TRC [Truth and Reconciliation Commission CP] says in its opening paragraph.

In Canada, we think it a right and obligation for our children to come home safe. We kiss them on the first day of school, knowing that we will see them again when school is finished. How would you feel if your child never came home?

This happens today.

Families who live in small, fly-in communities have to have their children flown south to attend high school. Some never return. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/first-nations-want-inquest-into-7-student-deaths-1.1239226

There are more Native children is the care of the government today than at the height of the Residential Schools. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-lost-tribe-child-welfare-system-accused-of-repeating-residential-school-history-sapping-aboriginal-kids-from-their-homes

Rather than empathy or acknowledgement of the past, we are told to, “Just get over it.”

Before colonization, we had no abuse, no addictions. We had no poor. Our needs were met- meaning we were one of the richest people on earth (thank you, Professor John Milloy for pointing that out to me).

I have been told that, “Since the Jews got over the Holocaust that we should just get over it.” That is insulting to both me and those who are Jewish.

Get over it.

First Nations communities suffer from the effects of the Residential Schools by having Intergenerational Trauma. We alone are not the only people who have this. Those with a family history of addictions, or abuse, or neglect feel the same effects. We had a generation or two of people who did not see parenting. They saw institutionalized abuse. How could they possibly know how to parent when they left school?

Without proper healing sources in place, and without feeling stuck in the anger, hurt, and pain which comes from Trauma, no one recovers from it.

I can only speak for myself. My grandfather went to the Mush Hole in Brantford, Ontario. He was a bright student, plus when home, he spoke a couple of the Native Languages on our Six Nations Reserve. I am very proud of that.

However, while he says he (personally) was not sexually abused, he had friends who were. He was not allowed to speak his languages at school. He was denied medical care while at school, which caused permanent damage to his brain. My bright and intelligent grandfather became stuck in the poverty cycle. And, the addictions cycle. He couldn’t cope without the structure which was forced on him at school. He couldn’t function well on the reserve. What the school taught his was agriculture. He worked the tobacco fields when he could. Then, he was on welfare.

On top of his mental capabilities, the alcohol killed him inside. Because of him, my mother was raised in a non-Native foster home, not knowing she was Oneida until she was 18. Her foster home denied her access to knowledge of her family on the reserve which was 10 minutes away.

My mom’s foster family did the best they could according to the times. In the 1940’s and 1950’s, it was best to be seen bringing up a little Indian girl in a good Christian family, a family which included a foster father who also had an addictions issue.

Her upbringing effected how I was raised. She also did the best she could. She tried her best to be a good mom, a mom who loved and cared for her own biological children. But also kept them at bay emotionally. She did not know how to really bond as a mom.

Because of the Residential School, my mom did not learn how to properly parent. As for me, I looked for parents I could follow. I am doing the best I can. I hope I my kids do better.

I hope my kids see that while I am Oneida, that does not make me less-than a full person. I hope they see that the Oneida blood that we share is a privilege, something to be honoured and respected. I hope they see it as something that bonds us to other First Nations people around Turtle Island. We are a strong people. We didn’t die. We learned how to survive. Now, we are striving to learn how to live in peace again.

For, you see, the Residential Schools did not kill the Indian in the child. Even with the horrific events which happened, we did not die. We are blossoming as a rose. We will overcome and heal.

Anger needs to be let go. Treaties need to be upheld. If the Canadian government did not want to fulfill the treaties, why were they included in the Canadian Constitution? They are a matter of law. Deal with it, Harper. We don’t expect handouts. We need the highest levels of Canadian law respected and enforced. The government needs to honour their obligations which they proposed, agreed to, and reinforced in the Constitution in 1982.

There is Truth – they tried to kill us off. Now, please, let there be Reconciliation. We all need to acknowledge the past and present to make a future which honours the laws of Our Lands. We agreed to share our land for the benefit of all, not to be killed off. Let us all honour our agreements. For the Silo, Stephanie MacDonald

Culture

Global Meditation for Compassion will livestream FREE & feature Deepak Chopra

May 19, 2015 The Silo 4 Comments

The Chopra Center has just announced that the 2015 Global Meditation for Compassion will be held on Saturday, July 11 at 9 a.m. PT In Carlsbad, CA at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa and meditation will be accessible worldwide for free via livestream in both English and Spanish [see link below DE]. Gabrielle Bernstein, best-selling author and motivational speaker, will lead a conversation around meditation and compassion with Deepak Chopra, M.D., founder of The Chopra Center and best-selling author, and Ismael Cala, acclaimed CNN en Español anchor, best-selling author and speaker.

A 15-minute guided meditation led by Chopra will follow the discussion. In addition, the event will include videos and questions contributed from the global livestreamed audience along with inspiring musical performances and special guest appearances. The Chopra Center 2014 Global Meditation for Peace currently holds the Guinness Book of World Record title for the largest global meditation worldwide with 140,000 in attendance from nearly every country. This will be their second annual global meditation and they are expecting to unite more than 500,000 people worldwide – breaking 2014’s record by nearly four times.

The second annual global movement will also host 1,500 guests at the live event and unite individuals, families and groups across the world for the largest meditation gathering in history. In addition, the event will include videos and questions contributed from the global livestreamed audience along with inspiring musical performances and special guest appearances.

“The Chopra Center’s mission is to serve as the global source for balance, healing, transformation and the expansion of awareness. By creating an opportunity for the world to be a part of the largest guided meditation, we hope to create a more compassionate world,” said Chopra. “It is time to rediscover our common truth – that we are all one.” This year’s meditation aims to increase compassion worldwide, creating a movement towards a kinder, more connected culture. For more information on how to sign up or to learn more, please visit: http://www.chopra.com/globalmeditation.html or email: marketingdirector@thesilo.ca Tickets to the live event are currently available for purchase for 49$USD+service fee at: https://tickets.brightstarevents.com/event/GlobalMeditation

Conventional, creative, and centering uses of the cards to help you get inspired and come home to yourself.

I personally came to this field later in life, or you could say that it found me.

Remedios Varo, Leonora’s best friend, is featured at the Morgan Library as well.

A fever, stomach pains or a simple case of the sniffles can send people rushing to the pharmacy for a drug to cure their symptoms.

You are at risk, your children, loved ones and even your pets are all being affected by EMF’s.

Results of an independent blind study show an average of 48.9% increase in strength and stamina alone from wearing the Bod-e-Tune Health Aid.

It Can Prevent Irreversible Problems

It Can Reduce the Risk of Recurring Issues

Dental Health Impacts Your General Health

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