This is a limited edition of 800 decks The deck measures 70x120 mm, 350gsm, matte uv varnish, hard box, gold edges. The imagery is the same woodburned and oil painted images as the other two editions. The only differences are card backs, box art, and booklet cover.
The original artwork was first drawn, woodburned, and then oil painted by artist Jessica Leigh Henry.
I absolutely love this edition ✨💛✨
”I became intrigued with making art as a very young child. The first time I remember being attracted to an image, I was about 3 or 4 years old. It was an image on the Spiritual Sky incense my parents bought. It was beautiful Krsna, standing with a bent knee, his head tilted, playing his golden flute. I remember staring at it for hours, his brilliant yellow robes, the vivid emerald foliage behind him… I absolutely loved it! Immediately I wanted to make images like that, images that would provoke such strong emotions and mood. I wanted to recreate the feeling it gave me, the feeling of beauty. From that moment on, art making became my favorite pastime. I found that I could create magical worlds, with forms and color, I could make my visions come true. As I reached my early teens my love of art and its power to evoke deep feeling grew. Quite naturally I became interested in symbolism, mysticism, and occult wisdom. I started studying myths, astrology, and ancient symbolism. My mom bought me my first deck, the Aquarian deck, when I was 14. I remember thinking, “What is this?” It was mysterious, beautiful, and inspiring. I was immediately excited and eager to learn. Over time I memorized the basic card meanings and began my journey of working with Tarot. I did readings for myself, for friends, family, and occasionally for strangers. I spent all of my free time researching and practicing Tarot or refining my skills as an artist. I suppose I always knew that one day I would make a Tarot deck. A year and a half before my 50th birthday, after many synchronistic events, I finally decided to do it. I wanted it finished before my 50th birthday so I immediately got to work. For six months I drew all of the images. I decided to draw them intuitively, purely stream of consciousness, so that they would manifest themselves into the world. After all 78 cards were drawn I began wood-burning them. The first image, The Magician, was burned on August 8th, 2017. August 8th is the day of the astronomical Lions Gate. It is when the brightest star Sirius, aligns with the Pyramids, streaming light into the Queen’s Chamber. It was a significant time to the ancient Egyptians, the beginning of the year, when the Nile would flood bringing new life. It was that day, the day I burned the first card, that I decided to name the deck Lions Gateway Tarot. Making the deck was a challenging process, both creatively and spiritually. As I got further into the Major Arcana I started to feel that I was actually experiencing each card as I made them. It felt as if burning them into wood brought them to life somehow. Sometimes I would experience subtle little nuances that energetically echoed the card, other times it was like a slap in the face. The most memorable time was the day I burned the Tower. As I started to scan the freshly wood burned Tower my computer started clicking loudly, the screen went black…? did it crash? I immediately took it to get fixed. The computer tech looked amazed as he told me he had never heard such a terribly loud “ click of death” and that nothing could be saved… It Crashed! I lost everything, 10 years of writings, pictures, memoirs, all gone! After that I tried to ease the suffering by making the difficult cards quickly, and moving on to less trying cards swiftly. It didn’t work, but I continued diligently working, wood burning, then oil painting, while I energetically experienced each card. I finished the last card, the King of Wands, on August 2nd. I still had one final wood burning to do and on August 8th, 2018, 9 days before my 50th birthday, I wood burned the final image, which is the white lioness on the front of the box. That was it… all artwork was finished, I was ecstatic! Needless to say making this deck was the most challenging project I have ever done. It was a profoundly trying and rewarding experience, I feel somehow purified having gone through it.
It is my hope that anyone using this deck will be guided towards their own truth, gaining wisdom and insight into the nature of their own heart, within the heart of everything.
This deck is a culmination of my long time interests and a lifetime of study and reflection.
I want to offer special thanks to everyone who has inspired and supported me on my journey over the years.… to all of you, I offer, Love and Gratitude!”
Working With The Tarot Oracle
The key to revealing the secrets of the Tarot system of divination is to approach it purely from the intuitive unconscious mind. Sigmund Freud, when explaining the difference between the unconscious and conscious mind stated, “Properly speaking, the unconscious is the real psychic..” He believed that significant psychic events take place "below the surface" in the unconscious mind. When seeking answers that are unclear in our everyday conscious reality, it is important to look within. All of our deepest questions are uncovered in the unconscious mind which governs our imagination, dreams, repressed memories, secret desires, and hidden urges. It is also the source of intuition, and a gateway to the higher mind. Through the use of archetypes, symbolism, numbers, and suits, the Tarot becomes a living oracle in open communication with both the unconscious and higher mind. The higher mind is aware of underlying forces at work in our lives and wants to offer help, to guide us toward making the best choices for the most beneficial outcomes in the future. When a person shuffles the cards with the intention of gaining insight, the subtle energies that are present in their life will present themselves in the cards. The cards’ imagery illustrates the many combinations of situations, experiences, and unseen influences that are an essential part of our human existence. Many times the person who is getting a reading will at once recognize the spirit and energy of the cards they draw, because on a very deep level they already know the answers to the questions they are asking. An intuitive reader will begin to “see” a story unfold. With an open heart and mind they will communicate to the person receiving the reading, the profound wisdom of their own unconscious mind.
When working with Tarot it is important to remember that nothing is written in stone. The cards that are drawn express how things are presently playing out, they show influences and energies that are in the Querent’s path. If there are difficult cards it is merely an indication that it is time to work with that energy, and make changes in that area of your life.
As you work with the cards try to commit each one to memory. Once you have a basic intellectual understanding of the meanings, it is time to turn off the conscious mind and tune into your intuition. Perceive beyond your material reality. Allow free form visions to come through. “Sense” the cards with your imagination, and express what they are saying like a story teller. Feel yourself awaken into the imaginative and magic realm of divination.Lions Gateway
Jessica Leigh Henry is an artist who lives in Northern California.
