The Equinox Celebration Tarot, from its inception in 1976, has involved the weaving of the visual, material, with the conceptual. This ongoing process thrives on innovation. The most recent development is the Lunar Eclipse Coins. A visual meditation on the total Lunar Eclipse of October 28, 2023, led to creating 3” copper irregularly shaped discs to represent the Lunar Eclipse Disc in its phases from partial to total. 36 discs for the 36 Equinox Tarot Celebrants were cut and textured, with the corresponding symbols for each Celebrant (card) stamped in; they were then patinaed using direct flame.
The Lunar Eclipse Coins, being metal, textured, and patinated with various color ranges of copper mixed with rainbow hues, add a tactile, geometric dimension to shuffling. This shuffling includes an audio element: the coins, when rubbed and thrown together have percussive effects. As part of the shuffling process, they can be arranged in geometric patterns, or mathematical groupings, like 9 stacks of 4 coins each.
A Triangle with the symbols for each Celebrant visible. These are from left bottom, Martial (3 of Moons); right, Keeper of the Light (11 of Stars); and top, Spirit of Joy (7 of Suns).
After “shuffling,” or “arranging” the coins, involving some kind of playing, the querant selects three coins and places them in a triangle, as with the cards. The symbol for each coin is read, with the corresponding card taken from the deck and placed next to its coin.
This is consistent with the 3-D origin of The Equinox Celebration Tarot, with each an oracular art piece, allowing a more ceremonial and procedural meditation than shuffling cards.
Each Lunar Eclipse Coin has a hole in its center to hold stick incense. If so desired, a prayer to a Celebrant in the reading can be made.