Daily Notes #1
Introduction + EP updates + some recent fruits of serendipity
The most recent EP newsletter, Unexpected Openings (7/27), explained why I’m testing the idea of a short, daily email. The test begins today and will last for ten weekdays.
“Daily Notes” is actually a separate newsletter, nested inside the Exploration Project—so you can opt out of receiving daily emails if you really don’t want them in your Inbox. But I’ve promised to keep each one at around 3 minutes reading time, so you might not mind having them come along for a little while.
I’m going to start off each one with EP updates (if there are any), and then share whatever I’ve come across in the last day or two that might be of interest. And I’ll finish up with some sort of party favor.
The regular newsletter will come along on Tuesdays. And on Sundays during the test period I plan to share previews of two projects I’m working on. First (8/1) a look at my book-in-progress, and second (8/8) a preview of the Tarot course I’ll be offering in September.
If you’re wondering about this burst of effort/organization, you probably didn’t read News + Letter (7.15). It’s not too late, though!
EP Updates
Recently posted on the EP site:
Divination Deconstructed: Language, dreams, and Tarot (adapted from the second chapter of my second book—Methods, Mastery and More)
Tarot in Troubled Times: The power of archetypal imagery (an essay I wrote last year that seems to be relevant all over again)
Also new on EP—tabs that make it easy to see current and archived content by category. More explanation (if needed) in Tabs! + a Hidden Resource.
Newly Discovered
Today’s gift of serendipity: This morning my own Inbox contained a list of Tarot courses scheduled at Morbid Anatomy. All are taught by Laetitia Barbier—about whom I know nothing except that she is the programming director of Morbid Anatomy, and has a lovely website. If you visit, scroll down and see some of her Instagram posts, which are very engaged with art, iconography, and Tarot history. I’ve only browsed, but found some intriguing items.
In the discovery queue: I’ve been looking for Tarot practitioners who say something (in their books or on their websites) about how and when they discovered Tarot. So far I’ve found three comments—one by the aforementioned Laetitia Barbier (she bought a Marseilles-type deck in Paris, at the age of eleven). The two others are well-known food and travel writer Jane Stern, and iconoclastic journalist Georgelle Hirliman. Both of their stories are very interesting, so I’ll share them in the next newsletter. For one of these women, Tarot was a family tradition—a connection that turned up often in my original survey project.
Speaking of surveys: If you’d like to share your own Tarot history, just spend five minutes taking the Tarot Connections survey. I promise it’s painless!
Party Favor
Actually, the Day 1 “party favor” is a promise for Day 2. I’ve made myself a Tarot widget for use in Notion, and after some small tweaks I’ll share as a template. It’s very simple, but if you haven’t tried Notion (which is free for personal use), this would be a fun way to start.
That’s it for Day 1. Thanks for reading! C