Today I visited the wonderful Environmental Artist & Spiritual Healer Cheralyn Darcey. I've know Cheralyn for quite a long time and it's very interesting to see how her journey has taken shape and has at currently evolved into an amazing combination of the best of many of her skilled trades. Resulting in a Wild Card Flower reading deck which has been recently launched by publisher Rock Pool Publishing. For Cheralyn it's a dream come true! When I visit her in the newly opened Sacred Space in Manly she has just finished one of many of her spiritual readings today based on her flower card deck. Her eyes are beaming and with great delight she tells me about how successful the cards are and how they quickly have sold out in some shops. No wonder I think as besides that it's a gorgeous deck for a spiritual purpose it's above all a stunning collection of Australia's most amazing wild life flowers. I've never seen anything like it!
Knowing that all these cards original art works are made by lino cuts which are then printed with Japanese ink, followed by hand painting it with colours just baffles you. That's forty four stunning art pieces in a box. What I like about the deck of cards is that they are on a quite large size and as such the art works comes better to it's full 'blossoming' factors. As most of these cards are filled with stunning native flowers in bloom Some of which I know and have seen in the wild, others which I still have to learn about and to explore.
I can't wait to do my own reading with my newly acquired deck. I find a nice warm spot in a local coffee shop near by and get totally entrenched into the cards. I decide to pick one which flower speaks the most to me. It's the Grey Spider Flower! With interest I read it's meaning. Every card has a clear description of the flower itself and below that it's spiritual meaning as observed by Cheralyn Darcey. Later I decide to do a reading with a spread, meaning choosing multiple cards and to my surprise the same flower I picked on choice of it's image now shows up while blindly picked. Interesting!
I'm delighted to see how an other Environmental Artist can make a beautiful career out of her art and spread the joy and love for our wondrous Australian Nature. I suggest you run to the nearest store and get your deck now you still can, it's a truly amazing gift for any occasion. IF you really want to be original and supporting our environment at the same time, I suggest you visit a local nursery which stocks native plants and you add a real plant on top of your deck of cards.
Angela van Boxtel – 17 September, 2014