A Deck Is Born

As many of you already know the inspiration for our Wisdom of Birth Oracle & Tarot deck came through a desire to make the guidance and support of a doula available to all expectant mothers and parents-to-be. To offer pregnant individuals a window into the the kinds of support they might wish for while literally giving birth.

Over time it morphed into something inclusive of that original intention but also far beyond it. Case in point, my experience over the past 2 weeks leading up to our Kickstarter launch.

When I submitted our project for review, I was feeling pretty confident. Early labor, "I've got this". By the time we got our first response from Kickstarter, flagging our project for nudity, suddenly labor kicked into high gear! I pulled the PUSH card, not once but twice over those 3 days while I hustled to get our videographer, artist and graphic designer on editing our images to be Kickstarter approved.

I felt like I was pushing with a doctor insisting I stay on my back. But a doula knows how to help you stay connected with your power, even within systems not designed for our bodies. Just as in literal labor (not to say this would be the only way to approach this situation, but) if you move from flat on your back to the side, this slight re-positioning allows for greater physiological ease for pushing while remaining in a position that works for more conservative care providers. The Wisdom of Birth was in action, working with us through this process.

Also, our PUSH card carries another bit of guidance I found useful at the time. In it the image of a baby appears to be floating in space. A snapshot of the liminal nature of the pushing phase which is only part push, the other is deep deep rest in between. Once the messages were sent, there was nothing for me to do but rest in the arms of that space between worlds.

Stay with me here for a few more moments, because once our nudity issues were resolved, we hit another snag. For some reason, my account was flagged for having another outstanding successful kickstarter campaign that was marked as unfulfilled. But this is my first ever Kickstarter campaign!

Picture it. It's 4am, just days before our launch party is scheduled, and they are denying our approval based on an error I am incapable of correcting, because on my end, there is no previous campaign to be found. I send off all my messages to the kickstarter support team, and I burst into tears. The oh so common emotional release of labor that so often comes. The moment of "I surrender".

I pulled a card. You are so close, it says. You're feeling this way because the baby is soooo close! 

The tears keep coming. I call my friend Felice in the morning to doula me. I call my midwife friend Kimm to midwife me. I tell her I feel like the baby is stuck. It's a shoulder dystocia! She calmly says to me, no, it's not stuck, this is just what it's like before your baby is born.

Within the hour I get a message from Kickstarter. They have accepted our project, we are approved.

Just like that, at the peak of self-doubt, at the peak of surrender, at the peak of pressure and intensity, our babies (literal and metaphorical) are right on the other side.

This is the deck we have created for you. For you and every client and friend and every kind of birthing moment.

You guys, there's a card for all of it! From "It's alright to cry", to "Your baby is coming", to "You did it". A complete tarot. You'll see our beautiful artwork, all the wonderful rewards and support levels we've created for you, from decks to prints to candles on our Kickstarter here. Thank you in advance for whatever level of contribution feels good to you.

We also ask of you to share this campaign far and wide. We are off to a strong start, so thank you for helping us keep it going. If you're on Instagram, follow me here, this is also a great post to share to help spread the word!