January 05, 2022
Blessings and easeful entry into new year for one and all!
Offering the first TULKU ORACLE reading for the collective— 2022
JANUARY—12. SHIVA SHAKTI
Teaching
The teaching in this card is that of balance and timing. Shiva Shakti is the dance of nature, from source to creation, and this mantra reminds you that it is your dance as well. Creation without gestation never happens, and there is always a right time for things to unfold. There is an elegant balance within you, and to access it you need only remember that breathing without pause is not possible. The cycles of rest and activity are all around us and both must be honored. Look at how these cycles play out in your life and focus on this balance now. A powerful creative force is fed by inspiration and contemplation. You are now at the doorway where Shiva and Shatki meet. There is a powerful spark here, as well as deep and fluid waters of merging and integration. You can bring your consciousness into union with creativity and expression through stillness and breath. Watch the precious birth of your soul calling into this world to be shared with the lives of others.
FEBRUARY — 20. HEART ON FIRE
Teaching
The energy of fire is courage, joy, connection, compassion, and love. When it lives in our hearts, we experience the joy we yearn for every moment of our lives. It is the energy of fire that dances in us and fills us with brightness and awe when we are fall in love. This card is about nurturing a passionate, courageously open heart that embodies all of these qualities without holding back. To live from this place, it is necessary to nourish and tend the fire. For this, you must commit to keeping it bright and alive through self-love. This is what ignites the fire within. Through your efforts, your bright fire will naturally become a beacon and inspiration to others.
MARCH—39. GANESH REVERSED
Reversed
It may be that you are feeling obstructed in your efforts towards creating something new, or you may feel you do not have the support you need in bringing your dreams to fruition. Know that there is a doorway or threshold you must cross to access greater flow – where what you have to offer can be received. It may be that what it is you want to initiate is not fully clear in your mind and that you need more time to bring your vision to clarity. Be patient with yourself. If this is the case, call on Ganesh to help remove any obstruction to your vision and to help reveal the direction and calling that is yours to follow.
APRIL — 25. CROSS
Teaching
If you were to draw a line linking the different outer points of this cross, you would have a circle that could be turned in any direction and look the same. Each element within the circle has different qualities that are not hierarchical but rather contribute in unique and diverse ways to a richness and balance. The cross is a reminder of your connection to life in its different forms and expressions. You can look at the truth of this from the physical earth point of view as well as from an energetic perspective – all directions are equally important and valuable. Where all things intersect is the heart. Orienting your perspective from this place, you can create a life connected to the sacred in everything.
MAY — 46. VAJRAYOGINI
Teaching
As human beings, we live in the realm of passion, and Vajrayogini is the very essence of what it means to exist in this realm. Find your joy, your sharp ability to cut out useless attachments, and an exuberant wildness capable of walking over everything that has held you back. Vajrayogini’s message is that when you stop to appreciate the brilliance of what is right in front of you right now, your inner knowing and pure awareness become one. When you open yourself completely to every feeling that moves through you, to your senses and how they are perceiving your experience, devoid of labeling or defining any of it, you are fed with your own knowing. This allows you to trust yourself and how you move in the world. It is not only a connection with your wild nature, but it connects you with the freest, truest part of every other being.
JUNE — 31. HUMMINGBIRD REVERSED
Reversed
If you have drawn Hummingbird in reverse, maybe you are walking instead of flying. Are you holding yourself back? Are you making yourself small by wearing camouflage instead of showing your true colors? Do you feel stuck in one place because you’ve forgotten how freely you can move in any direction you choose? From wherever you are in at the moment, Hummingbird’s arrival shows that it doesn’t take much for you to shift direction. Remember the gifts you have at your disposal and the joy that is your birthright. Put on some color and allow yourself to take a different path...one of discovery and magic.
JULY —50. EYE OF HORUS
Teaching
The lesson from the Eye of Horus card is to see with both eyes and, in return, to allow yourself to be seen. How powerful it is to be witnessed by the great and ancient eyes of the sun and the moon, by the ancestors, by that which is unseen, and even by the essence of life itself. This vulnerable authenticity brings great healing. These are the eyes of benevolence and compassion. Revealing ourselves to them opens us to receiving and accepting unconditional love and forgiveness. These eyes show us the basic goodness of our hearts and the preciousness of who we are. When we connect to being seen by life in this way, our perception is transformed. Our eyes become those of compassion and love – not only towards ourselves, but towards others as well. The invitation here is to find alignment between these types of vision, and when that happens we receive the gift of deep trust in ourselves and others.
AUGUST —10. RITAM
Teaching
This card teaches us about the pulse, the order, underlying everything that happens. Mother Nature is our ultimate teacher, and connecting with her is a way for us to refine our perception of Ritam. Listen, the wind is blowing in new information! Look, there are messages in the clouds! Sit still, by a candle or by a fire, and your path will be illuminated. What animal or plant is appearing to you to catch your eye? Is it witnessing you, just as you are seeing it? What messages does it bring? Not only in nature, but in every aspect of the world, you will find that you are surrounded by magic, synchronicities, and messages if you pay attention.
SEPTEMBER—40. LAXMI REVERSED
Reversed
It could be that you are experiencing a lack of flow or abundance. Perhaps you feel blinded or stuck in one or more areas of your life. If this is the case, search for divine light through the wise and watchful eyes of owl. Listen for the ways in which you can beckon flow and fruition. Engage in exchange with Laxmi through prayer, ritual, or visualization, consciously offering your love and sweetness. Remain open to the gifts of abundance she bestows. Believe in possibility and trust. Allow yourself to release the conditions you have in your mind for your wellbeing, and simply ask from your heart to be filled with joy. Acknowledge the places where you may feel stagnant, unworthy, or unfortunate, but regard them full of the compassionate light of love flowing from Laxmi’s heart to yours.
OCTOBER —42. BEAR EAGLE GODDESS
Teaching
This oracle helps us find a way to be generous with the world. It centers us in a new, reciprocal paradigm for teacher and healer. She can wear and embody the powers and gifts, but she cannot own them or assume they will arrive at her beck and call. They must be respected as gifts or offerings, with the commitment to honor the responsibility of sharing them and being of service to others. The gifts given to and generated by the medicine woman emerge from her time in the cave. The ancient, womblike cavities carved into the mountain are shelter and sanctuary, treasure and mystery. They are the place of the Great Mother and can be dark and scary with unfathomable depths. This is where people and animals are born and where they go to die. The cave is a feminine presence and a place of the intersection of life and death, an archetype in and of itself. This oracle holds the receiver of such gifts to the sacredness of purpose they reflect, and to the commitment to honor them, as well as to honor the two aspects of cave: the place of becoming and the place of dissolution.
NOVEMBER —44. MEDICINE BUDDHA REVERSED
Reversed
Perhaps you are suffering, in a healing crisis, or simply not finding the peace you need at this time. The Medicine Buddha counsels you to gently honor your efforts, treat yourself with kindness, and maintain a hefty dose of patient perseverance. One place to tap into the well- spring of healing is nature. Make a daily practice of interacting with the natural world. Leaning up against a tree, spending time barefoot with the earth under your feet, laying on a blanket in the grass – all these things are very simple ways to support ourselves. Our environment offers us peace and compassion as visible and powerful companions. The soft light of gratitude arises. When in emotional pain, nature can hold us and act as a compassionate witness. In the wild world, we can cry out our grief, share our fear with a river, express anger by giving a good shout, or throw a rock to move the frustration out of our body. Let this environment cleanse you and ground you. Be gentle with yourself and find the compassionate smile of the Medicine Buddha as your witness and ally at this time.
DECEMBER —11. MOKSHA
Teaching
This card teaches us about the power of letting go and discovering the joy of being free. Your effort now should be to stop struggling. Notice if you need to express strong or uncomfortable emotions that you’ve been holding on to, and allow yourself to feel and express them. Instead of suppressing or denying, honor these feelings as a part of your natural makeup as a human being. Moksha reminds us that emotions are meant to flow. They ride on the constantly changing tides of our lives, and once an experience has shifted, the emotions change too. Some emotions – like grief – can stick around for a long time and move slowly. Consciously engage in the idea of letting go and creating flow. Support the healing process by forgiving yourself and others. Find gratitude and acceptance in your heart for your life, just as it is. From this place of softheartedness and receptivity, you step consciously into the work of release, and are rewarded by Moksha – sweet joy and a greater lightness of being.
🌈
Wishing you and your loved ones kindness on this journey of life.
Aside from making supportive amulets, sacred jewelry and art available, I am here to offer support you in the ways of oracle readings and dream tending sessions. Stay tuned for Ancestral medicine being added to the list this spring.If you are looking to go deep with me, check out more on these offerings here—
https://www.paintedream.com
I am offering free 15 minute consultations to see which of these offerings works for you.
Could it be a mentorship? A one time discovery process? A special amulet to support you in the work you are doing? An image born from a dream? A journey back into a significant dream? All of the above?
Together let’s see what wants to come forward for you in 2022.
Book a time here—
https://calendly.com/karlarefoxo/15min
❤️
The Tulku Oracle cards each have a matching amulet. If you really resonate with one of the cards, take it deeper and carry the energy with you every day for extra support and adornment.
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March 10, 2021
My Dear Friends,
As the Tulku Oracle Kickstarter draws to a close (in 4 days!!!) you probably have been noticing that my shares have been more about that than about Tulku Jewels. I wanted to draw a line for you, connecting the two by sharing some of the story behind what weaves them together. And a few questions come to mind to start....
What does it feel like and mean to you to see a wild animal or bird appear at a key moment in your life? What is the language of symbol and spirit as it shows up in your dreams and waking life? If you’re like me, you always know there is so much more than what you can perceive.
I don’t find the answers to these encounters in a book or by looking it up online. I believe the truth in what they bring is something that is called relationship. It is unique and timeless and it’s our birthright.
Like many of you, ever since I was little I felt the presence of Spirit, the friendship of unseen companions. These friends were beings of all shapes and sizes— alive in every aspect of the natural world and beyond—my most diverse and magical community of mysterious and invisible best -friends.
One of the most important parts for me around these friendships was the hours spent coloring them into life so I could share their story with whoever would listen.
Eons later, I’m recognizing that creating amulets for people is an evolution of this conversation. I’m still bringing holy companions into physical form so I can share them with whoever recognizes their charms. Truth be told, they so persistently knock on my door asking to be let in…or out…that I can hardly ignore their request. They have a purpose after all— medicine to share—wisdom to impart— and who am I to deny that?
The amulets and the oracles are my small attempt at opening the stores of perception for myself and others. The amulets are doorways to the oracles, and visa versa—both are healing companions for you to find your inner guidance and connect with the wisdom you have inside.
My deepest wish is that you too can use them as tools and guides to wake up your Oracle Within.
In gratitude and with love, wishing you every blessing on your journey.
Karla
The Tulku Oracle is still on pre-order for 4 more days via Kickstarter—here's the link!
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
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March 04, 2021
Hello friends!
Today I thought I would share an excerpt from the Tulku Oracle deck so you can get an idea what to expect. This is the card that keeps showing up for me and when I asked today who wants to come forward, it's Her.
This excerpt is from the Tulku Oracle deck (now on pre-order for a special price with many special offers) for 9 more days via Kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
42. BEAR EAGLE GODDESS
Protected am I, Deep am I, Healing am I
ELEMENT
Earth and metal, Healer and dreamer, Embodied and emergent
SYMBOLISM
The original image and inspiration for this card was from an illustration of a centuries-old Siberian amulet. There is no information on the original piece, but creating the oracle card unearthed a clear meaning for me. Appearing here is a bear with the wings and body of an eagle. Within her body is a fertility goddess who sometimes takes this form. She has seeds coming out of her hands, symbolizing fertility. Out of the right hand pour seeds of starlight, harvested from the sky the eagle calls her home. Out of the left hand, she releases seeds of the deep earth back to the place the bear calls home. She has four arms; the remaining two hands are holding a plant that represents her healing ability and relationship to the plant kingdom. There is a bear head over her heart and paws on breast, showing her innate heart-connection with this being. They are inside each other.
The woman in the body of Bear is herself a goddess of nature. She is a supernatural being, one who embodies and carries healing aspects of the wild world including bear, eagle, plant, and hummingbird medicine. She is the one who emerges with gifts after spending time in the place of deep hibernation. She makes her appearance in spring, when the beginnings of new life and the healing medicine of plants offer themselves in flowers. She carries the wisdom of a medicine woman.
Her hair forms an archway connecting to her shoulders, the protective mantel that represents her home in the deep cave. The setting and dwelling place of this goddess is a sacred cave, filled with ancient paintings. These are taken from an actual Chumash cave located in the place I once lived in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara, California, called Painted Cave. A cave is a womb of the earth, a place of birth and death, and in many indigenous shamanic traditions it is considered a portal to the other side. This card represents this sacred portal, not only in the cave itself but in the goddess who dwells here. This is a place of the Divine Feminine: a place of power and a place of becoming. Bear lives and hibernates in the cave, residing in the realm of dream. Bear medicine brings protection when you need to be fierce. Rising up from below is a hummingbird drinking nectar from a blossoming trumpet vine to symbol- ize the presence of joy and fertility of the blossoms that grow outside the portal to the cave. Eagle contributes shrewd and encompassing perspective.
ORACLE
Drawing this card recognizes the emergence of healing gifts you have cultivated after a period of gestation. It heralds a time of bringing your unique medicine to yourself and others in your life. The internal processes of dreaming and imagining is coming to fruition, and the wisdom and potential they hold are now ready to emerge into the light.
In some form, drawing Bear Eagle Goddess is a powerful bow to you as a medicine person and acknowledges that you have great gifts to share with others. These include wisdom, insight, and the medicine of allies you have cultivated over time. If these gifts have not yet taken a form that you recognize, look to the seeds you have planted through dreams and journeys you have taken. You will find that your allies start to appear, out of the mystery of the dreamtime or nature, with unique qualities that speak to your heart and your purpose.
The first step to fully embodying your gifts is giving yourself permission to express them in a way that is unique and authentic to you. The healing nectar emerging at this time is the distillation of your heart-based work. It is an expression of nature teaching to you to dance in a new way to be seen and to open to the powerful support that is here to empower you. You are in a cycle that calls on you to bring forth what you have been cultivating and growing within. Until now, you have kept it hidden from the world, but it was always meant to be shared. Your people need you and your medicine, and it can serve in ways that may still feel mysterious and are yet to be discovered.
This oracle presents healers and teachers as the generous embodiment of purpose. Here we look at what we desire as our calling. As we reach out to express this yearning to others, we also grow increasingly knowledgeable and specific about our purpose. Bear Eagle Goddess reminds us that heart-based relationships cannot happen without reciprocal exchange, like that between teacher and student, or healer and the person seeking healing. This exchange is an offering that includes some form of sacrifice on both parts to see the transmission come to fruition. Through our sincere efforts and prayers, we create a shelter, womb, and cave for healing gifts to reside and grow. But if ego, or a quest for power, enter into this sacred place, these gifts and the fierceness of Bear can turn on us.
REVERSED
If you draw this card in reverse, perhaps the time has not yet arrived for you to come out of the cave. Or perhaps you’re holding back from stepping out and sharing your medicine. Drawing this card either upright or in reverse also cautions us to be aware that these gifts are coming through you and are not for you to keep or hide. It’s your responsibility to share them from a place of humility and service. It also is a reminder to allow the medicine of your allies to do its work and recognize that this organic healing originates in spirit – not in ego.
TEACHING
This oracle helps us find a way to be generous with the world. It centers us in a new, reciprocal paradigm for teacher and healer. She can wear and embody the powers and gifts, but she cannot own them or assume they will arrive at her beck and call. They must be respected as gifts or offerings, with the commitment to honor the responsibility of sharing them and being of service to others.
The gifts given to and generated by the medicine woman emerge from her time in the cave. The ancient, womblike cavities carved into the mountain are shelter and sanctuary, treasure and mystery. They are the ancient original refuge for dragons, human beings, and animals alike – part of our evolution andhistory. They are the place of the Great Mother and can be dark and scary with unfathomable depths. This is where people and animals are born and where they go to die. The cave is a feminine presence and a place of the intersection of life and death, an archetype in and of itself. This oracle holds the receiver of such gifts to the sacredness of purpose they reflect, and to the commitment to honor them, as well as to honor the two aspects of cave: the place of becoming and the place of dissolution.
As always, wishing you great blessings in your emergence and in your journey of offering your unique gifts of medicine to this world,
Karla
I have many ways to support you on your journey. The Tulku Oracle is one tool.
Still offering on pre-order for 9 more days via Kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
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February 24, 2021
People who don't know me may be wondering, who is the person behind her creations? What is the story there? Is she authentic, integritous, trustworthy? All questions I too would perhaps ask of another. This has brought me on a deep dive into weeding through all the chapters and details, taking the task on of finding the essence and crafting my story, in order to share it with all of you.
I love Dreams, Art, Nature, Imagination and connecting with my Intuition. For me, they are the portals to the Oracle Within. This combination—that brings me insight and delight— is what I passionately want to share with you.
The dreams I had of my mother dying in a car accident months before it happened when I was 20 confirmed my suspicions that the world of spirit is real and that it cares about me. These dreams showed me the unshakeable truth that I had direct connection with something mysterious and beyond life as I knew it. Something that loved me, looked after me, cared for me, and spoke to me through dreams, intuition and art. This has been true my whole life.
My dreams led me to the ashram and a guru for 18 years, a journey that took me on a long loop of giving up everything including my art, only to come back to it reborn, infused with Spirit, dedication and conviction. I found my soul home in Nepal and a deep connection with ancient spiritual artistic traditions. While working as an artist in Kathmandu, I met Rajendra Bajracharya, a Newar Buddhist priest and sculptor. Together we gave birth to Tulku Jewels, a way to not only create our art but to connect with the Spirit and tradition alive in these images. The combination then of sharing the medicine of beauty, symbol and deity as a support for people on their transformational journeys, also is a bringer of abundance to help keep these precious endangered traditions alive.
After leaving the ashram, the longing to have direct and grounded experience of spirit led me to find new teachers. Through Eliot Cowan the Pilgrimage Path he led me on, and my studies of Plant Spirit Medicine, my connection with the natural world deepened in magical ways. I was taught to journey to the plants and listen to their dream so that I could receive their medicine to share with others. Though my identity was of an artist, the healing the plants so generously offered beckoned me into a broader life expression as healer. This was challenging for me to embrace, since I had an idea of healers as traditional medicine people that was hard to live up to.
Creating the Tulku Oracle Deck was then a gift born of my need to integrate the knowledge and experience that I had gained over many years of working with the amulets and plant spirits as tools for healing, as well as the desire to paint again. Dreams, intuition, inspiration and the quiet whispers of support from the unseen realms have been my companions and guides.
While working on the Oracle deck, I met Stephen Aizenstat and embarked on the rich journey of learning Dreamtending. Here I finally allowed my dreams their rightful place of honor and found my voice. This was a coming home to a way of relating to the living images of dream and Oracle that my deck ..and my soul…was calling for. Combined with Plant Spirit Medicine, Dreamtending has brought me into a deeper engagement not only with my dreams, but with the living world of ancestors, nature, imagination, creativity and magic. This is where the world of Spirit, Art and healing all come together for me. The oracle cards, amulets and dreams are the tools that have shown me how to step into my gifts and help others.
While the fear of being seen combined with my identity as an artist has kept me in some sense hiding behind my art, the oracle has mysteriously given me courage. Tending peoples dreams and holding space for them in vulnerable moments, bringing art and imagination forward through dreams and oracle, have gracefully braided the healer, dreamer and artist into one.
My art, spirituality, dreams and oracle are all a part of who I am and my unique offering. They are what I was given so I could play my part and serve and support others on their transformational journeys. I am passionate about helping others engage and take hold of their own particular gifts and voice through dreamwork and oracle readings. I long to see you in your true power and wholeness and to help you discover and understand the unique language of your oracle within. If this resonates with you, please reach out to me. I promise to hold space in the most honoring way as I tend your dreams and oracle. With respect and curiosity, I will guide you as you go deep to meet and listen to the voice of your soul purpose and heart and receive direct inspiration from same.
With Love,
Karla
SO Grateful for the wild success of the Tulku Oracle Kickstarter! The campaign has 17 days to go. Here you will find special offers for the Oracle deck available for pre-order here.
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
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February 17, 2021
Hello dear Friends,
This is such a precious wild ride the Tulku Oracle deck has taken me on so far. I feel called to share my welcoming greeting at the beginning of the Tulku Oracle book so you get a taste of the flavor in its pages, where I come from, and the tone of this deck. If it resonates, the link to the Kickstarter is at the bottom of this email for you to see more. :)
I think of myself as an artist first – with dashes of intuitive, pilgrim, healer, and mystic to round it all out. I am by no means a scholar, but I know the energies shared in these cards and chapters through many years of relating to them. The creative process of bringing these images to life and engaging with them as tools to support others is something to which I have been long and lovingly dedicated. It is my hope that you will take what I have shared here and make it your own. To not look at this as an intellectual reference point, but rather to relate to it as a touchstone from my heart to yours. The natural and liminal worlds who have become part of the images on these cards have loved me well. It is they who ignited my heart and inspired me to create the beauty I hope you find here.
I am a visual and feeling oriented person. More introverted than extroverted. The images of the Oracle cards give words to the place of no words. They open doors into the feeling, imaginal, into the mystery that dwells at the heart of every word. So when I come into that place in myself where I have no language, where the feelings are complex and many, and I cannot see my way, the heroes in the Archetypes, Totems, and Symbols in these amulets and cards companion me into a new level of seeing and understanding. My hope and prayer has always been that they speak to others in these ways and support you on your journey as well.
With gratitude and love,
Karla
Now you can order prints of the Tulku Oracle deck and also get readings at my other website—
https://www.paintedream.com
Here's the link to the Kickstarter—
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
And here is a link to an amazing walk through the deck by Lisa Papez of @SupportiveTarot. Check her out--she's a powerhouse of inspiration and insight.
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