INNER CHILD CARDS WORKBOOK

by Isha Learner

a review by John Gilbert

I only met Isha Learner through her books about a year ago. She wrote the wonderful Power of Flowers book and deck set which I find just delightful. It's not a tarot deck but it can be used for both divination and meditation. I use the Healings and Blessings in Isha's booklet for divination. I use the cards for meditation.

Karen Forkish beautifully illustrated this meditative and healing deck. US Games published as Power of Flowers: An Archetypal Journey Through Nature in 1999 (ISBN 1-57281-196-X) and Isha wrote the booklet. But I digress.

The Inner Child Cards Workbook is an instructional manual into spiritual learning, a guide to traveling a spiritual path, intense self-improvement lessons, a book of questions requiring insight and introspection, and a source of life-changing affirmations all in one. But wait, there's more.

I just couldn't resist saying that because as I read over what I said, it sounds almost too good to be true. Keep in mind any book is just a suggestion. The work is up to you. I just think Isha's done an excellent job of pulling all this material together. Each of the Major Arcana traditional meanings and keywords for divination are given in the text. Then the author explains one Fairy-Tale relating to each card. This is followed by thought-provoking questions and a list of affirmations derived from the card. All of this is given in Chapter Eight.

In the first seven chapters, Isha discusses the feminine in fairy tales and how this relates to the tarot. She discusses initiation, enchantment and awakening according to the fairy tales. Isha uses fairy tales to explain the archetypes of the soul and how these are mirrors to humanity. She includes four new tarot spreads to help us on our spiritual journey and discusses additional ways to use the Inner Child Cards. In my experience, you can use any tarot deck of your choosing with this workbook, though the illustrations do help me understand Isha's points easier.

The illustrations are from the Inner Child Cards: A Fairy-Tale Tarot by Isha and Mark Lerner as illustrated by Christopher Guilfoil. The Inner Child Cards Workbook (ISBN 187-918189-4) by Isha Lerner is published by Inner Traditions * Bear and Company (800-246-8648). I recommend this book to students serious about learning more than they already know about themselves and those who want to improve their spirituality and self-esteem. I do not recommend it to collectors who'll put it in a bookshelf and forget it. T hat would be a gigantic waste of something very good. Thanks Isha for sharing.

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