Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
Queen of Swords – Thoth and the Art of Balance
There was a period of time that I stayed away from Tarot.
I had gotten tired of it; I guess when you’re young, that happens with anything. I got tired of looking up meanings in a little white book and trying to decipher what the cards meant, what message they could possibly have for me. I grew tired of trying to see myself in arcane images and other people’s words.
Still though, the cards would call to me. I would see Tarot decks in bookstores and remember those first few years of learning Tarot, the joy that I would get every time that I would draw a card for myself or other people, the thrill of not knowing what the cards would say to me. Even if I couldn’t understand the message, the fact that it was meant for me filled me with joy.
It was after my struggles with my body and the eventual diagnosis of multiple sclerosis that brought me back to the cards. I remember those first few months of struggling with my body, trying to get it to do everything that it could do without thought before but now everything was a battle. I knew that there had to be more than the constant fight, the fear of not knowing.
Instead of hiding in the dark like I had been, I started to go back out in the world. The first thing I chose to do was to have a Tarot reading. My lovely friend Diane was giving readings as a finale to the Tarot course that she had been taking. It was October 31st and I thought nothing could be better and more appropriate than getting a Tarot reading on Halloween.
That reading changed my life. Diane gave me a reading with the Thoth deck. I had never seen it before and knew that I had to learn everything I could about this mysterious deck. I signed up for classes from her teacher so that I could learn about the mysteries of the Thoth Tarot deck. I will always remember what he said in that first lesson. He told us to pull a card and think about what it meant to us, telling us to go to the guidebook for guidance, but to really listen to what the card was saying to us without the benefit of someone else’s words.
I read countless books on Thoth, on the mysteries contained within and without, but I saw my own meanings for the cards. Some of them meshed with the ideas expressed in the books I had read, but the Thoth deck taught me to look for my own voice within the cards and tell my own story. I loved how deep you could go with the Thoth deck, how many mysteries that it held. The deck helped me to appreciate the mysteries that each Tarot deck held, just waiting to unfold.
When my cover designer Dominic Bercier and I started talking about my vision for the cover of Queen of Swords, I had a very basic vision: I knew that I wanted a woman with a lion, as long as those elements were on the cover, I would be happy.
He asked me about the main character of Jackie. She was based off of one of my friends, so I told him about her, how Jackie had been through so many challenges, but she never quit. That she was filled with a strength that actually made those around her feel stronger and a light that shone so brightly that it brightened the lives of those who knew her.
I talked a little bit about something from deep within the book and he said to leave it with him, that he had an idea and would just run with it. I said to go ahead. Dominic is an amazing artist and I’m in awe of what he can do. I wasn’t worried. What he got back to me with just blew my mind away.
Dominic said that it was based off of the balance card from the Thoth deck. He showed me the picture and I knew that he was talking about Adjustment, the card of balance and adjusting your centre so that you could carry a heavy weight. I thought this was a perfect inspiration for the cover of Queen of Swords. I also love how it brought me back to the Thoth deck after such a long time.
Queen of Swords is all about balance. Jackie has to learn about herself and find a way to balance who she was with who she is now with her world no longer the same. There is also the handling of swords to consider. Every great sword fighter knows it’s not enough just to jab and perry. You have to be balanced with your sword, become one with it, so that you can make your attack.
It should come as no surprise that balance is something I’m currently learning to do and so I knew that Jackie would have to find a balance in her life on the journey throughout Queen of Swords. It would be a balance of light and dark, of can’t an can, one of what she had to learn versus what she knew already. At the beginning of the book, she is just running away. By the middle of the book, she realizes that she is running towards something.
I love the fact that Dominic brought the story back to the Thoth deck. I wrote it using the Smith Waite as the spine of the novel and the Thoth deck ended up as the books skin, two part of my journey with Tarot represented in one book. In a way, that’s a gorgeous kind of balance too.
Everything about Tarot, even if presented in book form, is a journey. We just have to be willing to go on that journey and listen to what the cards have to say.
Queen of Swords is available here:
Queen of Swords – Why Representation Matters
When I started my book on Tarot, I knew that there were some things that would be different.
I used the Smith Waite Tarot Centennial edition as the spine and the backbone of Queen of Swords. I knew that each card would be a chapter in the novel and at first, I was almost too overwhelmed to begin. How would I write a book with seventy-eight chapters, with each chapter representing a Tarot card and what it would represent of my story and of Tarot? How could I possibly write that?
I decided to break it down into the three suits of the Tarot: the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana and the Suits. That helped me make the focus of the story to take in. I knew that Queen of Swords would be a novel that focused on the Major Arcana. I also knew that some things had to change for this to be the story that I wanted to tell.
I knew that the main character of my story would be a woman who is on her own journey to find herself. I wanted to tell the Fools Journey of the Major Arcana but set it in a world that was familiar to me, but have it hidden under a shroud of darkness. For me, the Tarot has always given me light when I’m lost in the shadows; I knew that my story would be the same, that throughout the tale, my main character Jackie would have to find the light within in order to find her path.
Though the Smith Waite Tarot is the backbone of almost every Tarot out there in the world, and it formed the backbone and the foundation of my Tarot knowledge, I knew that I would have to change a few things within Queen of Swords for it to feel like my story. I know the cards so well, but I’ve never seen myself within the cards.
I’m gay and disabled. I have never seen either element of myself reflected in the Smith Waite Tarot deck, but have seen representation in countless other decks. I knew that if I was going to write a Tarot novel that there would have to be some sort of representation. I worried about how people would react to those changes for a millisecond. I knew that Queen of Swords had to be my take on things, and it would have to include two elements of what I live with.
The first change that I made was to make the Empress a man. I also made him gay. Gabriel is loving and cares with his whole heart, but he has also obviously been hurt. He has the Venus symbol of the Venus tattooed on his arm, but it is surrounded by a heart which was made to look as if it were made of barbed wire. Gabriel has obviously been hurt, but is still open for love, even if he is a little prickly about it.
This is all me. Though I had been hurt time and time again in my quest for love, I remined open towards the possibility but felt the need to protect myself. That is Gabriel’s mission for Jackie, to protect her and show her how to love herself, how to open herself up to the possibility of self-love. I knew that Jackie would need a lot on the journey that she was going to go on within Queen of Swords.
The second change I made was to make the Emperor a woman. Marie-Claude is a force to be reckoned with but also the ultimate voice of truth. She favours those that play with the rules and do what they are supposed to do, but defends that which surrounds her, especially Jackie. Marie-Claude is also named after a real woman, just like Jackie is named after someone I know. Marie-Claude won a contest to be a character in one of my novels. I’m only sorry it took so long to write.
I loved the fact that the name Marie-Claude means “one who rises/brings up” in Hebrew. I knew that, though her methods were a little rigid, her sense of right and wrong would be able to rise Jackie up to where she needed to be so that she could see the path in front of her a little more clearly.
The third change was that I wanted to include someone who was disabled. I wanted to see someone like myself in Queen of Swords who dealt with other challenges. Being disabled has defined a lot of how I have seen myself and the ways in which I get through life. Living with cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis has actually been a lens through which I read cards for myself. A lot of my questions when I do a personal Tarot reading tend to be about how to overcome a particular boundary I am facing physically or how I can look at a situation I’m facing caused by my disabilities in a different way.
I knew that my Hermit would be disabled. As I wrote, I didn’t know the disability that he would have, only that he would have one. When it came time to write his character, I knew that he was in a wheelchair. The Hermit normally symbolizes taking time for yourself, delving within so that you can find what makes your light shine brightly.
Jackie is surprised to find that Ethan is self sufficient, but I wasn’t. I knew that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Part of being able to shine for me has always been knowing what I am capable of because of, and not in spite of, my disabilities. I knew that it would be the same for Ethan.
I know that with every new deck that I get, the creator will have put their own spin on the story that they are telling with the cards. I wanted it to be the same with Queen of Swords. I wanted people to read it and be able to see people they know and recognize and hopefully a little bit of themselves along the way.
Tarot is a mirror after all and it is what we see in the cards that reflects us most of all.
Queen of Swords is live! You can get your copy at any of the following retailers in ebook and paperback:
I hope you enjoy Jackie’s tale and The Queen of Swords. It’s taken ten years to get to you and I think it was worth the wait.
Queen of Swords: AVAILABLE TOMORROW!
I’m filled with nervous excitement!
Queen of Swords is released tomorrow and I’m in awe that the day came so quickly and I can’t believe that it’s almost here. I doubt I will sleep tonight but that’s okay! Release day is almost here! It’s release day eve!
I never thought this book would see the light of day, or that I would go on such a journey within myself while I was writing it. Getting Jackie through the beginning of her journey taught me a lot about who she was, but also had me take a deep look at myself. There’s a lot of me in this book, just the good parts though.
Here’s a bit about the book:
All alone on a plane. A sword.
An average woman on the edge.
An Apocalyptic Crucible
set to the Major Arcana…
One Way Out; to go
Within.
Jackie never expected or prepared for any of this.
Now she’s thrust full throttle into the throws
and powers of the imaginal world,
and she’s losing hope.
Jamieson Wolf weaves together the 22 Arcana into
larger than life portals into our hero’s heart and self.
A Tarot Thriller…
Queen of Swords
You still have time to pre-order Queen of Swords and you can do so here:
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-of-swords-jamieson-wolf/1143126833?ean=2940166884916
Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9781928101314
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6445867825
Thalia Books: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1068187048
Vivlio: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9781928101314_9781928101314_10020/queen-of-swords
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1352372
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/628836216
There will be more behind the scenes essays coming and a few more bits and bobs about Tarot and the journey of going within.
SO MUCH EXCITE!
See you tomorrow!
Tarot and Tattoos – The Journey and the Memory
When I started writing Queen of Swords, I knew that it would involve tattoos in some way.
For me, tattoos have always been a way of marking the important moments in one life, of marking yourself with a period of time held in ink and the shape of memory. I have nine tattoos and each of them represent a moment in my life that I wanted to remember or a lesson that I learned about myself. When I look at the tattoos that grace my skin, I can recall what they mean or what inspired them.
I have nine tattoos and am planning a tenth. There is one tattoo that I have that is linked to Tarot. A few years ago, I had the Strength card from The Wild Unknown Tarot tattooed on my right shoulder. The Wild Unknown if my favourite Tarot deck out of all the ones that I have used. There is just something about it, a certain poetic primal beauty, that calls to me.
The Strength card is the first card I look at when I’m considering another Tarot deck. To me, the Strength card is reminder of what I’ve overcome and that it is okay to love myself. This card holds the force that I’ve had to use to get past certain obstacles and a reminder that I’m worth of self-love, no matter the battle scars that mark my skin.
The Strength card was beautiful on its own, but the tattoo didn’t feel done. I went back to the tattooist and had him add the Ace of Wands and the Ace of Swords from The Wild Unknown Tarot as well. They represent the two sides of me: one is the creative journey that I am always on, the light of my spirit that shines brightly and the other is the journey I am on with my mind and the power I have with my words.
I love the fact that both the Ace of Wands and the Ace of Swords represent beginnings. Tarot is a cycle after all and I always feel like I’m at the beginning of something, especially when something ends. I knew that with Queen of Swords I would have to follow the main character Jackie on her journey and that she would be marked along the way, both by what had happened and was happening to her and by tattoos that would be her talisman’s in the unknown.
There are other characters in Queen of Swords that have tattoos. Gabriel is marked with the symbol of Venus and Xander is marked with a variety of tattoos. For each of them, they depict something of the journey they have both been on. In fact, when Jackie first meets Xander and Gabriel, their tattoos are one of the first thing she notices about them.
She looked at Xander’s tattoos which ran along his forehead and face. They framed his face and made his cheekbones stand out, making him look like some kind of scarecrow man. Taking in all the different tattoos, Jackie saw that there was an infinity symbol on his forehead in the very centre. While all the other tattoos were done in black ink, the infinity symbol was tattooed in yellow ink, standing out against the black ink of the other tattoos.
Stepping into the kitchen, Jackie’s first thought was that the voice matched the man perfectly. He stood well over six feet and was broad shouldered. He had a thickly muscled chest and his arms held more muscle. Her eyes were drawn to the rope-like veins that ran up and down his arms. He wore a vest that looked as if it had once been made out of denim, but had things added to it. It now looked as if it were armour, and the weather had turned it hard and supple. Leather had been sewn overtop of the denim. There was a black tattoo that covered his arm. She was into astronomy and the planets, so she recognized the symbol as the planet Venus. It was surrounded by a heart which had been made to look like barbed wire.
Jackie doesn’t know it at the time, but by looking at their tattoos, she has already learned something about Xander and Gabriel before they have even opened their mouths. Yes, tattoos are used to remember but they also communicate and tell a story without words.
I think that’s the true power or tattoos. They hold power because of the memories that they hold, but also because of what they say about the person without even uttering a word.
Queen of Swords comes out on March 21st! It’s ready to pre-order. Check out where you can get my new book here: https://jamiesonwolf.com/2023/03/12/queen-of-swords-available-for-pre-order/
I hope that wherever your journey takes you that you learn something about yourself along the way.
Queen of Swords – Available for Pre-Order!
The launch of Queen of Swords comes ever closer.
The novel will be released on March 21st, 2023. It’s hard to believe that in just a little over a week, everyone will be able to read the book and follow Jackie on her journey through a world that is very much like our own.
It doesn’t feel real yet, but it will be soon! I had an author copy printed and it’s arriving this week so I can give it a final look through. I’m excited and anxious all at once, but the good kind. I can’ believe that the past ten years have led up to this!
Here’s a little bit about the book:
All alone on a plane. A sword.
An average woman on the edge.
An Apocalyptic Crucible
set to the Major Arcana…
One Way Out; to go
Within.
Jackie never expected or prepared for any of this.
Now she’s thrust full throttle into the throws
and powers of the imaginal world,
and she’s losing hope.
Jamieson Wolf weaves together the 22 Arcana into
larger than life portals into our hero’s heart and self.
A Tarot Thriller…
Queen of Swords
The novel is available for pre-order all over the place! Check out the links below. Paperback books will be available for pre-order shortly, but don’t worry. Both the eBook and Paperback will be available on release day!
This is the first time that I’m doing a pre-order and wide release for one of my books. Even excite!
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6445867825
Thalia Books: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1068187048
Vivlio: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9781928101314_9781928101314_10020/queen-of-swords
Smashword: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1352372
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-of-swords-jamieson-wolf/1143126833;jsessionid=A2244E3C102D5F00D3234F785F1EFD9A.prodny_store01-atgap15?ean=2940166884916
Kobo Books: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/queen-of-swords-12
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/628836216
I hope that you’re all as excited as I am for Jackie’s journey as she gets ready to within…
Buy Little Yellow Magnet from Amazon and Kobo!
Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 