Book of Hours & Almanac

I have been reading about these and have studied Book of Hours for many years, the sumptuous Illuminated Manuscripts are amazing and beautiful. So, in my search for unusual and stunning Tarot (& Tarot related items) I have found some bits I wanted to share.

Here are the Illuminated Tarot, based on the Rider Waite deck but intensely coloured to give a rich and much more interesting card. I am not a fan of the Rider Waite decks, however I'd be willing to give this a try! The swirling colours in the back ground suggest more depth and complex readings would be gained.

Llewellyn's Magical Almanac covering the moon phases and magical events, festivals and important dates throughout the year. There are articles and stories which provide a nice extra addition to an already well planned almanac. Llewellyn offer more; Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac, Herbal Almanac, and an Astrological version.

The Modern Medieval Tarot and rich in colour and vibrancy. Although this is a digital photographic collage deck, I think that it has been done well. The landscape is full and contains many hidden things. The faces are modern, as if looking back to medieval times, through a tunnel.

A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Each book of hours is unique in one way or another, but all contain a collection of texts, prayers and psalms, along with appropriate illustrations, to form a reference for worship and devotion.

The typical medieval manuscript called a book of hours is an abbreviated breviary, the book containing the liturgy recited in cloistered monasteries. The books of hours were composed for the lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life.

An Almanac is an annual publication containing information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar. Astronomical data and various statistics are also found in almanacs, such as the times of the rising and setting of the sun and moon, eclipses, hours of full tide, stated festivals of churches, terms of courts, lists of all types, time lines, and more.

These have certainly made me want to keep a yearly diary of my tarot and rune casting. I encourage my students to keep tarot journals, but it is something that I haven't done for a few years. I think it will be interesting to see the patterns that emerge and also, how key moments throughout the year impact upon the tarot.

So, on my Google Calendar I will put my daily Tarot or Oracle cards that I pull. I will be interested to see how they compare with yours!

The calendar can be found at the bottom of the blog pages!