Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Giveaway Tarot(ish) Wednesday - Pagan Publishing Edition

One of the first people I took a successful and thought provoking Tarot Workshop with was the amazing Debbie Chapnick.  Not only does she do an incredible job of explaining and exploring the Tarot, she is also the owner, editor, and everything else at Datura Press that was started in 1999 to publish her Tarot Tip Sheet.

Dolores and Merlin at Tintagel
A few years ago Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki asked a very honored Debbie to act as her archivist. Now most of Debbie's time is spent going though wonderful papers, organizing them, and creating books. These books contain lectures, workshops, rituals and meditations, most of which have not seen the light of day for 40 years. Amongst these papers are not only the work of Dolores, but of W.E. Butler, Gareth Knight, Dion Fortune and the Rev. Robert King.

The reason I am writing today is the company is at a crossroads. People, such as distributors and bookshops worldwide want these books but Datura Press needs enough in stock to fill the need.  They need books and advertising! Currently books are ordered as needed. It keeps things going, but doesn't make much in the way of profit to expand and keep these valuable resources available to the community. Books bought in bulk, however, are less expensive.  Right now books are announced on Facebook by Debbie and through an email mailing list. People hear about these impressive books by deeply respected authors only by word of mouth. Advertising money will help get the word out to a wider audience.

Here's the Breakdown :

  • 120 copies of each title (Archives vol 1-6, Rituals Vol 1 & 2, Shadows & Light) comes to $8,504.79. This includes tax and shipping.
  • $420 towards the creation of a website with a working store.
  • A little over a $1000 towards listing the books at New Leaf Distributors, in all their catalogs and included in their email blasts. Considering they are the largest distributor of New Age/Occult books, it is well worth the expense!

  How You Can Help:


Debbie has set up a fundraising drive on Indie GoGo to raise the money needed to expand Datura Press and make these occult works available to a much wider audience. And there are perks:

  • For a $25 donation you will receive a Tarot Tip Sheet:  An eight panel card that is a valuable resource for tarot beginners and experts alike and makes a great teaching tool.
  • For a $50 donation you will receive a CD by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki :   The Mysterious Pleiades was a lecture given by Dolores in Delaware in 2011. Only a handful of people have heard this treasure!
  • For a $125 donation you may pick any two books from Datura Press:   There are 6 volumes of Archives and two books of Rituals to choose from.
  • For a $200 donation you will receive a one hour Tarot Reading over Skype or phone by Debbie herself.

 

 Other Ways You Can Help:

Tell everyone you think would be interested!  To add to the incentive to share I personally am offering one Tarot Tip Sheet as a giveaway and all you have to do is let people know about this campaign.  Easy entry through the RaffleCopter form below and you can win just by sharing.


a Rafflecopter giveaway



For those of you who don't know about Dolores here's a little bio:
Nora, the Datura Press cat
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki is one of the most respected and experienced esoteric teachers in the world today. She was trained in Dion Fortune’s school, the Fraternity of the Inner Light and trained with Walter Ernest Butler, the Grand Master of British Occultism. Dolores is a third degree adept and Qabbalist.  She travels the world constantly, lecturing, teaching and holding workshops. To date she has written over 30 books.  One of her most valuable contributions to modern occultism has been to focus attention on the use of Pathworking (guided meditation) as a training tool and she is acknowledged to be one of its foremost exponents.  She designed the SOL Tarot Deck with Jo Gill and Anthony Clark and the Shakespearean Tarot with Paul Hardy.

Some Quotes About The Books

Nick, the other Datura Press cat
“It has been a pleasure both to revisit the familiar and to discover the unfamiliar. It is because much of this material was originally spoken rather than written, that the 'voices' of the authors shine through, it is as though we hear them speak. Marvelous!” - Inner Light Journal
"So, all in all, a book to be highly recommended, along with its publishers, the miniscule Datura Press, who are well worth looking up for details of further gems on the way. I eagerly await my ordered copy of Volume 2 to see if it matches up to this one, and look forward optimistically to what future volumes may bring.” - Gareth Knight

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