The Fool - Jade's Deck Series

Enjoy this sneak peek at a walk down memory lane as Jade gives us the background on what inspired the artwork for her personally made tarot deck.

The whole series will be a Patreon exclusive as the Deck of Eternals comes to an end. Be sure to subscribe to hear the whole series as it releases alongside season 5!

Written by Ashley McAnelly

Featuring the voice talent of Abbey Konzen and Nichole Goodnight

Produced by Scott Thomas

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Please stick around after the episode for an announcement from me. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Hello again, everyone. It's been a minute since you've seen me, I know. Sorry about that. Things have been very wild lately, but I think, knock on wood, that things should start getting back to some sense of normal soon. I actually have a few things to look forward to now. Shocking, I know. I am not here for your regular one-card reading that you are used to. Sam pointed out that several of you had been asking where I got my deck from. This particular deck you can't find anywhere else right now. I made this one myself. When I told Sam I had no plans on mass producing it, she thought it would only be fair to at least show you the full deck and tell you the history behind it. I think I'm ready to tell this story now. I'm only going to focus on the major arcana, at least for now, because that's where most of the story is. I may change my mind later and go through all 78 cards, but my brain can't comprehend doing that many videos right now, so I'm only committing to the 22. Even that amount sounds exhausting. I might combine some of the cards into one video instead of separate. Guess that will depend on how long wind did I get. Well, let's get to it. This, this is my fool card, where the journey begins. Since this is my personal deck, I created it as my personal journey, so of course I've depicted myself as the fool. You'll notice the background is not as bright and shiny as the traditional card. No, we're going on an adventure-type vibes here. The cave I'm standing in is sort of a well-known landmark around here, that some idiot named the Glory Hole. Slowly, over time, water erosion created the hole in the ceiling, and it's well, it's not just a beautiful spot to me. I remember the moment I've captured here. You'll see, well, okay, this is gonna be a little trickier than I thought. To not give away coven secrets, I'll just say that this is a place of power, not just a peaceful place to look at. So visiting the Glory Hole in my early years, I didn't get to do very much by myself. My mother would take me when I was little little, and once I was old enough to know the significance to our coven, she didn't trust me to go alone. Until finally, I stopped waiting around for her trust. I had just turned 14 when I made the trek out there by myself for the first time. And for those of you locals hearing this and thinking, how the hell did a 14-year-old get that far by themselves? The glory hole is literally in the middle of the Boston Mountains, not really near any town. There's like a parking spot off the highway near the trailhead, but that's it. And the mile trek down there is rocky and jagged. Not to mention that I started my trek at dusk. So yeah, it sounds ridiculous, but I did it. I did it for myself. I wasn't really thinking about any dangers. I was just thinking I need to see the moon rise through the hole in the ceiling to feel that pale ray on my face as I stood in the middle of the woods. And that was the night that I told myself I didn't need anyone's help anymore. Sure, mom and my aunt tried, and sometimes I listened to what they had to say. But like most teenagers, they think their parents don't understand or have the answers, and I wanted to find the answers myself. But this was the start of that. Uh, so yeah, that's what inspired the artwork for my fool. All these years later, as I use this deck, I haven't really thought much about her. But doing this, sitting and looking at her, I still believe in her. Well, that's it until I decide to pull the next card. Bye. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Now you have to tell me the rest. What? Come on! I know you omitted some juicy stuff from the video because it's going on your socials. I want the full story. Did you already stalk? Stock the new arrivals, dust off the crystals on the shelves, and fed fern. Now spill it.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I didn't just want to feel the moon through the hole. You know there's an excess of power there.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Yeah, yeah, and that we shouldn't mess with it because the power is too wild and we don't know what would happen. I was tempted to break that rule before all the buried mother stuff. Since we've lived through one entity in the woods, I didn't want to attempt another.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, well, 14-year-old me didn't give a shit. I'd watched mom and Maureen siphon off slivers of power from it before. I figured I watched them enough to know how to do it safely.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

And?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

And things were going according to plan until I slipped. You slipped and fell down the hole? I fell into the hole. Down was not the direction I went.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

I don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

When I invoked the Nexus with the incantation, it ceased being a regular hole pulled by Earth's gravity. It became a well, and that well does whatever the hell it wants. For me that night, it flung me up like a geyser. And I mean up. I was over the canopy of the forest. God, I remember screaming and flailing for anything to grab onto so I didn't die. That was the first time I honestly thought I was going to die. I remember thinking, God, I hate proving mom right. What? Sasha. The matriarch of the Ozark Howler pack. She must have heard me screaming. She either jumped super high or just teleported to me as I was falling.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

So that's Sasha depicted on the card with you? Wait, the howlers teleport? Roz hasn't told you any of that. We haven't talked about them much other than when I used them against the coven. Yeah. She told me they were just one of several of Arkansas's cryptids that are real. But after seeing them like that at the circle at night, I haven't really thought to ask you about them more. You just think they're ravenous beasts then, is that it? No, sort of. I know most wild creatures are not purely evil, but seeing them like that that night definitely made me be more careful in the woods. They're the reason your woods are so protected.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

That you've never ran into a black bear or bobcat or any predator that would do you harm. I didn't realize they protected us. I'll have to take you to see them sometime. I've been meaning to visit anyway. So after Sasha saved you, then what happened? She brought me safely down to the ground. It took me a minute or so to actually let go of her and realize I was safe. Then I smothered her with all the love and thanks she would let me. And then I tried again. You dipped into the well again? Yeah, but this time I was more careful. I laid on my stomach so there was no chance of slipping again. The power was everything. It's so awesome it's hard to describe. I could take you there and let you experience it for yourself.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Really?

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Yeah. Your worry over the buried mother is no longer a reason to stop you. I'd be happy to take you sometime. I'd like that.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

So you know this is a thing now, right? A thing? Yeah, you go tell the audience what truth they can hear about your deck, and then you have to come and tell me the rest.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Uh, should have known as much. You really sure you want to talk down memory lane with me? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

This episode was written by Ashley McAnally, featuring the voice talents of Abby Conson and Nicole Goodknight. This bonus episode is coming way earlier than we originally planned to make up for the delay in the release of the Deck of the Eternals episodes last month. It is not just a miniseries, but the companion to a project we have wanted to kick off for a long time, but just wasn't sure how. We finally have a path forward. In the fall, we will be launching a Kickstarter for helping us produce Jade's personal tarot deck. Some more information to come on that later in the year. For now, we hope you enjoy diving into the history of behind Jade's deck and seeing more from her past. Thank you for your continued support.