 An
Interview with Ann Trump
Tarot Garden Interview
Dan: Tell me a bit about Karen and Anne...where are you from? Where
did you meet?
Ann: Karen and I are first cousins, born and raised in western
Pennsylvania. Karen lived in Greensburg. I grew up about eight miles away in New
Stanton. My mother and her mother are sisters and probably best friends, as
well, so we played together as children.
We come from a large Italian family. Family bonds are strong, so until we were
adolescents, everything that we did was with each other.
Our family has always been religious, but with a hefty dose of superstition
added to the mix. From the very get go, Karen and I were exposed to stories
about the evil eye, spirits of dead relatives coming back for a visit or to give
a message, real witches that could curse or cure you, the merits of astrology,
fortune telling, and dreams. Like a pot of soup made from scratch, with just
about anything thrown in, we were also versed in the power of prayer, the
importance of attending church, and the reliability of Saints.
Dan: Tell me a bit about your spiritual development, and how it may have
varied from religious development. Was your closeness to each other a part of
that growth? Did you 'pick and choose' before you found your path, or did you
both "know it"?
Ann: I was born and raised Roman Catholic. I went to Roman Catholic
school and Roman Catholic Church, yet because of the way I was raised, as I
mentioned before, I never separated religion and spirituality. Sometime, during
my high school years, I began to question the policies of the Catholic Church
and why it seemed important to attend. I started to recognize that people were
showing up on Sunday all smiles and duty, yet were fighting and arguing among
themselves during the week. I came to the conclusion that church doesn't make
the man. It was the essence of the religion that mattered to me. Due to work and
a teenage schedule, I stopped attending mass on Sundays. I never felt guilty,
because I felt close to God and I personally didn't need church to maintain that
closeness.
In college, I took a few world religion classes and became interested in all
religions. I saw a connection. I saw "the truth" was everywhere I looked. I
became interested in meditation and yoga, and to this day maintain those
practices. I never made a conscious choice to "abandon" Catholicism; I just
started to integrate spiritual practices and principles that worked for me,
including those of the Catholic Church. I didn't concern myself with labels or
boundaries. I just followed my interests. I kept what worked and dismissed what
didn't.
As a young mother, I wanted to give my children a foundation. I saw it more as a
spiritual foundation, rather than a religious one. But we went to church and
they got all their sacraments, all the while, mom's reading tarot cards, and
interpreting dreams. So, in a sense, I raised my kids like I was raised.
In the meantime, after high school, Karen joined the service, later we both
married and had children, but as we "came together" as adults, we found that our
interests were very similar. Geographically, we were separated, but our
spiritual paths seemed to parallel with each other. We had both expanded on our
earlier upbringing. Remember, we were raised with "new age" principles. Thoughts
of spirits roaming the halls, or dreams, predicting the future were commonplace.
So "new age" was really old stuff to us.
Dan: Tell me a bit about when and how you discovered the Tarot, who
first? What led up to it?
Ann: When I was 13, my mother ordered a set of Time/Life books called
Man, Myth, and Magic. I devoured them. It was there that I first read about and
studied the tarot. Shortly afterwards, I got my first deck. It was so easy to
read cards that I actually amazed myself. I read everything that I could find on
Tarot, but this was more for my own entertainment, because when it came to
"reading" the cards, it just happened. I never referred to books.
Interestingly enough, I did not start with the Rider-Waite deck. (A first deck
for many, many people) My first deck was a Swiss deck called Swiss 1JJ Tarot
deck. I used this deck for years. The same deck, over and over again. I read for
friends and myself, and eventually family. This went on for years and years and
I never charged a dime. I would just read for whoever asked me to.
It was not until I was in my early 20's that it started to get out of control.
Apparently, word was spreading that this girl over in New Stanton does free
readings. People were calling me that I had never heard of and finally I stopped
doing it. I limited myself to people that were close to me. I had not thought of
charging for it. As a teenager, I had read a superstition, that said if money is
exchanged the gift of divination would be lost. I just bought in to that, I
guess. Meanwhile, I was paying to get readings now and then for myself...go
figure.
It was actually Karen who talked some sense into me about charging for my
services. She was living in Florida at the time and doing quite well doing
readings in metaphysical stores. I was working as a massage therapist, but this
was way back when massage was not a household name. I was doing well with it,
but I felt like I still needed to supplement my income. Karen was inspiring for
me and also made me realize that services are services and it's all right to be
compensated for them. So I launched a new business, and the rest is history. As
for the superstition...no, I haven't lost the gift, but I do believe that there
is such a thing as exploitation and greed. I am appalled at what some people
charge for a reading. And I think it is important to maintain a heart-centered
intention. To remember WHY you are doing the readings, that's the important
thing. There is still a tiny part of me that believes that if it's only about
the money...well, then, you may be taking your chances.
Dan: The approach that you took in your cards, the use of the Saints –
was at the time a serious departure from the Tarot, and even other Oracle decks.
Can you give me a broad time-line of its development, and what was happening in
each of your lives (what you are willing to share), so that we can see how your
own personal lives, and life events, helped bring about the Saints Deck. For
example…when each of your first talked to each other about the ‘deck’, there had
to be some fermentation going on already…what year was that? What happened next?
Ann: Oh good Lord, Dan..let's see…I'll just let the rambling begin…
The deck is copywritten in 2001 and it took approx. five years to be birthed.
So, we must have talked about it in 1996.
It was Karen's idea. We were having a phone conversation and it led into
designing our own deck. For years, I had toyed with the idea and even considered
buying one of those blank decks and designing my own Tarot, just for me,
although Karen didn't know this until this conversation. My background is in
art, so this idea never seemed daunting. But we got to talking and she said she
had the idea about doing a deck using saints. Well...I got very excited...I
could see it already! As we brainstormed, it became a real possibility. I told
her I would do a few sketches and see what I could come up with. From there on
in, it became our passion.
The illustrations took a year and a half to complete. The rest of the time was
spent just figuring out how to publish and what to do next.
We were pretty green. I knew a tiny bit about submitting work, because I had
written several children's books and was working on a fictional
autobiography...a new genre that I invented (just kidding)......and was trying
to get these published. So I had a starting point. We were so passionate about
the saint deck and I know that's what drove us . Little did we know that it
would take five years.
My life at the time was busy. I was working part time, but I was a full time mom
and took it very seriously, even though my kids were in their teens at the time.
My life was changing. My kids were getting older and I was going through a
transition period where I was trying to move from "work for money" to "laboring
with love." I was investing more time into looking into what I loved and what I
needed and I what I wanted to do. I was spending a lot of time writing and doing
random art. This was my therapy. Also, at this time, my mother was facing breast
cancer and I was facing the possibility that I might loose her. It was an
emotional time for me. Lot's of issues were coming up for me to look at, old
stuff. It is not surprising that The Saint Deck is jam packed with emotional
cards. It also has quite a few health cards.
From the moment of it's conception, The Saint Deck took on a life of it's own.
Literally, we handed ourselves over to the saints and let them direct our
course. And they did.
Each Saint revealed themselves to us along the way. There were several of our
"favorites" that we knew had to be in the deck, but others would come through in
surprising ways and let us know they wanted to be in the deck. Each illustration
is divined from that particular saint. I invoked each saint individually through
prayer, novenas, meditations, dreams, candle work, etc. Many times, I had an
idea in mind as to what the drawing for a specific saint would be, and I would
be shown otherwise. Believe me, there was struggle at times. It was a major
lesson in letting go and trusting. All along the way, we were directed. The
right people would show up. One move led to the next. And the saints
consistently confirmed that they were helping us. But, it wasn't easy and there
were moments when I doubted. But only moments. You'll notice Thomas is in the
deck. He was the doubter. And Peter, who nearly drowned. And let's not forget
Jude, patron saint of lost causes! Always, the very saint that I was working on
reflected issues I was currently dealing with in my own life. Karen confirmed
this for herself as well. The saints are powerful teachers for anyone who cares
to learn!
Dan: What is Nanta Bagg?
Ann: The Nanta Bagg is the name of our company. The Nanta Bag is what the
Italian Strega witches carried. It would contain little charms and potions and
such. It is a bag of magic spell making. We added the extra G in bag because it
was auspicious numerically.
Dan: Okay, the bad question; why do I, the non-Christian, want the deck?
Ann: The deck is non-denominational. What that means is that anyone, from
any, or no spiritual background, can tap into the power and energy of the
saints. No one "owns" the saints. Just like no one "owns" angels. They are there
to work with any one who chooses to call on them. This is an extremely powerful
deck. Each saint was invoked for each card. The illustrations are a collection
of figures, animals, and symbols. This came as a surprise to me, since
traditionally Saints are represented as figures. I believe that the drawings
came out the way they did so that all people would be interested in working with
them.
This deck breaks the mold for saints. It is our belief that the saints worked
through us in this untraditional way, so that their guidance would reach
everyone, regardless of religious background. For example, St. Fiacre, who is
patron saint of gardeners, is represented in the deck as two dragonflies. One of
his miracles was that he cleared a lot of land single-handedly in one day, and
later built a hospice there where many people were healed. I had envisioned the
card to be of a man in a field clearing it with a scythe. As soon as I invoked
Fiacre for help with the illustration, which included prayer, candle work,
novenas, and meditations, I was enveloped with a child like feeling of wonder
and awe. I felt very light and happy and even whistled a little tune. This
feeling lingered for days as I worked with Fiacre, yet, I could not come up with
a drawing that was pleasing. At this same time, dragonflies started to show up
every time I went outdoors. They would swoop around me and accompany me on
walks. Still, I didn't make the connection. It was not until days later, when I
became especially frustrated with Fiacres' illustration, that I beseeched him
while I was walking my dogs. Immediately dragonflies appeared and followed me
the entire time. Like a light turned on, I realized what I was to draw. That day
the illustration came effortlessly. When the illustration was finished, the
dragonflies disappeared. There you go...dragonflies are not associated with any
religion. But St. Fiacre's card can represent, among other things flying to new
heights, new opportunities, or some burden in your life being lifted. One woman
at a show I was attending, bought the deck because she pulled one card and it
was Saint Fiacre. She had recently started working with dragonfly energy and was
astounded at the synchronicity (something that often happens when working with
saints.) She had no prior knowledge of saints.
I have had many people buy the deck just because they liked the illustrations.
One man said to me that when you buy Tarot or any divination deck, you are
really buying art. I liked that. It was so important to me to keep the integrity
of the illustrations. I wanted the colors to remain bright and vibrant. A lot of
decks are very pastel colored. Color is energy. When you see the deck, you can
feel the energy and power of it.
Dan: …and I think that’s why I’m glad to have The Saint Deck in my
collection. Thank you for your time, and the love.
Learn more about The Nanta Bagg.
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