This easy-to-follow guide provides the insight readers need to develop their intuition, work through personal problems, enhance their connection with the high self, interpret the cards, and understand the deck and symbols.

    . . where butterflies float upon shifting mists set aglow by the rising sun. A place where twisting branches arc across shimmering skies, willowy fairies dance on air, and tree spirits sing from a hallowed oak. Delve into the shadows of your dreams--and awaken to truth. Weaving together Asian, Celtic, and fantasy styles of artwork, this breathtaking new Rider-Waite-Smith-based tarot deck by renowned artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is infused with universal symbols found in fairy tales, myths, and folklore from cultures around the world. A companion guidebook presents the artist's evocative interpretations of each card's significance. It also features an introduction by award-winning tarot expert Barbara Moore that includes tarot basics, instructions for giving insightful readings, and practical spreads.

    With both clarity and warmth, seasoned practitioner Danielle Noel instructs readers in using the Tarot as a tool for self-understanding, meditation, and soulful introspection.

    It will also contain extensive and exclusive interviews with the key developers, designers and artists behind some of the most beloved games and characters in the history of the medium. The book starts with a foreword by Gary Whitta (PC Gamer magazine/Rogue One: A Star Wars Story).Interviewees for the book include (in no particular order) Tim Schafer, Robyn Miller, Ron Gilbert, David Fox, Aric Wilmunder, Richard Hare, Hal Barwood, Gary Winnick, Noah Falstein, Mark Ferrari, Dave Gibbons, Jane Jensen, Simon Woodroffe, Steve Stamatiadis, Louis Castle, Gregg Barnett, Al Lowe, Brian Moriarty, Charles Cecil and Paul Cuisset - plus plenty more…As you can see from the list, the book covers titles such as King’s Quest, Myst, Toonstruck, Discworld, Blade Runner, Gabriel Knight, The Flight of the Amazon Queen, Simon the Sorcerer and of course other classics, such as The Secret of Monkey Island, The Dig, Maniac Mansion and Full Throttle. All of the most famous and iconic point-and-click adventures are going to be covered, as well as some lesser-known games and home-brew efforts.

    It's a tour de force of VW design, stunning in intellectual scope, spanning the literary, economic, sociological, psychological, physical, technological, and ethical underpinnings of design, while providing the reader with a deep, well-grounded understanding of VW design principles. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.Designing Virtual Worlds brings a rich, well-developed approach to the design concepts behind virtual worlds. It is grounded in the earliest approaches to such designs, but the examples discussed in the book run the gamut from the earliest MUDs to the present-day MMORPG games mentioned above. It teaches the reader the actual, underlying design principles that many designers do not understand when they borrow or build from previous games. There is no other design book on the market in the area of online games and virtual worlds that provides the rich detail, historical context, and conceptual depth of Designing Virtual Worlds.

    BioShock and Philosophy: Irrational Game, Rational Book presents expert reflections by philosophers (and Bioshock connoisseurs) on this critically acclaimed and immersive fan-favorite. Reveals the philosophical questions raised through the artistic complexity, compelling characters and absorbing plots of this ground-breaking first-person shooter (FPS) Explores what BioShock teaches the gamer about gaming, and the aesthetics of video game storytelling Addresses a wide array of topics including Marxism, propaganda, human enhancement technologies, political decision-making, free will, morality, feminism, transworld individuality, and vending machines in the dystopian society of Rapture Considers visionary game developer Ken Levine's depiction of Ayn Rand's philosophy, as well as the theories of Aristotle, de Beauvoir, Dewey, Leibniz, Marx, Plato, and others from the Hall of Philosophical Heroes

    From the curious campus of East Texas University to the distant, untamed worlds of The Last Parsec.Or forge your own worlds, fully customized with setting specific rules to help you model everything from pulp adventure to sword and sorcery to hard science fiction and everything in between.

    This Osho Zen Tarot focuses instead on gaining an understanding of the here and now. It is a system based on the wisdom of Zen, a wisdom that says events in the outer world simply reflect in the outer world simply reflect our own thoughts and feelings, even though we ourselves might be unclear about what those thoughts and feelings are. So it helps us to turn our attention away from outside events so we can find a new clarity of understanding in our innermost hearts. The conditions and states of mind portrayed by the contemporary images on the cards are all shown as being essentially transitional and transformative. The text in the accompanying book helps to interpret and understand the images in the simple, straightforward and down to earth language of Zen.

    P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, is both a close analysis of the first three Silent Hill games and a general look at the whole series. Silent Hill, with its first title released in 1999, is one of the most influential of the horror video game series. Perron situates the games within the survival horror genre, both by looking at the history of the genre and by comparing Silent Hill with such important forerunners as Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil. Taking a transmedia approach and underlining the designer's cinematic and literary influences, he uses the narrative structure; the techniques of imagery, sound, and music employed; the game mechanics; and the fiction, artifact, and gameplay emotions elicited by the games to explore the specific fears survival horror games are designed to provoke and how the experience as a whole has made the Silent Hill series one of the major landmarks of video game history.

    The Medicine Wheel, the Curse, the Eagle, the Jaguar, and others spoke to us intimately. In their countless manifestations, they offered hope, expressed caution, illuminated opportunity, inspired creation, courted power, and shared knowledge. The sacred symbols belong to the realm of archetypes and the collective unconscious, the spiritual common ground shared by peoples modern and ancient.Now, three master teachers and healers—Alberto Villoldo, Colette Baron-Reid, and Marcela Lobos—have brought their wisdom and talents together to offer a doorway into the realm of the sacred symbols with the Mystical Shaman Oracle. When you consult the oracle, you summon power and insight that can help you understand the present, heal the past, and influence the course of your future.We can become our own prophets and visionaries. We can converse directly with Spirit, dialogue with the forces of nature, speak with the great archetypes—the ancient gods—without intermediaries. No one needs to stand between the Creator and you, or between you and the great powers of nature.

    You’ll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiences—a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players.In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track, including how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Packed with examples, this book will change your perception of game design.Create game mechanics to trigger a range of emotions and provide a variety of playExplore several options for combining narrative with interactivityBuild interactions that let multiplayer gamers get into each other’s headsMotivate players through rewards that align with the rest of the gameEstablish a metaphor vocabulary to help players learn which design aspects are game mechanicsPlan, test, and analyze your design through iteration rather than deciding everything up frontLearn how your game’s market positioning will affect your design

    In clear and understandable language, Case elucidates the Tarot tradition and technique for the modern thinker. Students of the Tarot will find in these pages the necessary information to understand and apply the principles of Tarot-and the correspondences of symbol, tone, color, and number-to the art of daily living. The author also includes extremely useful chapters on methods of study and Tarot divination.In this 2006 edition, the book appears for the first time with an index and an appendix of resources. Here is a genuine underground masterpiece, made available to a broad new readership.

    In order to decipher the true meaning of these symbols, the student must approach the Tarot with an open mind and an open spirit.This new approach to the study of the Tarot provides a clear but profound method of exploring and discovering your own inner depths, a necessary prerequisite to a thorough understanding of the ancient symbols. In addition, this handbook relates the Tarot to other occult sciences such as astrology, the cabala, and numerology. Here you will find basic lessons and exercises, procedures, and fundamental esoteric philosophy which will open up new dimensions to the inquiring mind, and allow you to fully comprehend the tarot and its powers of enlightenment and divination.

    Hailed as "a masterpiece" and as "the single most profound reference of its kind." it is the most comprehensive and authoritative text on tarot available today.

    Tarot archetypes provide the reader with a window into present circumstances and future potential. But what if that window only opened up on a world that was white, European, and heterosexual? The interpretations of the tarot that have been passed down through tradition presuppose a commonality and normalcy among humanity. At the root of card meanings are archetypes that we accept without questioning. But at what point do archetypes become stereotypes?Humanity is diverse--culturally, spiritually, sexually. Tarot has the power to serve a greater population, with the right keys to unlock the tarot's deeper meanings. In Queering the Tarot, Cassandra Snow deconstructs the meanings of the 78 cards explaining the ways in which each card might be interpreted against the norm. Queering the Tarot explores themes of sexuality, coming out, gender and gender-queering, sources of oppression and empowerment, and many other topics especially familiar to not-straight folks. Cassandra's identity-based approach speaks directly to those whose identity is either up in the air or consuming the forefront of their consciousness. It also speaks to those struggling with mental illness or the effects of trauma, all seekers looking for personal affirmation that who they are is okay.