UPDATE: Our crowd-funding campaign has ended successfully and you can now order your very own hard copy of the Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game (see above)!
AND LOOK FOR OUR APP! Coming to an Android or iPhone near you!
AND LOOK FOR OUR APP! Coming to an Android or iPhone near you!
The Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game came from the dream world of Amanda Elo'Esh and illustrated by the ridiculously talented art students (all grades) of Alhambra High School in Martinez, CA under the direction of their magical teacher, Kristen Holmberg-Paradiso.
The Go Ask Alice Oracle gives you:
To support our fundraiser and get your very own set, CLICK HERE and stay tuned! We'll be keeping you up to date on everything you need to know to fully enjoy, support and celebrate this inspiring collaboration.
You can also visit the Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game BLOG HERE.
THE ORIGIN STORY:
In 2007, I was getting my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy. One of my classes was a weekend dream-work course. Our assignment for Saturday night was to “go home and have an intentional dream,” meaning, create a query and ask the dreamtime to offer up some insights.
After class, I attended the birthday party of a cohort member, who was celebrating with an “Alice in Wonderland” themed party. All the characters were there: Alice, The Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, the Tweedles . . .
I had decided that the intention for my dream was to have an archetypal dream for the collective. If I shared my dream with others, it would have significance and meaning for them. So, it seemed appropriate to have my friends all bless my head to help me have a dream for my community.
I went home very excited. I got out my little mugwort bundle, got my dream journal ready, lit a candle and set my intentions and then wandered off to sleep. In the morning I awoke with NOTHING. I couldn’t even FEEL the dream world, let alone come away with any sort of image. Needless to say I was really bummed out.
On my way to the class, I was thinking about the night before and all I’d done to have this archetypal dream and plop! out of nowhere came the idea: “Alice in Wonderland MUST be filled with archetypal wisdom. Maybe I could explore what deep wisdom lies within the stories.”
I was terribly excited and so I set out right away re-reading the childhood book that had delighted me so much as a child. As I pored through the pages and got to the end I thought “Well, that was just a bunch of nonsense and gibberish!” I felt, once again, just as I had the morning after my attempt at the intentional dream, that I had failed.
But, I was not thwarted in my quest. The Muse had me in her grasp, and so I sat down again to read the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, and this time I really took my time. I did a bunch of research – very little of which actually inspired any of this writing, but mostly I just meditated with each one of the characters and scenarios and low and behold, The Muse started to show me what was really going on inside all of the crazy stuff and nonsense.
While I was writing the oracle, the idea came to me that the cards could and should also be used for a tea party game. It could be used as a tool to create fun interactions at any gatherings, especially tea parties (which the little girl in me is completely enthralled by). So, I added in the element of the tea party – written upside down and somewhat backwards (like a full 4th dimensional looking glass reflection) to the oracle. It flowed out like Earl Gray from a tea pot.
It seemed like within no time at all, I was writing the last words.
I felt like this was kismet and something that needed to be shared with the world, so I sent out letters to publishers, but alas, they wanted to see the ARTWORK that would accompany the writing. The images are, indeed, a crucial element, but I was just a student struggling to pay the rent and I didn’t have the resources to pay an artist what she was worth to create all the images needed to complete the project.
Crowd Funding had not yet come to be. I did try a few different ways of getting the artwork for the deck, but all of my creative efforts yielded very little and I realized that it just wasn’t time. So, this project sat on the proverbial shelf, waiting for the right elements to come together.
Then, on October 31, 2015 (that’s right, Halloween), I met a man who would become my lover and partner, Michael Gelbart. Part of our enticing conversation included a discussion of his plans to host a “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.” I shared about my Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game, and was enthusiastically invited to somehow revive the project to be used at the party.
As I showed up to the planning meetings, I shared some of the writing and ideas for the completion of the project. One of the women, Dahlia Silver, helping with the party was incredibly excited about the oracle and tea party game and asked me about the artwork. “I haven’t been able to find an artist or the resources to get it done,” and without hesitation she said “Why not have high school students do it?” “GENIUS!” I thought. One of the women in my Living Wisdom School (A Sacred Feminine Mystery School that gathers monthly for ceremony) is a high school art teacher and she’s definitely into oracles, so I contacted her: Kristen Holmberg-Paradiso. SHE LOVED THE IDEA and within just a couple of weeks, I was at Alhambra High School with a room of almost 60 high school art students explaining to them about the oracle and archetypes and we had them close their eyes and think of a query and then we had them randomly pick a card that had the writing I’d done. This would be the card they were to illustrate. I gave very little instructions: Create a border and use the same color palette. READ the writing I’ve done and do the meditations and then let your inspiration guide you to create the illustration.
I then left it in the very capable hands of Kristen and her students and about a month later, I was back in the classroom with 13 large pizzas and several bottles of fruit juice to see the amazing creations and celebrate the completion of this long-awaited art project.
I was completely stunned. The illustrations, as you can now see for yourself, blew me away and I could hardly believe that my vision from so long ago had finally, and with almost no effort on my part, had quickly come to fruition.
What makes it so amazing is that it was a dream to serve the collective, and it is the collective that created it. Even better is that the visions for the deck have come from talented young artists, who ARE telling the future. To be able to support their art and their gifts and to have them be a part (A HUGE PART) of this project means the world to me. May it inspire them and you to believe in your dreams and make them real.
The Go Ask Alice Oracle gives you:
- Insight Into The Wisdom Treasures Hidden In The Adventures Of Alice In Wonderland (It'll Change Your World!)
- Guidance For Your Deepest Questions & Challenges . . . With Meditations & Fun Practices
- All You Need To Throw A Frabjous Tea Party! (It's As Easy As 1-2-Tea!)
To support our fundraiser and get your very own set, CLICK HERE and stay tuned! We'll be keeping you up to date on everything you need to know to fully enjoy, support and celebrate this inspiring collaboration.
You can also visit the Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game BLOG HERE.
THE ORIGIN STORY:
In 2007, I was getting my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy. One of my classes was a weekend dream-work course. Our assignment for Saturday night was to “go home and have an intentional dream,” meaning, create a query and ask the dreamtime to offer up some insights.
After class, I attended the birthday party of a cohort member, who was celebrating with an “Alice in Wonderland” themed party. All the characters were there: Alice, The Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, the Tweedles . . .
I had decided that the intention for my dream was to have an archetypal dream for the collective. If I shared my dream with others, it would have significance and meaning for them. So, it seemed appropriate to have my friends all bless my head to help me have a dream for my community.
I went home very excited. I got out my little mugwort bundle, got my dream journal ready, lit a candle and set my intentions and then wandered off to sleep. In the morning I awoke with NOTHING. I couldn’t even FEEL the dream world, let alone come away with any sort of image. Needless to say I was really bummed out.
On my way to the class, I was thinking about the night before and all I’d done to have this archetypal dream and plop! out of nowhere came the idea: “Alice in Wonderland MUST be filled with archetypal wisdom. Maybe I could explore what deep wisdom lies within the stories.”
I was terribly excited and so I set out right away re-reading the childhood book that had delighted me so much as a child. As I pored through the pages and got to the end I thought “Well, that was just a bunch of nonsense and gibberish!” I felt, once again, just as I had the morning after my attempt at the intentional dream, that I had failed.
But, I was not thwarted in my quest. The Muse had me in her grasp, and so I sat down again to read the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, and this time I really took my time. I did a bunch of research – very little of which actually inspired any of this writing, but mostly I just meditated with each one of the characters and scenarios and low and behold, The Muse started to show me what was really going on inside all of the crazy stuff and nonsense.
While I was writing the oracle, the idea came to me that the cards could and should also be used for a tea party game. It could be used as a tool to create fun interactions at any gatherings, especially tea parties (which the little girl in me is completely enthralled by). So, I added in the element of the tea party – written upside down and somewhat backwards (like a full 4th dimensional looking glass reflection) to the oracle. It flowed out like Earl Gray from a tea pot.
It seemed like within no time at all, I was writing the last words.
I felt like this was kismet and something that needed to be shared with the world, so I sent out letters to publishers, but alas, they wanted to see the ARTWORK that would accompany the writing. The images are, indeed, a crucial element, but I was just a student struggling to pay the rent and I didn’t have the resources to pay an artist what she was worth to create all the images needed to complete the project.
Crowd Funding had not yet come to be. I did try a few different ways of getting the artwork for the deck, but all of my creative efforts yielded very little and I realized that it just wasn’t time. So, this project sat on the proverbial shelf, waiting for the right elements to come together.
Then, on October 31, 2015 (that’s right, Halloween), I met a man who would become my lover and partner, Michael Gelbart. Part of our enticing conversation included a discussion of his plans to host a “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.” I shared about my Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game, and was enthusiastically invited to somehow revive the project to be used at the party.
As I showed up to the planning meetings, I shared some of the writing and ideas for the completion of the project. One of the women, Dahlia Silver, helping with the party was incredibly excited about the oracle and tea party game and asked me about the artwork. “I haven’t been able to find an artist or the resources to get it done,” and without hesitation she said “Why not have high school students do it?” “GENIUS!” I thought. One of the women in my Living Wisdom School (A Sacred Feminine Mystery School that gathers monthly for ceremony) is a high school art teacher and she’s definitely into oracles, so I contacted her: Kristen Holmberg-Paradiso. SHE LOVED THE IDEA and within just a couple of weeks, I was at Alhambra High School with a room of almost 60 high school art students explaining to them about the oracle and archetypes and we had them close their eyes and think of a query and then we had them randomly pick a card that had the writing I’d done. This would be the card they were to illustrate. I gave very little instructions: Create a border and use the same color palette. READ the writing I’ve done and do the meditations and then let your inspiration guide you to create the illustration.
I then left it in the very capable hands of Kristen and her students and about a month later, I was back in the classroom with 13 large pizzas and several bottles of fruit juice to see the amazing creations and celebrate the completion of this long-awaited art project.
I was completely stunned. The illustrations, as you can now see for yourself, blew me away and I could hardly believe that my vision from so long ago had finally, and with almost no effort on my part, had quickly come to fruition.
What makes it so amazing is that it was a dream to serve the collective, and it is the collective that created it. Even better is that the visions for the deck have come from talented young artists, who ARE telling the future. To be able to support their art and their gifts and to have them be a part (A HUGE PART) of this project means the world to me. May it inspire them and you to believe in your dreams and make them real.
Go Ask Alice Oracle & Tea Party Game is copyrighted 2007. 11270 Sun Valley Dr. Oakland, CA 94605
Amanda Elo'Esh Johnsen, M.A.
Amanda Elo'Esh Johnsen, M.A.
