Front of Box
What are the Psalm Cards?
The PSALM® Cards, a truly one-of-a-kind creation, consists of 150 hand-painted cards, one for every psalm in the Book of Psalms. The image featured on each card communicates a succinct message, which the companion book Messages
from the Psalms explains in detail.
The PSALM® Cards and the companion book Messages from the Psalms
- uncovers 150 images embedded in the psalms, which constitute a rich symbolic language
- functions as a powerful oracle
- offers students of religion and spirituality insights from Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism (Tanakh, Talmud, Zohar), Jungian psychology, and Twelve-Step recovery
- explains more than ninety Kabbalistic terms within the familiar context of the psalms
- provides useful spiritual tools such as affirmations, breathing exercises, mantras, prayers, and visualizations
- includes "power words" from each of the 150 psalms (in easy-to-read, transliterated Hebrew), which can be used as mantras for meditation or prayer
- instills hope in those trying to overcome challenges such as addiction, depression, grief, low self-esteem, and illness
- explores spiritual topics such as understanding the nature of one's true self and discovering one's purpose in life
- promotes self-care by encouraging one to actively listen to oneself and others, to give voice to one's feelings, to make better choices in key areas of one's life such as diet, exercise, and sleep
- provides Jews and Christians (fewer of whom attend synagogue or church than ever before) with an opportunity to nourish their faith in a creative, interactive way
- makes the Book of Psalms (the second-most-read book in the Jewish and Christian scriptures) more accessible
Box Resting Flat
Endorsement
"By blending words with images, Rabbi Teixeira invites both sides of your brain to engage with the ancient wisdom of the Book of Psalms. In his masterful hands the Psalms become gateways into your psyche through which you might encounter the genius of your soul."
--Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Author of Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent
Let's Look Inside
The Deck of 150 Cards Divided into Two Equal Stacks
and the Companion Book, Messages from the Psalms
Side View of the 150-Card Deck
Card Spread Showing Some of the Hand-illustrated Cards
Let's Choose a Card
Card Spread Showing Reverse Side
A Card from the 150-Card Deck, Based on Psalm 1:3,
that is,
Psalm 1, Chapter 1, Verse 3: "He is like a tree planted beside
streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage
never fades, and whatever it produces thrives."
Let's Look Up the Message
The easy-to-use Companion Book provides the verse on which the card image is based
(in both English and Hebrew), a succint message, and a fuller reflection.
Order Your Copy
A copy of The PSALM® Cards and the companion book Messages from the Psalms can be ordered from Amazon or Schiffer Publishing.
Click Here to Order Your Copy From Amazon
Click Here to Order Your Copy From Schiffer Publishing
A Brief History of The PSALM® Cards
The PSALM® Cards and the companion book Messages from the Psalms emerged from the remarkably gentle collision of two worlds: Tarot and Psalms.
Robert entered the World of Tarot, that is, the larger world of cartomancy, during his childhood. His Italian Catholic grandmother, Nan, who was his best friend, opened the door.
He used to sit beside her on the sofa in the "Sun Room"--the Gypsy Wagon of his childhood--as she taught him to read her homemade fortune-telling cards. There were thirty-five of them.
The face cards, which were based on hair color and style, included, for example, Old Woman, who wore her hair in a bun. The names of the remaining cards more often than not reflected the images that they depicted, such as Crying Woman, Death Wreath, Good Bird, Jack-in-the-Box, Letters, Money, Peacock, Train Wreck, and Volcano.
In his early twenties, Robert bought his first deck of Tarot cards, the Tarot de Marseille, and the book The Tarot: A Short Treatise on Reading Cards by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918). Mathers offered just a few words of explanation for each card, which enabled Robert to quickly learn the symbolic language of the powerful Tarot.
The World of Tarot
In 1997, Robert moved to New Orleans, and Tarot soon took center stage in his life. One afternoon, while walking in the French Quarter, he noticed a blue neon sign above the door of Reverend Zombie's House of Voodoo that advertised READINGS. He ventured inside and made an appointment with Shan, who supervised the readers. A week later, Robert gave her a reading, and she hired him!
From that point forward, over the course of the next decade, Robert read Tarot cards and on occasion, chicken bones, dominoes, palms, red beans, and tea leaves. Most of his readings took place outdoors at Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter.
He routinely set up in front of Saint Louis Cathedral, on what some believed to be a powerful "ley line." It is estimated that he read some 3,500 people, literally from every continent. Mama Lena, Little Bear, Creole Carol, Dragon James, Styx, Star Lady, Witchy, Hubba Bubba, and Gypsy (who sported fangs and claimed to be a shape shifter) were among his colleagues.
His workplace was truly a carnival! Everyday, he was surrounded by balloon clowns, jugglers, Jazz musicians, fire breathers, glass walkers, mimes, magicians, and "benchers," that is, the homeless. It was here that the worlds of Tarot and Psalms merged.
The World of Psalms
In 1995--two years before moving to New Orleans--Robert made his foray into the World of Psalms. His mother was suffering from cancer, and while searching for comfort, he came across a little book that introduced him to the General Remedy, or Tikkun HaKlali, prescribed by the spiritual master Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810). The General Remedy--regarded by Nachman as a spiritual cure-all--consisted of Psalms 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, and 150.
Encouraged by the promise of these ten psalms, Robert began praying them daily, hoping healing energy would eventually flow into his mother's body. When he wasn't reading cards, he was praying psalms. In fact, his Tarot cards and pocket-sized edition of the Book of Psalms were often side by side on his table at the Square.
The Gentle Collision of Two Worlds: Tarot and Psalms
As Robert became more familiar with the Book of the Psalms, he noticed that every psalm had a picturesque verse, that is, a verse in which a rich image or symbol was embedded. Images from his grandmother's homemade fortune-telling cards, images from theTarot de Marseille, and images from the Book of Psalms began to comingle or merge.
Symbols Merging
On day, as usual, Robert went off to read cards at Jackson Square. Work was slow, so he began praying psalms.
He found himself reflecting on Psalm 1:3, that is, Psalm 1, Chapter 1, Verse 3:
"He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives."
In his view, this picturesque verse, centered the on the image of a tree, an Ever-Lush Tree, communicated "perfection." He was instantly reminded of the Good Bird from Nan's deck and the Ace of Pentacles from Tarot. The Good Bird instills in one the hope that "things are getting better and better," and the Ace of Pentacles, according to Mathers, means "perfect contentment."
The symbolic language of the psalms had begun to reveal itself. The process of bringing forth The PSALM® Cards and Messages from the Psalms had begun!
Words of Blessing
It is my sincere hope and intention that The PSALM® Cards and the companion book Messages from the Psalms , which, I dare say, originated from a high place, serves as a channel of Light in the world, thereby uncovering the many faces of Darkness.
May those who turn to these images and words for help awaken!
May every being on the face of the earth awaken!
Uri! Uri! Awaken! Awaken!
Robert dos Santos Teixeira, L.C.S.W.,
Intuitive, Psychotherapist, Rabbi,
and Author of The PSALM® Cards and Messages from the Psalms
invites you to make contact with him.
Email:
Robert@StayBlessedAndBeWell.com
Mobile:
212-961-1745.
Office:
983 Park Avenue (East 83rd Street and Park Avenue)
New York, NY 10028
Enter on East 83rd Street, second awning from the corner, and look for his initials, RST, next to the doorbell.
Directions:
4, 5, or 6 Trains to 86th Street
For legal purposes, please understand that all readings are for entertainment purposes only. All clients must be 18 years of age.
May the Light you carry increase! Stay blessed and be well!