#microbe tarot

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - Temperance

Lactobacillus rhamnosus: A probiotic bacteria that can actually affect your mind. Known as a psychoactive bacteria, they can influence brain chemistry through the vagus nerve (the nerve connect to the digestive tract) and help reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.

The Temperance card is all about balance. Finding the right combination of things that make everything feel right. Having this bacteria living in your gut can help improve depression and anxiety by reducing inflammation and producing substances such as gamma-aminobutyric acid and serotonin that directly affect how your brain “feels”. By improving what we eat, or adding an extra ingredient, we can change our brain and actually feel better. It’s all about finding the right balance.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The Fool

Escherichia coli: More commonly known as E. Coli, it lives in the intestinal tract of warm blooded animals, ourselves included. This bacteria colonizes in our intestines within hours of birth. It is also the most widely studied bacteria and one of the first organisms to have its genetic code sequenced, helping us understand how DNA works.

The Fool card is all about beginnings. The start of something new, exciting and unafraid. E. Coli is all about new beginnings. It is easily modified and replicates very quickly. The study of E. coli gave birth to the biotechnology field. Because it is so easy to manipulate, it’s genome can be changed to help create antibiotics, vaccines, insulin, even to solve math problems. But just as life, there is a dark side. There are mutations of this bacteria that are harmful, even deadly. But every beginning has multiple possibilities. You won’t know where you’ll end up unless you go forward.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The Tower

Yersinia pestis: The bacteria that caused the Black Death, aka, the plague. The plague killed 1/3 of Europeans in the 1300′s, carried in from Asia, where it had already killed millions of people.

The Tower card is about sudden change and upheaval. An explosion that shakes your very foundations. The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in history. It resulted in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people. It would have been totally and completely devastating to be alive in that time, when everyone around you is dying. But even through that, people carried on. We survived. We found hope when it seemed like there should be none, and we lived, to thrive again.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - Death

Talimogene laherparepvec: A genetically modified herpes simplex virus 1 (the virus that cause cold sores). It has been modified so that it can no longer cause herpes, has an increase selectivity for cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed and secretes a protein naturally secreted in the body to initiate an immune response. Basically, its a virus that destroys cancer cells, and then teaches your immune system that cancer is a threat and will then destroy cancer cells itself.

The death card is about transformation and elimination. Shedding the old to make room for the new. This virus, that we might normally see as a threat, comes into our body, and destroys the thing that is killing us. It is transformed, an then teaches us how to heal ourselves. Drastic change and getting rid of the waste.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The Empress

Saccharomyces cerivisiae: More commonly known as “yeast”. Yeast is everywhere. Anything that has carbon in it, you can find yeast. It’s found on plants, berries, insects, our skin, our guts... everywhere. It is also the first domesticated microbe, used to make alcoholic drinks like beer and wine, as well as making bread rise.

The Empress card is the “mother” card. She represents creation. From mothers having babies, to grain growing in fields and berries growing on plants. She nurtures and helps us grow. This fungus has helped people from our first civilizations, and is continuing to be of use in microbiology fields helping with medical research and increasing our knowledge of the living world around us.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The World

Deinococcus radiodurans: The world’s toughest bacterium. It can survive cold, acid, dehydration, vacuum and extreme amounts of radiation.

The World card is about completion. You have succeeded on your journey, you have achieved all that you were striving for. Just like this bacteria, able to survive against all odds, and then keep on going.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The Sun

Penicillium chrysogenum: A fungus that is found in subtropical locations, growing in damp and water-damaged places. It is the source of the antibiotic penicillin. Penicillin antibiotics are effective against many bacterial infections.

The Sun card is about vitality, clarity, and success. You have achieved something, and you feel free and happy. Same as using penicillin. You were sick, infected with some kind of bacteria. So you take your antibiotics, and then finally, you begin to feel normal again. You have regained your health with the help of this little fungus.

[thecrackedamethyst]

Microbe Tarot - The Star

Vibrio harveyi: This bacteria is the cause for the glowing, “milky sea” you see pictures of. It is a free swimming bioluminescent bacteria that glows blue. The bacteria can actually communicate with each other with something called quorum-sensing. When there is enough of the bacteria, they start to use an enzyme that causes luminescence.

The Star card is about hope, faith, and inspiration. When you’re alone, or sad, you tend to forget what is special about you. But when someone points it out, or when you need to have something done, you can start to glow. When people connect, our hope can strengthen, and everyone can shine brighter.