About
Who Is Tara?
Tara is the Mother of all Buddhas — enlightenment in its swiftest, most tender form. In Tibet she is called Drolma, She Who Liberates. She is not a symbol, not an archetype, not a metaphor for something within you. She is a living presence, a fully awakened being who vowed, long ago, to remain in a woman's form until the last being is free.
Countless ages ago, in the time of the Buddha called Drum-Sound, she was a princess named Yeshe Dawa — Wisdom Moon. For ten million years she made offerings and ripened her mind, until awakening stood near. The monks of that age, seeing her attainment, urged her to pray for rebirth as a man, for so it had always been done. She refused. Here there is no man, there is no woman, she told them — only fools see male and female, and their seeing is empty. And then she made her vow: since so many strive for liberation in a man's body, and so few in a woman's, I will serve beings in a woman's form until samsara itself is empty.
She has kept that vow ever since. They name her the Swift One. Her right foot extends from her lotus seat, not in repose but in readiness — she is forever about to step into the world. For over a thousand years, travelers, mothers, the frightened and the grieving have spoken her name at thresholds they could not cross alone, and found her already there.
She appears in twenty-one forms, each a face of her care: peaceful, protective, fierce when fierceness is what love requires. Most beloved are Green Tara, who dissolves fear and clears the path, and White Tara, whose light brings healing and long life.
Her mantra is a doorway: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha. Speak it once, softly, and she hears.
Practice
Practicing with Tara
You do not need to be Buddhist to call on Tara. You need only a sincere heart and a few quiet minutes.
Begin simply. Sit where you will not be disturbed. Let the breath settle. Then invite her — picture her green form seated on a moon disc and lotus, her right hand open toward you in the gesture of giving, her eyes meeting yours with the recognition of a mother who has been waiting. Hold nothing back from that gaze.
Recite her mantra, aloud or in silence: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha. Twenty-one times, or one hundred and eight, or simply until the mind grows still. Let the sound do its work. When you finish, rest. Feel her light dissolve into you, and sit in what remains.
That is enough. She asks nothing more.
Meet Sophia, the Creator
Sophia is a Certified Meditation Coach, a Holy Fire III Reiki Master Teacher who created this deck to help women reconnect with themselves, empower themselves, love themselves.
What began as a private devotional practice — a daily sitting, a mantra under the breath — slowly became the cards you now hold. Every painting, every word, every recording was offered as part of the practice itself.
This deck is not a product. It is an offering.