Your altar sounds lovely, hunter! I have a Venus of Willendorf statue on mine too, that I picked it up several years ago in Norway.
I have the actual deck, and the large size of the cards really showcases Julie's exquisite artwork! I already had the Maat Activity Book, and I told my husband I wanted the Moon Signs Guide, Book of Court Cards, and the Maat Teacher's Edition for Yule, so I have been able to spend some time immersing myself in the deck while off from work this week!
Since this is the general discussion thread, I'd like to share some ramblings from my notes; maybe they'll be helpful to others learning the lunar system, or maybe not! But it was really helpful to me to work with the Moon Signs book.
The first thing I had to get straight in my head was the phases themselves:
4 Waxing (increase of energy as the Moon moves toward Full):
New to Crescent
Crescent to 1st Quarter
1st Quarter to Gibbous
Gibbous to Full
4 Waning (decrease of energy as the Moon moves away from Full):
Full to Balsamic
Balsamic to Last Quarter
Last Quarter to Disseminating
Disseminating back to New
So the moon is waxing for approximately 14 days, and waning for 14 days, for a 28 day lunar month. In this month, the Moon travels through all 12 signs of the zodiac.
In the Maat (and Julie - please jump in any place where I'm off track in my understanding!), Julie breaks the phases down into four, so the cards reflect New Moon, First Quarter, Full, and Last Quarter.
Then I looked at the Full Moon Cycles. They are grouped seasonally - Full Moon Cycles for Autmn, Winter, Spring, and Summer; which leaves us with three full moon cycles per season.
For example, the Full Moon Cycle of Aries is the first of the three months of autumn, and is represented by the Emperor. Within this cycle, the four weekly moon phases are represented by the cardinal signs of the zodiac (Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Cancer). The full moon is represented by a Court card in each cycle.
Likewise, the other two full moon cycles of autumn are identified with fixed signs and mutable signs, respectively. This correlation is repeated through each season. I hadn't noticed that before and found it helpful to my basic understanding.
Also, the Autumn and Winter seasons relate to the masculine suits of Wands and Swords, while Summer and Spring relate to the feminine suits of Cups and Pentacles.
I think what makes the system difficult for many people to conceptualize is our "in the box" thinking. I know it became much easier for me when I stopped trying to make it all go in the sequence I'm accustomed to and just went with the flow!
Still learning.....
Kimber