Choosing Wonder: Omer Counting Cards / Megan Smith
Background
My project is a Omer counting card deck, developed as part of my individual daily Omer counting practice. It is a set of 49 cards with the Hebrew theme on the front and an English affirmation on the back. The design of the cards is a representation of my daily practice: following the count, I would ask myself what I needed from that day’s theme and how I wanted to embody and remember it. The cards can “do” more now that they exist in the world, and I’ve been thinking about how I can continue to use them throughout the year as part of a ritual practice.
Process
This was the first thing I made with my materials - I was coming back to an image of a seedling emerging from its pod - and I knew there was something I wanted to pull out of myself.
This was the first thing I drew in my Atiq Maker notebook - notably the same seed imagery - but this time with an explosion of growth.
I experimented with different ideas and ritual objects connected to expansive, oceanic, and kept coming back to the question of how to create a daily practice of connecting to the divine.
Things clicked when I began my Omer counting process, which become the focus of my project. Each day I would count, envision how I wanted to embody the theme of the day, and create an illustration of that.
Invitation for Interaction
Spend one minute looking through the digital cards
Choose one (either in English, Hebrew, or both) that speaks to you
Why is this important for you right now?
How will you remember this for the rest of the day today?