Maree Bento is a professional reader and a perpetual student of the healing & mystical arts. She is an intuitive artist, author, and creator of self-published decks: the Antiquarian Lenormand, Antiquarian Tarot, Divine Muses Oracle, and newly released Lua Tarot & Lua Lenormand. Maree lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner David and huggable hound Dante.

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More About Me

The archetypes I currently embody: artist, diviner, magical child, mentor, seeker, witch, & wounded healer.

​I created my first deck for personal use in 2012.  I adore working with divination decks and I've been reading and studying them for about twenty years now. I'm an eternal student of astrology and use it in my readings. I've been journeying more deeply in recent years, and find it indispensable for getting the overall picture in a client's reading. 

I'm also an artist and bodyworker. My background and 17 years of training in the healing arts inspires my present approach to tarot, creativity, ritual, and divination. My career as a healing professional focused on massage therapy, yoga, and feng shui, including modalities of Reiki, chakra work, and space clearing.​ With studies in Thai massage, quantum shiatsu, and sound/tuning fork therapy.
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How I Came to Tarot?

My curiosity with divination and the mystical arts was piqued when I was a teenager in the mid-nineties. I think it all began with an antiquarian book called Palmistry or Scientific Cheiromancy by Mrs. Edwin Symmes that I bought for 10 cents at a library sale. The simple hand-drawn illustrations and astrology connections that I found in my hands captured my heart. It is a relic that I still own and treasure. Around that time, I acquired a book on cartomancy, and that was my earliest introduction to reading—by connecting with a pack of playing cards! A few years later, I picked up my first tarot deck. 
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My First Tarot Deck

Some readers like to ask what your first deck was, so I'll share mine. It was the Karma Tarot by the Danish artist Birgit Boline Erfurt. I was captivated by its dream-like artwork. It had a mysterious personality, and was an expressive deck that I used for several years, even though it was not the best deck to learn the basics, I still loved it!

​My next deck was a Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot and I bought Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, and I was set. That was my tarot bible for a while, as I know it is for many readers. I added other titles, favorite decks and references like Tarot for Yourself​ by Mary K. Greer, Crowley-Harris' Thoth Tarot and more to my library over the years. Looking at my collection now, it's funny to think that at one time I had just the couple decks and books. 
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Tarot Studies & Evolution

​I have since studied and completed coursework on the Western mystical tradition of the Sacred Tarot, Hermetic magical practice, astrology, depth psychology, & mediumship; and continue to attend workshops & conferences on these topics. I also work with various oracles, including the Lenormand, and have taught workshops on the subject.

As an artist, I had always wanted to create a deck for myself. This is an impulse for many readers/artists. As tarot initiates, it's an ideal way to evolve on one's path. I started with a Lenormand deck in 2012. Upon the completion of those 36 cards, I had the confidence to double that to create my first tarot deck. Then I wrote the companion guidebook, and next came my oracle deck.

I didn't expect to become a deck creator. At first, I thought it would just be the one or two decks, and I'd be done. Then it was three: Lenormand, tarot, and oracle cards—the triad of divination decks. It had felt complete, but my Muses inspirited me to make another, then another. When the Muses are calling, you answer.
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Divine Muses Gratitude

I'm grateful for my allies and guides, and the teachers who have shared their knowledge and wisdom. The manifestation of my current work could not have been possible without the masters, writers, healers, and artists who danced with their Muses. 
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Synergy of Healing & Mysticism

It is my hope that the synthesis of my studies in the healing and mystical arts will help to deliver a comprehensive holistic experience for my clients & customers, through my deck creations, card readings, and bodywork.
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Thank you for visiting and for taking the time to read about me. Please feel free to contact me if you want to start up a conversation, or browse my private services if you're interested in a reading or synergistic session with me.
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Ms. Maree's readings are pure magic. She is not only deeply informed on the subject matter of tarot interpretation, symbolism & archetypal meaning, but she is well versed in being a channel for her own powerful intuition. She is always right-on with her readings, getting right to the heart of the matter, offering inspired insights & helpful guidance. Getting a reading from Maree is a true treat; fun, informative, meaningful and life-affirming. 
–Tai Woodville, Portland, Ore.