Deck review Coming Soon

Back in March, using a little tiny piece of our tax return, I backed an Indiegogo campaign. On Halloween, I received the first of the two rewards I backed it in hopes of getting. As soon as the second reward arrives, I'll be posting a review of:

Flying Through The Veil With the Crow Tarot Limited Edition Backer's Deck and Tarot Journal by MC Cullinane

As always, forgive my cluttered mess of a desk space. i use it for making jewelry, opening mail, sorting beads, and storing extra ketchup packets, apparently.

Pain

Welp, the carpal tunnel has escalated again. Damnit. I have got to find a way to come up with the money to get my wrists evaluated again, and then to pay for the steroid injections again. Probably about a grand, all told?

My right hand is just jacked up. my middle finger its starting to hurt along with the wrist, and that's when things get really bad, when the pain hits the fingers as well.

Visit my theADDartist page on Facebook, buy my jewelry!

Click the link  to the right and order a tarot reading!

I need to get the cash together quickly or I won't be able to work at all in ANY way that utilizes my right hand very soon.

'Tis the Season...

...and after all, all the other tarot readers I see on Instagram and Facebook and elsewhere are doing it - so let's pull out the Halloween and horror themed decks and do a couple pulls! I have three decks that could be considered Halloween or horror, so I'll do a three card draw from each.


The Halloween Tarot

I drew the 8 of Imps (Wands), The King of Pumpkins (Pentacles), and the 10 of Bats (Swords). This deck does not offer reversals, so although my photo shows the 10 of Bats in reverse, I am reading it as upright. I just shuffled this deck out of habit, so they have a bunch wrong-side-up.

The 8 of Imps (Wands) is about  (using the LWB for this deck) great haste and over-eagerness that thwart advancement. Sudden action or progress. Messages or letters of love, cupid-style.

The King of Pumpkins (Pentacles) speaks to an experienced and successful leader. Reliable, steadfast, resourceful. Giving up what is not appropriate for what is.

The 10 of Bats (Swords) describes mental agony, despair. Ruin. Escape from pain, and emotional detachment.

The story here seems to be a story of a mistake made, a lesson learned but perhaps an overreaction to that lesson, with a result of despair.


The Zombie Tarot

I drew the Magician, The Knight of Wands, and the Empress.

The Magician (per the LWB for this deck) is about deception, an opportunist, the puppet master. 

The Knight of Wands is described as the bold, impetuous, adventurer.

The Empress is all about fertility, maternality, and success.

I'm not sure about this reading. It is like a portrait rather than a story, describing the players involved. I'd want to more context from my client here.


The Baphomet Tarot of the Underworld by Akron/H.R. Giger

I drew The Empress, The Death, and The Star. Note that all the cards are major arcana because this deck is a 23 card major arcana deck.

The Empress in this deck is about motherhood.

The Death card is about death and becoming.

The Star card is about illumination and imagination.

This reading seems to be telling a story about conception, creation, and incubation, followed by and ending of some kind, a change - but as always with Death, a new beginning, and closing with illumination and imagination - hope for the new beginning. it seems quite dark but it is, I feel, quite optimistic.

Finally, I realized that although it is quite normal and everyday to ME, my favorite deck is also quite dark and appropriate, so one more draw:


The Mage: The Ascension Deck

I drew the 10 of Dynamism, (Swords) the Lovers in reverse, and the 9 of Pattern (Pentacles).

The 10 of Swords is a very notorious card, indicating ruin, fear of ruin, pain, mental despair, and paradox. The paradox? "The end of one reality betokens the beginning of another." So like the Death card, the 10 of Swords may be the end of a chapter - yes, filled with pain and a collapse of what you know (also like the Tower in that regard) - but it is an end that allows for something new to begin.

The Lovers represent attraction. More often than not, it's assumed that the attraction must be romantic, but it also can mean attracting things or people to you that you need for your life or path. It also symbolizes harmony, duality, and sincerity. This card following the 10 of Swords is something like a light at the end of a tunnel - sort of a confirmation of the new beginning that the 10 may be alluding to after a fall.

Finally, the 9 of Pattern (Pentacles/Coins) represents loss, roguery, incompletion. It suggests that the story does not end well here, that despite things appearing to improve, with the Lovers following  after the 10 of Swords, there are still obstacles to overcome.

NOTE: Rereading this, I see that I have misread the cards here. The Lovers card was reversed, and I read it as upright! SO - when in reverse, the Lovers card is all about repulsion, rejection, the pushing away of others, both in romance and in other ways. So wit that meaning in mind, this reading is far more negative than I first interpreted it to be.  Ruin, catastrophic change, the loss of many people from your life, and then further loss in other aspects of life as well, most likely financially, since the Coins are more often than not about the material world.

The Tower Spread

So, as I'm still so very, very behind on the Tarot of the Day posts where we break down and compare the meaning and art work of the Raven's Prophecy Deck, I'm going to at least try to provide SOME kind of content in the form of some daily draws, quick three card reads, and the like.  I'll be sharing these posts on my Facebook group, A Kaleidoscope of Magical Perceptions , and on my Ouroboros Tarot Facebook Page as well.


TODAY'S SPREAD:

This layout is one I found on Pinterest, and appears to be credited to fluoritechild.tumblr.com.

TODAY'S DRAWS:

For the first card in the Tower Spread, the position labelled, "What Changed?", I drew the 6 of Questing (Wands) in reverse, which is about delay, conquest, and defeat. This, if I were with a client, might tell me that they recently had a serious setback - something happened that stopped some plan of theirs in its tracks, and they feel defeated and at a loss as to how to move forward. 

For the second card in the spread, "How to live with it and move on", I drew the 7 of Primordialism (Cups),  which is a card of temptation, selfishness, illusion, debauchery, addiction, and promiscuity. Now sometimes, when a card doesn't make much sense in the position it is in, I often suggest that rather than telling you what TO do, the card might be suggesting what NOT TO DO, and this is a perfect example of that. I am not sure I would recommend that someone live with a failure or setback by going out and doing selfish things and being promiscuous, but I will warn them that perhaps the card is recommending the client play, and take some time to do things for themselves, perhaps even to indulge, but not to take things too far. Sometimes being a little selfish and doing something nice for yourself is okay, and can help you deal with a loss, but self medication can lead to quite a slippery slope than can end in the pit of addiction.

For the third position, "What can be learned from this change," I drew the 6 of Dynamism (Swords), reversed, which is about a stalemate, failure, obstacles, difficulties, delay, and blockage. This card, when upright, is about moving from the rough waters of struggle and conflict to the calm waters of peace. In reverse, it represents the inability to move forward, being stuck in a dead current that keeps cycling you back to the rough waters you are trying to leave. I would likely say to my client , once we got to this card, that the cards being drawn are telling a slightly different story than the positions they lie in. I might suggest that instead of reading them per the layout, I'd read them as their story. These three cards together seem to say, 'you had a really difficult moment, and you reacted badly by running away from that failure and in to addiction, debauchery and selfishness, and now you are trapped in a bitter cycle. you probably feel trapped and unable to move forward because you keep turning back to the the things you used to escape from your earlier failures.' 

Finally, for the fourth card position, : How to release your emotions in a healthy way", I drew the and the 4 of Dynamism (Swords,) in reverse. It represents solitude, repose, economy, precaution, circumspection, and exile. Both scenarios, the one following the layout and the one where the cards are telling a story, end with a card suggesting that the client  remove themselves from everything, take a step back and regroup. For the client already embroiled in the throes of addiction, who is trying to get help and get back on track, self-exile (and medical and psychological help) are key. For the person who is being warned against that path, taking those steps back to look at the big picture, and some good conversations about how to handle adversity without running from it would be advised.

ABOUT THE DECK:

The deck I am using here is my go-to deck, the Mage: The Ascension Deck by White Wolf. The deck is no longer in print, and the one I am using is a first edition from the 1990's. I have a later edition  in my collection that I keep as a backup and that my fiance occasionally uses when we do our rare tandem tarot sessions, where we both use the same deck at the same time to do readings for people. It is not only my favorite deck, but the most matter-of-fact and honest deck I have ever come across. It really 'tells it like it is' and doesn't sugarcoat things like so many other decks I have used over the years. (And I have used SO MANY!) My copy of the deck has been my personal deck for about 21 years now, and has been chewed on by my now 19 year old daughter, has water stains, and nearly every card is creased form all of the shuffling. It is well loved.

Daily Draws - take 2

Not a lot of people interact with this blog - meaning I don't get much feedback on whether what I am writing holds any value to any of you, my dear readers. Please, if you read this blog and find it is helpful, or boring, or find it lacking in some way, or if you find it to be just what you want - let me know! I leave the comments section open so if you ever have questions you can ask them. I like to hear that I am doing well, and I can't improve without your notes.

THE DRAW:

I drew the 5 of Questing (Wands), The 4 of Pattern (Coins), in reverse,  and Luna (The Moon), in reverse.

The 5 of Wands is about strife, competition, obstacles, anxiety, frustration, frenetecism, and hyperactivity. The image shows five guys searching for something, and their body language says that they are getting frustrated. Each of them wants to find the thing they seek before the other, and though they are meant to be working together, they clearly are not, too busy arguing to see that one of them may have found a clue, if not the thing they are looking for.

The 4 of Coins in reverse is all about setback, loss, poverty, and legacy. The suit of Coins is typically assumed to be describing the financial situation or goals of the querant, but keep in mind that it also is about the harvest, not just the figurative harvest of money  we get from doing our jobs, but also the harvest of stability, knowledge , and strength we can receive from our hard work. Earthly progress is not just about financial gain, but personal progress and emotional growth as well. This particular card, in reverse, speaks to taking steps backwards in that progress. It could certainly be about finances, but I just want to point out that a Coins card doesn't ALWAYS point to money.

The Moon in reverse is all about deception, peril, madness, and illusion. Things are not always what they seem, this card says. I like to see it as a warning to take a second, more analytical look at the people, environment, or situation that the reading may be referring to, because the client may be missing something, or have someone doing something in the background that they are unaware is affecting them.

If I had a client in front of me and I drew these cards for them, I might tell them that there is something - a current obsession, perhaps - that is taking up to much of their time and attention, and it it is causing them to slip backwards into old bad habits, possibly causing some financial loss, if money is related, and that they need to take a good step away from things and have a good look at what they are doing, or at the object of their desire, because they may be fooling themselves (or be being fooled by it/them.) Whatever they are chasing down is not as good for them as they may think!

ABOUT THE DECK:

The deck I am using here is my go-to deck, the Mage: The Ascension Deck by White Wolf. The deck is no longer in print, and the one I am using is a first edition from the 1990's. I have a later edition  in my collection that I keep as a backup and that my fiance occasionally uses when we do our rare tandem tarot sessions, where we both use the same deck at the same time to do readings for people. It is not only my favorite deck, but the most matter-of-fact and honest deck I have ever come across. It really 'tells it like it is' and doesn't sugarcoat things like so many other decks I have used over the years. (And I have used SO MANY!) My copy of the deck has been my personal deck for about 21 years now, and has been chewed on by my now 19 year old daughter, has water stains, and nearly every card is creased form all of the shuffling. It is well loved.

Daily Draws...To Pass the Time

So, as I'm still so very, very behind on the Tarot of the Day posts where we break down and compare the meaning and art work of the Raven's Prophecy Deck, I'm going to at least try to provide SOME kind of content in the form of some daily draws, quick three card reads, and the like.  I'll be sharing these posts on my Facebook group, A Kaleidoscope of Magical Perceptions , and on my Ouroboros Tarot Facebook Page as well.

So, without further ado, 

THE DRAW:

Here is, upon my very cluttered and messy desk, a quite random 3-card draw, drawn with nothing in particular in mind other than I wanted three cards to talk about for a basic  simple draw. Now, there are many ways to interpret a 3 card draw - a simple search on Pinterest will reveal many, many different ways to structure a three card spread - but I like to see what the cards have in store before I decide the structure. Sometimes, they are the better guide that the structure we impose upon them, when it comes to storytelling.

I drew The Chariot, in reverse, the 10 of Dynamism (Swords), and the 10 of Questing (wands). 

The Chariot, when seen in reverse, references defeat, collapse, and vengeance. This is very much in line with the following card, the 10 of Swords, which is infamously the 'worst' card in the tarot, only slightly less notorious than the Tower, Death, and The Devil cards. The 10 of swords is the last in a progression from the Ace to the 10 of increasing negativity. It represents ruin, the fear of ruin, pain, mental despair, and paradox.  The final draw is the 10 of Wands, which, like is counterpart in the swords, is not the most friendly card. It speaks to oppression, burden, trial, ruin, disruption, failure, limitations, restrictions, and holding back.

Together, these three cards are not a pretty picture. they speak to the subject of the reading's lack of forward motion, and to their state of mind regarding their ability to reach personal and professional goals. They describe a very bleak outlook and future, one filled with a total breakdown, the subject reaching rock bottom, and not only reaching it, but finding themselves trapped there by their own inability to act to remove themselves from the situation they find themselves in. If I were with a client, and this draw came up, I'd ask probing questions and see where they are in their life. This draw could be a warning, or a starting point. It could be saying "this is where you are or have been." or it could be saying "this is where you are headed now".  

It is hard for me to explain how you determine what the message is to the client - it takes a lot of practice and learning to understand the client when they tell you about themselves, learning to infer and read between the lines. A huge part of reading the tarot is, in my experience, all about human psychology. Knowing what the cards mean and how they relate to one another within the context of the layout you use is very important, but if the client doesn't relate to the story you are telling them, then it's time to look again and find THEIR story.

ABOUT THE DECK:

The deck I am using here is my go-to deck, the Mage: The Ascension Deck by White Wolf. The deck is no longer in print, and the one I am using is a first edition from the 1990's. I have a later edition  in my collection that I keep as a backup and that my fiance occasionally uses when we do our rare tandem tarot sessions, where we both use the same deck at the same time to do readings for people. It is not only my favorite deck, but the most matter-of-fact and honest deck I have ever come across. It really 'tells it like it is' and doesn't sugarcoat things like so many other decks I have used over the years. (And I have used SO MANY!) My copy of the deck has been my personal deck for about 21 years now, and has been chewed on by my now 19 year old daughter, has water stains, and nearly every card is creased form all of the shuffling. It is well loved.

Hiatus...or something.

So if it isn't quite obvious, I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately. The curse of depression and being overwhelmed is that there is always something that falls by the wayside when you are in a depressive trench, and it turns out this blog was the victim this time around. I hope to be back up and running very soon, and I apologize for the long gap in lessons. We will resume where we left off as soon as I get a few lessons written and scheduled to post so that I'm not scrambling to write EVERY day.

In the meanwhile, I will be attending some events here in Oklahoma soon, one as a vendor and one as a tarot reader AND vendor, so if you'd like an in person reading form me there is an opportunity to do just that.

First, on October 6th, Tulsa's Pagan Pride Day Festival will see me vending my jewelry and other goodies. Here's some examples of what I'll be bringing:

Then, on October 20th, The first Annual Oklahoma Witch's Ball will see me vending my jewelry and performing tarot readings at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Norman, Oklahoma. So I'll have what i have left of the above, plus my cards laid out for reading for folks. It's gonna be a fun month!

I have also been working on helping a performer gear up for Wasteland Weekend 2018 and have been having a blast using bullet casings, bottle caps, and other recycled materials to make accessories she can wear to not only enhance her performances but also to help her character look  as if she is meant to be there. Here's some pics of what I've been working on:

So, needless to say, I have been very busy. I am doing my best to get this blog back on track to get back to the lessons. I'm also taking on some other educational threads on the group I cross post this blog to, so yo umay start seeing some posts on Runes in the coming weeks as well.