Tarot-Curious

Deviant Moon Monday

tarotcurious — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:35:50 +0000

I decided to look into a family issue that is going on. A relative of mine has a new baby and they are currently trying to work out childcare for the baby. Right now the grandparents take turns watching the baby, but watching an infant after years without children around has been a bit hard on them. It seems that there is a bit of stress all around between the tired grandparents, and the parents who are in a situation where two incomes is necessary. So, will the grandparents adjust? Will one of the parents be able to stay at home? What is in store?

The father is clearly presented here, which makes sense as my connection to the situation is through the father of the child. The picture shows a father who is surrounded by his children, and he is loving it! I feel that if the situation presented itself for the father to stay at home, that would be a great solution. We are definitely moving into a time of solution to the issue at hand. The 6 of swords shows a journey away from havoc and towards better, calmer times. I feel that there is a settling in that will happen soon where all parties will be more comfortable and will be able to enjoy the beautiful baby they all love and adore. The knight of cups is showing a new opportunity on the horizon. New ideas or situations will help bring peace and allow this new family to get into a routine that brings peace for all involved, and more quality time for the baby. Overall I see a transition to smoother times going on. I see more opportunities for dad to stay at home more often, and less stress on the grandparents. It looks like a win-win for all involved. Especially for that darling little baby!

Slacker I Be

tarotcurious — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:34:49 +0000

Alright, lots has been going on, but I refuse to blog for a week just to drop it. I’m back at it starting Monday. Hectic schedule be damned!

Deviant Moon Monday

tarotcurious — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:57 +0000

This week I’m doing a plain 3-card spread for past, present, and future. I’m fortunate in that I don’t feel that I have any pressing problems at the moment that I need advice on, so this is a way to connect with the cards without a specific inquiry. So here it is.

Past – 5 of Swords. In the Deviant Moon tarot it shows a figure with his tongue out, insinuating a “nah nah nah” type attitude. Definitely a brat and a bit of a bragger. This is a person who loves to win and rub it in the faces of others. If I have to see this card at all, I’m glad it is in this position… well in my past. But sadly I think this is a bit accurate. There was definitely a time in my past when I was quite the snotty kid. Okay, perhaps even the snotty 20-something. If there was an argument I had to win it at all costs. I was always right, or so I liked to think. I feel confident in saying that I left that part of me behind some time ago, but I think it is helpful that the tarot reminded me so I never go down that path again.

Present – (R) King of Swords. Hmmm… I’m honestly having a bit of trouble seeing this one in my present life. The reversed meanings include selfishness and unfair judge. I feel this couldn’t be farther from the truth in my personal relationships, but I can see some degree of it in my worklife. I am a bit quick to judge my co-workers. There are some that have been a little difficult in the past and I am too quick to assume that they will always be difficult. Definitely something to work on so that work is more pleasant overall.

Future – Knight of Pentacles. The knight of pentacles is thorough and skilled, but he is also in a rut. He is good at what he does and he is reliable, but he is stuck in a bit of a routine. It isn’t a pleasant idea for the future, but I can see things going that direction if I’m not careful. As I’ve said before, the Deviant Moon tarot tells it like it is. I am a reliable employee. I do my work and I do it well. But there are certainly times where I have allowed it to structure my time too much. And my time off of work is becoming more structured as well. I think this is a bit of a wake-up call telling me to shake things up a little before I really get in a rut. I certainly don’t enjoy feeling like I don’t have time outside of work, but there are lots of ways to remedy that. And the time is now!

Week 1: Halloween Friday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:00:02 +0000

If there is one holiday that I love, it is definitely Halloween. And so when I first saw this Halloween Tarot deck I knew it was for me. Sure it is light-hearted compared to most decks, but it is hard not to love. And although it may seem superficial at first, there are always interesting things to be found in the images that show careful thought and deep symbolism. Much like my other decks, I haven’t done a lot of work with this deck, but I have always viewed its personality as fun-loving and optimistic. And the fact that there is a little black cat in every card just adds to the fun. Time to see if the deck is really as laid-back as I imagine. I’m not doing reversals with this deck either. Again, this spread is FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? The Fool. Right off the bat we see the playful nature of this deck in the Fool card. This deck definitely knows how to be light-hearted. At the same time this card also shows that the deck is full of potential.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? 6 of Imps. Success, optimism, and stability. Here we see the optimism that I truly do feel in this deck. We also see that this deck is reliable and good at what it does.

3. What are your limits as a deck? 8 of Imps. Hasty and overeager. I can see this as well. The deck is so excited to reveal what it has to say that it can be a bit rushed and perhaps unorganized, but I think that the energy from the 6 of Imps overrides that most of the time.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? King of Imps. Again we see hasty decisions and impulsiveness. But we also see creativity, confidence, and compassion. Definitely great traits to bring to the table.

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? 9 of Imps. Being inspired and taking action. The deck is saying that to get the most from the experience, I need to take action. I need to be an active participant in reading and I need to be inspired to take action with the information I gain.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? Page of Bats. Intuitive and eager. The outcome of this relationship will be greater intuition in the matters at hand.

Week 1: Dante Thursday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:00:56 +0000

The Dante Tarot is a very different deck from my others. It uses a completely different set of suits (Bricks, Flames, Clouds, Lights) than my other decks, it has a different set of majors, it isn’t based on RWS or Thoth, and it is a “theme” deck in that it is inspired by Dante Alighieri and his works Convivio and The Divine Comedy. Although I find Dante’s work to be very interesting, I admit that the first thing that drew me to this deck is the artwork. I fell in love with the artwork of the Liber T deck, and when I found out that the artist from that deck had also done the Dante deck I had to see it. When I first found the images online, I fell in love with it. If you are interested in reading more on the Dante Tarot, this is an excellent start. So, I think it is time to learn a little from this unique deck. As with the Thoth, this deck is not meant to be used with reversals, so all cards will be placed right-side up. As with the other interviews, this spread is FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread. So let’s begin!

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? Principalities. Success and completion. I feel that this deck is good at what it does and is able to finish the task at hand. The deck is basically claiming to have a good track record.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? King of Bricks. Power and stability. I feel that the deck is saying that it is consistent, reliable, and (again) good at what it does. It has the ability to lead one to the correct answer.

3. What are your limits as a deck? Knave of Bricks. This is a card that deals with being someone who is involved in a lot of things without being the primary person of responsibility. To me this says that the deck has a weakness of being knowledgeable on many things instead of being an expert on one thing.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? Hope. Well the title of the card sums it up pretty well – hope. This card also speaks of trust, patience, and optimism. All of which are valuable traits to learn.

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? Knave of Lights. This card deals with brining new ideas. And it is clear from the imagery of the card that there is a lot of pondering going on. I feel like this is saying that I need to not only bring new ideas to the table, but to ponder the answers so I gain the most out of them.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? 6 of Bricks. This is quite a positive card for this particular position. The LWB says “marriage, oath, lasting relationship, pregnancy.” It seems that not only with this be a positive, happy, and long relationship, but it will also birth many new insights. What a wonderful card to end this spread!

Week 1: Rider-Waite Wednesday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:00:40 +0000

The Rider-Waite Smith Tart deck was my very first deck. I definitely love the imagery, but I have always had an aversion to the bright colors. I’ve toyed around the idea of getting a different version of the deck t remedy this, perhaps the Universal or Radiant deck. But alas, everytime I consider it I realize I would rather just buy a completely different deck and make due with my original RWS deck. Being that this was my first deck, we have had a relatively long relationship, but not a very intimate one. As I had mentioned before, I have collected a few decks over the years, but never really used any of them. Out of all my decks, I have always found the RWS to be the most approachable. It is simplistic, yet deep. And it is inviting as well. To me the RWS epitomizes Tarot, or at least what I always imagined Tarot to be. So it is surprising that I haven’t done more with the deck in these years. But it is time for that to change. And with that, I think I shall finally start breaking in this deck. Now for the interview. Again, I am using FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread.

5 out of the 6 cards are reversed. Interesting. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m reading upside down.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? (R) 4 of Swords. To me this reversed card says that the deck is reserved and cautious. It doesn’t make outlandish statements without good reason. In general the deck is going to give a wise and thoughtful answer.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? (R) A of Swords. Another reversed card. Here I see the birth of new ideas. Very promising indeed.

3. What are your limits as a deck? 6 of Cups. The 6 of cups is definitely focussed on the past. Perhaps this indicates that the deck is a big hung up on things that occurred prior. It may overemphasize the importance of such things.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? (R) Empress. As a reversed card, this says to me that the cards are bringing compassion and good will. Reassuring indeed!

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? (R) 6 of Swords. Reversed again. Similar to what the other decks have said, this seems to indicate that I need to be open and dedicated to get the most out of this relationship.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? (R) Knight of Pentacles. Yet another reversed card. Hmmmm… and not a promising one either. This seems to say that the outcome is stagnation. I think I am somewhat to blame for that though. It definitely has been the case between this deck and I, mostly due to the fact that I pick it up just to set it back down. I need to move forward with this deck if the stagnation is ever to change.

Week 1: Liber T Tuesday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:05:27 +0000

The Liber T is a Thoth clone. I was drawn to it for many of the same reasons that I was drawn to the Thoth. It had immense symbolism and a design I had never seen before. But the Liber T was even more interesting to me because of the intriguing scenes in the pip cards and the beautiful artwork. The artist for this deck is Andrea Serio, who also did the artwork for the Dante Tarot. I found his interpretation of the Thoth to be even more beautiful than the original. The colors, the shapes, the shadows; it has it all. And even though some of the pip scenes are off-putting to some, I find the deck to be much more approachable than the Thoth deck. So, let’s see what this deck has to tell me about itself.

(Note: Just as with the Thoth that this deck is inspired by, the Liber T is not meant for reversals. All cards have been turned right-side up. This spread is FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread.)

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? Q of Swords. I would say perceptiveness is the key term here. It seems that the most important characteristic is being able to perceive the situation and use resourcefulness to solve the problem at hand. What an essential characteristic in a deck.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? 2 of Scepters. This deck is assertive and unbridled. Although these can make for an intimidating deck, it seems to me that it will actually be very beneficial. I can see that the answers I get will be no-nonsense; perhaps brash, but definitely to the point.

3. What are your limits as a deck? Lust. This seems to go hand in hand with the strengths of the deck. Here we see the other side of the coin. The deck is passionate, and although that can lead to some great benefits, it can also lead to emotional pleas instead of clear, calm thoughts. As we saw with the 2 of Scepters, the deck is hard-hitting. And now with the Lust card we see that can come at a price. The deck appeals to the emotions more so than the plain facts.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? 9 of Cups. This sounds wonderful. The deck brings love, happiness, and satisfaction. It seems that this could be a very beneficial and satisfying relationship.

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? Q of Cups. It seems to me that the deck is saying that I need to bring my intuition to the table. I should use my devotion, intuition, and inner discovery along with the deck to get the most out of the relationship. I should have an open-mind and allow the deck to lead me to where I know inside I should go.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? Knight of Swords. This sounds promising as well. It seems that the outcome could be one of great intellectual gain with a little wit thrown in for good measure. Sounds like we are off to a good start already.

Week 1: Thoth Tuesday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:02:51 +0000

Next up is the Thoth deck. This was my second deck (my first being the RWS deck) and one that definitely opened my eyes to the varied world of tarot. I didn’t know much about Aleister Crowley when I first bought the deck, so I didn’t have that instant aversion or unconditional love that I often hear reported by others. But I definitely was in awe of what this deck had the potential to be. There is simply so much thought and so much symbolism in this deck. I cringe to even try a reading with it as the depth of this deck is so immense, and my knowledge of it so shallow. Surely I will miss some deeper meaning, but I will try anyways. There is so very much to learn from it. And so here is the first lesson. What does the deck have to tell me? Let the interview begin.

(Note: The Thoth deck was not designed for reversals, so no reversals are done here. All cards were turned right-side up. This spread is FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread)

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? 3 of Wands. This is definitely a good sign. The 3 of Wands is a card of new beginnings and creativity. I feel like the deck is telling me that it can give a fresh perspective and provide a wonderful new way of looking at a situation. I love it.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? 5 of Swords. This card speaks a lot about defeat, but it also speaks of the knowledge and strength that come out of a defeat. The deck seems to say that it’s strength is overcoming conflict and gaining experience because of it.

3. What are your limits as a deck? A of Cups. The Ace of Cups is the totality of love. I feel that the limitation of this deck is that its strength is in matters of love, relationships, unions, and harmony. As such it may have limitations in other areas.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? Art. The deck is here to teach me balance, harmony, and peace of mind. It calls for me to seek out new perspectives and expand my mind. Definitely a great lesson!

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? Princess of Disks. I feel like this is a wonderful card for this question. The lesson is that I need to open up and allow myself to be inspired. I’m hard-pressed to think of a better card for this question. I need to give my love and passion to the deck and allow it to return the favor.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? Lust. Is this deck trying to make me love it? What wonderful answers so far, and this is no exception. The Lust card is telling me that our working relationship will be one of transformation, redemption, and becoming whole. By accepting our instincts and primal selves, we can become stronger.

Week 1: Deviant Moon Monday – Deck Interview

tarotcurious — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:13 +0000

For week 1 I am doing deck interviews using FireRaven’s New Deck Interview Spread. First deck up: the Deviant Moon Tarot. This is one of my newest decks, but also one of my favorites. The imagery is right up my alley. So let’s see what the deck has to say.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? 3 of Swords. To me this shows a longing and a sadness. Loneliness really. I love this deck and it seems to desire a relationship with me too.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? (R) Q of Swords. The LWB interpretation of this card is cruel and deceitful. Bad tempered. Hmmmm… strength, huh? I’m going to take this as saying that the deck’s strength is telling it like it is, even if you don’t want to hear it. I definitely agree with this. I’ve only used the deck a handful of times, but it doesn’t mince words. It seems to say, “You want an answer, then get ready, because I call it as I see it.” This may also be saying that the deck is well versed at pointing out the deceit of others.

3. What are your limits as a deck? (R) 10 of Swords. To me this says that the deck can only do so much. It can tell me straight, but it can’t fix things. It can’t do the work for me. I feel it is reiterating that it is, when all is said and done, a deck. It is up to me to put ideas into action.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? (R) Q of Wands. Not a lot of good ways to spin this one. The LWB describes vindictive person, one who brings conflict, infidelity, revenge. Perhaps the idea is that the deck will teach me to deal with conflict and all the chaotic things that go with it. It will help me to see clearly through disagreements with others or the conflicts I face.

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? K of Pentacles. I need to “invest” my time in this deck to get what it has to offer me. I need to become skilled in the cards so I can see what they are telling me. There is lots to be gained from this deck if I put in the time and effort on my end.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? 9 of Swords. Well, as I said, this deck doesn’t mince words. LWB says anxiety, worry, stress, misery, despair. I can see that. This deck, as I said, tells it how it is. Getting the truth laid out for you can certainly cause a level of anxiety, worry, and stress. There are no little white lies coming from this deck to soften the blow. Thanks for the warning Deviant Moon. I will keep it in mind.

And So it Begins

tarotcurious — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:57:05 +0000

I’ve been interested in tarot for a few years now and I have a few decks, but I have never really sat down and learned the tarot. Nor have I really used the decks I have. So I’ve decided to finally get my act together and start learning. And here is where it begins. I have 6 decks and my goal is to learn more about each of them while learning more about tarot in general. If you are reading this as a fan of the tarot yourself, just know that I am a novice. It is unlikely you will learn much from me. In fact you might cringe at my weird interpretations and my numerous mistakes. But if you are willing to overlook that, then you are more than welcome to watch this tarot novice grow up a little. And if you want to give constructive criticism, then I’m up for that too. The plan is one deck a day, M-F and then a bit of tarot journaling on the weekends.

Now for the schedule that will hopefully keep me in line:

Monday: Deviant Moon Tarot

Tuesday (Twofer Tuesday): Thoth and Liber T

Wednesday: Rider Waite Smith

Thursday: Dante Tarot

Friday: Halloween Tarot

Weekends: Tarot Journaling/Comparative Tarot