Tarot Tales: Bonding & Forming a Friendship with Your Deck

Bienvenue! I hope you are doing splendid! I want discuss something I've been thinking about for awhile. You have a tarot deck, and now you want to start a successful relationship reading with the deck. So you really need to bond with your tarot deck, become friends with the cards. Sound silly? Sound weird? Well it isn't, not really. It may feel silly and it may feel weird, but trust me its going to be worth it.   You're excited, you're thrilled, you're jumping up and down because you just got your new tarot deck. You've pined after this deck forever...or you bought it on a whim, whatever the case you have it in your possession and the universe is alight.

  Now what to do, dive right in and start out with a complex 40 card spread right? Well you could do that, but it seems a tad rude to me. Why not say hello first, get to know the cards and what messages their imagery gives you. Take your time, let this first encounter be nothing but a sweet, innocent flirtation of energies.

Tarot Review - The DruidCraft Tarot

Welcome back. I've got another lovely tarot deck to show you today. The DruidCraft Tarot by Will Worthington, Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm is a well thought-out and executed Celtic, druid, pagan deck.  As druids, Philip and Stephanie provide an authentic perspective to the deck that gives depth to the imagery and book. It first come out in 2005, and although that was some time ago this is an easy to find deck.  

Box set art   I'm partial to Celtic traditions, so this deck felt right at home. If you don't really care for Celtic imagery or history, or heavily nature inspired art, this may not be a deck you enjoy working with. The cards are nice stock, not too shiny but not too matte. They are larger than most other decks, which makes the images really pop but can be hard to shuffle for some people.  

Tarot Review - Victoria Regina Tarot

Hello! Have you ever just looked at a deck and knew you had to have it? Well that was the case with this deck. I was watching a lovely YouTube video by Tarot by Arwen, and she used the Victoria Regina deck. I knew I needed it.    And then she said the dreaded words...Out of Print - Hard to Find. My heart sank. I pined after this deck, coming back to it over and over again. I searched high and low for about a year until I found (and won!) and Ebay listing that wasn't ridiculous. Still pricey...but not ridiculous for an OOP deck. This deck came out by Llewellyn in 2002 in a boxed set. I've found the book isn't hard to find, but the deck itself is rare (unless you want to pay upwards of $200, and I did not).   Now about this deck. Just look at it! The black and white images are stunning. The authors George Patterson and Sarah Ovenall did a masterful job. Ovenall used mixed media collage work from vintage Victorian engravings to create the card's images. Knowing that these images are period works of art elevates this deck for me. If you enjoy the Victorian (and even Edwardian era) this deck will speak to you. This has a really interesting steampunk quality, as each suite has an interesting theme.    Swords = Guns, Cups = Mason Jars, Pentacles = Watches (or Clocks),  Wands = Fountain Pens  

 Minor Arcana

Tarot DIY Workbook - Preparation for 78 Week Tarot Challenge

Hello again, and welcome to my blog. A few weeks back I talked about starting a 78 week self-exploration course on the tarot. I was all set to dive in, and then a thought occurred to me. Now is the perfect time to start that tarot workbook I've been meaning to get to.

There are plenty of tarot workbooks out there, some are deck-specific where others are more general. I didn't want to have to buy another deck (who am I kidding! I love tarot decks, but the decks I am looking at right now don't have workbooks) and I wanted to take a little bit from this book and meld it with a little bit from that one.

So I decided to make my own.

I got a 3-ring binder from the store and some plastic sleeves. I recommend at least 1.5 inch binder, but I think I went for the 2.5 inch, so I have room for growth. I printed these pages I made up and made sections for my workbook.Overall I have less than $10 into this, and I am pleased.

New Challenge - 78 Weeks of Tarot

Hello handsome ladies and gents!   I came across this little exercise while perusing the Aeclectic Tarot Forums, a 78 week self-guided study of the tarot cards. I know what you are thinking, that's like a year and a half worth of studying! Oh but what you will learn in that year and a half, all the beauties and complexities of the tarot that will reveal itself.  

  Now this is probably going to be hard, and I image there is going to some weeks of struggle. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like I have 5 extra minutes in a month let alone making time to study for a whole week, but I think it will be a worth-while exercise. Great thing about it being self-guided, you can take your time. Maybe you have to take a break, go ahead. Maybe 1 card a week isn't your style and you want to go faster/slower, right on! This is a go at your own pace sort of thing. But I am going to try and stick to one card a week for 78 weeks.

Tarot Tales: Card of the Day

Learning the meaning of 78 tarot cards can be intimating. One way to really delve into the cards is to take a tarot card a day (or every few days, or week, or heck a tarot card a month) and concentrate on learning about that card. Set aside an hour (or more), get your handy tarot journal out and fill a page with the information you find. Take your tarot deck and pick a card. You can do this anyway you want, start with Minor Arcana or Major Arcana, Aces to 10s, Random. However you like!  

    Write as in-depth or as short of entry as you want. What you might want to include: Date, time, and moon phase of the card draw The card Traditional meanings  Astral associations   Symbolism in the card   You can also include: How that card makes you feel What you think about it What does the imagery mean to you   Make sure to leave room so you can add more information as you go. As you progress with tarot, the cards may take on new meanings and you will want to go back a add this to your entry. Until next time,  Jenny

Tarot Tales: Introduction to the Major Arcana

The Major Arcana cards are the powerhouse of the tarot. These cards are significant in readings, they appear when something really needs your attention.  

 
There are 22 Major Arcana cards.   0. The Fool 1. The Magician 2. The High Priestess 3. The Empress 4. The Emperor 5. The Hierophant 6. The Lovers 7. The Chariot 8. Strength 9. The Hermit 10.  Wheel of Fortune 11. Justice 12. The Hanged Man 13. Death 14. Temperance 15. The Devil 16. The Tower 17. The Star 18. The Moon 19. The Sun 20. Judgement 21. The World
Believe me when I tell you this, one of the most rewarding ways to explore the Major Arcana is to take some time and just look at the cards. Do not get a book out or the little pamphlet that comes with your cards to read what other people say about them. 

Just look at the artwork, how does it make you feel? Are you getting a specific meaning or feeling from the imagery? What emotions do you associate with the imagery? What story is the card telling you?

Listen to your intuition and the voice of the cards. Tarot is a personal journey, and although the cards do have large umbrella themes, they tell a very intimate story from one person to the next.

I will be doing a series explore each Major and Minor card in detail, but this is hopefully laying the groundwork for a beautiful conversation you will have with your tarot cards.


Until next time, stay in love and in light,

Tarot Tales: The Basics - The Suits

  Welcome back! Now that you are familiar with your deck we are going to delve a little deeper.   Let's explore the FOUR suits of the Minor Arcana.   Each suit has its own personality, it represents a different aspect of life, our spiritual and material beings.   CUPS 

The suit of Cups represent EMOTIONS: these cards deal with how we feel and how our cascade of emotions influence life. Cups correspond with the element of WATER, which makes total sense. Humans are emotional creatures, these emotions flow like water, sometimes they are deep and quiet and other times our emotions can rage like the rapids. Usual matters that deal with the heart, how we love and who we love, how we feel about this love and the path it takes are shown in the cup cards.

WANDS

The suit of Wands represents AMBITIONS: these cards deal with what we strive for, what we want, what drives us and fuels our actions. What are our passions, our creative goals, our will. Wands correspond with the element of FIRE. Wands appear when creative endeavors are involved, perhaps regarding work or wanting to reach a goal like finishing school.

SWORDS

The suit of Swords represents INTELLECT: these cards deal with our ability to reason, decisions making, changes. This is a suit of action or inaction, what path are you going to take our are you going to let someone make the choice for you. Swords correspond with the element of AIR. Swords appear when some sort of action is required, or perhaps you are avoiding to take action, but some sort of intellectual decision is involved.  

PENTACLES (COINS) 

The suit if Pentacles represents MATERIAL GOODS: these cards deal with material items including money, property and our actual corporeal body or health. What is tangible, things that can be touched and felt. Pentacles correspond with the element of EARTH. Pentacles appear when a physical item needs attention or is influence your life in some way, whether this be your health or perhaps something concerning money is trying to get your attention.

I hope this helps make sense of the four suits. Take time to associate each suit with its overall influence, with that in mind take a look at each card in that suit and see how that is represented in the card, how is it manifested in the drawing, what elements of the cards reminds you of that influence.

    Until next time, stay in love and in light,

Tarot Tales: The Basics - Trends in the Minor Arcana

Now that you have a handle on the different types of cards in the Minor Arcana, I want to talk about the trends across the suits.    The wonderful thing about tarot is that it's an evolving journey. After getting the basics down for the cards they can take on new, more personal meanings. I do recommend getting the basics down, that way you can start working with the cards and really getting to know them. Here is a quick list of each Minor Arcana card type and an overall theme they represent in each suit. Now remember, each suit deals with different aspects of life so adjust accordingly. 

Aces - beginnings, new things are starting, excitement Twos - making plans, mapping out paths, patience Threes -stepping out, taking first steps towards something, loyalty Fours - stability, consistency, possible stagnation Fives - halfway there, hardships, doubts, perseverance, control Sixes - journey, departure, change, coming to terms Sevens - surprises, temptations, desires Eights - acceptance, boundaries, limitations Nines - isolation, end in sight, keep on track, anticipation Tens - completion, final stages, reaching goals   Court Cards   Pages - youthfulness, open to learning, naivety Knights - convictions, headstrong, energetic Queens - female figure, teacher, compassion, mother Kings -  male figure, maturity, reaching completion, finality   I hope this is helpful list to get you started working with tarot!   Until next time, stay in love and in light,

Tarot Tales: The Basics - The Tarot Card Deck

  This is the first installment of Tarot Tales, where I will be discussing elements of the tarot, starting with the basics and moving onward to more detailed and in-depth exploration of the wonderful world of tarot.   First thing's first, you will need a tarot deck. I recommend starting with a version of the Raider-Waite-Smith deck. There are many, many tarot decks but a lot of the books you will pick up (unless its a book directly tied to a deck) will be based on some version of this deck. That is why I recommend it, you should be able to pick up a version of this deck and use any number of books. Later on I will write a post about selecting other decks, what to look for and what to avoid.   Now you have your deck, I use the Radiant Rider-Waite deck as my go-to deck, I really enjoy the colors.  

After going through your deck, you will notice there are some basic elements. Breaking down these elements will make learning tarot much easier to do.

There are 78 cards in the usual tarot deck. There are 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards.

The 56 Minor Arcana cards can be further divided into FOUR suits:

Cups

Wands

Swords

Pentagrams (or Coins)

Each suit has 14 cards, that each represent different aspect of the suit.

Aces, 2-10, Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings

The first thing I recommend to do with your deck is just getting familiar with these elements, look them over, look at the similarities and differences. It may seem overwhelming but by breaking down the elements, it will make learning tarot much easier.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction, please follow me on this journey deeper into tarot and you will be rewarded with a very useful tool to navigate life.

Until next time, stay in love and in light,