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Hear me out on a slightly wild thought I had while staring at my deck today... Imagine if the absolute spookiest person in the room turned out to be the ultimate hopeless romantic. Sounds like the plot of a gothic romance novel, right? But look closely at the Death card: here comes the creepiest guy in the deck—a literal skeleton decked out in full armor—and what is he carrying? A single white rose, gracefully presented on a velvet-black flag. I mean... talk about a dramatic romantic gesture! Move over, Lovers card. Our bony friend is out here bringing flowers! If we lean into this whole "gothic love story" vibe, the symbolism takes on a really sweet, almost romantic twist: 1. The Skeleton: Bare-Bones Honesty Let’s be honest: true love and real connection require taking off the mask. Skeletons represent our ultimate, unvarnished foundation. When Death rides into a reading, he isn't trying to scare you—he’s stripping away the drama, the ego, and the outdated junk. It’s like a partner saying, "I want the real, authentic you—no armor, no fluff, just your core foundation." 2. The White Rose: The Ultimate Love Token Instead of waving a pirate flag or a skull and crossbones, he’s carrying the Mystic Rose (the five-petaled white rose seen with The Fool and The Magician). Handing someone a white flower against a pitch-black banner is the ultimate symbol of commitment: Fresh Beginnings: Proving that beauty and romance can bloom even after a dark period or a painful breakup. The Cosmic Clean Slate: A gentle promise to clear out old emotional baggage so something pure can take root. Undying Devotion: Your outer circumstances or ego might crumble, but your core spirit (and your capacity to love) is totally indestructible. 3. Card #13: Making Room for a New Chapter Card 13 gets a bad rap, but in manifestation and esoteric geometry, it’s all about creation! Creation requires transformation—just like moving past an old version of yourself to welcome a new relationship, a deeper connection, or a fresh life chapter. You can't start the next romance novel of your life if you refuse to turn the page. So, the next time Death pops up in your spread, don't drop your teacup or assume the worst. Think of him as a dark knight offering you a white rose, sweeping away the past to make room for a beautiful new story to bloom.

@Misterei Anything becomes a servitor when you put too much energy into it. Even a simple thoughtform will become a servitor if you feed it enough emotion and energy. Over the decades, tarot cards have gained a lot of attention, thought, and emotion. Even if they weren't originally created as servitors, they have become them—though I strongly believe they were designed as servitors from day one. At the end of the day, they are amazing to use for manifestation and beautiful to connect with.

@Cariabella Yes, of course. I was joking with my post, and appreciating your own sense of humour. In fact, the last sentence you wrote in your original post was : "Honestly, I now can't unsee them bickering over whose turn it was to load the dishwasher!" That summed up what the post got me thinking about. The Mars/Venus split. Of course, when doing actual readings, I take the cards seriously, and see a need for both elements in a balanced situation. But sometimes it's good to bring analysis down to earth with a bit of humour. 😁

This is beautiful, and it definitely works for balancing the two energies @Misterei .

@Chariot These cards do interact with one another—or rather, they should. How you interpret them largely depends on your reading approach. I utilize the three-row blueprint: the Empress represents the subconscious mind, while the Emperor signifies external boundaries and how one navigates their environment. Can these cards represent actual people? Without a doubt. If the Emperor appears as a future partner, it indicates someone who manages their surroundings and relationships with clarity and directness. Consequently, this person would also establish clear boundaries within a romantic partnership.

@Rose Lalonde Haha thanks! My wallet hurts, but it was totally worth it 😃 Congrats on the new Marseille deck, it looks really beautiful and it's fun to own limited edition decks. I haven't gotten as far as Marseille interpretations yet on my Tarot journey. That will have to wait for later. I’ve already bothered @DanielJUK with several deck library uploads, you’ll have to get in line 😜

Nice Haul! All of it. Not a dud in the lot. 😉 - I just received the Marseille Tarot by Italian artist Virginia Mori. Love her work. The publisher was meh - typo on "Strenght", one minor has a pink background while all the rest are beige, and the lwb's ink smeared. (Not an error, but the stock is glossy, and I'd prefer matte for this) Still, I love it and am glad I got it. It was the limited ed. with a signed print of the Papess at stay-hop shop that Mori's site linked to. #93 of 100 so presumably not many left, but there are plenty of the non-limited. Shipping surprisingly fast with the cheapest option from Italy. From the second pic, you can tell I'll be bothering @DanielJUK with yet another deck library image. 😅 He's so good to us to maintain that as a volunteer. 🙌

@Tanga I was referencing that deck I had to burn. When I was deeply into Chaos magic, I created a servitor for accurate readings and anchored it to a deck. I didn't use the deck for a while and then when I opened it some time later--I got hit with a blast of stale energy. So I burnt the deck. In a big fire in my backyard firepit.

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@Marina artwork is a little small with the pocket deck size...the images have quite alot of detail (hence me missing noticing the Gnus at 1st) - but these days I mostly need my glasses for everything anyway. Have you looked on youtube for any flip throughs/reviews of the deck to watch? This is how I mostly check out decks before I buy. *I would post some images, except my laptop is in the hospital presently, & I don't know how to do this on my mobile.

Decks received over the last few days: I am really happy with the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg deck. It is second-hand, but in great condition. It is printed in Belgium, which means it is a first edition. So for 20 euros, it was a great buy 😊 But I actually posted this mostly to give a heads-up that the early-bird rewards for The Jane Austen Tarot deck (+ book) on Kickstarter are almost gone. So if you are interested in this deck, you need to hurry. This deck could be a great reason to (re)read the books or watch the TV-series this winter.

@Misterei Let be know if you're visiting - we could catch a coffee 🙃.

@Misterei what do you mean "burnt" ????? I am most curious 🙃

For me Empress is one of those cards that relies on context. Well, I suppose all cards rely on context ... Is the question about family dynamics and relationships? Empress is often someone's mom. Literally. Is the couple trying to get pregnant? Empress can show pregnancy [with other cards]. Is the question about business? Empress is often either a creative or an entrepreneur. She's prosperous and creative--although she might go over budget--so gotta watch for the money cards. Health? Empress is often herbal--plant-based medicine. Lifestyle? Empress can mean too much of a good thing. Overindulgence in food, sex, shopping. And for some readings, pregnancy is NOT welcome news. So there's that. Spirituality? Empress is the quintessential Nature Goddess. Fortuna. Mother Nature. Demeter. Fertile gardens and farms from blessed earth. A good haul from fishing. An abundant harvest. She might be a witchy earth mother type of person. The one who feeds all the stray kids and puts out a water bowl for feral cats and stray dogs. She rescues birds and other wildlife. A Fairy Godmother in real life as @Chariot mentions.

@Chariot this is interesting timing as I have been getting Empress + Emperor in readings recently. And have often gotten them together in the past as well. They absolutely DO work together. In so many ways on so many levels. usually when they appear together in a spread as they often do [for me]--it is a matter of balancing the two energies. In my recent self-reading it was about balancing the mars/emperor work of repairs and painting with the venus/empress work of finding a good tenant. Let's just say I was overwhelmed by needing to do these 2 very different tasks at the same time and I needed to balance both activities. It was similar for my client. Client needed to find a balance between being social with co-workers [Empress] yet maintain strong boundaries so as not to get sucked-in to drama [Emperor]. I also get them as a pair for healthy couples. Like even going through a breakup the couple is putting the mother/empress and father/emperor role at the forefront. Or maybe they even stay married until the kids are 18. This is very much empress and emperor working together.

I would love to go. Maybe next year. I live in USA and it would take some major long-term planning to go. Britain seems to have such a vibrant cartomancy scene! Plus I've never visited UK and would like to just do the tourist thing a bit.

I've used all tarots in all sorts of magic--Chaos and otherwise. I wouldn't call them servitors per se--but definitely have used them similar to how I would use a Chaos Magic Sigil. I once charmed a servitor into a deck to get more accurate readings. I don't know how much it helped. What i do know is that I ended up burning the deck some time later as I felt the energy had gone stale. Ouch. It was a pretty valuable deck, too.☹️ Trumps as Tree of Life is one possible method of using them. I agree the Trionfi can operate on a deeper archetypal wavelength than the Minors--they were designed that way by italians in the 1400s. Kabbala got attached to tarot 300 years later in 1700s. Of course in chaos magick--anything goes. It's up to the magician to assign whatever meaning they wish to Trumps vs Minors. Likewise, Kabbala vs. neoplatonism or any other philosophy is all fair game in Chaos magic. I don't think a card itself can be a servitor ??? One might use a card as a physical basis to anchor a servitor--as i did with my poor burnt deck. But a single card itself? To me that functions more like a sigil. A visual image I intentionally plant in my deep mind. Of course ymmv.

For me these 3 cards are distinct as per timing / expectation. Tower and Judgment are often FAST or unexpected. Surprising or shocking. Tower is malefic. Judgement is neutral. We can have good rapid changes or bad ones or neutral ones. Judgement can go either way. Tower is malefic. For me, Tower isn't always external. I have had many INTERNAL Tower experiences where my sense of Self was shattered. I have rolled through many an External Tower experience with my healthy sense of self intact. Divorce, Bankruptcy, loss of home. They were painful but didn't break my sense of self. OTOH I have felt completely undone and destroyed by experiences that are too deeply internal to discuss in a public forum. Suffice it to say there was no "obvious" Tower on the outside of things. One thinks of "Ego Death" as described in some religions and philosophies. But I just call it Tower. Death as an allegorical card is more of an expected change. Part of the natural order. An old phase of your life dies. For the 13 year old, childhood has died. For the employee that gets laid-off, the job has died. For the relationship--Death card indicates at least on some level the client felt a breakup was inevitable. In our modern world actual physical death is often expected. An elderly person goes into hospice for example. But it might be sudden. Accidents, violence, infection, or surgical complications. In such cases i might expect Death + Tower or some other card/s that show the sudden, unexpected nature of the death. As @DanielJUK mentioned, WoF is also a harbinger of change--but as Jupiter's trump it's usually benefic. Fortunes change for the better. OTOH with relationships it's more neutral. Affairs of the heart usually thrive on stability rather than change.

Aha. While I'm waiting for the Fairy Tale Tarot, I also ordered another one ...a totally different sort of deck from those I am usually attracted to. It's the Ferenc Pinter Tarot. I was looking at the flip-through as if I was using the deck for the ISG (Intuitive) reading circle, and realised there is a LOT to work with here. I'm especially intrigued by the strange Court Cards. This will be fun.

Not a deck for the circle-phobics then! I suppose the deck has to make sense according to our inner symbolic language, and this is always a very individual thing. Nevertheless, I may still give this one a chance! One last question: is the artwork clear enough, even in the pocket edition?

Thanks Vesta. It is. I still have some issues with fatigue and right-sided weakness, but otherwise I'm doing well. It's been nice to engage with people again and have meaningful discussions after being away from things for a while.

It's great to hear from you! I hope life is treating you much better these days.

Welcome back @BrightEye 😀

@Moon-Hermit I agree. I think of the various card systems (Tarot, Lenormand, Kipper etc.) as language systems, so the missing cards would be like missing words or concepts. I’m tempted to experiment with this though, to see if the deck finds a way to replace them or “speak” around them. I’ll definitely try get a full copy of the deck though. Gregory’s source also has a little white book with it, which will be helpful for me.

If I were in your situation, I would have found a replacement or recreated the missing cards at least and added them in. I never have and would never read with an incomplete deck. Lenormand is already a perfect system as it is, so even one card missing would ruin the whole balance and it wouldn’t be the Lenormand you’re reading anymore. If the Coffin is missing, what card would come up instead to indicate that something is “ending”? Life is filled with different sorts of endings and they are meant to happen at some point. Imagine it on a mundane level and think you were doing a daily reading; imagine, for instance, you had a Netflix subscription and it was gonna end that day, you had forgotten and the cards wanted to let you know, lol. Moon + Ring + Coffin = subscription ended. I doubt a deck with a missing card number 8 would be able to show it to you that clearly. Same goes with the Scythe, which can act as a warning for danger, sudden mishaps, sharp tools, etc.