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My draw for today features the 3 of Cups. It shows the goddess Isis and two swans. Place makes a connection with the Aluette playing card deck, which I find very interesting: https://robertmplacetarot.com/2022/07/25/more-news-on-the-first-occult-tarot/ Here the 3 of Cups also features swans, animals associated with grace and beauty but also fierceness when it comes to protecting their young. In Western culture, with its basis in European antiquity, the swan is linked to Apollo, god of the arts (including the oracular arts). Isis is a healer. She reassembles the scattered body of Osiris and brings him back to life. I’m very interested in the Aluette connection. It emphasises the game factor of Tarot, which to me also applies when we use it for divination. Divination as a form of play.

I like this a lot, especially the notion of staying calm till the ripples die down. The High Priestess has always been my most troublesome card. I NEVER seem to 'get' what the card is telling me. This might help. In a spread, is the card upright showing that we ARE doing this? Or should be doing this? What would a reversed High Priestess be telling us? In general, I mean. Obviously the meaning will all be affected by the spread and the querent's question. But I'm never sure. It's my least favourite card, most of the time!

Imagine for a second that you just jumped right into a three-dimensional, living version of The High Priestess card. What’s your move? Personally, I am absolutely not walking in there all serious, solemn, and intimidated. If I’m stepping into her space, I am 100% tapping into my inner child and approaching her with a playful attitude. First, I’d probably play peek-a-boo from behind those massive black and white pillars, shouting "Boaz! Jachin! Find me!" Then, I'd skip right up to her marble throne, gently poke the crescent moon crown on her head to see if it wobbles or spins. As for that scroll? I'd ask her if she wants to play a game of tic-tac-toe on the back of it before actually trying to read it. And the veil? I’d definitely be tempting fate—playing a little game of tag, trying to duck under it or blow on it just to see it flutter. The Scroll of Your Own Story But okay, let's put our playful inner child to bed for a moment and look at the profound truth hidden in this card. Think about it: what if that scroll contains everything you have ever learned in this life? That completely changes the dynamic of the card. It means the High Priestess isn't guarding someone else's cosmic secrets; she is holding your manual. Every lesson you've learned, every forgotten memory, and every bit of wisdom you've accumulated is already written down right there. You don't need to desperately search outside of yourself for the answers because you already went to the school of life and took the notes. The Paradox of the Veil The ultimate secret of the High Priestess is that the veil cannot be lifted by force. If you approach the card with an analytical, aggressive, "I must figure this out" mindset, the veil stays as solid as a stone wall. The only way it parts is through total stillness and quiet. It’s like waiting for the ripples in a muddy pond to completely die down before you can finally see your reflection at the bottom. When you achieve that perfect stillness, the magic happens. You slip past the gatekeeper of the conscious mind and step right into the subconscious: The "Why": You suddenly see the deeper reason behind your current life direction. The Blueprint: You understand the invisible strings pulling your day-to-day reactions and choices. The Connection: You tap into the Universal Mind—accessing data, creativity, and wisdom that feels like it belongs to the whole cosmos. By entering her space, you don't just visit the High Priestess—you become her. You become the living bridge between the conscious waking world and the vast, deep ocean of the subconscious. It turns out that sneaking a peek behind the veil isn't about looking at a secret external world at all. It’s about finally having the quiet courage to look directly at yourself.

Otter looks like people in the "Oh What a Feeling!" Toyota TV commercial from years ago. He also reminds me of my doggy enjoying rolling around on the grass and massaging her back. Lovely Otter.

@Tanga exactly same as what I usually do; I also call in the energy of the card itself to heal me or infuse me with positive energy.

Sometimes to "alchemize stress "- I use cards. A sort of mind-mapping alla @Nemia - I suppose. Or... someone else gave it a different name... I can't remember what. I pick the card that most embodies my current emotion/stress. And pick the card/s for how I would most prefer to be feeling or what the resolution is. Then, I can select a number of cards to go in-between for how to get from A - B. I might put some cards above or below - for what thought processes may be involved, or what foundation may be perpetuating the issue. The fun is in the interpretation of the cards around and in-between. I throw out the first things that come to mind from a literal translation of the imagery - no matter how ridiculous. And then I laugh 🙃.

Well, Here are 2 cards I pulled today: This is what is on the back about them: Just interpreting the images, I am reminded of the saying "Zebra come and show their stripes" Black and white whereby in my personal world view Black has nothing to do with negative in any way - maybe rather what is not visible in this case, what is hidden. White also is not all goody goody wonderful, but rather, what "jumps out at me" ( well, pun intended, I am not "White" and ..... life experiences..... So, be aware of agendas and not everything is Black and white with this deck. The River Otter is good old Nigig, that lives just outside my window. Nigig is an Ojibway word for Otter and this animal indeed is playful - and VERY smart! Our Otters KNOW us -our voices, our scent and they are NOT forgetful at all. The Ainu myth (Japanese indigenous) is a bit strange. Maybe that particular Otter had tooooo much Sake?;) So I will bring some playfulness to this deck and not take it all too serious.....?

Good Morning, friends! ♥ Yes! That of course will be my next step. You could say, that Animals, their Biological info as well as the lore and legends surrounding them -from all different cultures is one of my life interest and joys. I actually like the simple wood-cut images of the cards. 🙂 Then there is a paragraph on the back, that reads a little as if derived from the IROQUOIS “Greetings and Gratitude to the Natural World” prayer, that we speak in the Longhouse before community events and ceremonies. It is not the text exactly but derived from it about the environmental importance of the Animal. Many of them are quite similar and it is a bit weird for me, to read a “Greetings and Gratitude” about a Penguin for “dispersing sea nutrients on land and being an indicator species”.... or a Kangaroo for having gut microbes, that “eat plant biomass but doe not release methane into the air”....?? The stories on the back are – as far as I have read them are short – for space – and kind of weird. None of them I have ever read or heard – which of course does not mean anything at all. This afternoon, when I have more time I will post a few of these..... Oh, yes, that “manifesto” is going into the category of mind-garbage!

Yes! @Mi-Shell, I agree with BrightEye. I've done the same thing with several decks, especially ones that seem to have an agenda or have weird interpretations that make no sense.

Thanks mate . I am doing this not as spiritual practice ,but because this makes me feel at home .If before I found everything is Love and Light I felt that seizures would be end of world , now I see them as LL and it this is really helpful .Because there is nothing to find or nothing to be afraid ,there is only LL that shines in all of us

@Troll If you keep your perception of love and light up while maintaining a state of inner silence, you essentially practice what the bon-people name "dzogchen". On seizures: They are often if not always accompanied by heightened brain activity. Vice versa, if one uses practices aimed at critically heightening brain activity, one is overcome by seizures. This is especially true as long as ones bioenergetic system is not used to "working it" - for getting used to that, accordance with the physical phenomenon is a necessity. The bioenergetic system needs to work as one, which it can not do if parts are in fear while others are already at it. The cards? They have no legs, they won't run. Leave them where they are, you can always come pick them up again if need be. Enjoy.

@Mi-Shell I think a subversive thing to do - and maybe a way to find peace with the cards - would be to bin the LWB and radically reinterpret the images. I don’t know if they correspond at all with your worldview and sensibility, but if they do, you could “appropriate” them back/ reclaim them into your own context. I can’t tell from your scans what the text on the card backs says. Is it equally offensive? Are you able to ignore it and just work with the images?

Maybe my 'Magician' is different from your 'Magician,' @Raggydoll 😉. We are all doing magic all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. When you said, 'I transmute the stress first' that is magic. How you use your emotions when they arise is up to you. The most important thing to be aware of is that if we don't process them one way or another, the effects will be bad. If you have ever read The Secret, it is based on the same principle: thoughts and emotions. For me, even if I don’t use those moments of intense, negative emotion the moment they arise, when I do my manifestation ritual, I recall the feelings of lack and frustration and transmute them into the emotion of fulfillment. However, I also perform rituals where I use the feeling of awe to get what I want. The key here is to do something with your negative emotions when they rise. The blend of emotions—whether good or bad—with your thoughts, spiced with your senses to direct your intentions, is the magic.

Nice post! 🙂 For me, the process of alchemizing everyday stress, starts at the level of the body (or the pentacles suit). When there is an acute cortisol spike, I utilise the right type of nutrition and the right type of breathing in order to turn my body from a catabolic state to a powerful anabolic state. I also acknowledge that certain type of acute stress has the potential to make me stronger - like the stress that generate heat shock proteins and stimulate dynorphins. In those cases I know that if I use mental power and push myself a little further, I will be rewarded with more sensitized endorphin receptors, and a more powerful response to any positive experiences that take place afterwards. It gives me oomph as a practitioner. All of this is what I call the alchemy of the body, and it is the foundation on which I build my manifestation power. I typically do not do magic or manifestation in a state of stress (unless I need to respond to danger or something extremely urgent). Instead, I transmute the stress first, and do magic afterwards. I believe the Magician knows this very well. Look at how focused he is, and how his mind is connected with the eternal. He wears his red robe of passion, but he has a white layer of purity underneath, to balance himself. Even on his forehead is there a white band to cool his mind. The passion (or the stress) is not touch his skin directly, because that would impact his ability to act as a pure vessel for this power. Euphoria is a different story however, I definitely think there is a place for alchemizing your 'everyday' moments of intense pleasure 😁

This is amazing @Tanga , thanks for sharing 🙂

Hi guys! ♥ Thank you for your input! I very much agree with everything you said. ( @Bodhiseed ♥ @BrightEye ♥and @Rachelcat ♥ ) I feel, that this person weaponizes these almost stereotypical "World view manifestations" and uses this for his own agenda. This deck is prized as wonderful by certain indigenous media outlets and stirs up anger and resentment among indigenous users and also settlers and visitors. It literally "stirs the pot" I do not think, that this is good for anybody. I wish this controversial "manifesto" would have been left out. I am soooo taken aback by it, that I have not even looked at the cards themselves. I will do that tomorrow and then write about it here!

I just ordered four pre-owned tarot decks: Fairy Lights Tarot The Crystal Tarot The Light and Shadow Tarot The Llewellyn Tarot I watched Flip-through videos for all of them, so I think I'll be pretty happy with them. None of them had any cards that I disliked intensely. But I did think that the Minor Arcana in the LLewellyn deck had far too many cards that mimic the RWS too closely. Just because Pamela drew a person in a certain situation, posed in a certain way, and doing a certain action, why did Anne-Marie Ferguson feel she had to pose so many figures in exactly the same way? Why does anyone, really? I wish she had shown more imagination from her perspective. I bought it anyway because her watercolor artwork is so gorgeous that I can forgive her. And it was a good price. I also ordered an oracle deck, but don't know what it is because it's a "mystery grab bag" item. Another good price, so I took a chance!

The author could have just left out the negative "dominant world view" items and let us draw our own conclusions. I think that would have been kinder as well as more accurate. And he should talk about deception, huh? I hope you can find some peace about the cards.

@Mi-Shell, he does use a rather wide brush to paint everyone! It is odd, as Bright Eye mentioned, that he seems to have ignored the responsibility of his appropriation.

Welcome back @BrightEye 🙂

In other news, look at this absolute beauty that was waiting for me on my doorstep this morning! Honestly, life needs to consist of way more days like this. Deck: Tarot of the Sephiroth

@Mi-Shell I find this very reductive, binary, and offensive with regard to both cultural contexts. Some “characteristics” are just bizarre (“words used to deceive others”). However, I can see the intent behind it. “Emphasis on dualistic thinking”: this is how “Western” thought has been structured since Plato. Derrida famously critiques this. “Detachment from the land” also correct in the context of European colonialism. So I think the leaflet critiques a certain aspect of “white” culture, i.e. its colonial politics and hierarchical thinking, while disregarding nuance within that culture (not all Westerners are detached from the land they live on; quite the opposite in a lot of cases). More worryingly, this man is instrumentalising and exploiting Indigenous cultures in his “critique” of a certain aspect of Western thinking that he universalises.

The deck has been modified, yes. The provocative anatomy has been toned down considerably. Not only for The Hanged Man, but also for (at least) for The Lovers and The Devil. As for The Hanged Man, the illustration on the order page https://roehrigart.com/shop/kunst-shop/roehrig-tarot-karten/tarotkarten/ shows more nudity than the card I received. You can choose between English, which I chose, or German when ordering, maybe it matters...

When you say original - do you have the unexpurgated one (with the few "naughty" cards later censored for the US ? like - full frontal nudity on Hanged Man....)

I have recently returned from my trip to America. I acquired these decks: The Torah in the Tarot, a reproduction of The Jean Nosblet Tarot de Marseille by Stav Appel; a used copy of the Celtic Tarot by Kristoffer Hughes and illustrated by Chris Down; and the Alma Latina by Eugene Vinn its and Elsa Khapatnukovski.