Deck of the Week Sign-up Thread: Week 276, Oct. 22 - Oct. 28

[fire cat pickles]

This thread is for those who would like to work through their collection of decks. Each week we will be picking a deck (or decks) to work with for the week. All are welcome. Please join us!

 

The only rules we have are the Tarot, Tea & Me Rules; be respectful of one other.

   

You can drop in and out anytime, time and real life permitting. New to tarot? Long time reader? Come on in.

 

• Please post with your chosen deck for the week. 
• Chat away about your deck, how you're finding it, or not, etc.—it's all up to you.  
• Participants may either choose to share their readings here in this discussion thread or opt to have their own journal in the Journals Forum and link them here. 

 

Participants:

1. firecatpickles: TdM (Grimaud 1970 English ed.)
2. Bodhiseed: Vision Quest Tarot paired with combined oracles: Bird Cards + Ascension to Paradise
3. MichaelH: Tarot Illuminati
4. AnomalyTempest: Moore Steampunk and Deviant Moon (beginning the 25th)
5. Rachelcat: Spirit Tarot Cards
6. DesertRat:  Halloween Tarot

 

Click here for DoW 275 (10/15 - 10/21)

Click here for DoW 277 (10/29 - 11/4)

Edited December 17, 2022 by fire cat pickles

[fire cat pickles]

Another week already! I've moved on from the William's Renaissance and onto the TdM Grimaud 1970 English ed. This will get me back on track with moving through my collection in the order I acquired it, which was my original plan.

 

If you have much experience with a Grimaud, the cards are extremely difficult to shuffle, they are like rock! I haven't figured out how I'm going to randomize these cards yet... Maybe I should just throw them in the air with eyes closed in a room with no furniture (the Edward Gorey method) and let them fall randomly? I do have a large round glass coffee table. I might just leave them there and swirl them around each day and pick a few cards that way.

[Bodhiseed]

Beginning Sunday, I'm in with the Vision Quest Tarot paired with combined oracles: Bird Cards + Ascension to Paradise.

 

Fire Cat, I have some decks like that too. I tend to do a 'side' shuffle (basically I let the cards fall rather than riffle them), then count down to the 13th card. If you pull multiple cards, you could just count down to your chosen number after pulling each one. 

[MichaelH]

I'm in again 🙂

 

I'll be using the Tarot Illuminati

 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/illuminati/

 

Working my way through my collection of tarot decks. It will be interesting to go onto this one after using the Baroque deck this week, which I really loved. It does look very good though.

 

For shuffling, I like to deal the deck into piles, say four piles, then recombine, slight shuffle, then deal into three piles, recombine and shuffle again before cutting and then laying down in the spread. I think this gives a deck a good 'reset' after having been placed in order so they are truly random. I think this is easier than trying to do a 'casino' style shuffle with the cards. And an overhand shuffle isn't always that easy with big cards especially if they tend to clump together.

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back, @Bodhiseed.

 

Yes, that is an excellent idea! It also give me another idea---getting out my dice and letting them decide...

[fire cat pickles]

Rolling my 20-sided die and adding my 6-sided die gives a sum of 26. I then multiply this sum by 3 to get a product of 78. After "shuffling" the cards (and by this I mean scrambling the cards out on my huge, round glass coffee table) and re-stacking them, I counted through the cards and chose the appropriate ones after rolling the dice. My products were 75 and 60. (I got "60" twice!)

 

I have a separate list of tarot cards numbered 1 through 78. On this list, Page of Pentacles is 75 and 10 of Swords is 60. After rolling the dice and adding and multiplying, the cards I drew were Queen of Pentacles and 10 of Swords. In addition to drawing the cards, the cards I have now are a close match with one card and an exact match with the other. Not only is 10 of Swords "60" on my list, I rolled "60" twice. But I'm not too worried about this because when I read 10 of Swords in TdM it is "Earth" not "Air." It doesn't carry the negative connotation that it does in RWS...

 

I just wanted to share the method(s) I'm using with my readings this week, and possibly next week. I will probably be figuring in the dice numbers and "extra cards" in my readings as well.

Edited October 21, 2022 by fire cat pickles

[Bodhiseed]

@fire cat pickles, that method makes me want to dust off my D&D dice and make them useful.😊

[fire cat pickles]

My reading is here:

 

 

[AnomalyTempest]

I'm going to be finishing up with my Moore Steampunk, and doing Raggydolls 30 Days of working with the moon with the Deviant Moon, starting Tuesday.

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by AnomalyTempest

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @AnomalyTempest 🙂 

[fire cat pickles]

Hi @MichaelH! I didn't see you sneak in there this morning! Welcome back 🙂 

 

[fire cat pickles]

8 hours ago, MichaelH said:

I'm in again 🙂

 

I'll be using the Tarot Illuminati

 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/illuminati/

 

Working my way through my collection of tarot decks. It will be interesting to go onto this one after using the Baroque deck this week, which I really loved. It does look very good though.

 

For shuffling, I like to deal the deck into piles, say four piles, then recombine, slight shuffle, then deal into three piles, recombine and shuffle again before cutting and then laying down in the spread. I think this gives a deck a good 'reset' after having been placed in order so they are truly random. I think this is easier than trying to do a 'casino' style shuffle with the cards. And an overhand shuffle isn't always that easy with big cards especially if they tend to clump together.

 

I might try this, too. The Grimaud is unbelievably stiff. It is over 50 years old. I wonder if my set was ever shuffled before I bought it? It may take more than four separate piles, even. On the other hand, it may be risky to try to "break it in" at this point. I don't know how fragile these cards are.

 

Again, my apologies that I didn't see your message earlier, hadn't had enough coffee!

 

 

[fire cat pickles]

Here is today's reading:

 

 

Saturn is going direct today!

[Bodhiseed]

This week I'll be using the Vision Quest Tarot, a deck created by Gayle Silvie Winter and Jo Dose (illustrator); it was published by AGM Müller. I'll also be using two combined oracles: Bird Cards and Ascension to Paradise, deck and book sets by Jane Toerien (author) and Joyce van Dobben (illustrator); they were published by Altamira-Becht. Today's draws are the Shaman (Hierophant) and Osprey:

   

This Hierophant/Shaman's wisdom doesn't come from a sacred book but from the Earth and all its inhabitants. I can imagine him speaking the words of Chief Seattle to those who come seeking wisdom: "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." The Osprey is a fish-eating bird that catches its prey by diving into a body of water. These birds have adapted to such hunting with nostrils that can close, backward-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch, plumage that is dense and oily, and the ability to adjust its dive for refraction. The Osprey doesn't demand that the fish jump out of the water to feed them, yet humans seem to want to shape and mold the Earth to suit our desires. But we are beginning to see the effects of such exploitation, feeling the consequences of tearing the web we ourselves reside in.

[Rachelcat]

This week I’ll be using Spirit Tarot Cards.  (That’s what it says on the front of the box.)  I got it from the trade table at NWTS.  It’s from Spirit Halloween, a company that sells costumes, so the theme make sense:  Each card has a monster or character, which I guess you could choose to portray in costume.  I think the attributions are pretty good, as is the artwork.  The only character I’ve never heard of is Genny Greenteeth, so one to research. 

 

 

On to the interview!

 

 

Most important characteristic:  Emperor, Sphinx

The deck is “traditional” and puts itself out there as a legit tarot.  Which I think it is.  I like the accuracy of the crook and flail symbols for kingship here.

 

Strength:  Four of Cups, Ghoul

It’s good at getting the creepy Halloween vibe going.  Again, as the 4 Emperor, it’s traditional, holds to established tarot meanings.

 

Weakness:  Queen of Wands, Lilith

Because of the Halloween theme, it doesn’t show many positive characters, including female characters.  A powerful (wands) woman (queen) isn’t always a monster!

 

What I can learn from deck:  Hierophant, Voodoo Warlock

More tradition.  The deck can be a starting point to learning more about the characters herein.  Voodoo is about more than dolls, but I need to learn about that.

 

How I can learn it:  Eight of Wands, Hydra

Keep trying!  The heads keep growing back, so keep cutting them off!  Or, on the other hand, try something different because cutting them isn’t working.  In the end, the hero cut off the heads and a helper cauterized them.  Oh, ok, teamwork!  I can learn from the work and study of others.

 

Outcome of our work together:  Five of Pentacles, Shaman

And here’s a 5 connected with Hierophant rather than loss.  Unless it refers to a loss of indigenous culture?  And his drum is a giant pentacle I guess.  The readings will be about non-material issues, not (5) health and wealth (pentacles).

 

I didn’t realize we have astro signs throughout.  It looks like just signs, no planets, and courts have two signs.  The majors here look like Golden Dawn.  I’ll have to go through the deck and check the attributions.  Because I want to!

 

On to today’s reading shortly!

[AnomalyTempest]

Oh what a neat-looking deck

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @Rachelcat 🙂 

[DesertRat]

Last week was a very busy one and consequently I did little tarot work. I'm going to try again this week with the Halloween Tarot, but already I feel like half the week is gone. 😞

 

[fire cat pickles]

@DesertRat I know that feels--the last month or so has been like that for me and I am just now getting some time back.

[AnomalyTempest]

Well, today I finished up with the Steampunk Tarot and posted my final readings here. I noticed a theme and posted about that as well this time.

 

 

[Bodhiseed]

I suffer from a daily case of writer's block when working on my tarot blog. 😊

 

[fire cat pickles]

1 hour ago, Bodhiseed said:

I suffer from a daily case of writer's block when working on my tarot blog. 😊

 

I had writer's block yesterday and didn't finish my reading. I had all air cards. Maybe it meant I was feeling a little airheaded?

[Rachelcat]

1 hour ago, Bodhiseed said:

I suffer from a daily case of writer's block when working on my tarot blog. 😊

 

 

A very furry and cute block, though . . .

 

 

[Bodhiseed]

48 minutes ago, fire cat pickles said:

I had writer's block yesterday and didn't finish my reading. I had all air cards. Maybe it meant I was feeling a little airheaded?

Must be the change in seasons!  😄

[Bodhiseed]

42 minutes ago, Rachelcat said:

A very furry and cute block, though . . .

Thank goodness she's cute - she's a handful!