Deck of the Week Sign-up Thread, Week 349: Mar. 11 - Mar. 17

[fire cat pickles]

A thread for those who would like to work through their collection of decks, participants choose decks from their collections to work with for the week. Some use one deck, others use two or more. Some combine methods: Tarot, non-tarot (e.g. oracle), playing cards, or any other divinatory method is welcome. All we ask is that you use at least one tarot or oracle deck.

 

No collection is too large or too small. The only rules we have are the Tarot, Tea & Me Rules; Be respectful of one other. Please join us!

• Please post with your choice of deck(s) 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 it here
• Yet others may even have an offline journal in paper & pencil/pen form

Share as often, as much, or as little as you like. You can drop in and out at anytime—reality and life permitting. New to tarot? Long time reader? Come on in!

 

Participants

1. fire cat pickles: Lo Scarabeo Etruria (2011 ed.)
2. Bodhiseed: Tarot of the Secret Forest paired with the Faeries' Oracle
3. Rachelcat: Minoan Tarot by Laura Perry
4. Misterei: Arlequin Arlechino’s Augmented Arcana
5. Luned: Ancestral Path Tarot
6. Natural Mystic Guide: Cirque du Tarot
7. Mi-Shell: Guardians of Night

 

Click here for DoW 348 (3/4- 3/9)

Click here for DoW 350 (3/18 - 3/24)

Edited March 18, 2024 by fire cat pickles

[Bodhiseed]

Thank you Fire cat! ❤️

 

 

This week I'll be using Tarot of the Secret Forest, created by Lucia Mattioli and published by Lo Scarabeo. I'll also be drawing from the Faeries' Oracle created by Brian Froud with text by Jessica Macbeth; it was published by Simon & Schuster. Today's cards are the Two of Swords and The Laume:

  

It is only in solitude that I ever find my own core.

—Anne Morrow Lindbergh

 

A lone figure stands on a rocky ledge next to an evergreen tree as he ponders a decision. The booklet states that this is a time for renouncing emotions and analyzing things rationally. This is often easier when we follow Lindbergh's words above. Solitude can remove the pressures of others trying to influence us; it allows us to see at our core not only what we want but what we need. The Laume is a fairy who knows the joy in giving without expectation, but she also encourages receiving without shame. As Jane Goodall said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” What would be a kindness to others as well as oneself - not just now but in the long run?

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @Bodhiseed!

[Rachelcat]

Hi, all!

 

This week and next week, I’m going to use two decks with the same name, theme, and art style, The Minoan Tarot.  This week will be the one that seems more traditionally tarot, Minoan Tarot by Laura Perry, published by Schiffer.

 

 

Wikipedia:  “The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and its energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The Minoan civilization developed from the local Neolithic culture around 3100 BC, with complex urban settlements beginning around 2000 BC.”

 

The book gives the origins or inspiration for card illustrations.  And there are words in Linear B on each card translated in the book.  Wikipedia again:  “Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examples dating to around 1400 BC. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, disappeared with the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age collapse.”

 

The book also has a “fool’s journey” paragraph for each major.

 

Suits are fire=Daggers; water=Rhytons; air=Labryses; earth=Horns (of consecration on an altar)

 

There are extra court cards.  Courts are Youth, Maid, Lord, Lady, Priest, Priestess, implying that female courts are higher than male?

 

Well, let’s see what the interview tells us!

 

 

What is your most important characteristic?  The Moon, neither

Jewelry as a method of creating an illusion, whether of beauty, riches, or something else. 

It’s a deck for imagining other, far away civilizations.  It can still be useful even if the imaginings aren’t factually true.

 

What is your strength?  Four of Horns, to collect

The deck has a good physical presentation and artwork, and is a good addition to my art-based deck subcollection.

 

Your weakness?  Youth of Daggers, unestablished

The potential for a Minoan deck is only partially realized in this deck.

 

What can I learn from you?  Seven of Labryses, bigger

It could open up a whole new subject for me to learn, working with different groups of people.

 

How can I learn it?  Lord of Rhytons, made with rose oil

I can learn it by being a romantic about it, as with the Moon.  By using my imagination to create a new-to-me golden age.

 

What will be the outcome of our work together?  Eight of Labryses, binding cord

The labryses are bound so they can’t do their job, but the cord is loose.  The first thing I thought when I saw this was a fasci.  (Not sure of the singular or plural of this!)

Working with this deck might seem constraining (binding), but maybe it will make me a stronger reader (fasci) instead!

 

Interesting!  I can’t wait to see more of these cards.

 

[Misterei]

43 minutes ago, Rachelcat said:

This week and next week, I’m going to use two decks with the same name, theme, and art style, The Minoan Tarot.  This week will be the one that seems more traditionally tarot, Minoan Tarot by Laura Perry, published by Schiffer.

Ohhh! Thanks for sharing. Not a deck I would read with but as a Greek person I LOVE this theme and enjoy seeing the artwork.

[Misterei]

I'm in but I don't know what deck.

If the post would come I will use my new deck Arlequin.

If not ... continue with Rose Tarot.

*Sigh* waiting for the mail.

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @Rachelcat amd @Misterei 🙂 

[Luned]

This week I’ll be working with the Ancestral Path Tarot. This is a deck that I got a few decades ago, and it was well-regarded at the time, but unfortunately for me it turned out to be one of those that once you actually get it it doesn’t quite land for you. Maybe this week will change my mind!

 

The artwork is by Julie Cuccia-Watts. Each suit is drawn from a particular culture – swords are Japanese feudal/Shintoism, staves are Egyptian, cups are Arthurian Britain, and sacred circles are Native American. The majors draw from all of these as well as including more general depictions like a foetus ready for birth as The Hanged One. The Fool features a modern-day tarot reader (the author of the accompanying book, Tracey Hoover) and several of the majors are self-portraits of Julie. I have the original version of the deck which is square-ish with white borders; the current version is borderless and larger.

 

The book is 239 pages and describes each card in detail along with its meanings, and the majors also cover cultural references, numerology, and correspondences with other major cards. There is a list of time attributions for each card within the wheel of the year, and some pathworking/pattern spreads.

[Natural Mystic Guide]

10 hours ago, Rachelcat said:

Interesting!  I can’t wait to see more of these cards.

Same here!  This is a very nice deck.  Thanks for bringing it to our attention, @Rachelcat

[Natural Mystic Guide]

I'm still hanging in here with my Cirque du Tarot.  I hoping to carve out the time to do that New Deck Interview spread.  Last week was intensely filled up with many Balinese Hindu holy days.

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @Luned and @Natural Mystic Guide!

[Mi-Shell]

Hi Guys!

I will do another week with the Guardians of Night. 

I do like this deck and received good/ realistic readings with it.

Have a good week everyone! ♥

[Bodhiseed]

So good to see everyone here this week! ❤️

[Misterei]

Arlechino’s Augmented Arcana deck:  First Impressions

So happy it arrived in time for this week’s DotW!

 

First Impressions:

• Generic crappy tuck box
• 84 cards which include a full Tarocchi deck plus 4 extra Virtues and 2 Significators [man and woman a la LeNormand].
• The LWB is too faded to properly read. I might contact them to ask for a replacement.
• I actually needed the LWB to identify some of the cards. The Triunfi aren’t numbered or labeled in any way. I like this as an authentic touch, but it’s difficult to identify the cards with zero numbers or labels.
• The masks and voluminous clothing make it hard to identify some Triunfi as male or female [i.e. Papa or Papessa???]. In one way it’s annoying … in another it adds to the mystique. Like we’re at a Venetian masked gala and you don’t really know who anyone is.
• The color palette gives me a chromagasm. It’s subtle and creamy and complex all at once.

And for those of you who’ve been following my whole Devil and Kundalini thing … check out the CARD BOX AND CARD BACKS!!!

It's literally The Devil and Kundalini.

Is that timely or what?

Edited March 12, 2024 by Misterei

[Misterei]

Arlechino’s Augmented Arcana deck:  Deck Interview

I’m doing this Tirage style [all Trumps with option for Minors as clarifiers] and rolling dice to select the Trumps.

I don’t feel ready to tackle the extra cards yet. I feel challenged to learn the Trumps as they have no labels or numbers. OTOH I like the no numbers because I can order them in the antique style of Juggler, Empress, Emperor, Priestess, Priest. So it’s a mixed blessing. Interview text below photo.

1.     Energy: Describes the deck’s essence / overall vibe
Tower. Wow. It’s here to shake up a foundation. The deck, like Ketu and the Tower, is malefic yet serves my spiritual realization. Since I’m going through a major Ketu transit just now, this reinforces my observation that the deck had a timely arrival.

2.     Timing: Why has the deck come to me now? / Why do I feel drawn to this deck now?
World. I’m done with my spiritual practices for the past 9 years. That karmic cycle ended. I also feel I’m ending a karmic cycle with Tarot itself. My attraction to historic decks marks the end of a reliance on RWS style decks.

3.     Teaching: What can the deck teach me? What areas will it help me explore?
Sun. The deck is a soul deck. The Sun is also considered a minorly malefic planet in Vedic Astrology. But it’s the True Self. The Atman. The Soul.

4.     Challenge: How will the deck challenge me? What might I find difficult to work with?
Death. Hmmm. This one needs a clarifier. King Coins. I’m set in my ways of how I read and identify cards. This deck requires me to read in a different way and even look up cards in the LWB [which I never do]. Aslo the masks make it difficult to use my normal intuitive methods. Everything is mysterious with this deck. It forces me to go into MYSELF to read the card. This is the Death of my normal method to go into the CARD and leave myself out of it.

5.     Limits: What areas are NOT this deck's expertise? For what topics should I read a different deck?
The Angel. As this is a historic deck, I’m going with the old skool meaning of this card as Fame [the deck itself titles it The Angel]. I won’t be using this deck with clients. It’s a personal/private deck.

6.     Grace: In what areas will the deck and I organically connect and flow together?
Moon. This Moon card is utterly different than the RWS/TdM/Thoth genres. It shows the alchemical union of the Sun and Moon. It shows astrologers observing the heavens. This deck supports my astrological reading style. It also supports my internal alchemical process.

7.     Whisper: the deck’s message / guidance for this moment
Traitor. This deck takes the old skool title of Hanged Man, thus the meaning is different than the RWS model. I’m dealing with a deep sense of betrayal. The issue is global touching so many areas of my spiritual, emotional, and physical life. The card tells me this is the core issue around which all the other issues constellate. Deep. I must reflect on this.

 

Theosophical Addition:  20. The World. This deck places the World before The Angel. I don’t know if I agree with this … but The Angel as Fame is arguably after one realizes the World. So I’m taking 20 as World. This emphasizes the end of one karmic cycle in my life and the beginning of the new one. As this card appeared in the Timing position, I take it as even more confirmation about the timely arrival of this deck [Devil and Kundalini] and its connection to my Astrological reading style.

Edited March 12, 2024 by Misterei

[Rachelcat]

On 3/12/2024 at 4:00 PM, Misterei said:

Arlechino’s Augmented Arcana deck:  Deck Interview

 

 

 

Ooo, I'm loving the colors, and the patterns!  Although at one time I mentioned that decks with characters in masks gave me weird vibes (like the cards are intentionally dishonest or something), I don't think I get that with this one.  I'll be following to see more!

[Misterei]

2 hours ago, Rachelcat said:

Ooo, I'm loving the colors, and the patterns!  Although at one time I mentioned that decks with characters in masks gave me weird vibes (like the cards are intentionally dishonest or something), I don't think I get that with this one.  I'll be following to see more!

The COLORS!!!

Yeah, the masks are a game changer how I read this deck. The vibe feels more mysterious than creepy ... but it's definitely a challenge. I resonate with the deck. Even the masks are personally meaningful in ways that I can't explain here. The masks evoke this sense of never really knowing what other people think or feel. And the masks I've worn to hide my true nature or feelings.

The masks lend a dark vibe ... but not so dark that it loses its sense of balance. It's subtly dark. Good for shadow work.

Edited March 13, 2024 by Misterei

[fire cat pickles]

Welcome back @Mi-Shell!

[Misterei]

More Arlecchino

This spread is old skool. What @akiiva calls a "lost man" spread.

It answers yes/no questions according to where the Wheel of Fortune falls.

In this case: Maybe No

[Luned]

I've been pulling my Lesson From The Day card from the Ancestral Path Tarot every day this week, and I don't think there was a single card with the usual a-ha! moment where it connected to my day.  Looking forward to moving on to a different deck next week.