A unique version of Reading Circle 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 any time—reality and life permitting. New to tarot? Long time reader? Come on in!

 

Participants

1. fire cat pickles: Tarot de la Rea

2. Bodhiseed: Ferret Tarot paired with Nature's Wisdom Oracle

3. BrightEye: Hanson-Roberts

4. Rachelcat: The Literary Oracle Deck, A Guide to the Hidden Lore of Classic Literature

Click here for DOTW 479 (9/7 - 9/13)

Click here for DOTW 481 (9/21-9/27)

Edited yesterday at 01:20 PM1 day by fire cat pickles

Thank you Fire cat! I'm in this week with the Ferret Tarot paired with Nature's Wisdom Oracle

Ferret Tarot; Three of Swords; Nature's Wisdom Oracle, Coyote

We must rediscover the distinction between hope and expectation.

―Ivan Illich

I read a monostich poem by Rafiq Kathwari this morning that illustrates the pain of the Three of Swords: "As I fling my arms wide, he extends his hand." As Illich's quote implies, we often set ourselves up for disappointment. Having hope is understanding that the outcome is a possibility (even if only a slim chance); it's not a sure thing. Expectation is a one-sided mental contract that we demand be delivered. And what happens when that doesn't occur? We think of ourselves as a victim, in anguish due to another's cruelty. We never consider that what we expected was never agreed to by the other person. Coyote is associated with adaptability because no matter how its environment has changed, it has managed to adapt to it. Coyote encourages us to live lightly - without taking everything personally and seeing from a self-centered perspective. We can have more joy untainted by resentment by doing so.

I will work with the Hanson-Roberts this week.

Good morning my friends.  I hope all is well with you.

 

Stress shopping has brought me two new decks, so another new deck this week, The Literary Oracle Deck: A Guide to the Hidden Lore of Classic Literature.  Each card is a character from literature with an archetype-ish label.  The booklet has additional keywords, “guidance,” a rather verbose affirmation, a brief summary, and a short quote. 

 

It also has a checklist at the end to check off the books you’ve read.  I’ve taken the challenge and even made a spreadsheet of what I’ve read, what I need to reread, and what I haven’t yet read.  So wish me luck in my new project!  I just finished rereading Alice from the old book my mom used to read it to us, and I’m deep in King Lear today.  (My son and I were both English majors, so I guess it’s not too surprising how many copies on the list are on my upstairs bookshelves.  And on my Kindle of course.)

 

A few cards are characters from the same book (Marmee and Jo from Little Women and Elizabeth and Darcy & Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice) and some from the same author (P&P and Emma; Huck Finn and A Connecticut Yankee; A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations; and Iliad and Odessey).  But generally it has a good variety for 55 cards, including a book of poems, two plays, and two nonfiction. 

 

Let’s see what these characters have to say.

 

 [I'm having trouble posting photos . . .]

 

What is your most important characteristic?  Destruction, Colonel Kurtz, Heart of Darkness

That doesn’t bode well!  The deck is deceptively subversive and can destroy preconceived notions, of literature and life.

 

What is your strength?  Rebirth, Rebecca Sharp, Vanity Fair

Becky reinvented herself, sometimes by nefarious means.  Again, it’s a subversive deck, but one that will help me make needed changes.

 

Your weakness?  Empathy, Mary, The Secret Garden

Ok, now we’re going to fight.  Being chronically online makes me bristle when anybody says anything negative about empathy.  People are so eager to get people to hate the people THEY hate. Maybe the deck’s weakness is showing empathy as small and childlike instead of as a force to be reckoned with?

 

What can you teach me?  The Journey, Sacajawea, Journals of Lewis and Clark

Reading is about the journey, not finishing off a list.  But I still want to do that.  (The thing I remember most about Sacajawea is that basically she was expendable to her people, so they sent her off as a guide, but that made her as much of a great explorer as her employers.)  So not so much about a journey, but she can teach me that one’s value and accomplishments aren’t limited to what other people think about you.

 

How can I learn it?  The Underdog, Oliver Twist

I’m relatively privileged.  If people of much less privilege can become explorers, or whatever they want to be, so can I.

 

What will be the outcome of our work together?  Obsession, Captain Ahab, Moby-Dick

I’ll be obsessed with my reading list! 

 

The deck really doesn’t pull any punches, starting with Destruction and ending with Obsession.  We’ll see if it’s so stark this week.

 

Welcome back @Bodhiseed, @BrightEye, and @Rachelcat!

17 hours ago, Rachelcat said:

My son and I were both English majors, so I guess it’s not too surprising how many copies on the list are on my upstairs bookshelves.  And on my Kindle of course.

I wonder how many of those of us who are tarot readers are also book lovers too. 😊

My current bit of fun is drawing/painting our three cats as literary figures. I've done the two boys - Tad as Puss in Boots and Figaro as John Blacksad, P.I. The next one will be Lia, the only dame, and she'll be Graymalkin from Macbeth.

OMG, I'm obsessed with Puss in Boots, and your Tad makes a great one! I love that you've caught him just pulling them on. And a tuxedo is perfect for a private eye: noir with a heart of white spots.

I’m an English lecturer… A literary oracle? What wonderful thing is this??? — I think reading the cards is very similar to reading a book. And I totally identify with stress buying decks. I’ve done my far bit of that recently. The Hanson-Roberts I’m using this week is one of them. It’s not the original US Games deck but a reprint by Peter Pauper Press that comes in a nice box. The cards in this box set are very flimsy and the colouring is slightly different, but I’m glad I bought it as a deck for using. It lives in my work bag at the moment. My US Games HR in the red box I never use for fear of wearing it out. As a result, I never really looked at the images. It’s a much underrated deck in my collection. I’ve done a couple of readings with it this week, but I am enjoying just reacquainting myself with the images.

Edited Wednesday at 07:43 PM5 days by BrightEye