lørdag den 28. november 2009

Daily Draw: the Star - November 28, 2009

When you wish upon a Star....

This is a great card for a daily draw! It's more or less telling me that my dreams will come true, my hard work will be rewarded.

Which is good to hear. I didn't get a daily draw yesterday because we were shopping, and believe me, my dreams *did* come true. ;)

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

torsdag den 26. november 2009

Daily Draw: the Sun - November 26, 2009

The Sun is a good card! It means spiritual and material prosperity! I'm pretty thrilled to see it in my daily draw.

Sadly, it's a pretty one sided card, it doesn't say much of anything else. Good things are on the horizon, and that's about it.

That being said, happy Thanksgiving! Anyone who reads my blog, let me know, what are you thankful for?

onsdag den 25. november 2009

Daily Draw: Five of Coins - November 25, 2009

This card in general suggests that indecision, or just not making a decision at all will lead to misfortune. Applying this to my daily life (or yours) in a daily draw, I feel that this card is telling us to make up our friggen minds already!


I've been doing my IDS, although I've also been looking a lot at other decks and thinking about which ones I want to buy etc, and I feel that this card is straight up telling me to focus my strength on the IDS and the Golden tarot and leave the other decks alone!

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

mandag den 23. november 2009

Daily Draw: Four of Wands - November 24, 2009

This is a really, really positive, good card. Like, it's one of those (like the Star) that really just don't have many negative meanings.

It's also not a card that Kat Black gives a parable or saying on, so I'm just going to tell you what this card means for me. Whatever you've been working hard on, will come to fruition. Things like domestic partnership, good harvest, etc. The other thing that this card guarantees, is a fruitful social, family, and love life.

Tomorrow'll be my last day before I go off for Thanksgiving break, so this is a card that I really like to see. Let me know about your day tomorrow :)

Decks to be on the look-out for!

Oooh, goody! I get to talk about tarot and beautiful artwork, two of my favorite things! Now, something you should know about me and deck collecting, is that I don't. I'm a student, a high-school student at that, I don't have a lot of cash, nor a lot of space, plus I find tarot collecting to be a poor investment. Cards just aren't a good thing to be collected in my mind, they're meant to be used, otherwise they serve no purpose (to me at least). That being said, I have nothing against anyone else collecting, and I love to look at the pretty pictures! :) The following decks'll be any unfinished decks, or decks that don't have a publisher yet, that I'm on the lookout for. Lemme know in the comments if you know of any other pretty ones!

Shadowscapes Tarot
This deck has a really misleading name. I don't like decks that are focused around just one color, they're just tired, and when I clicked on this name, I was expecting a black and purple, pseudo-gothic deck. This is the furthest thing from the truth! It's made of beautiful watercolor paintings, absolutely brimming with symbolism. The author has published a book with prints and some other things, but I, for one, am holding out for the real thing (which she projects will be published some time in 2010.) Look around the rest of her site, she's amazing.

Melissa Lenormand
Ay! I'm so madly in love with this deck, it's so beautiful! It's a collage deck (my favorite!) of vintage post cards and vintage advertising. Each of these cards just take me off into another world, I'm back to the fifties! The women of this deck are even more amazing. They really are hauntingly beautiful, I can imagine these women speaking Trans-Atlantic English to me, and buying bonds to support our troops (lol). I'm not sure why they speak to me so much, but they really do. I've talked to the deck's creator, and she's expecting to be finished with the cards in a few
weeks, then she'll have to find a publisher or self-publish them, so they won't be out for a while.

A Passage in Time Tarot
To a history buff like me, this deck is like candy, orgasms, chocolate, and dr. pepper, all rolled into one. It takes historical figures, and aligns them with the major arcana, then uses historical periods for each of the minors. I just found this deck (like five minutes ago!) and it's on my watch list! I love it! The author of this deck is currently seeking a publisher.

søndag den 22. november 2009

Daily Draw: Seven of Cups - November 22, 2009



Too many roads to choose from may slow the journey.

The RWS version of this card shows a person being assaulted by the images of seven cups, each one containing a choice and a journey for him. The Golden version shows something very similar. The thing that I feel that the card is trying to get across to us today is that being descisive and sticking with your decisions is the best way to go.

In my life, I've been thinking about languages for me to learn in the future, and I've got a list of like 16. I feel that this card is warning me that trying to learn all of them will lead me not to success in any of them. It's quality versus quantity. Do you want to be a master in one art, or a jack-of-all-trades in them all?

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

Busy busy busy!

It's awful, during the week I have no trouble getting out daily draws and posts, but have mercy! Trying to get anything done the weekend before Thanksgiving is impossible! I've been such a bad egg, I don't think I've touched my deck since Friday, I'm ashamed to even think about my IDS study.

This is just a baby update to let you know that everything will continue as before tonight, including a daily draw. Thanks for your patience!

torsdag den 19. november 2009

Daily Draw: Six of Swords - November 20, 2009

Travel across water. At first this card seems pretty one sided, eh? Think about the symbology of water, and especially the symbology behind crossing it. Crossing water indicates a change from one state of being to another, from one situation to another. If you were to have drawn this card in conjunction with Death, or the Wheel of Fortune, the emphasis would be on the change itself, but the six of swords by itself is focusing more on the journey.

So, what does this mean in the context of a daily draw? Today you're going to encounter an important transition (one important enough for the deck to point it out to us at least) from one situation, state of being, state of mind to another. This is broad, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a very practical application for it.

As an aside, did you know that in Chinese mythology, vampires couldn't cross water? How about that evil witchcraft couldn't cross a running river? In Ancient Greece, the bodies of nobles were buried with a coin in their mouth, to allow them to pay the ferryman to take them across the river Styx into the Underworld. Keep history in mind when you take your change today.

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

Follow-Up on the Golden, Enter the Mystical Lenormand, my IDS

In the past few days, I've been doing extensive readings with the Golden Tarot, and I've found two big things. One that it's big, and two that it's drastically changing the way I read the tarot.

I know, I mentioned that it was big before, but like...this deck is big. I'm pretty well off, I've got enormous hands, so this doesn't effect me much, it just takes a few minutes of shuffling to really get used to it. I'd like to add to what I said before about its size, if you've got small hands, or just don't like working with large decks, don't choose this one. The thickness of the cardstock makes it even more unweildly, but it really is a mixed blessing, as this deck will stand the test of time better than pretty much any other I've yet to encounter.

The other about how it's changing the way I read the tarot sounds negative, but it really isn't. This deck is revolutionizing how I learn, study, and just in general use the tarot. The way I questioned the tarot before consisted of me laying spread after spread to answer my question, or find out info on the world around me. Now I've begun to become more loose with the tarot. My readings are so much more informal and looser, which help me so much!

I start of much the same, laying out a spread of some sort, but then when I find something I want to know more about, I'll preform a spread to expand on that one card, then ask the deck direct questions, which I answer with just a one card draw (which I can then expand to a spread on that card and so on). It makes my readings so much less like recitation from a book and more like dialogue. The other thing that this dialog helps with, is building up a link, even a personality, between you and your deck.

On to the next topic for today, the Mystical Lenormand. I'm absolutely in love with the Lenormand oracle, I think that it seems to offer much more straightforward readings than the tarot, and I prefer to use it to question about more mundane concerns, rather than the mystical or gnostic meanings of the tarot cards.

Naturally, I'd been on the lookout for a good Lenormand deck, and I've found it, the Mystical Lenormand! I'm enamoured! So I bought it, and it was shipped to me (for a total of 8 USD I'd like to add!) in four days. This sweet little deck is incredible. I've only had it for a day, so I haven't been able to do much with it, plus I'm not too familiar with the meanings of the individual cards, however I just wanted to let everyone know about my buying it. You'll definitely be seeing updates on this 'un ;)

I've also begun an IDS, which is an independent deck study, with the Golden Tarot and the Mystical Lenormand, over the AEclectic Tarot forums. Basically, I'm pledging that I'll focus all my tarotting time on the Mystical Lenormand and the Golden Tarot, as well as keeping up with the daily draws from the Golden (I've been thinking about doing a daily past, present, future with the Lenormand or something, the deck doesn't do well with one card draws.)

So that's all I got, just a quick update before I'm off again! :)

onsdag den 18. november 2009

Daily Draw: Knight of Coins/Pentacles, Reversed - November 19, 2009

The Court cards can represent situations, but very frequently they actually represent people. It's usually very dependant on where they pop up in a spread, but unless it's a spot that suggests a situation rather than a person, I'd go with the interpretation of the card as that person.

The Knight of Coins represents a reliable, respectable, slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kinda guy, reversed is the same, just without the more positive parts. It's a dull, drab, pedantic type of person.

So what does that mean when it comes up in a daily draw? Well my dears, as I'm sure you can guess, it means that the events of tomorrow will revolve around this dull person, or that this dull person will in another way play a large role in the events of your day.

I bet you all know who this card is a reference too in your own life. ;)

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

tirsdag den 17. november 2009

Daily Draw: Ace of Cups, Reversed - November 18, 2009

Not the most auspicious card for a daily draw, but the tarot hasn't lied to me yet.

This card represents emotional problems, as well as loneliness or strife within a relationship of some kind (keep in mind that the "relationships" I talk about aren't always lovers, it can be between parents or anyone else you deal with.)

I see this card as just a warning, rather than a straight black and white prediction. It's like a big flashing road sign "WATCH OUT - EMOTIONAL ISSUES AHEAD." This card can me emotional issues between you an a person, but it can also mean issues between two other people you know. Go through your day on your guard for issues!

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

mandag den 16. november 2009

Daily Draw: Temeperance - November 17, 2009


Ah, Temperance, how I love thee.

Temperance is a card that describes what I strive for in my life in general, seeing it come up in a daily draw really makes me happy.

This card's basic meaning is equilibrium in all things. Not too much good, not too much bad, just harmony. A major teaching I've always taken away from temperance was not to focus on any one part of your life, and not to sweat the small stuff. Temperance always taught me that all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy.

Applying this to your life, just remember that there is such thing as "too much of a good thing," always live in moderation.

NOTE: You may have noticed that I'm using the RWS images. I've said before that I'm using the Golden Tarot, but I know that the author has had issues with copyright infringement, and I don't want to make things worse than they already are. For that reason, I'm going to just stick to the RWS, which are in the public domain.

The Golden Tarot: First Impressions and a Little Reading

Hello all! Me again!

I just recieved my Golden Tarot (is it bad that I considered skiving off school today so I could play with my new cards? God, I'm like a kid in a toy store). And I've gotta say, that this deck is fabulous! When I first opened my box and picked it up, I got a little nervous. A lot of the reviews on Amazon ranted about how thick the cards were, or that they were too heavy, and I worried that this was true. Pfft, not so! The deck is a bit more heavy than most, but I actually like it, it'll hold up over time.

So I shuffled them a bit and just in general investigated them, and something I noticed was that they do stick together a bit. That's alright, I'll just make sure to get them good and broke in before I try to do any readings for friends with them.

Some cards that really stick out to me, the Hermit, the Moon, the High Priestess, Death, Nine of Cups, the Seven of Coins, the Queen of Coins, the Queen of Wands, and the Knight of Cups. I especially liked the direction she chose for Death, it's not the traditional personification of death, but rather someone actually dieing, which for me, illustrates the idea of "change" rather than actual death.

I decided to ask the deck "how will you work for me?" I drew the two of cups, signifying the successful balancing of conflicting priorities, which applies really well to my life and the tarot right now. I can see this deck and me having a very successful and long relationship together. :)

lørdag den 14. november 2009

My tarot journey

I was introduced to the tarot and divination at a very young age. My whole life, my grandma consulted her horoscope religiously (I called them her "horror-scopes") and, since we were the same sign, I always loved to hear what our outlook would be like for the week ahead and other fun little things like that. She bought a book about divination and we sat around and flipped through it on a rainy day. She read mostly the stuff about astrology, but I was super interested in the card section. I tried telling fortunes with playing cards some, but eventually lost interest.

Fast forward a few years, and I went with my mom to a woman's fair, most of which time I spent bored out of my mind while they looked at scented soaps and nail files, but there was a psychic set up, and my mom decided to try a reading. I was fascinated, absolutely enthralled. I felt a real connection to this, that was the moment I decided that I wanted to learn to read cards.

My interest in them was realized when I was about 13, I received my first deck from a good friend who was into this kinda awesome stuff, hehe. :) I used that deck for a long time, then eventually bought for myself another deck that I used up until about a month ago. We moved and somehow I lost like 6 major arcana, and I was no longer comfortable with doing readings with an incomplete deck.

At that point, I decided to look into a new deck, but I didn't want another copy of the Universal Waite like I had, I wanted something a bit more creative, and I've found that in the Golden Tarot. It'll be arriving in two days, I cant wait!

Regarding my expiriences as a reader, I've never been a very active person in the Tarot community or anything. I've never done readings for money, although I think it might be a nice way to make some cash doing something I love, maybe as a supplement to my future job. I've mostly only read for friends and family, but I'm trying to expand my circle, I want to read as much as I can, and just in general use the cards as much as possible.

While I'm talking about doing readings, let me know if you'd like one, I'd always love to do one! Anyone who's reading, have y'all seen a good place where I could buy a bag for my cards that's not too expensive?

mandag den 9. november 2009

To Wait on the Rider-Waite?

Don't even get me started on the, literally, hundereds of articles and websites that I have read that the first statement I read is "okay, so go and get your rider-waite deck." I've actually read a fair few that skipped that step, they just assume that you already possess a Rider-Waite deck. Guys, I understand the historical and cultural influence that the Rider-Waite (also knows as the Waite-Smith, from now on I'll refer to it as just the RWS) has had on tarot, especially its use as a spiritual guide and not just a card game to past the time. If you take just one thing away from this article, take away that the RWS was historically important, and that it's NOT required as your first deck. (I know, I said one thing, but I had to add both of them, plus you wouldn't walk out on this post this early on me now, right?)

Let me start on the historical significance. This book brought the study of tarot back out into the light, after quite a long time in the dark. Hell, it did better, it actually added innumerable amounts of information to the community at large.

Wait!

Don't stop me, I'm on my soap box! What, you want to know what some beautiful artwork and a little white book (or LWB, for future reference) did to add to the wealth of information to the study of the tarot? Let me answer your question with a question (which is naturally my favorite thing to do); how many books on the tarot have you read before major study of the RWS began? Probably very few, and that's okay, there aren't many, but these books trained their focus almost 100% on the major arcana (the trumps, the first set of 22 cards) and the court cards (these would be the aces, the kings, the queens, the knights and the pages, as well as sometimes the aces). The pips (every card I haven't mentioned yet, things like the three of swords, or the seven of pentacles)? They were largely thought of as cards that just explained the major arcana in some way, the pips were seen as secondary and therefor, less important.

Look at any deck before the RWS (the "de Marseilles" being the easiest to find). Now look at all the major decks, post-RWS. Did you notice something different about the pips? The de Marseilles ("Mar-say" not "mar-sells." I know, it's a dirty foreign word, you can't expect it to make any sense) decks, and other decks of that era left the pips alone. They just drew three swords, and called it the three of swords, no biggie. When the RWS came along, they actually created an illustration on the pips. These illustrations now brought the pips, and ultimately the rest of the minor arcana, up to the same status and position of major arcana.

Alright, now I've looked at what I've written, and realized that I'm muuuch too wordy for a simple deck review. I think I'm going to cut our conversation about the pips off at this point, before your head totally explodes. At some later date, I plan to do a post getting more into detail of the historical significance.

Now on to my next point, that the RWS is NOT where you have to start. I'm not contradicting myself, I promise! Just because this deck changed the face of the Tarot as we know it, does not mean that you need to use it as a training wheel to get into another deck. When you were learning to drive, did you start off learning how to ride a horse? For some people, learning horse riding as a prerequisite to learning to drive a car is a huge asset. For some it may not, maybe they just want to get behind the wheel of their Lexus and go.

There have been lengthy tomes of information about how to choose your first deck. I understand, I was a beginner not too long ago, the world of the Tarot is really intimidating! The most important factor in choosing a deck (similar to choosing a mode of transportation) is making sure that the deck works for you  I cannot stress that enough. Find something that works for you. Something that makes you happy. You will understand what I'm talking about as soon as you pick "the one" up. It'll fit just right in your hands, and as you flick through the cards, particular ones will jump out and you'll just know that everytime you touch this work of art, that you'll feel complete.

So, to basically wrap up on this post, find what works for you and you know will make YOU a better Tarot reader. If that's the RWS, wonderful, if not, that's wonderful too.

Now for a little "this and that." I've been trying to set aside time for myself to work on posts, which means that  it's very important for me to get feedback from you all. If you have something to say, you're curious about something, or you just want some help in this big world of the tarot, drop me a line at my email address, okay?

My introduction

Hello, hello, hello!

This post is going to just be a bit of an overview of me, my life, and my interests, to get to know me better, as well as explaining the purpose of this blog. At some point later, I'd like to talk some more about how I got into the tarot, but that'd be a whole post in itself.

So, just a quick overview, my name is Tyler, but if you know my online, you probably know me as ILuvEire. I'm 16, I like in Austin, TX, and I love tarot. I love everything about it! I've been somewhat interested in mysticism and the occult for a very long time, however lately I've come down to earth about things. I take a very mundane approach to the tarot and other forms of divination.

In my free time (that's not already devoted to tarot) I learn languages and listen to music. Nothing makes me happier than a little music in a foreign language! I know pretty decent Danish, Italian, and German, and right now I'm studying Hebrew, Finnish, and Mandarin. Let me know if you speak any of these, or you're a learner! I never shut up about languages, so I'm always happy to find someone to talk to!

Music-wise, I really like a wide genre of music, pretty much anything...Just a random sampling: Jeffree Star, the Dresden Dolls, Lady Gaga, Leftover Crack, Lily Allen, Shakira, Sys Bjerre, Klaus Nomi, Chisu, Efrat Gosh, and Hadag Nachash. I know, I know, I can't even find a common theme in them all!

As far as the tarot, well, lessee...I feel that they are a tool, that can be used for a variety of purposes. I get a lot of religious people who feel that the tarot are a bad thing, they're not inherently evil or something! Right now, I use them mostly for meditative purposes! It helps me to do a daily draw, then study the meaning of the card, then meditate on that to see how I can apply that to my every day life.

I'm planning this blog to help myself and any other student to progress through the tarot, card by card, day by day. That's how I do things, I like to take big projects and split them up into little easily accomplishable pieces, that's the only way I can get anything done. So that's my goal, to do a daily draw as frequently as possible, however I have a feeling that life will get in my way, so I'm making no promises!

Besides the daily draw, I want to just set aside some time every week to talk about general tarot related things, my bag of tips and tricks, if you will. There's also other things that I feel may be useful to the tarot student, links all over the web, books upon books of knowledge, and of course more decks than anyone could ever use in their life time, that I feel need to be reviewed. And who could we get to do this job? Why, maybe this guy! Just to tease you, I've got a reviews running around my head for the Golden Tarot, the Energetic Lenormad, and the Universal Waite.

Now, I will guarantee you that the daily draws will not start any earlier than the 16th of November, because I dont have a deck to work with yet. The Universal Waite deck that I'd been using for years lost four Major Arcana when we moved (I'm suspecting that the culprit was my pet dog) so I had to get a new deck. I chose the Golden Tarot, it'll arrive from Amazon sometime after the 16th, because it apparently takes three weeks to ship a little box through two states. :P

Thanks for sticking with me, I know this first post was a biggun, I get pretty verbose sometimes. I'll see you on the other side!