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!

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! :)

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?