4 of Wands, Peace and Home

This was my daily draw today, and it's just what I need (and am getting).  I've been working my tail off lately and am starting to feel a bit under the weather.  Not only am I a busy teacher and mother and wife, but I have been expending a lot of energy on readings lately, and today just feel worn out.  The 4 of Wands is that bit of time to rest and enjoy being home after spending a lot of time working away at projects.  I love the image on the DruidCraft card, because while the fire and flowers are inviting, there is no one around.  Perhaps everyone is in the house, or out in the forests picking herbs for a nice tea (apparently what I need!).  It gives the feeling of deep peace and the calm joy of caring for, and being cared for, by loved ones.  It's being in your core refuge, the center of it all, the home and hearth.  I'm extra thankful today for my couch, my husband who made me a lovely after-work snack, and my kids who make me laugh....

DruidCraft Tarot
S. and P. Carr-Gomm, Will Worthington

30-Day Tarot Challenge - Question 29

(29) Do you have a Tarot mentor?

I wanted to skip forward to this question because my mom has been on my mind today, and she was my first mentor.  I was looking at a website that talked about difficulties in coming out of the “Tarot closet” – friends and colleagues may look at you differently, think it’s crazy (or evil, or really cool), or feel like they never really knew you at all; your parents might fear for your future.  Anyway I felt really fortunate when I read that because my mom is a reader!  She is the person who introduced me to Tarot and Oracles simply by using them as I was growing up.  I always loved them, and in fact it was her Medicine Cards that I adopted when I was 13, the start of my path in divination.  So I feel very lucky that in one way, one of the most important ways, I never have to “come out of the closet.”  

Wildwood Tarot

In terms of other mentors, I have a wonderful, local mentor named Suzan who is a psychic-medium, and a pretty amazing lady.  I supposed I’d also have to say that Brigit from Biddy Tarot has been a great mentor.  I also value the Reader’s Circle I’m a part of, where we can go for feedback, support, questions, and opinions.  

Herbs and Cards

Tonight I'm attending a class on magical and medicinal herbs, primarily for use in teas and for incenses.  I'm pretty excited about it, and it got me thinking about combining herbs with Tarot and Oracle practice.  At this point the main card-herb interaction occurs when I cleanse new decks; I pass each card through sage smoke.  But that's where it ends.

As Tarot is a life-long study, herbs may also end up for me.  When I was a kid I used to roam the nearby forest trying to identify all the plant life I came across, and all the potential uses.  One year when I was 12 or 13 I tapped our Maple tree and boiled it down into (a very small amount of) syrup.  Another time I carefully selected Queen Anne's Lace to bring home to use as a root vegetable at dinner time.  The latter is also known as wild carrot, and I was pretty pleased with myself, although the carrots were not particularly appetizing (preteen cooking skills not really up to par, I guess ;-) ).  

In high school I decided to drink some Senna Leaf tea after dinner one evening.  I doubted its potency, and figured it would probably just be like any standard herbal tea.  I spent the entire next day at school running back and forth between class and the bathroom.  Not so cool when you're 16, but it was kinda funny and a very good lesson about the power of plants.  So herbs have always attracted and intrigued me, and I have been studying them more intentionally recently for healing purposes.

So I was thinking about new ways to combine Tarot and herbal study aaaaaand.....I came across this: 

                                              

Herbal Tarot

                                           

And I added it to my deck wish list straight away! :-D

It follows the Rider-Waite style but each card includes a strategically chosen herb that reflects in some way the meaning of the card.  I hear that some people who have an herb background find this a nice deck to use while initially getting acquainted with Tarot.  I will be using it from the opposite direction.... I think it'll be a great tool to learn about herbs, as I do readings.  I'm curious to see how the plant influence might add a new dimension to card meanings!

Herbal Tarot

          

30-Day Tarot Challenge - Questions 19, 20, 21

19) Do you think/feel the cards "think" or have their own consciousness?  What do you believe makes the cards "tick?"

No, I don't believe that the cards operate of their own volition - that's creepy!!!  I do believe that cards are a tool through which we connect with certain energies.  That's why working with Tarot is a highly intuitive endeavor.

Druid Animal Oracle

20) Do you read for yourself and/or for others? Why or why not?

Both.  At this point  I  usually only do one-card daily draws for myself, and focus on more in depth readings for others.  When I first started of course I only read for myself and loved ones, but at some point that stops being a valuable learning tool, and to move to the next step of development it's necessary to read for strangers.  I've been loving it, and have found it to be a rewarding experience.


21) How do you feel when you do readings?

It's kind of meditative, which would make sense, I guess.  When I "get in the zone" I can feel myself connecting and opening up to the energies of the querent, and whatever universal energy surrounds us all.  It's like a shift I sense in my mind.

Quality of Card Stock

I love all of my Tarot decks for various reasons: the artwork is lovely, I love the themes presented, etc.  All of my decks seem to mesh well with my energy, and the readings I do with them are solid.  But I'm feeling kind of frustrated when it comes to the issue of card stock.

I recently purchased the Wildwood Tarot, and I absolutely love it.  I really love it in every way.... I love the art and the theme (Will Worthington), I love the slightly non-traditional take on some of the meanings, and I even love the card back, which is a deep green with an intricate Celtic design.  I think it's probably my favorite card back out of all my decks.  And yet after using the deck 4 or 5 times there is at least one card that's started to peel along one of the edges!  I am so upset!  I am gentle with my cards, so it's not from rough handling, and my shuffle style is not at all aggressive either.  So I'm really troubled by it.  I've already started thinking I'll have to have a back-up deck at some point, which seems lame since I just bought this one!

I also adore my DruidCraft deck for similar reasons - the artwork (also done by Will Worthington) is rich, and I love the earthy theme which "speaks" to me.  When the deck first came and I opened it, I was a little disappointed that many of the cards seemed to have light scratch marks, which was really noticeable across the backs (which are a dull brown and not particularly attractive).  Also I've found this deck really hard to shuffle, because the cards are not very smooth and have a tendency to stick together.

Peeling Rider-Waite-Smith??

My Golden Tarot has held up pretty well.  It's easy to shuffle for the most part because it's slightly slippery, but not too slippery that they fall out of my hands.  Even so, after a couple of months of fairly light use, the edges of some of the cards had started showing clear wear.

But I've noticed that with my two remaining Tarot decks, the Morgan Greer and the Radiant Rider-Waite, they are the most durable and easiest to shuffle of all.  (And speaking of backs, they have my second-favorite backs: dark blue with stars - love it!) The Radiant Rider-Waite is almost bordering on being too slippery, but I still enjoy using it.  The Morgan Greer is just about perfect.  They  are both published by U.S. Games, whereas the other decks in my collection are published by several other publishing companies.

So while I'm sad that many of my decks seem to be showing more than their fair share of wear and tear (wow, say that three times fast), I'm contemplating sticking with decks published by U.S. Games in the future because I think I can count on them being really solid and long-lasting.  If anyone can recommend other great-quality publishers, let me know!!

30-Day Tarot Challenge - Questions 16, 17, 18

16) Do you ever use the Major Arcana without the Minor Arcana, or vice versa?

No.  In fact once I was having trouble understanding a querent's question because it was extremely disorganized and "all over the place."  So I was trying to pick out the main elements as seemed appropriate.  Another reader suggested that I might separate the deck into Major/Minor Arcana and use only the Majors to pick a single card that might give the lady some insights.  I decided to take the advice, but I decided not to separate the deck. I figured that if this lady needed a Major card, it would appear... and it did!  I ended up with the Hanged Man, and it worked really well for the client.  That experience just helped confirm for me that the cards will tell you what you need to know, so separating them is not really necessary.  

Morgan Greer Tarot

17) Do you do readings using reversals? Why or why not?

Hah!  When I first started with Tarot, I didn't.  But I was also reading for myself and other people I knew really well.  When I started reading for strangers I realized immediately that the fine shades of meaning available with reversals would be extremely useful in giving detailed readings...especially readings via email.  At first I was a bit nervous, but now I really like using them.  



18) Do you feel a "connection" to your cards?

Yes, I do!  I actually feel like they're sort of friends :)  I feel a great connection to all of my decks, though the images in the Golden Tarot (Liz Dean) don't really pull me in.  But I still feel like they "speak" to me, in their own way.  

30-Day Tarot Challenge, Questions 14 and 15

14) For what purposes do you usually use to Tarot?

I don't do a lot of "self" readings, other than daily draws, which I use as a sort of 1-card-reading to give me some insights about my day.  Lately I've been reading for strangers, helping them gain insights into major life issues, which is really rewarding over all.  Sometimes I just sit with a particular deck and go through each card, considering the images and how they impact me.  So in a way I am ever studying and deepening my connection to and understanding of Tarot.

15) How much emphasis do you put on the textbook meanings for cards, and how much stress do you place on the "feeling" you get from cards through their artwork/symbolism, etc.?  Do you do both, or one or the other?

Um, I'd say I'm kind of in the middle at this point.  I always consider the textbook meanings, but sometimes I get a feeling from a card that doesn't necessarily match up closely to what the meaning is "supposed to be."  For instance I did a spread once where a woman was asking for insights about her relationship.  The Queen of Cups showed up as representative of the querent.  I was using DruidCraft, and on that card the moon is sort of hanging in front of the Queen's face, almost looking like it's about to drop into her cup.  For some reason on that day I really felt drawn to that moon, and I felt that the querent was very focused on the uncertainties and confusion she was experiencing in her relationship.  On the other hand, so far with Wildwood Tarot I go both ways... I first consider my own, more traditional interpretation, and then think about the keywords, or alternative interpretations on those cards to see if they offer something more.  Once the 5 of Arrows popped up in the spread, which shows a goat leaping down toward a man who is furiously trying to shoot it with an arrow, but repeatedly missing.  The keyword is "frustration."  I felt the goat was the querent, who was taking hits (or near-misses) from all angles but still forging ahead.  It was all about inner strength.

DruidCraft Tarot
Philip/Stephanie Carr-Gomm and Will Worthington