tarot stuff
so I've been working on boning up on my tarot reading skills recently. I studied pretty seriously (including doing a lot of readings) from '96 or '98 until the time I got together with Mr Abusive and my life started to fall apart. I just kinda stopped reading then - mostly I think because I *didn't want to hear about it* - I knew I was in a fucked up situation and I just did not want to have to see all those swords etc! although of course, it might have helped me wake up to what was really going on much sooner.
when I moved in over here and started unpacking my books, my tarot books and decks were given a place of honour in my favorite bookcase in my room, and I started doing readings again here and there. I've also been reading with the gigsville custom playing card deck and believe it or not, that deck gives really good readings despite having no overarching design concept other than the 4 suits (which actually do map really well to the traditional tarot suits). I've pulled my own card in a reading even.
this reconnection then led me to doing a panel discussion on the tarot at a campout last summer which was a big eye-opener for me - hey, I actually remember a ton of this stuff! I'm now hatching a plan to "go pro" - I plan to start with parties and stuff like setting up in coffeehouses etc so if you have any ideas for this kind of thing, I'd love to hear 'em. or, if you just want a reading, let me know!
a couple of weeks ago, I attended the SF Bay Area Tarot Symposium (aka SF BATS) which was a great inspiration and the people I met there were (to a one) encouraging of me and my wild-eyed scheme. I especially enjoyed talking with an awesome woman - a professional reader who is married to a super cool old-school tattooist. she was generous with her advice and so warm and friendly, as was her husband. seemed like a good portent to me! and really, everyone there was friendly and generous with their advice. I took so many notes!
one of the things I heard from more than one person was that for reading at parties, a "nonthreatening" deck was useful. less nudity, designs for death/tower/half the swords cards that weren't so "scary" and so on. so yesterday, I decided to check out my local metaphysical bookstore to see if they had any good ones.
I spent over an hour there, and every single one of the decks I looked at (and I looked at around 50 of 'em) had some aspect that made it unacceptable to me, "nonthreatening" imagery or not. I've learned so much about the RWS and love it so much, that I think I need to take the core piece of advice from the class I am working though and *trust myself*.
heh.
I have also been enjoying working with my new furry themed tarot deck I received at SF BATS. (when you first got there on saturday you were invited to select - blind, of course - a deck to keep and I got an anthromorphic one, wouldn't you know.) by the time FC rolls around I should be really conversant with it, so I'm planning to offer readings there.
so anyway, the visit to the shop was very educational, although it didn't turn out the way I'd expected. I think I'm actually perfectly happy with the decks I have right now, and just need to focus on *reading* well.
since there's nothing like a real practice, I'll be looking for opportunities to read. free if you come to me, parties and other offsite readings negotiable.
I also have a lot of thoughts on the more metaphysical side of this but I haven't been feeling inspired to post on that stuff just yet. however, some of the parallels I've been noticing between tarot and tattooing are striking!
when I moved in over here and started unpacking my books, my tarot books and decks were given a place of honour in my favorite bookcase in my room, and I started doing readings again here and there. I've also been reading with the gigsville custom playing card deck and believe it or not, that deck gives really good readings despite having no overarching design concept other than the 4 suits (which actually do map really well to the traditional tarot suits). I've pulled my own card in a reading even.
this reconnection then led me to doing a panel discussion on the tarot at a campout last summer which was a big eye-opener for me - hey, I actually remember a ton of this stuff! I'm now hatching a plan to "go pro" - I plan to start with parties and stuff like setting up in coffeehouses etc so if you have any ideas for this kind of thing, I'd love to hear 'em. or, if you just want a reading, let me know!
a couple of weeks ago, I attended the SF Bay Area Tarot Symposium (aka SF BATS) which was a great inspiration and the people I met there were (to a one) encouraging of me and my wild-eyed scheme. I especially enjoyed talking with an awesome woman - a professional reader who is married to a super cool old-school tattooist. she was generous with her advice and so warm and friendly, as was her husband. seemed like a good portent to me! and really, everyone there was friendly and generous with their advice. I took so many notes!
one of the things I heard from more than one person was that for reading at parties, a "nonthreatening" deck was useful. less nudity, designs for death/tower/half the swords cards that weren't so "scary" and so on. so yesterday, I decided to check out my local metaphysical bookstore to see if they had any good ones.
I spent over an hour there, and every single one of the decks I looked at (and I looked at around 50 of 'em) had some aspect that made it unacceptable to me, "nonthreatening" imagery or not. I've learned so much about the RWS and love it so much, that I think I need to take the core piece of advice from the class I am working though and *trust myself*.
heh.
I have also been enjoying working with my new furry themed tarot deck I received at SF BATS. (when you first got there on saturday you were invited to select - blind, of course - a deck to keep and I got an anthromorphic one, wouldn't you know.) by the time FC rolls around I should be really conversant with it, so I'm planning to offer readings there.
so anyway, the visit to the shop was very educational, although it didn't turn out the way I'd expected. I think I'm actually perfectly happy with the decks I have right now, and just need to focus on *reading* well.
since there's nothing like a real practice, I'll be looking for opportunities to read. free if you come to me, parties and other offsite readings negotiable.
I also have a lot of thoughts on the more metaphysical side of this but I haven't been feeling inspired to post on that stuff just yet. however, some of the parallels I've been noticing between tarot and tattooing are striking!