Not-so-new member intro!

[poorwendy]

Hello everyone!  Name's Lena.  Sadly I don't have an awesome magickal name like you cool kids.  I am very, VERY excited about this community, as my ideas about my spiritually have evolved heavily over the past few years, and sometimes I feel like I don't have anyone to talk to about them other than my husband.  I'll try to keep my summary of that

Comments

[poorwendy]

You are so sweet, thank you.

I'm so excited to be a part of this community, I think everyone is, and it's so neat that everyone feels so strongly about it.

I've heard about motherpeace but have never used it. If I remember correctly it is very bright and optimistic. I will put it on my list! I can tell I'm going to be a collector. Isn't it awesome, connecting with a deck and letting it be a bridge to the divine? Everyone has their own. I met a reader who can't even shuffle her deck in the traditional manner because she has been using the same one for over fifteen years! Even though she owns over a hundred decks, she still only reads with that one.

Who is your chosen goddess? Or do you prefer, simply, "goddess"?

As to what deck I use, here is an excerpt of an email to my tarot mentor from FTN, when she asked me the same question:

"I use the Thoth deck. This was the first deck I purchased, and it just seemed to draw me to it. At the time I didn't know why other than I *loved* the aesthetic value. As I continue to use it, I feel that I am continually reaffirmed that it was the best choice for me. I love the imagery, the rich symbolism, the incorporation of astrology, Kabbalah, and esoteric numerology. I have since read that this deck is considered to be "advanced" and not reccommended for beginners. I don't necessarily agree. I don't believe that one has to comprehend every aspect of the deck to be able to use it; rather, as I continue to grow and learn about it, I can bring new knowledge to my readings. I like that the bar is set very high, and that the images are very rich. It seems I can always find something new in the cards, and the same card can vary greatly from reading to reading.

I've also read that Aleister Crowley considered himself a "dark" occultist, and that for this reason many are turned off of using his deck. I'm in no way interested in his preference for the darker side of things, but I don't feel that this detracts from the fantastic tool that he created. I've looked at and even purchased other decks since, and this is still my favorite.

However, since working with the traditional Waite deck I feel that my understanding of the Minor arcana has greatly improved. The Crowley minor arcana cards are sometimes more two dimensional, and give an outlook that is sometimes more bleak or optimistic than is truly the case. Also, the fact that he named all of the minor arcana cards can be very helpful, but I think it can also sometimes block more intuitive interpretations. Another possible downside to working with the Thoth deck is that it does not facilitate the use of reversals, something else I am learning with the Waite deck."

Sorry that was so long! Just thought it would be easier to copy and paste. :)

Oh! And I just ordered the Lover's Path tarot from eBay! It's coming in the mail! Know anything about it?

[vegdumpling]

yes, it is very awesome when you can just let yourself be in a place where the connection is so real and the pictures become a powerful message. it's tough to describe but it is indeed awesome.

wow, 15 years! i can't shuffle mine in a traditional manner but that's because they are an untraditional shape... but i think i could see myself being like that in the future. i'm not really a collector and while i may or may not find other decks that work for me, the ones i'd tried in the past were difficult for me to connect to. oddly enough, from the first time i saw this deck i knew it was for me and i've been able to connect to the divine with it almost instantly.

well, i work with a couple of them but typically i feel more called to one at a time. so presently i've been working with bast but i also work with kwan yin, hecate and pan.

i don't mind the length and you certainly did a good job of explaining there. really, the thoth deck doesn't use reversals? that's interesting. as you could imagine with a circular shaped deck i get not only reversals but sideways too. i don't read them sideways i use my intuition to decide whether they should be regular or reversed.

sorry, i'm not so familiar with it but if you want there is a community called tarot_musings and i'm sure someone there would know about it.