I have been intrigued by Tarot cards since high
school when I bought my first deck, probably from a novelty store downtown.
This was a very plain deck and I found it difficult to 'read'. Well groomed to the notion of not wasting money by my Depression era parents, it would be a long time before I bought another. But I did. And that's where the love affair started. Newer decks are so lyrically imaged that the cards will immediately begin to
weave a story for me. Or they will sit in stony silence, the images static.
I can pretty much predict which decks will work for me if I can see just
a few cards. A great source for that is the aeclectic tarot website. In general, the images cannot be off putting to my eyes. They must invite me in. Intrigue me. And that is a very personal relationship. Every person will choose a deck that speaks to them. In general, I have noticed that decks with sinister, CGI, or Alex Grey type imagery do not sing for me.
I recently picked up a new deck, the Wildwood Tarot made by the same
artists that did the Druidcraft Tarot which I kinda love. Both decks are the same size but the images are different enough that I want to combine the decks together into one big mega deck. I love the idea of duplicates of the cards. Two Fools especially appeals to me. But first I need to get to 'know' my newer cards. I have
been introducing myself to them slowly by pulling two or three every week
to work with. Tonight I tried for three and ended up with 5. Some
cards just need to be there and I have learned to let them. I kinda
groaned at the number. I'm not a fan of the number five. I think
it's the odd mixture of linear and curving lines, but who knows.
My five cards in order were King of Arrows
represented by the Kingfisher, the eight of stones (in this deck subtitled skill),
the six of arrows (transition), the wanderer aka the fool and the pole star aka
the star.
Those five cards fell together like pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle. I love kingfishers. Always have. They are
short sturdy birds with stubby tails that live near water and dive into the
water for prey. I love the color combo, the slate blue and burnt orange.
Love their machine gun birdsong. They are fearless little birds. I don't see them often, but each
sighting has been memorable. There is also a certain association for me
between kingfisher and the fisher king of Arthurian legend. And their genus species affiliation ties into the Greek myth of Alcyone and Ceyx and who doesn't enjoy a good love story. In this case, it seems
to represent ability, straight up - You can do it. Dive in and go for it.
The second card seems to reiterate that sentiment.
Skill. The kind that comes from long hours of practicing your
craft. In this case it feels like this is related to writing.
The next three cards are like a one-two-three
punch. Transition. Beginning a journey. Navigating by the pole
star aka the North star.
Seems I better fasten my seatbelt because the ride is about to begin.
And just because that 5 card thing bothered me, I drew a 6th. The Ancestor. THAT makes things very clear. It's time to pull that book out and start jammin on it again. I mean it won't write itself.
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