One-Stop-Shop for Tarot Correspondences: The Quest Tarot deck

Again, I faced that look on my boyfriend’s face at the store that clearly said “You’re buying ANOTHER Tarot deck? Really?”

Yup!

The Fool from the Quest Tarot

I’ve seen some of the Majors of this deck and was immediately intrigued. The images were interesting but what immediately grabbed my attention was the border. Often the border is rather useless and unfortunately can take up a lot of valuable real estate. But in this case, the Quest Tarot has turned the borders of this deck into a wealth of correspondence information to help your study and readings.

For example, the Fool card’s border tells us:

• planet: Uranus
• stone: Amazonite
• Hebrew letter: Aleph
• rune: Wyn

In the companion book that comes in the set (I was upset that no bag came with this deck, just the little cardboard box – looks like this was pre-organdy bag era), the author/artist includes not only discussion over each card, but also offers quick, reference chapters over each of these correspondences. These correspondence explanations take up the first part of the book and are a good balance between overwhelming us with too much/deep info and skimping.

Things to know about this deck:

Notice I-Ching and astrological sign correspondences in the Pips.

• Pip cards do not have pictorial representations of the cards’ meanings – they only depict the actual number of cups, wands, etc. Though the images are still beautiful and a joy to look at, if you require imagery on this card to help guide the meaning then this deck would not be helpful.
• Court Cards are renamed and reordered: Mother (Queen), Father (King), Daughter (Page), and Son (Knight) in that order. These cards do depict people.
• Some Majors have been renamed: Temperance is Alchemy, Judgment is Aeon, World is Universe (think Thoth-style)
• New Major Arcana card – Trump 21 – The Multiverse – this card is of the artist/writer’s own creation, which has it’s origin in the new quantum physics (this deck is billed as “21st Centry Tarot”)
• Each card has a keyword beneath the name of the deck. Pip cards are Crowley/Thoth deck-inspired. Keywords chosen for the Majors are expected. The Hanged Man, however, has the keyword “Uniqueness” which may not jive popular interpretations.
• The Blank Card - Another insertion by the creator, there is a blank card added to the deck that includes the decorative border but the rest is white space where you can add your own art and correspondences. He writes about three ways to use this card – make it your own personal “Significator” card, create your own additional card to the deck (another Major?) or simply leave it blank and read it as it comes up in your readings (such as using a blank rune when runecasting).

Verdict:

A beautiful deck. The borders remind me of the Guilded Tarot, but the all the art is done with 3-D rendering for a more computer-generated, alternate plane kinda feel.

The correspondences info will provide a wealth of knowledge to my study. My intention now with this deck is not so much for conducting readings but to use as a deck of study. I’ve never really delved into Tarot correspondences, and this deck provides a way to see how other disciplines integrate into the Tarot.

The companion book is tremendously helpful. While I was initially off-put by the price of this deck and book set (retailing at $34.95), the deck and book really make it worth your while. The companion book is an excellent resource that can be applied to any Tarot deck and will be a great thing to have on hand if you’re stuck wondering about a certain correspondence for a card and what it means in the card’s context.

Anyone else own this deck? How do you use it? Do you read with it? How does the correspondence information integrate into your working with this deck and others?

Reversals Experiment

Two of Cups from the Revelations Tarot

Since I began reading Tarot, I’ve always read reversals. I think this was mostly due in part to my first deck being the Revelations Tarot, which have 2 pictures on each card – one for upright and another picture that was flipped to be seen reversed. Using this deck, it didn’t make sense not to read reversals since that was a clear intent of the artist/creator. (Other readers have had issues wrapping their mind around this deck. As a newb, I gave Wong’s method a try without worrying about “traditional reversal meanings” for better or worse).

I’d heard of others not using reversals but when I read Mary K. Greer’s beloved “Tarot for Your Self” she backed up the reading of reversals; (bad paraphrase:) if the position of a card in a spread means something, then why not the position in which the card lands? MKG also wrote the book on Tarot Reversals (literaly).

As I’ve begun to involve myself in the wider Tarot community, I find that reading reversals is not very trendy at all. Since I’ve never been able to ignore reversals, and the fact that there seems to be something about it that everyone loves (easier to read? ) I’d like to go a time without reading reversals. The belief behind this is that there are enough “negative” and “positive” cards to balance the deck – why overdo the often negative aspect of reversals into a reading?

The experiment begins as of this post. Time to go flip all my decks right-side up!

Also, Arwen’s running a contest on her blog – go comment to win a free reading with the creator of the new Quantum Tarot deck!

Tarot events this week [Re-cap]

This week has been an awesome whirlwind of Austin Tarot events. Here’s some notes from the 3 events I attended over the past few days:

Tuesday – The Magic of the Minor Arcana (a Tejas Web class)

This class is broken into 4 weekly classes, each covering one of the suits. The first class was the Swords class (Swords = Air = East, being the first Quarter traditionally called in Circle). After a brief into to the make-up and history of Tarot, we jumped into discussing the Minor Arcana. A really interesting part of the discussion that I had never thought of is the way geometry fit so well with the traditional numerological meanings of 1-10 in relation to Tarot.

Cat and Suzanne then talked a bit about the Court Cards, and helped us understand all this ceremonial magic “earth of air” “water of air” craziness, which actually made sense.

• Pages = Earth
• Knights = Air
• Queens = Water
• Kings = Fire

Therefore, the King of Swords is “Fire of Air,” meaning he displays the qualities of Air through his more Fire-y nature… does that make sense? Or if the above correspondences are that court’s “worldview” you can see where they all experience Air differently even though they’re all Swords. Heh, made up that last little analogy myself

From there we did an automatic writing exercise using the Swords’ Court cards, which was very revealing. Cat lead us on a meditation from the Ace through the King of Swords and guided us through using our intuition to understand and develop our own meanings of the cards. Afterwards, we discussed meanings as a class and talked a little of traditional meanings. I loved when people with really unique decks would show us how that deck portrayed a card. At the end of the class, we did a mini-spread with just the Swords suit, which is a scary proposition but was actually very accurate despite using only 14 possible cards. Can’t wait for next class – the Wands!

Wednesday – Austin Tarot Talkers Meetup: The Hermit Constellation

This Meetup was also the first of a series of meetups about the Hermit constellation, which includes the Hermit, the Moon and the four 9s pip cards. This meetup was just on the Hermit, yet it was hard to stay focused when we kept getting off on wonderful tangents. Despite that, I think everyone left with a greater understanding of the card. We each showed our card and developed our own meanings.

After sharing, we used a variety of books to research any symbolism or aspects of the cards we didn’t know. Everyone at the meetup was a lot of fun and there was a variety of people, from “I just bought my first deck 5 minutes ago” to seasoned professionals. Looking forward to the next meetup in this series – the Moon.

Thursday – Austin Tarot Enthusiasts 1st Meeting

The birth of this group is a match made on the Internet. Arwen, who recently moved to Austin, wanted to start a Tarot group here in town. I’d been following her on Twitter for a while so when I read her tweet about an Austin group I jumped at the opportunity. She then advertised the group online, which attracted a variety of people. Five of us made it to our first meeting, where we discussed what we wanted out of the group as well as fun things we could do. An important decision was agreed upon regarding meetings: we’re going to try and meet at the Denny’s in south Austin along the I-35 southbound access road if they’ll have us (one of the group is going to call).

Our plan is to meet every 1st, 3rd (and 5th) Thursday of the month, schedules willing. This is not an exculsive thing either, we look forward to a fluid group with people coming in and out attending and teaching when they can. We even want beginners to try and lead a discussion – no better way to learn than to teach! If you’re interested in coming to meetings, join our Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AustinTarotEnthusiasts/ to get the most up-to-date schedules, etc.Next meetup: The Fool

Have a great weekend!

PS – I’m on MySpace now. If you have an account, please add me

Updated! Tarot Events This Week: Sept 16 – 18

Lots of Tarot events and fun happening this week! If you’re in the Austin area, you should definitely check these out if you can:

September 16-October 7, Tuesdays, 7-10pm
BODY, MIND, SPIRIT, HEART: THE MAGIC OF THE MINOR ARCANA
With Cat Dancing and Suzanne
The Minor Arcana of the Tarot are mirrors of our daily lives­–Pentacles our bodies, Swords our minds, Wands our spirits, and Cups our emotions. This class on the Minor Suits of the Tarot invites us to explore the cards as tools of magic, insight, and transformation.
In these experiential classes we use intuition, spellcrafting, meditation, art, and creative play to begin or deepen our understanding of the Minors. We explore the interrelationships of the Minor and Major Arcana, drawing on Tarot lore and correspondences as well as our own inspirations. We learn new and traditional spreads and gain confidence in reading the cards.
All levels of Tarot experience are welcome. Bring a Tarot deck, your journal, and a willingness to let go of your assumptions and teachings and look with fresh eyes.
Classes meet at Ancient Mysteries. Sliding fee scale is $90-$150­-pay what is right for you within this range. Please register in advance, as space is limited; a $25 deposit holds your place. Contact Suzanne, mcanna314@hotmail.com, 512-282-5541, or Cat Dancing, catdancing13@yahoo.com, 512-608-1701, for more information.

There are still a FEW spots left open for this class. Call Cat and she’ll send you more detailed info. Bring your full payment to the class. If you write a check, make it to “Tejas Web” ( an Austin NPO).

September 17th @ 7:30 – The Hermit Constellation Part 1 – an Austin Tarot Talkers Meetup

Location: Borders Books and Music 9500 S I H 35, Austin, TX 78753

Join us as we journey through The Hermit Constellation.This meet up will be devoted to the Hermit. You will be exposed to a variety of different Hermit cards from the decks that you bring. We will discuss what we already know about the card through all six of our senses. This will be followed up by digging through the books and learning and answering all the questions. We will discuss astrology, numerology, kaballah, elements, symbolism and colors.

The meetup will finish up with a discussion on what we just learned and how to use this information in a reading in addition to how the card fits in with the remainder of the deck.

This is the first meetup of a 7 part series. Each meetup in the series we will discuss a new card that fits into The Hermit Constellation until we have studied each card. There will then be a final meetup discussing a conclusion for The Hermit Constellation.

It is important that you bring a journal that is specifically designated for this series of meetups only.

Plan to have fun, meet new and old friends and fall in love with the tarot.

There are still openings for this Meetup. Join the Meetup group to get emailed about future events.

September 18: Austin Tarot Enthusiasts @ Ruta Maya on S. Congress 7pm

From Arwen, the group creator:

“I have started a Yahoogroup for us to organize together. Please feel free to tell others about this group as well. All are welcome!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AustinTarotEnthusiasts/ is the group homepage.

I am proposing that we meet at 7pm on Thursday September 18 at the Ruta Maya 3601 S Congress Ave. Bring a deck. Bring a notebook. Let’s meet one another and brainstorm about what we want from a Tarot Study group. Everyone is welcome. Beginners to old hats!

My vision is a monthly (maybe more frequent) meeting where we can read for one another and discuss new spreads etc. I look forward to meeting those of you who can attend on Thursday.”

This is a new group forming organized by Arwen, whom I met on Twitter She’s also a new Austinite and looking to jump right in!

Notes and updates from all the above events are forthcoming as I attend them. Hope to see you around!

“Story of my Life!” – a Tarot Timeline

In Corinne Kenner’s “Tarot Journaling,” she suggests a way to use Tarot to understand your past: assign the Majors to big events in your life thus far. In her book she lists the Majors in order and attaches an event to each card. These events are out of order, taken from her youth to her adulthood. A variation of this would be to depict the timeline of your life using the Majors chronologically. I’d like to share my timeline here.

This was an interesting assignment. First of all, I’m 22 years old and there’s 22 Majors (ha) so at times it was hard for me to place all the cards. I found that cards were easiest to place for my college years. These events are the most recent, plus I think I went through lots of big changes, which explains why a large chunk of the Majors in my timeline represent these years.

The major events in my life were easy to assign a card to, but some of the cards were more difficult. In all I think the cards either ended up representing a person, an timeframe or a specific event for me.

1. The Sun – Growing up, raised by parents and grandparents, perfectly perfect.
2. The Hierophant – Attending Catholic School, a world of order and discipline.
3. Justice – My parents divorce.
4. The Empress – I go to live with my mom, who becomes mother and father.
5. The Hermit – I grew up with good role models to shared their time with me.
6. The Devil - High School A time of much pain – a slave to my anger.
7. The Emperor - My first boyfriend.
8. The Magician – My second boyfriend, who introduced me to everything Pagan.
9. Strength – Overcoming “The Devil” part of my high school experience thanks to the Magician.
10. Wheel of Fortune – Acceptance into several colleges.
11. The Fool - Choosing a college in another city.
12. Judgment – The Call of the Goddess. I become Wiccan.
13. Temperance – Wicca helps me complete the work of the Strength card, bringing balance into my life.
14. Death – My Grandmother passes away, the first death in my immediate family I’ve experienced.
15. Moon – Engaged to Magician, but all is not what it seems.
16. The Hanged Man - The Magician joins the Army, goes to training. Left alone in stasis, my religion saves me.
17. The Tower – I break the engagement.
18. The Lovers – I begin to date a long-time friend, who shows me what a real relationship is supposed to be. (My 2007 card.)
19. The Star – Preparing to graduate, I hope for a bright future.
20. The Chariot – Graduation, propelled into a new apt and my first full-time work. I move again and change jobs again 8 months later. 2008 is also my Chariot year, obviously.
21. The World – Changing jobs, returning to work the college I attended (full circle).
22. The High Priestess – Re-dedication to Wicca and my Tarot studies. Enhancing my creativity through my spirituality.

Whew! Really puts things into perspective. Maybe I’ll do this again at 33, 44, etc and see how it changes Have you done this exercise before? Please share your thoughts!

Types of Tarot Journals

I’m currently reading Corrine Kenner’s “Tarot Journaling” again. I read this book about a year or so ago but I wasn’t as passionate about Tarot as I’ve become now – perhaps the book came a bit too early for me Anyway, I’m enjoying it much more now and each page seems to contain a tip that makes me think “oh, I should try that” or “i need to remember that”.

In the beginning of the book, Kenner talks about the different kinds of Tarot journals you can keep, some of which I’m already doing! Here are the ways I currently document my Tarot experience:

1. Reading record – I keep a little black unlined book in my Tarot bag for recording readings when I’m not near a computer. This includes readings for myself and others. In this notebook I can jot down the cards in the spread to re-create for later study as well as any other pertinent information or intuitions I have at the time.
2. Card interpretation notebook – This notebook is a lined Moleskine notebook that is very durable and easy to carry around. I have a page dedicated to each card and include pieces of Tarot info that I’ll want to reference again and again, like spread layouts. For me this is a kind of Book of Shadows of Tarot, because it’s a compendium of my understanding of the Tarot and is my number one reference for card info.
3. Workbook – That would be this blog! A place for working through Tarot exercises or writing about Tarot classes and meetups (which I’m attending soon) – this blog allows me to to see where I’ve been and where I’m at. I also have a physical notebook I use a Moleskine for recording personal spellwork, which I could also contribute Tarot work entries.
4. Artist’s Journal – this was my favorite recommendation, probably because I hadn’t really considered it till now! Use a sketchbook to illustrate cards, collage images that remind of you a card, etc. Not only will this deepen my Tarot connection but will also bring out my creative side too!

I hope if you’re into writing or into Tarot you’ll pick up “Tarot Journaling” and get inspired!

Personal Reading: Two Paths

What do I need to know about pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Master’s degree in Education?

————–2—–3—–4 <<<Art degree

———–1

————–5—–6—–7 <<<Education degree

1. Where are you now? reversed Justice

I certainly get this one – there’s a since of imbalance, disharmony and indecision about my current situation. In a way, I feel wronged that I never got to pursue an Art degree the first time around, but I’m torn because I want to pursue a Master’s – the issue seems to be a battle of the heart and mind: my heart wants the Art degree but my mind says the Education Master’s is a better decision in terms of cost/benefit. Funny enough, Justice is also my Personality Card (what I’m meant to learn in this life) – maybe this decision has a great impact on the rest of my life and contains the lessons I’m meant to learn.

2 + 5: Benefits of each: Queen of Cups (art), reversed 8 of Cups (edu)

Again, the heart of the matter seems to be… my heart (forgive the pun). I’ll find pursuing art incredibly fulfilling, whereas a Master’s feels like I’m pursuing it because I feel like I have to, not because I want to. I’m leaving behind all my glittery artsy cups and moving on to the future I’m “supposed” to create but I leave with regrets and doubts (again).

3 +6: Downsides of each: reversed 10 of Swords (art), Chariot (edu)

Not sure how to take the reversed 10 of Swords – perhaps my Art degree will be very mentally taxing which I’ll have to accept and move on with power. Again, learning a lesson. Learning and creating art isn’t always Cuppy There’s lots of mental effort, too.

Interesting how the Chariot is a downside for my Master’s degree. Again, it seems that completing this degree will require substantial willpower and focus to succeed and not give up.

4 + 7: Probable Outcomes: reversed High Priestess (art), reversed 10 of Cups (edu)

Again, I see this dichotomy of the spiritual (art) vs. material (education). The High Priestess is my Soul Card (my purpose for all life times). It seems that this Art degree will help me further become the High Priestess, but not without a few bumps in the road first. Seems that this degree will test me spiritually but at least I’ll be a wiser High Priestess at the end of this after starting out as the naive Queen of Cups.

On the other hand, it seems that a Master’s degree will negatively impact my home and family life – perhaps in terms of monopolizing too much of my time and missing important family events. This also signals to me that getting a Master’s degree because that’s what’s expected of me (by family!) will not solve my problems or necessarliy make me any happier in the end.

Overall Thoughts

Wow that was really insightful. Overall this spread showed me that this decision runs much deeper than choosing a career field – rather it’s about choosing what will make me happy. Also, Justice also seems to tell me not to rush my decision – this decision is worth considering seriously. Fortunately, I don’t need to decide right away – I can explore both opportunities further. On a side note, I followed the Tarot reading ritual that I talked about in my previous post, and I think it’s made difference already

Deck Used: Mystic Dreamer Tarot

Tarot Reading Routines and Rituals

Right now I’m reading “Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards” by Corrine Kenner (a review post is forthcoming as I finish the book). In the book, she has a section on ideas you can use to establish your own routine or style of conducting readings. Based on her suggestions, I’d like to begin to implement my own reading routine.

Why establish a routine? I’ve never really had an established reading routine – a process that I always do when I read. I think by trying to create a routine – a ritual, really – will help me conduct a better reading and connect better on many levels.

A Tarot Routine: (I’ll be trying this routine out too)

1. Gather your materials. For me, this will include the deck I’ll be using, a tarot cloth, a candle, and a lighter/matchbook. Kenner also offers the idea of adding tokens of the four suits/elements, such as a candle, seashell, incense and a crystal. I’d like to do this too if I can find good representations that’ll travel well (which shouldn’t be difficult). Think of it as a mini-altar-to-go for those of the pagan persuasion (or not – they can still help!). Also consider some nice background music (a small, cheap boombox? iPod and computer speakers??? ) and something to you can record your reading (a journal, a tape recorder?)
2. Clean your reading area – physically and spiritually! Clearing out your space will alter the energy of the area and prep you for your reading. Methods include envisioning the room filled with white light, burning incense, ringing bells, playing music, etc.
3. Prepare your space – set up everything you’ll need in a pleasing way.
4. Ground and center.
5. Light the candle – a signal of your intent for the reading to begin. This would also be an appropriate time to pray to the Divine for guidance during the reading.
6. Clarify and state your question – if applicable. Include a time frame if you need to be more specific.
7. Shuffle the cards. Kenner offers shuffling seven times for thoroughness (plus 7 is a very magickal number). Cut the cards yourself or have the querent cut the cards.
8. Conduct the reading. Kenner recommends turning the cards up as you come to them.
9. Conclusion: extinguish the candle.
10. Wrap up your recording – whether you wrote notes or spoke in a recorder, go ahead and give any final thoughts to return to later.
11. Clean up your area and your deck. Pick up your things and store them safely for the next reading. Consider psychically “cleaning” your deck by smudging the deck with burning herbs (like sage), visualizing the deck purified by white light, or sorting the cards back in numerical order.

What’s your Tarot reading routine/ritual? Does it change? Are there things you always do? Share it in the comments of this post!

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Readers,

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Thoughts on the Mystic Dreamer Tarot

When I recieved my Sept/Oct issue of Llewellyn’s New Worlds catalog, I flipped through to check out what new things were coming out when I came across the page featuring a new deck – the Mystic Dreamer Tarot.

After reading the page and checking out the deck’s art online, I knew this would be my next deck purchase. When I found the deck set at my local metaphysical store, I grabbed it up.

This deck is beautiful. I really appreciated the Artist’s Note in the companion book, where Heidi Darras explained the process of creating a few cards at a time starting with the Majors and showing them off on deviantART, an online social networking and portfolio site for artists. After being encouraged to complete the Majors, she was then encouraged to complete the deck.

This deck is based off of RWS imagery, with a lot of the religious symbolism purposefully removed. Though others scoff at the number of RWS-based decks, I found this deck a very modern and deep interpretation that has resounded with me on a surprising level.

Agreed – the borders are too big, the images too small. Popular criticism in forums are that the brown borders that surround the cards take up too much real estate on the card. Similarly, the subjects in the cards are often small and you reallllly have to look at the card close sometimes to see details or facial expressions. However, this is pretty nitpicky for me and has not affected the usefulness or beauty of this deck to me.

Again, the deck feels too papery for me. Arrrgh! I really hope this isn’t a trend. This is the same (and only) complaint I had about the Universal Goddess Tarot – the fagile, papery feel of the cards. Is it a budgeting thing? Screw lamination for long-term use and preservation? I may just have to laminate the deck myself

The companion book is well done. Barbara Moore does it again – I love the way this book was written. I also liked that she includeded possible reversal meanings, which are trendy not to use (even the author acknowledges her surprising compulsion to include them). The unique selling point of this companion book is the “Use Your Intuition” questions at the end of every card description which ask you to question elements of the card’s art – also a fun journaling activity. Also, I also enjoyed the dream interpretation section of the Spreads chapter, which I will definitely be using.

Anyone else own/have thoughts about this deck? Share your experiences by leaving a comment please I’ve yet to read with them (mostly just studying and feeling out the cards) – I’d love to know how this deck influences (if at all) your readings.