Intensive Deck Study Support Thread ~ Part 2

SolSionnach

cronesayer said:
Hey Sravana -- you're right about the book thing & I'm a little apprehensive about actually receiving and reading this one as I'm in the midst of developing a good relationship with these cards. Maybe, I'll just set it aside when it arrives & wait for the "ugly" moment before I bust it out! :D
I got a couple of highly recommended TdM books - by Huson and Gettings. I liked the Huson, but something about the Gettings actually creeps me out, and I've not found the desire to read it. Funny thing, I believe it was Hooked that really loved the Gettings!

Whatever floats your boat, as they say.

I'm reminded about the difference between the IDS and the ODW - with the IDS you actually study the cards, but with the ODW you don't study any books etc around the deck - you just read with it (and read and read), so you wake up your intuition. Perhaps you are doing more of an ODW (but you can still post here :)) If you're doing so well without the book, hey, just set it aside like you said. Who needs a book if you're reading well with the deck?
 

Onyx

Too much Freedom?

I have been working with the cards and what I loved at first I seem to be drowning in now.

I have done a couple of readings and I enjoy that I am able to look beyond the one idea that the scenes in the cards gave me but now I feel that I lack a mental anchor and I am adrift in a sea of potential meanings.

Since I primarily do e-mail readings I am finding that I wiill write out one idea and then change my mind, then write out a whole new idea. I find myself like a newbie trying to figure out which meaning is best and fits more with the surrounding cards. (I know, I know I hear myself saying this and this is just the thing I wanted to learn, right? To listen to my own voice.) Okay back to work, no one promised this would be easy.

Onyx.
 

teomat

I’m afraid I’m pulling out of my IDS. My interest in the Angel tarot lasted until the beginning of this month, but like I said earlier, I then felt the need to use my Halloween deck.

And now, after using the Halloween for two weeks, I’m getting itchy fingers AGAIN!

I’ve decided that I’m just not a ‘one-deck’ person, and although I really like the idea of the IDS and sticking with one deck for a long time, it’s just not gonna happen for me.

But I don’t actually feel bad about it. In fact, it’s a bit of a relief! :)

I think I’ve been too caught up with the idea of ‘one deck being the definitive tarot for me’. One that’ll be my lifelong favourite or the one I know best.

In reality, I learn best from comparing decks. I want to see how each card has been portrayed and interpreted in various decks, and hopefully come to understand the core ‘essence’ of the card through comparison. I’m going to do this by blogging my daily draws (switching between all my decks) and hopefully in time determine the key elements of each card by recording the events of my day and figuring out the common underlying themes and patterns.

Sticking with one deck will limit me to a specific image, and although I thought working with a TdM will teach me ‘the basics’, I’ve come to regard it as just another jigsaw piece in the bigger picture that is ‘tarot’. And if I want to learn what tarot is and how I can use it, I can’t limit myself to just one deck and one interpretation.

Anyway, thanks for the support everyone and good luck on your own IDS journeys.
 

firecatpickles

I am thinking of doing this (can't believe I am actually saying it!) with my Hadar. As I get more and more into numerology and astrology, it just makes sense.

But what is the time frame? Are you using the equinox-to-solstice time frame?
 

SolSionnach

Onyx said:
I have been working with the cards and what I loved at first I seem to be drowning in now.

I have done a couple of readings and I enjoy that I am able to look beyond the one idea that the scenes in the cards gave me but now I feel that I lack a mental anchor and I am adrift in a sea of potential meanings.
I know what you're talking about, but it doesn't bother me because I don't do professional readings. I spent about 2 1/2 months with Hadar, getting my feet wet and experimenting with a new reading system. I printed up gobs of threads here, and now I've been going back to them and digesting them in a new way. I can take the time right now. But I don't know what I'd do if I were in your shoes. :(
Onyx said:
Since I primarily do e-mail readings I am finding that I wiill write out one idea and then change my mind, then write out a whole new idea. I find myself like a newbie trying to figure out which meaning is best and fits more with the surrounding cards. (I know, I know I hear myself saying this and this is just the thing I wanted to learn, right? To listen to my own voice.) Okay back to work, no one promised this would be easy.

Onyx.
How's it going today? Are you still in a muddle, or have things sorted themselves out?
teomat said:
I’m afraid I’m pulling out of my IDS. My interest in the Angel tarot lasted until the beginning of this month, but like I said earlier, I then felt the need to use my Halloween deck.

And now, after using the Halloween for two weeks, I’m getting itchy fingers AGAIN!
Oh lol. I know the feeling. Perhaps the Angel was not a good choice for you?
teomat said:
I’ve decided that I’m just not a ‘one-deck’ person, and although I really like the idea of the IDS and sticking with one deck for a long time, it’s just not gonna happen for me.

But I don’t actually feel bad about it. In fact, it’s a bit of a relief! :)
very good! I think it's excellent when one figures out stuff about oneself. :)
teomat said:
I think I’ve been too caught up with the idea of ‘one deck being the definitive tarot for me’. One that’ll be my lifelong favourite or the one I know best.

In reality, I learn best from comparing decks. I want to see how each card has been portrayed and interpreted in various decks, and hopefully come to understand the core ‘essence’ of the card through comparison.
If you learn best that way, then Comparative tarot is the way you should go. I'm in the place of quite enjoying *systems* - right now using a historically-based non-esoteric system with the TdM... but I can see me studying Thoth stuff eventually, too! From the frying pan into the fire. :)
teomat said:
I’m going to do this by blogging my daily draws (switching between all my decks) and hopefully in time determine the key elements of each card by recording the events of my day and figuring out the common underlying themes and patterns.

Sticking with one deck will limit me to a specific image, and although I thought working with a TdM will teach me ‘the basics’, I’ve come to regard it as just another jigsaw piece in the bigger picture that is ‘tarot’. And if I want to learn what tarot is and how I can use it, I can’t limit myself to just one deck and one interpretation.

Anyway, thanks for the support everyone and good luck on your own IDS journeys.
Thanks, teomat. It is a journey, for sure. :) :)
Kilted Kat said:
I am thinking of doing this (can't believe I am actually saying it!) with my Hadar. As I get more and more into numerology and astrology, it just makes sense.
Woo! Another Hadar fan!
Have you looked at the threads in the TdM forum? There's some really interesting stuff there. Highly recommended. It radically changed my way of looking at tarot.
Kilted Kat said:
But what is the time frame? Are you using the equinox-to-solstice time frame?
The time-frame is whatever you want it to be. I started out with a month, then three (which was too long)... and eventually simply started setting dates based on the solar year. You can do whatever you like that way. People post their 'rules' for their IDS - usually concerning buying other decks, not using other decks, etc. I'm going to be posting my rules today, I think. It's about time that I got around to it. :)
 

rwcarter

KK,

The time frame is whatever you like it to be. Many people have started their IDS at the beginning of a season, but not everyone has. Many people have set their IDS for 3 months, but some have done shorter and some have done longer.

So choose your time frame and choose your pledge (what you will and won't do) and join the party.

Rodney
 

firecatpickles

I am going to use the Hadar until Winter solstice. The only exception will be looking at the Noblet (traveling deck), which I already have, by the way.
 

mosaica

sravana said:
I'm reminded about the difference between the IDS and the ODW - with the IDS you actually study the cards, but with the ODW you don't study any books etc around the deck - you just read with it (and read and read), so you wake up your intuition. Perhaps you are doing more of an ODW (but you can still post here :)) If you're doing so well without the book, hey, just set it aside like you said. Who needs a book if you're reading well with the deck?

I think I like the idea of the ODW better. I just can't get into "studying" particular decks anymore. I just want to read. Is the ODW still going on somewhere, or is this thread it for single deck commitments or passions? (Off to go check that out....)

Mosaica
 

firecatpickles

I thought the ODW and the IDS were pretty much the same? There are virtually no books that go with the Tarot de Marseille.
 

mosaica

Kilted Kat said:
I thought the ODW and the IDS were pretty much the same? There are virtually no books that go with the Tarot de Marseille.

There's certainly much to study with TdM! I suppose there are virtually no books published to go with specific TdM decks, but I am taking JMD's class on the Noblet. I just can't stomach doing anything called a "study." I'm learning a little history, but that's not my focus. I don't have any desire to "study" any of the TdM decks exclusively. Maybe I'll just post here and call my IDS a ODW instead. :) It appears that there aren't any current ODW threads.

I'm not setting any dates, and for all intents and purposes, for readings I'm using the Spanish Tarot exclusively. I'm going for as long (or as short) as it feels like fun to do so. I must say that this is the first time that I've *ever* had the desire to have a backup copy (or two) of a deck because I feel like I'd be lost if anything happened to it.