Intensive Deck Study (IDS) Support Lounge ~ Part IV

Greetings everyone!
I would like to make the commitment to the Intensive Deck Study.
Here are my commitment pledges:
~I will begin the IDS tomorrow, December 21, 2009.
~I will use the Ironwing 78 deck (oh, thank you MoonGypsy!) exclusively until the IDS is completed.
~I will approach the Ironwing with Honor, Respect, Openness and Readiness to Learn.
~I will try to do a Three-Card Reading once a day.
~I will try to journal at least a paragraph regarding the reading once a day.
~I will try to do the IDS in conjunction with the 78 card/week study. (Which makes the timeframe about 18 months! Wow!!)
~I will try to post in this, the IDS Support Lounge, once a day.
~I will try to not purchase any other decks during the IDS. (Unless they are on my wishlist or are something that I just cannot pass up; however, then I will complete the transaction, check the deck, and put it up until the IDS is over).
~I will try to construct a simple ritual to begin, end and honor my study time. (I am looking for a bell to ring and until I find one, I will use my windchimes or hand cymbals).
~I will ask the Universe for Guidance and Strength as I begin this endeavor.
~I will ask the Universe for Forgiveness for the mistakes I make.

So be it. So let it be.
May this commitment be received with blessings of Peace, Grace and Comfort.

Wendywu said:

Yep - one card a week. How you study it, what references you use etc. are all up to you. We change cards on Mondays. This Monday we change to the Empress but whether you study the same card as us is up to you; some are sticking to their own schedule entirely and that's fine too.

It is true an IDS works best if you go the exclusive use route. Definite immersion technique. You don't have to choose the 78 week option - that's an added extra, so to speak

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Thank you for clarifying, Wendywu! :0)

I'm switching my IDS to the Zerner Farber Tarot supplemented by the Tarot of Transformation

I'm going to concentrate on DOING not studying, for a bit. I will use the Tarot of Transformation in the "YOU" part of the Celtic Cross and will just use the canned meanings from "The Instant Tarot Reader" book for the rest of the reading with the Zerner Farber Tarot

I will do a Celtic Cross with these decks daily and just take it SIMPLE, pretty much like someone else is giving me a reading, and I am the sitter. I will probably scribble some notes to keep track of the reading as I go along, but I will not try and record them.

I'm going to buy the DVD kit as a Winter Solstice present for myself.

I'm just going to keep things as simple as possible for at least a few weeks. And surround myself in purple cards. I may even come up with some type of purple and "keep it simple" ritual. I need to just be in the moment right now and rest.

I'll add you now, victoria.star and it is mighty lovely to see you

hunter, I'll change you on the list, but I have to say that I'm confused by your above statements - the bit about the "you" part of the Celtic Cross; and I wonder why it is that you feel it necessary to use two decks for not only one reading (which many of us have done) but for lots of readings as part of a long-term approach?

But I'll change the list for you, and be interested to see how it works out for you.

\m/ Kat

Hello! I would like to commit to an Intensive Deck Study. I intend to go old school, like I read you guys did with the very first IDS. Here's my pledge:

1. I will study the Universal Waite.
2. I will study one card per day, making notes about it in my tarot journal. These may take the form of bullet lists, stories, or even drawings. Who knows.
3. I will use Mary K Greer's 'Tarot for Yourself' sometimes to help me along.
4. I will use the UW exclusively for the duration of this IDS and won't buy any more decks for the duration of this study.

I'll be starting tomorrow, Winter Solstice, to finish 8th March 2010. I'm going to start with the minors, then the court cards, then the majors.

Welcome Carla-- good luck, enjoy the ride, and remember that we're all here for help and support whenever you need

This thread is slightly dangerous in that as I'm learning with what decks people are IDS'g, I'm discovering some gorgeous decks I've never seen or heard of before. It's temptation, while I should be concentrating on mine!

Anything simple I can do when my thoughts and eyes start wandering??

thorhammer said:

hunter, I'll change you on the list, but I have to say that I'm confused by your above statements - the bit about the "you" part of the Celtic Cross; and I wonder why it is that you feel it necessary to use two decks for not only one reading (which many of us have done) but for lots of readings as part of a long-term approach?
\m/ Kat

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Maybe it won't work, but I want to try it. Tarot of Transformation is a pretty nontraditional deck. More self-help than divination. I feel like it will give the reading a stronger, more definite, teaching center. A super strong card #1. And once the self-help, main teaching is in place than use the Zerner Farber to add all the extra punches, clarify and round out the reading, and add some traditionalism and enlarge the spread. TOT wasn't designed to work well in a spreads of any size, and one of the suits is almost entirely devoted to the chakras. In the past I only used it for 1 card draws. And the ZF deck with the canned "you" (card #1) meanings aren't all that great and can be very vague on exactly what my lesson of the day is.

I know this is an nontraditional IDS in many ways. I want to see what happens though. I went and bought the Zerner Farber DVD. I'm going to do a purple KISS (keep it simple stupid) ritual tonight. Haven't yet figured it all out yet though. I bought some lavender candles and bubble bath. I have my Goddess figurine and a piece of Amethyst. "Sacred Stones of the Goddess" has a Kuan-Yin/Amethyst spell and I'm going to do a quick check on the purple chakra and take whatever is useful, from the books.

I just want to focus on a nurturing, taking experience rather than study for a few weeks. Not look a card up in 10 books and fill up journals. Just take a self-help lesson for the day and let the Zerner Farber deck speak for itself with the canned meanings, instead of over analyzing it all, and not feel the need to remember or document. And do a little DVD watching. And just have some fun with all the purple, a color I have little personal experience with. The Tarot of Transformation is NOTHING but purple when you trim the borders off.

Anyway this is my purple KISS IDS plan. If it works I'll tell you all about it. If it doesn't...I'll switch plans and say I'm switching decks AGAIN

I wouldn't waste your time scratching your head over my crazy plan

KafkasGhost said:

This thread is slightly dangerous in that as I'm learning with what decks people are IDS'g, I'm discovering some gorgeous decks I've never seen or heard of before. It's temptation, while I should be concentrating on mine!

Anything simple I can do when my thoughts and eyes start wandering??

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I'm on my third IDS now, and I'm sort of cheating by using two decks. But this has helped me in the past: remember you are doing this because you want to. No one is forcing you to do so. When I'm IDSing, I still buy/trade for decks if they are 1) on my wishlist, or 2) too good to pass up. However, I've found that when I start wanting to use a new deck, it is either time to take a break from my deck (and therefore reading the cards in general) for a while, or to try something new and different with the deck I'm using. Like, try pulling the cards right side up, or maybe try reading the entire deck reversed since I usually don't use reversals at all, etc. Doing something new tends to make me interested in the deck again. Or, give it a week, don't do any readings, and see if you want to go back to it.

Did that help?

KafkasGhost said:

Anything simple I can do when my thoughts and eyes start wandering??

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That's a really good question, I think, but the best I can offer is my own experience so far. Part of why I started my own IDS is because, not exactly that I was over-buying, but that I was buying with no sense of purpose or direction. I had no ability to categorize, or weed out the decks that simply weren't "me" because I had no idea who "me" was.

After falling in love with my Haindl, and starting my IDS, I certainly do still buy decks (I'm fairly sure we all do!), but now my buying has a shape. I know, thanks to my IDS, what I like, and what just isn't going to work.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that a wandering eye is okay, and buying decks is okay-- you aren't going to be IDSing forever after all-- but allow your IDS to guide you towards decks that will really work for you, instead of just hopping on the "deck of the week" bandwagon.

(But be sure that when new decks come, to have a look through them to check that all the cards are there, and politely put the new deck on the shelf to wait for you to finish your IDS )