I had been studying diligently on my IDS, at least up until about two weeks ago. Then I began to hit a point of real doubt. As a result I have spent the last two weeks trying to decide what to do next. The honest truth is I am still very much undecided.
I have several problems with my IDS. First, the Tarot of the Sidhe – I love this deck, but haven’t done any work with it, as it is only the majors and I really feel that it require a full deck to do it any justice. And now it appears likely that I will have to wait even longer than it originally seemed to get the full deck.
So that bit has gone nowhere.
On to the Greenwood. Here I find my biggest problems. I love the Greenwood and it will always be close to my heart, as one of my favourite decks. But I have several issues with it, and I am still not certain whether I will be able to overcome these issues and continue with this deck. Or if I should concede that we are not suited and move on.
The two main problems are:
1. Approach: The more I work with the Greenwood, the more I have come to realise that this deck and I approach the world from two very different standpoints. I am fire and air and the Greenwood is earth and water. I am impulsive and intellectual, while it is experiential and emotional. And I am the least earthy person you are ever likely to meet. It wants me to experience it, to work with it in physical ways – to meditate with it, read with it, take it for walks in nature (I don’t even care for gardening, my idea of nature is a pot plant). That is not me. I want to read about it, think about it, talk about it. We are suffering a major personality clash.
2. Structure: Or perhaps I should say Foundation to the Structure. The Greenwood has a wonderful structure, the Wheel of the Year, which is very well created. It holds together very well, and I have not been able to find any real holes or flaws in the structure, itself. (There are weak spots in the execution of some of the cards, but my feeling with them, is that they are a result of a lack of time for the creation. The more I work with the Greenwood, the more I feel that Chesca ran out of time while working on the Minors, which has resulted in about a third of them being rushed, and therefore they seem to show less originality, and don’t match the vision of the rest of her creation.)
The problem is that I tried to dig down under the structure, and find its foundations. Only to discover – there really aren’t any. Nothing that it is based on goes back any further than the 19th century. Now I have no problems with the fact that the structure of the Greenwood was wholly created by Chesca, 20 or so years ago. As I said, what she created is wonderful and complete, with no real flaws. And it’s not like it’s the only tarot deck/system that was wholly created by someone. My problem is I am a history freak. I love reading up about history, and to be honest I don’t think much that has happened last three hundred years is particularly interesting.
So I went digging for the history, and found it has no history. Which has caused my current crisis. How do I reconcile my need for history with something that has none? Yet I have never had this problem Tarot in general – which also has little to no history beyond the 19th century.
Anyway, the result is that I have decided to stop IDSing for the moment. I do want to continue, but I think I need some time to decide what to do next. I have a few ideas, but I am really not certain. Hopefully I will be able to renew my commitments in a few weeks
Sorry for the long post
FS
The gray borders are hideous and wash out all the beautifully colored nuances to be found in Hermann's images. The keywords are also fairly unnecessary - that's what the books are for! 
