Deck of the Week : Sign-up Thread: Week 209 : August 1 - August 7

Madrigal

swedishfish612 said:
Our shared good taste continues! :D The Alchemical is kind of out of the norm for me. I have looked at it many times over the last few years and thought "eh...not for me." But then a few weeks ago I suddenly really, really wanted it. I quickly learned that the Renewed/3rd edition was sold out, but a new one was coming out any time, so I grabbed it when it became available. We'll see how I like it when it gets there! lol
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I got mine recently. My biggest beef is the lack of anatomical correctness in the women. It's really off-putting.

swedishfish612 said:
I don't know if this would help you at all but I trimmed mine way down and it was like a whole different deck. Oddly enough, some of my favorite cards (Death, the Star) are in this deck, but it isn't one of m favorite decks overall. I guess that happens sometimes!
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I was going to suggest this. I trimmed mine right down to the edges and it's much better. Those backs though...

Happy Birthday, Phenix. The bag you're knitting sounds wonderful.
 

Scarlet Woodland

I definitely agree on trimming the druidcraft... can't bring myself to do it with mine as its an old friend but I do plan to get another one specifically so I can trim it. There are some lovely examples up on the trimmed decks/altered borders thread, so you can see how it would look. I like the trimmed to inner borders, leaving the titles approach.

The backs were a definite let down when I first got mine but I warmed to them by looking at them in a woodsy, treeish way. Imagine using them out in the woods and they'd fit right in... it might help :)

Will always have a place for my druidcraft as it completely saved my tarot journey... my first deck just did nothing for me; zip, nada, about to give up then bought the Druidcraft as a last ditch effort and suddenly tarot was real for me :)

ETA: If you don't want to get involved in trimming I found changing my card selection method sorted things out. Shuffling vertically instead of horizontally provokes a lot of 'jumpers' with my ham-fisted shuffling, so that's how I pick my cards with Mr Druid. Makes the card selections very definite too.
 

Madrigal

My decks for the week are the Crystal Visions Tarot and the Crystal Reading Cards.
 

Phenix

Thanks for the B-day wishes, madhatter, bodhiseed, scarlet woodland, river runs deep, and madrigal!

I can see I might end up with some deck enabling being part of this thread :cool:, madhatter I will try to post pics of cards as I go along (is that ok in this section or just readings?)

Scarlet - Looking forward to hearing more about your Alice deck, I have been waffling on if I want to add it to my wishlist or not!

River - Sorry to heard your Druidcraft isn't cooperating at the moment! I have one on standby that I haven't used yet, so I will be paying close attention to how you are getting to know yours. I have a feeling it might be my first venture into deck trimming...

Will be finishing study of individual cards today and do a deck interview this evening. I ran into something today that will warrant some real questions soon, fingers crossed the beautiful Shadowscape will talk clearly!
 

delinfrey

So I've been working a little bit with the Osho Zen; I have tried 1-2 readings for myself as well, but it just seems more right to just... spend time with the deck. I take it with me as I move about the house; I sleep next to it; I just look through the images.

I did the deck interview; the results were quite intriguing. It suggested that this deck is about healing, that it will manifest a breakthrough, rebirth, sharing... I love all those keywords, I love most of those images, but it does take a lot from me to treat this one like Tarot.

This deck has a pretty steep learning curve for me.
 

Scarlet Woodland

Phenix said:
I can see I might end up with some deck enabling being part of this thread :cool:, madhatter I will try to post pics of cards as I go along (is that ok in this section or just readings?)

Scarlet - Looking forward to hearing more about your Alice deck, I have been waffling on if I want to add it to my wishlist or not!
Click to expand...

Enabling is a danger anywhere on AT haha. To continue the trend I will now wax lyrical ;) I'm absolutely loving the Alice. Of course it's stunning (which pretty much goes without saying), the metallic accents are so subtle but just beautiful and add that little extra dimension to help you completely get lost in the cards. Its actually the only almost problem I've found... once I've completed a spread I just don't want to put the cards back in the pile so I'm not doing as many as I normally would when trying out a new deck. I keep leaving the cards in situ long after I've finished interpreting them so I can keep on looking.

I'm finding it to be a very truthful deck, but in a gentle way... it'll give you a nip on the behind when you need it but then giggle and hide behind a bush rather than smacking you over the head with home truths as some decks can. It's great for intuitive reading as there's so much to see in each card when you look closely, but I'm really enjoying working with the Alice-specific interpretations from the guidebook at the moment as there are some really interesting twists in there.

I would definitely recommend getting the guidebook if buying this one by the way, as some cards could be a little what the hell at first glance without their explanation, but they completely make sense once you've read their reasoning. I love that they give a proper explanation and book excerpt for the image choice of every card... there are a lot of decks with great guidebooks but you're still left wondering "yes I get the meaning of the card, but why a flying goat with tentacles for the seven of cups exactly?".

This is definitely going to be a top five deck for me and its getting pretty crowded with amazing decks up there. I've tried it out on various types of question and spread and it seems to work just as well for all; great for daily draws, deep and meaningful questions, silly frivolous questions and spreads great and small, along with deep study or meditation on an individual card. As I said, the only thing I can't seem to do is repeated, quick-fire questions cause I can't put the darn things down once I've pulled them :D
 

RiverRunsDeep

swedishfish612 said:
I don't know if this would help you at all but I trimmed mine way down and it was like a whole different deck. Oddly enough, some of my favorite cards (Death, the Star) are in this deck, but it isn't one of m favorite decks overall. I guess that happens sometimes!
Click to expand...

Madrigal said:
I was going to suggest this. I trimmed mine right down to the edges and it's much better. Those backs though....
Click to expand...

Scarlet Woodland said:
I definitely agree on trimming the druidcraft... can't bring myself to do it with mine as its an old friend but I do plan to get another one specifically so I can trim it. There are some lovely examples up on the trimmed decks/altered borders thread, so you can see how it would look. I like the trimmed to inner borders, leaving the titles approach.
Click to expand...

Thanks, everyone. :) Druid Craft has such lovely colors, and I can see how
removing the borders would make those colors even more vibrant. I'm not
shy about trimming a deck, but I want to be sure that I'm keeping it before
I do so. I may keep this deck simply for the companion book. I love it! I
think it would serve well for any deck.

The backs were a definite let down when I first got mine but I warmed to them by looking at them in a woodsy, treeish way. Imagine using them out in the woods and they'd fit right in... it might help :)

Will always have a place for my druidcraft as it completely saved my tarot journey... my first deck just did nothing for me; zip, nada, about to give up then bought the Druidcraft as a last ditch effort and suddenly tarot was real for me :)

ETA: If you don't want to get involved in trimming I found changing my card selection method sorted things out. Shuffling vertically instead of horizontally provokes a lot of 'jumpers' with my ham-fisted shuffling, so that's how I pick my cards with Mr Druid. Makes the card selections very definite too.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I will "try" to see the card backs as woodsy and treeish, but.....yeesh.
Thanks for the shuffling suggestion!

Phenix said:
River - Sorry to heard your Druidcraft isn't cooperating at the moment! I have one on standby that I haven't used yet, so I will be paying close attention to how you are getting to know yours. I have a feeling it might be my first venture into deck trimming...
Click to expand...

I think my reaction so far to my poor Druid Craft is not very common. I think
many people use it as their favorite or go-to deck.

I did a Deck Interview this evening, and I posted it on the Deck of the Week Readings thread.

Scarlet Woodland: I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the Alice deck.

Phenix: Yes, you need the Alice deck. :D It is amazing!
 

Phenix

delinfrey said:
So I've been working a little bit with the Osho Zen; I have tried 1-2 readings for myself as well, but it just seems more right to just... spend time with the deck. I take it with me as I move about the house; I sleep next to it; I just look through the images.

I did the deck interview; the results were quite intriguing. It suggested that this deck is about healing, that it will manifest a breakthrough, rebirth, sharing... I love all those keywords, I love most of those images, but it does take a lot from me to treat this one like Tarot.

This deck has a pretty steep learning curve for me.
Click to expand...

Some decks need a lot of time to get to know them, especially those that are more unique like Osho Zen. Will you post your deck interview?

Scarlet Woodland said:
Enabling is a danger anywhere on AT haha. To continue the trend I will now wax lyrical ;) I'm absolutely loving the Alice. Of course it's stunning (which pretty much goes without saying), the metallic accents are so subtle but just beautiful and add that little extra dimension to help you completely get lost in the cards. Its actually the only almost problem I've found... once I've completed a spread I just don't want to put the cards back in the pile so I'm not doing as many as I normally would when trying out a new deck. I keep leaving the cards in situ long after I've finished interpreting them so I can keep on looking.

I'm finding it to be a very truthful deck, but in a gentle way... it'll give you a nip on the behind when you need it but then giggle and hide behind a bush rather than smacking you over the head with home truths as some decks can. It's great for intuitive reading as there's so much to see in each card when you look closely, but I'm really enjoying working with the Alice-specific interpretations from the guidebook at the moment as there are some really interesting twists in there.

I would definitely recommend getting the guidebook if buying this one by the way, as some cards could be a little what the hell at first glance without their explanation, but they completely make sense once you've read their reasoning. I love that they give a proper explanation and book excerpt for the image choice of every card... there are a lot of decks with great guidebooks but you're still left wondering "yes I get the meaning of the card, but why a flying goat with tentacles for the seven of cups exactly?".

This is definitely going to be a top five deck for me and its getting pretty crowded with amazing decks up there. I've tried it out on various types of question and spread and it seems to work just as well for all; great for daily draws, deep and meaningful questions, silly frivolous questions and spreads great and small, along with deep study or meditation on an individual card. As I said, the only thing I can't seem to do is repeated, quick-fire questions cause I can't put the darn things down once I've pulled them :D
Click to expand...

Oh my, I didn't even realize it had metallic accents in there! I can never see those in photos/scans. I must say, all of the above should probably be on Baba's page to bring in even more sales, cause even your "downfalls" are totally enabling (ahh, gaze at lovely cards longer...:D)

And thanks for the heads-up on the companion book. I must say I have a lot of LWBs that never get cracked open, and I really should at least understand what the artist was trying to accomplish with the images.

RiverRunsDeep said:
I did a Deck Interview this evening, and I posted it on the Deck of the Week Readings thread.

Scarlet Woodland: I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the Alice deck.

Phenix: Yes, you need the Alice deck. :D It is amazing!
Click to expand...

Another vote for Alice! Knowing my luck, by the time I decided to get it it will have *just* sold out, lol. At least I got my BBC 3rd edition before they were gone. I read your deck interview, sounds like you might have your a-ha moment, but it might just need some time. Let us know how the dreamwork goes!
 

madhatter00o

Busy, busy, busy...

I'm just writing my last term paper, so my Tarot studies have been taking a backseat. My academic studies really must take priority...

Actually, the Japanese Myth Tarot is right in-line with my field of research (classical Japanese literature), but the text I'm working with for my papers are a few hundred years after the Kojiki and Nihon-shoki, upon which the Japanese Myth Tarot is based. Studying for one isn't studying for the other, though my general knowledge of Japanese literature has increased exponentially since I've started my translation and annotation project.

Currently, I'm being drawn to my Marseilles deck. Right now, something is pushing me that I'm to study that deck next. It'll also be really helpful, since a lot of what I call my "illustrator decks" -- decks illustrated by my favourite Japanese artists -- have unillustrated pips. (I'm pretty sure the artists were too busy focusing on the Majors and Courts... plus, the RWS tradition isn't very strong in the general Japanese consciousness [most decks don't even *have* Minors!], so I reckon the artists didn't want to straight-up redraw the RWS Minors; they'd rather leave them as pips.) Anyways, I've started preliminary research into reading the TdM, and it's not as incomprehensible as it was when I was 14. (Yay! I'm growing!)

BUT! All of this is subsidiary to my research and work, so Tarot Time is a little hard to come by until I finish this last paper. >_<;;
 

Phenix

Madhatter - I hear you with balancing studies with everything else! I am also trapped in the wonderful torture of grad school, but this week is a bit of a breather for me. Tarot will still be there, as it has been for centuries ;) Good luck getting your paper done!

I also love myself some Marseille and other historical decks, I find the pips quite freeing to read. You should join the TdM reading circle one of these months, it was my first foray into reading circles and was quite fun :)
 
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