DragonFae
For this exercise you do not have to worry so much about meanings....but more about the framework that holds your deck together or the "overall" theme or big picture.
Is your deck animal based? If so what types of animals? How do they fit together to form a whole picture or a wide range of meanings?
For other decks: What are the images? How do they seems to fit together? Are they connected by some tradition, history, or other thing? How do they work together to tell the whole story of the human condition/experience?
Think of the deck as a jigsaw puzzle....how do the cards fit together?
I'll start with my deck. The Medicine Cards.
The deck is animal based. The animals are primarily animals that would appear in the daily lives of many Native American tribes. It is interesting to note that they include dolphin and whale. While I know there are tribes that lived near the ocean these are not animals I usually associate with native folklore. Also included with the deck are nine blank cards that you can use in a variety of ways. If there is an animal you feel a kinship with that is not in the deck you can represent it on one of the blank cards.
The medicine wheel is a physical expression of the powers of Mother Earth, with different animals along the wheel contributing their unique energies. It is a symbol of the wheel of life. The purpose of the animals are to guide us through this life on our Earth Walk. Sometimes we are drawn to certain animals because we have characteristics of that animal. At other times because the animal has something to teach us...be it a life lesson, a warning, or a way of living life.
Although all of the animal messages have powerful positive energy to present to us. They also have an opposite (reversed). For example: The Eagle represents great spiritual wisdom but reversed he suggests that you have lost your connection to the Great Spirit.
The cards overall speak to many levels of the human experience from being observant, to seeking a partner, to secrets and leadership. The cards form a venue in which one can seek inner wisdom. It is not that they "give" wisdom but they allow wisdom to bubble forth from within a person. It is not about being "acted upon" but about listening, reflecting and knowing things that are really not as hidden as one might suppose.
There is some focus on the directions (North, South, East and West)and the paths of each but not as much as in an earlier deck I worked with The Spirit of the Wheel. For that deck there were multiple levels: Moons and Winds and the directions as well as the animal to draw upon in a reading. I haven't really read the book with this deck much yet so maybe there are more of those type of jewels in there.
The purpose of this exercise is to think about the BIG picture of your deck and what it offers to you.
Is your deck animal based? If so what types of animals? How do they fit together to form a whole picture or a wide range of meanings?
For other decks: What are the images? How do they seems to fit together? Are they connected by some tradition, history, or other thing? How do they work together to tell the whole story of the human condition/experience?
Think of the deck as a jigsaw puzzle....how do the cards fit together?
I'll start with my deck. The Medicine Cards.
The deck is animal based. The animals are primarily animals that would appear in the daily lives of many Native American tribes. It is interesting to note that they include dolphin and whale. While I know there are tribes that lived near the ocean these are not animals I usually associate with native folklore. Also included with the deck are nine blank cards that you can use in a variety of ways. If there is an animal you feel a kinship with that is not in the deck you can represent it on one of the blank cards.
The medicine wheel is a physical expression of the powers of Mother Earth, with different animals along the wheel contributing their unique energies. It is a symbol of the wheel of life. The purpose of the animals are to guide us through this life on our Earth Walk. Sometimes we are drawn to certain animals because we have characteristics of that animal. At other times because the animal has something to teach us...be it a life lesson, a warning, or a way of living life.
Although all of the animal messages have powerful positive energy to present to us. They also have an opposite (reversed). For example: The Eagle represents great spiritual wisdom but reversed he suggests that you have lost your connection to the Great Spirit.
The cards overall speak to many levels of the human experience from being observant, to seeking a partner, to secrets and leadership. The cards form a venue in which one can seek inner wisdom. It is not that they "give" wisdom but they allow wisdom to bubble forth from within a person. It is not about being "acted upon" but about listening, reflecting and knowing things that are really not as hidden as one might suppose.
There is some focus on the directions (North, South, East and West)and the paths of each but not as much as in an earlier deck I worked with The Spirit of the Wheel. For that deck there were multiple levels: Moons and Winds and the directions as well as the animal to draw upon in a reading. I haven't really read the book with this deck much yet so maybe there are more of those type of jewels in there.
The purpose of this exercise is to think about the BIG picture of your deck and what it offers to you.