Deck of the Week : Sign-up Thread: Week 218 : October 3 - October 9

RiverRunsDeep

I have a question for those of you who have been members of this forum for a while. I'm thinking of embarking on a 31 day shadow work challenge as outlined in this thread. It is a daily draw format, but if I post my draws in "our" thread, do I need to credit the original thread or blog each time I post? Would it be better if I start my own thread, like a shadow work journal? If so, where on the forum should I post it? Thanks in advance for helping. :)


Loving my Samhain Deck of the Bastard, as always. It is one of my favorites, and very difficult to move on to something else. I have the large size, with lovely custom crow-and-skull backs. Do you have a deck that you don't even need to read, that you are content to hold in your hands and mindlessly shuffle? For me, this is one of those decks.
 

Scarlet Woodland

Oooh, I just might have to try this too. The questions are so much more interesting than the usual shadow questions... would certainly help avoid the rote answers we tend to have at the tip of our tongue as a defense.
 

Madrigal

I have a question for those of you who have been members of this forum for a while. I'm thinking of embarking on a 31 day shadow work challenge as outlined in this thread. It is a daily draw format, but if I post my draws in "our" thread, do I need to credit the original thread or blog each time I post? Would it be better if I start my own thread, like a shadow work journal? If so, where on the forum should I post it? Thanks in advance for helping. :)

RRD, do what is easiest for you and don't worry about keeping up on the daily draw thread if you go with a solo thread. Sounds like starting your own thread for that challenge might be the best way to go if you're planning on posting daily. You could link here once a week if you want to let folks know what you're up to.
 

Michellehihi

Wild Unknown questions

I am devoting the whole week for this deck and yesterday I came about two issue while analysing two of the major arcana.
First, the magician. It is a leopard with what appears to be a sun behind his head; the rays of the sun are orange and yellow, but the sun itself is black! I find it strange because surely the creator of that deck knows how to play with colour, so why did she make a sun black? There must be a reason? any clue?

Second, the high priestess. There is a ball between her paws. I thought it was planet earth, Gaia. But I read somewhere that it is a crystal ball. What is your opinion, could it be Gaia, and she would be protecting it and sending it good energy?
 

BodhiSeed

I am devoting the whole week for this deck and yesterday I came about two issue while analysing two of the major arcana.
First, the magician. It is a leopard with what appears to be a sun behind his head; the rays of the sun are orange and yellow, but the sun itself is black! I find it strange because surely the creator of that deck knows how to play with colour, so why did she make a sun black? There must be a reason? any clue?

Second, the high priestess. There is a ball between her paws. I thought it was planet earth, Gaia. But I read somewhere that it is a crystal ball. What is your opinion, could it be Gaia, and she would be protecting it and sending it good energy?
Michellehihi, you might want to check out the study thread for this deck, which goes through the cards in detail:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=187087
 

Michellehihi

Bodhiseed I did write on that thread but no one answers me... so I thought I should try elsewhere. I am really bothered by those issues and would need an insight from experienced readers!
 

DaughterOfDanu

I am devoting the whole week for this deck and yesterday I came about two issue while analysing two of the major arcana.
First, the magician. It is a leopard with what appears to be a sun behind his head; the rays of the sun are orange and yellow, but the sun itself is black! I find it strange because surely the creator of that deck knows how to play with colour, so why did she make a sun black? There must be a reason? any clue?

Second, the high priestess. There is a ball between her paws. I thought it was planet earth, Gaia. But I read somewhere that it is a crystal ball. What is your opinion, could it be Gaia, and she would be protecting it and sending it good energy?

I'm a huge fan of this deck. It's taken up permanent residency in my purse as it's my favorite and is great for outdoor readings and readings while travelling.

I feel that if you interpret a card a certain way, then that is how you are meant to interpret it. There is no right or wrong. If you view the High Priestess as watching over the earth, then that is how you are meant to view it. :)

Personally I view the ball as a crystal ball. The High Priestess to me is a very Pagan concept, and reflects someone both in tune with their intuition and knowledgeable about hidden wisdom and occult wisdom. It would make sense that she is pictured with a crystal ball.

I identify the earth much more with The Empress, who in many Pagan themed decks is portrayed as an earth goddess or Gaia/Earth Mother herself. Nurturing and protecting is also an aspect of The Empress.

As to the Magician, Perhaps the blacked out sun is an eclipse? Eclipses are viewed as powerful times where perfect alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon occurs. The Magician is one who works with all the suits in the tarot and is comfortable with utilizing them, I could see the message of this card being advice to be to incorporate all different aspects of oneself, to be comfortable and in alignment with them in order to make big things happen (Solar Eclipses are by far one of the biggest natural events that this planet witnesses)

Also the artist in this deck plays a lot with lack of color with specific areas that do have color which makes the artwork really pop and stand out, so it could have just been her artistic choice.
 

BodhiSeed

Bodhiseed I did write on that thread but no one answers me... so I thought I should try elsewhere. I am really bothered by those issues and would need an insight from experienced readers!

Ah, I see. You were looking more for a discussion rather than just information. Unfortunately some of the threads are old, so it is likely the folks don't go back to look at them. I think Sulis made a good point when she said it was like a burst of energy. It is doubtful whether you would be able to see the origin of the source. Even the sun is blinding if you stare directly into it. And really, its the energy/ideas/actions that are important with this the Magician, which are the rays.

As far as the ball between the Tiger's paws, I would again agree with Sulis that it is more likely a ball rather than the earth (because of the colors). It makes sense that the HP would emphasize looking within and being receptive to what is there rather than taking action like the Magician.
:)
 

Michellehihi

thank you both! wow both of your explanations are so wise:
1- its an eclipse
2- when we look at the sun it is so bright that after that, there is a black spot inside our view for a few minutes.

I love this forum!

But for the ball, I am still not happy not to have seen it. It makes so much sense if it is a crystal ball. I have decided to go through my journal of yesterday and rephrase; every time I wrote "planet earth" I would replace it by "crystal ball" and see if it makes sense. Is it okay to do that or I am just perverting my reading?
 

BodhiSeed

Is it okay to do that or I am just perverting my reading?

As TreeLeafe alluded to, part of reading tarot is choosing the interpretation that feels right to you. Tarot does have a framework with traditional meanings, but we can build around the framework using the symbols we see in the cards and our intuition. :)