Frankendecken Journal thread

Looks like Frankie was more blunt then I gave him credit for

He just said the entry who was most loved by the world would win

But I was right about Lena rising rapidly...

nisaba said:

Do you own black clothing? Wrap him up in mourning and photograph him near a box of tissues.

I'm not being disrespectful to your grief: you're very definitely allowed to mourn in the presence of the deck, and he can be a part of it. The deck is an important part of this week for you, and the loss is also. Don't try and be superhuman and keep them isolated from each other.

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This comment of nisaba's over in the general discussion thread really struck a chord with me.

We had some rainstorms during the day, with more predicted for the night, and I was feeling kinda frisky ... so when it cleared up for a bit after I'd thought about what nisaba had said, I decided to show Frankie one of my favourite places.

I really love cemeteries, and there are four absolutely beautiful ones here in Munich. One of them is just minutes from my home. We often take strolls there, and I am taking photographs... many of them feature in my artwork. I chose two of my favourite statues for Frankie, one showing mourning, the other a kind of faithful devotion...

And this was Frankie's mourning message for me:
Knight of Cups
I will allow myself to gaze deeply into that cup and to feel the pain passionately, for a while.
Also I think he tells me to reach out to some people I left at the old workplace...

I had a crazy week at work and no time for journalling, though Frankie did get some playing time. Will record his adventures during the weekend.

No outings, because we had so much rain that there were numerous floodings... definitely no conditions to take a paper personality outside!!

In fact, my area had 26 days of rain during the month of May! Totally depressing.

But he did get to see a ren faire and our 13th century Templar camp.

Frankie has left for Hamburg, and the weather report indicates they have much warmer temperatures up there, and actually even sunshine!

Sooo, finally I'm back with the conclusion of Frankies Franconian adventures!

Monday it was back to Nuremberg through torrents of rain and thick mist. It soon became clear that outside strolls would not be possible.

At work, my boss and two colleagues called in sick, so the day spun out of control...

When I got home, I was totally knackered, but we watched the return of Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena.

Now, Eurovision Song Contest (formerly Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson, and still known as "Grand Prix" by many) is a competition started by the European Broadcasting Union in the Fifties. I remember watching it religiously as a kid, partly because the international aspect fascinated me ... but mostly because my best friend and me were doing alternating sleepovers and got to stay up late!

The famous part is the presentation of votes, when the all juries call in with the country results.

Full info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest

This inspired to work out a spread for competitive situations or inaugurating new projects - with the kind help of Frankie:

Eurovision Song Contest Spread

Your song - Your situation/project
Your country - your market, target audience, etc.
The other countries - Strengths of the competitive field
Jury vote - factual evaluation of your project
Televote (public vote) - emotional response to your idea
Twelve points - what is good about your project
Zero points - what needs to be amended or changed
The trophy - Outcome

Tuesday and Wednesday, more of the same ... both weather & work.

I played around with my new spread, and indeed, because ESC is an event with such diverse participants, the Frankendecken is excellent for that kind of exercise. Lots of different flavours & perspectives.

I liked it so much that I'm now contemplating to make a virtual Frankendecken for Orphalese.

Wednesday night, back to Munich and get packing for a cold and wet day at the ren faire...

Picture shows the river Isar just a few minutes away from my home. Thankfully, we live up on a hill.

Because Thursday was a local public holiday (Corpus Christi) with everything closed, Frankie got an extra day in Bavaria an could accompany me to Gaudium Equites Ardeoingas, a medieval faire where my reenactment group has a show camp this weekend.

Gosh!! I wish I had brought a deck with me much earlier!! Technically, no cards allowed because we portray the Knights Templar, so we "exist" around 1250. Because of the weather, 10°C and rain rain rain, there were however no tourists... and everyone wanted readings!

I even snatched two bookings.

I can't praise Frankie enough as a door opener for gigs... he beautifully shows off the huge variety of decks, so he really gets people hooked. At the same time, he is very readable, so you can demonstrate readings too.

Note to self: Must win the raffle.

Friday morning, before returning to the faire, I put Frankie back in the patchwork pouch ... I admit I had moved him to a Baba bag after bungling the 7 of Wands from the Inner Child cards some more and generally hesitating to wrangle him out of it. With the addition of the two bigger cards and the stabilizing cardboard piece, the original bag is a really snug fit.

Wrapped him in bubble foil, added a button for Cat* and shooed poor sick hubby to the post office while I boarded my time machine.

Farewell, Frankie. Miss you already.

Note to self: MUST win the raffle.

I found Frankie sitting on my bed in its safe, bubbly envelope when I came home from work on Monday. Unfortunately, I was so wiped out that I could barely sort the deck (and discover the pretty badge Aulruna sent me ) before I had to put it away again and go to bed. With what seemed like a beginning migraine, those colors were just too much... I did notice, however, that no one of the previous hosts had photographed the other side of the bag, yet, so that was a surprise.

After a few hours of sleep, I got out the deck again and first went through it quickly, sorting it into cards that I liked or that made me curious about the deck they came from, and cards that I didn't like or that just left me with a neutral feeling. I was surprised to discover how much I liked the TdM cards - sooo calming to the eye (I guess the migraine was still having her say in this)!

Then I started writing a few words about my first impression of each card, starting with the Fool. I got to the Devil and then had to take another break. Will continue soon. Will the Frankendecken be the first deck that finally makes me get into journaling? Stay tuned!

I decided I also had to do something with the backs (like sort them by color or something) because they were also really fascinating in their variety. Maybe they can be read as well?

I admit, I was tempted to see if I could gently open the side seams of the bag to make it a little bigger, so that all cards would fit comfortably (as it is, it's awfully tight, and I'm worried about the damage that will occur if another 30 pairs of eager hands take the deck out of the bag and put it back again and again. But then it didn't feel right to alter someone else's work so I didn't do anything. (If you think I should apply my sewing skills to the bag, let me know over the discussion thread!)

For now, the cards wait in their mailing envelope until I find a better place to keep them. They'll have to go to work with me tomorrow, although I'm not sure if I'll actually take them out there or if they'll have to hide in my bag.

I have also just sent an email to my one real-life "tarot friend" to see if she's up to get together with Frankie and me. Depending on my schedule, I might also offer a few small readings with the deck here on AT (but real life comes first, so no promises yet!).

I think I'll go write some more about the cards now... Frankie needs my attention! (It's funny how knowing I only have a week with the deck keeps me from putting off things I could do with it and do them right now...)

Frankie went to work with me today. I put the cards and the patchwork bag into a bigger bag I once got in a trade here (= extra padding and no danger of damaging the cards). (By the way, I lied when I said that no one had posted pictures of the other side of the bag. I just didn't remember! )

Just before I left, I took a quick picture of him on my desk. Nobody saw us, so I didn't have to come up with any sort of statement about my relation to tarot decks. But I bet the traveling deck would have been interesting to anyone, even if the idea of tarot would have seemed odd to them.

After work I got off a few bus stops early, to walk through the Schrebergärten (similar to allotment gardens, with little weekend houses). I love to look at the variety of what people have done with the same small size of land. I also went along there to visit one of my favorite trees (my most recent discovery, so we're just getting to know each other). It's a big old Beech Tree, and I had Frankie pose at its foot. I left right after the photo op but then turned round and went back to sit at the tree for a while and do a small reading (my first Frankie reading!). I put my jacket onto the ground and swooshed around the cards on it. Then I drew cards without looking because I know some of the backs and know which card comes from these decks... I read the front sides, and then I spontaneously thought I should turn over the cards and read the backs, too. Fascinatingly, the backs made even more sense than the fronts and were much easier to read! Now I think I'll offer these kinds of readings to a few people here!

[ETA: Done. Over here.]

When I had just put away the cards, I looked up and saw a Magpie on the grass, hopping into my direction. I took that as a very good sign because Magpies are very special to me.

Then Frankie and I went home and after I repotted some plants out on our tiny terrace (with Frankie safely inside the apartment), I came here to tell you of our adventures today.

It's almost as if all of the contributors to the Frankendecken sent a little piece of themselves to visit me! I have still decided to skip the tourist program (after all, you can read up on the sights of Hamburg on the internet just fine) and just show Frankie some of my own favorite places that are mostly off the typical tourist track. There will probably be more tree visits coming up, but he also has to go grocery shopping with me, take a ride on the subway (maybe with a quick detour to pass under the Reeperbahn?), and meet some of my friends. It's great to have this little visitor here because it makes me think of interesting and nice things to do after work!

I decided to copy some of my posts from the General Discussion thread because they seemed relevant for the record.

From June 10 (I think):

Cat* said:

Latest news:
I have just opened a reading thread, so come get your Frankendecken readings now! I've taken care to make room for all time zones, you whenever you drop by could be the perfect time to get a spot!

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