It started with cartomancy for me. I picked up a book in the bargain bin of Barnes and Noble on fortune telling, then bought a 99 cent deck at the corner store. It was a random splurge, and I didn't expect anything of it. I thought maybe it would be a fun parlor trick to pull out at parties, honestly. In less than a month, I was reading without the book with sharp accuracy. My cards ended up always being in my purse, and yeah, I did attract a bit of attention at parties and even at school for them. As months progressed, and my readings came true, both ones I did for myself and others (including people I only knew in passing), and I became bewildered and kind of scared. I didn't think it was demonic or anything, but I felt that something was going on that was deeper than I was ready for, and also, I kind of like the future better as a surprise, for better or worse. I reserved my cards strictly for party games, and along with other spiritual dabblings, I left it all behind.
While I was doing cartomancy, I played around with a friend's tarot deck. Even with the guide book, it didn't make sense, and I think it's because cartomancy and tarot speak to me on different levels--which again, was over my head back then. Not helping matters, I find the illustrations on the RWS deck to be off-putting, for some reason.
Every couple of years, I would pick up cartomancy again for a little bit. The second time, I was using a card deck from an antique store. The deck was putrid, and I didn't know anything about cleansing back then. Readings made no sense, no matter how I shuffled or how I tried to interpret them. On the rare instance they did make sense, it was all negative. Indeed, it was a negative time in my life, but back then, I just locked them away again. I still have that deck stashed away at my mom's house. We occasionally play card games with them.
The problem I had with cartomancy later on in my journey was that I don't like divining my own future, and most of my friends these days are not at all into cartomancy or tarot. I decided to read up on tarot and explore decks outside the traditional RWS deck. I began to realize what I was missing in my previous attempt with tarot, and saw the huge variety of decks available with art I could readily relate to. The deck I decided on was the Prairie Tarot. Until recently, it's been my only deck, and I'm getting to a point where I can read most of the cards without a book. I grew up in Nebraska and my father's side came here from Germany under the Homestead Act, so it resonated quite well (my only complaint is that there aren't more Native Americans represented, but it's still beloved by me).
I have resumed cartomancy once again, but I have found it can still read well without divining the future when consulted differently than I had been accustomed to. I like the straightforwardness of playing cards for mundane matters. Tarot has taken me on a much deeper journey, and finally, I am ready for it!
