Here's what I intend. I learn a deck through small, focused exercises that get deep into how you understand what you see in your cards. I like to be flexible and creative and sometimes allow you to choose your spread or cards for the week.
Please critique the style because I need to fine tune it before we begin.
----------------
Each week is a three-exercise package called an ARM. The three tasks can be done in any order, but usually A-R-M works best. They are sometimes driven by Focus Cards, certain cards that you pick at the beginning of the week, sometimes not.
Activity - an exercise in real life based on the Focus Cards
Reading - a spread using the Focus Cards, which may be given or one of your choosing
Meditation - a study of the Focus Cards
Your ARM can be posted during our scheduled times. Daily draws and additional readings are up to you.
June 30th and July 31st are capped with a Back Study, so by the end of the month you will have completed four ARMs - twelve exercises - and two back studies.
Sunday June 30th: Beginning at the Back
Turn the entire deck face down and hold it in your hands. Look carefully at the back. Contemplate the image the designer placed there. This image supports all of the cards; it's the book cover, the title page, of the deck. It is the first thing you see when you're shuffling and the last thing you see when you're gathering the cards up. Trace the design with your fingers, follow lines with your eyes. What do the shapes and colours of the design remind you of? Why do you think they were chosen? Can you relate to this image personally? Even the plainest, nondescript pattern can have a special meaning to you alone. What does it say to you about what you will see when you turn the cards?
If you can, post a screenshot of the back, or find one online. If you can't do this, describe the image.
Week 1: Major Life Influences - Post July 7th
Focus Cards: Shuffle thoroughly, then flip through the deck and pull the first three Majors you encounter that have a living being as their primary character. You can include supernatural beings like the Devil or the Temperance angel, but if a Major has only inanimate objects, ignore it. If your deck is abstract and has no beings, choose three Majors at random.
A - Find three people or animals throughout your week who you think resemble the characters or images on these cards. Ideally, try to equate the cards with people with whom you're not too familiar, or even complete strangers. Describe how the traditional or given interpretations of the card mesh or contrast with other aspects of their personalities. How does visual symbolism of people and animals relate to the living, breathing thing? Write a few sentences about each, omitting real names of people and other personal information.
R - Perform a five-card reading with these cards, inserting them randomly into three of the positions and randomly choosing two more cards (any). How do these new cards change your perception of those whom you already know? How much of what you now discover affects what you previously believed when the characters stood alone?
M - Choose one of the cards, study it, and write a paragraph in the nature of the character. You can frame it as an explanation, or role play a monologue. Become the character or carry on a conversation with it. e.g. If you chose the Rider-Waite Hierophant, you have him sitting before two priests, giving the benediction, so what does he say, or what would you say to him? After seeing this character "live," and reading with them, you can become a voice for them, or speak to them. The card's meaning may become richer than you expect.
