Day 8: Share one of the new things you learnt about Tarot last year.
Last year, I focused on studying geomancy, Kipper, and ancient astrology. I certainly did tarot readings, but my brain was at capacity for taking in new information with those other practices. If we expand this question to oracle decks, then I learned the Master Method for reading Kipper cards, which is one way to differentiate between Kipper and other systems like Lenormand and tarot.
Day 9: The top decks on your wish list now.
- Yarn Tarot
(If a list has only one item on it, is it a list?) I’m not sure I’ll be able to read with the Yarn Tarot, but as an avid knitter and occasional crocheter, I feel I ought to have it in my collection. As for other decks, well, I’ve done a quick flip-through of the Lo Scarabeo and U.S. Games Systems catalogs for 2022, and nothing in the forthcoming releases jumped out at me. But hey, if 2022 is like 2021, I will fall in love (or at least in strong like) with several decks on Kickstarter, decks that I have no idea yet even exist.
It’s not quite the same thing as a full deck, but I’ve heard that the creators of some of the decks I own are planning expansions. Those, if they become available, are definitely on my wish list.
Day 10: Your top underrated Tarot decks.
Uh, who’s rating them? How, exactly, do you rate a tarot (or oracle) deck, when liking or not liking a deck is such a personal, individual reaction?
Day 11: How can you put a positive spin on the Death card?
A positive spin is going to have to come from context. If I’ve got an issue that I’m thoroughly sick of, Death might be a sign that the blasted thing is finally going to move out of the forefront of my life, and I’d probably see that as positive.
Day 12: Describe how tarot plays a meaningful part in your practice.
A tarot reading—or an oracle deck reading, a rune casting, a geomancy reading, using the I Ching, interpreting a horary chart—any of these are divination, and they function as a way I communicate with divinity (be that my unconscious, Higher Self, the Universe, and/or one or more deities). It’s a way to look for a different perspective on an issue than what I’ve consciously come up with.
Day 13: Tarot decks that you want to work with more in 2022.
And this is before anything I wind up acquiring this year.
- Minchiate Tarot
- Seventh Sphere Tarot de Marseille
- Tarot of Mystical Moments
- The Urban Tarot
Day 14: Oracle decks that you want to work with more in 2022.
I consider this a non-binding list. Who knows what I’ll actually reach for when I want to do a divination.
- Girls Underground Story Oracle
- Journey Oracle (I’m referring to the deck, but I’d like to use the tokens more too)
- Oracle of Mystical Moments
- The Seed & Sickle Oracle Deck
Day 15: Do you have any Tarot self-care rituals for your personal practice?
99% of my readings are for me, so they pretty much all end up as self-care. I suppose this might be different if I read for other people frequently. The daily tarot draw or the passel of divinations I do around my birthday are as close as I get to ritualizing these readings.
Day 16: Have you ever turned someone from a Tarot non-believer to an enthusiast?
No.
Day 17: What is your “go-to” Tarot book and why?
Not just one. I have a bookcase of tarot and oracle deck books. I think of them as a form of bibliomancy: the book(s) I feel moved to look a card up in is a part of the divination in its own right.
That said, some books get gone to more than others:
- Tarot for Beginners: A Practical Guide to Reading the Cards by Barbara Moore. The core meaning for each card is set apart with white type on a gray background, but there are longer explanations if wanted.
- Tarot: Your Everyday Guide by Janina Renee. The meanings are phrased as advice.
- Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners by Joan Bunning. I like the balance between keywords and longer explanations.
- Tarot for Magical Times by Rachel Pollack and Johannes Fiebig. This book only for pages 59-98, where Pollack talks about each card against the background of the “interesting times” we’re currently going through (the book was published in 2011).
- Keywords for the Crowley Tarot by Hajo Banzhaf and Brigitte Theler. Definitely my go-to book for the Thoth Tarot: a little bit of everything—meanings, explanation of symbolism, advice—succinctly condensed into a chart for each card.
- Untold Tarot: The Lost Art of Reading Ancient Tarots by Caitlín Matthews: My go-to book for the Tarot de Marseille, although Yoav Ben-Dov’s The Marseille Tarot Revealed: A Complete Guide to Symbolism, Meanings & Methods might take its place. We’ll see.