Two decks, from inside and out?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Cerulean	01 Aug 2004
I was looking at Susan Levitt's Tarot Journal which suggests you take one deck and pull one card for 30 days and then it has a checklist of questions. I also have recently checked out the book Karmic Tarot by E. McCoy and the suggestion to help deal with karmic questions is to know your deck inside out...the same chapter gives very good meditative tips to mentally 'walk in' the scene. Two good suggestions...now what I want to know from Aecletic collectors... What one deck might be the best for you to get to know inside out (if you haven't done this already)? If you have a deck that is that sunk into your psyche, what deck is it? I'm also thinking of a secondary deck...because switching gears sometimes helps me not to be so serious. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- My own picks so far: At first I was thinking of packing on a vacation bag my Buddha Tarot (Place) with book and then Crystals (Trevisan)--no book. But I went back to my Ananda with book and the Liber-T or Stars Eternal with Lon Duquette's book...and kind of sighed with an 'old shoes' satisfaction feel. Now if the mail delivers something before my trip, maybe it'll be instant switch...but maybe people here have suggestions that I've overlooked...

M-Press	02 Aug 2004
Hi Cerulean... Your question is very intriguing to me, I'm just not sure what "inside out " really means, and what is a deck that has sunk to my psyche in opposse to which is my favorite deck? there is something about decks, and a few of them in particular, that makes me feel I can never really know them inside out... just like a person, maybe? Too bad I don't have that book you are reffering. I'm hooked now....;)

Alta	02 Aug 2004
I know what you mean, it is having that luxury of time and lack of stress, as on vacation, to really sink into something. I actually did that once, with a really almost silly deck that I took with me on a whim, plus its fairly substantial book. I really got into that deck and hence, though no one ever mentions its name here, (and neither will I, *blushes*) I really bonded with the deck. Glad you posted this, because in just 3 hours I am gone and was debating what to take, now I think I shall look more pruposefully.

Cerulean	02 Aug 2004
Karmic Tarot by Edain McCoy had a suggestion of how to meditate and pretend you were walking inside the landscape of a card picture...as if it was a doorway to another imaginative space...what would you smell, see, etc. The chapter is titled "Entering the Tarot Cards" The Karmic Tarot actually recommends another book--Yasmine Galenorn's Tarot Journeys--for more detail on how to do this with each major card. Hope the suggestion helps. Cerulean Mari

fyreflye	02 Aug 2004
For many years the standard way of "getting into" a deck has been to pathwork with it. Pathworking essentially involves extended sessions of active imagination in which you enter into the Tarot world and interact with selected characters from the cards of whichever deck you're working with. Gareth Knight's Magical World of the Tarot was the first book I encountered with extended discussions of pathworking (in his case with the Marseilles,) but Edwin C Steinbrecher's The Inner Guide Meditation is the standard textbook for the method. Pathworking is not something you do as a distraction on your vacation but requires a committment of time and energy as extensive as that for any meditation program. Unlike Eastern methods of meditation which are essentially passive Pathworking requires an active interaction with the entities that appear in your imagination. I've been Pathworking with the images from R J Stewart's Dreampower deck and I expect eventually I'll turn to the Servants of the Light deck for a different approach. Those with an interest in Tarot that goes beyond divination or consumption of the latest fad decks might benefit from trying it.

Imagemaker	02 Aug 2004
Here's one site that has pathworking exercises, including one on tarot pathworking

Cerulean	02 Aug 2004
I didn't go into detail and I understand and welcome your comments. Some of my best expressive themes come after a vacation or weekend day, an evening after where I've had a full sleep and time to get things done quietly. You are right, there was intention built into that day beforehand to focus on something. Also the tools that I was working with I had absolute trust in--and the themes were safe and familiar to me. My last year's attempt at Temperance came after exploring two California Missions in two days. I had two of my di Gumppenberg Taroccos with me and walked with these cards in mind. But I live near a California Mission and had worked extensively with di Gumppenberg designs--so I set limitations beforehand on the interaction with the images and cards. The settings contributed to an expressive intention. I think I do understand what you are saying about the intensity of deeper 'pathworking'. I actually choose among a few decks where I found the framework was not threatening to me. You are wise to suggest not to 'surf' or trip lightly in, and I'll keep that in mind. Thank you! Regards, Cerulean

Leleii	03 Aug 2004
I ordered the book Karmic Tarot. Do you like it? I can't wait to read it. I have so many decks (43) I don't know which deck that I know completely. Maybe the Rider Waite, because it was the first deck I own. It was the only deck available. I could say that I really know that deck. Maybe we bonded, I don't know, but I hadn't used it for awhile.

Cerulean	03 Aug 2004
But I decided not to use these with the Liber-T or my Thoth-based decks. I use these style decks in a more 'conceptual' framework. I think I could use the Karmic Tarot exercises to eventually know what I want from two decks, the Buddha and the Ananda. I want to practise my interaction with sketches or in forming tanka poems in response to card scenes...I can do this better with any of my modified decks or those with a subtle Eastern overlay. I decided for me it's safe and friendly to dip into 'karmic' style spreads with decks similar to the Buddha Tarot and the Ananda Tarot. I have a softer response when using these decks and that seems right in terms of looking at the Karmic Deck spreads and the decks I was considering. I hope this book feels helpful to others--but it may not appeal to the student more interested in jumping into fascinating facts about historical games in other forums. Best wishes, Cerulean

The Two decks, from inside and out? thread was originally posted on 01 Aug 2004 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.