Tarot in comparison

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

MystiqueMoonlight	23 Apr 2002
I am interested to hear from those of you who have used some other form of divinatory means which led you to the cards. * What tool did you use before? * What was the deck you went straight to when you transferred from the other tool and why? * Do you think moving over from some other form of divinatory tool to Tarot has had more benefit to you and why? * Where do you see the use of Tarot taking you in the future? I use to read hands, not palmistry by deciphering the lines on a person's hands, but I do it merely by the touch of that person. My readings are always very accurate. Sometimes very emotional to the point of me crying or conveying a word or sentence that only the person I am reading understands the meaning/purpose of. My sister always read cards and runes. She used the RW's. So I decided to give the cards a go. I obviously tried out all the RW and clones I could but they never quite spoke to me. Eventually I discovered the Thoth and WOW!!! Not only does this deck speak to me, but has led me on a knew journey in studies, spellworking, meditation and so forth. I have a set of amythest runes which I only ever use for personal purposes (much the same I suppose as one having a personal deck) because they are more Oracular. The tarot is a whole new way for me. They are more than just a divinatory tool, but also an Oracle, study tool, meditative tool and spellworking device. I would love to hear your responses....

truthsayer	23 Apr 2002
i've been playing around w/ divination since i was at least 10 years old. my mother encouraged my interest. i tried playing cards, dominoes, pendulum, different ways w/ the Bible, dice, palmistry, astrology, graphology, numerology, etc. i discovered tarot when i was 13 but continued experimenting w/ other ways like egyptian cartouche and runes. tarot has long been my favorite. the first deck i used was the hoi polloi b/c it was the only deck i could find and jc penney had it!! yes, i think experimenting w/ a variety of divinatory tools has enhanced my understanding of tarot. why? i have around 30 years worth of experience tapping into my unconscious and/or the collective unconscious learning symbols and other esoteric things used in tarot. in the future, i plan to work more w/ pathworking than divination w/ tarot. i have done pathworking in the past but i have new pathworking tools now and a desire to knock out some blocks to personal growth. i also want to spend more time studying archetypal psychology, the hero's journey, world cultures, archeology, etc. as a tool for increasing my knowledge of tarot. buying a wide variety of decks doesn't hurt that study either. ;) LOL

DollChica	24 Apr 2002
Hi Truthsayer! Have you considered doing a study group on pathworking. Just curious.

mooncat2	24 Apr 2002
I've always been fascinated by all forms of divination. I came to tarot via numerology and astrology simply because I never trusted my own intuition - I had something solid to work with - a chart. I had something to fall back on. My spiritual teacher kept telling me I was born to read the cards but I never believed her - until now. I used them for my own spiritual guidance but not for readings. Attending a full on 3 day workshop with the Voyager was when I first began and I still love that deck. Last year, on a trip to the UK I bought the Tarot of the Old Path and it really talks to me. As does my new Faeries Oracle. Tarot is now my passion but the knowledge I have of both numerology and astrology increases the depth of my readings. All three merge and flow together so well. For the future - who knows. I am open to whatever comes my way. I want to use my ability to help others understand their lives and heal and grow but there's not a lot of opportunity around here. I do like the idea of pathworking.

truthsayer	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by DollChica Hi Truthsayer! Have you considered doing a study group on pathworking. Just curious. actually, i'm working on doing a class to be called "personal mythology" in 3D land. due to the conservative nature of ppl around here i can't out right use tarot in the class even tho it would be helpful. i'm wondering if using the term "pathworking" might be an interesting alternative to personal mythology. it may sound less offensive to those who have strong religious convictions. as far as the forum, there are groups all ready doing pretty much what i'm doing. for example, the tarot for yourself study group.

kayne	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by MystiqueMoonlight * What tool did you use before? My path to tarot was kind of a round-a-bout type one really. I started off reading a lot of sci-fi fantasy novels and was interested in the mythology that inspired them. This led to an interest in Norse and then Celtic Mythology which lead to the discovery of Runes and Ogham. Quote: * What was the deck you went straight to when you transferred from the other tool and why? Along with my interest in the Celts I collected books illustrated by Courtney Davis who does the most amazing, bright and detailed knotwork. Courtney Davis has a tarot deck available called Cetltic Tarot that I had to add to my collection! Not the best deck to start with but it inspired me to learn more... Quote: * Do you think moving over from some other form of divinatory tool to Tarot has had more benefit to you and why? I was really interested in the other forms of divination and was quite put off by tarot at first - it just seemed so huge! I think learning about Runes and Ogham, even though I have forgotten much of it now, helped pave the way for an understanding of divinatoin in general. Quote: * Where do you see the use of Tarot taking you in the future? More decks, more readings and the creation (and completion) of my own deck! I find making my own decks the best way to study them.

All Is One	24 Apr 2002
I started out just spending a whole lot of time with my grandmother who was intensely private about her ideas, but kept lugging library books home on foot, even at 94. . . .all concerning the lives and ideas of famous mediums and psychics, and other "occult" or mystical people and themes (incl. Crowley's work) and she often read my palm and saw "magic x's" which I never saw mentioned in the three palmistry books I looked at- and couldn't follow the books at all- (I have almost never talked about her, and that stuff- this is a real trip back to who I am and where it came from- I don't think of this much-) Anamae was never really able to fit in anywhere, she only died about 1 1/2 years ago, w/Alzhiemer's. At 99, in a con. home for 3 yrs, she still told me things like " Whenever I don't know where I am supposed to be, I look up and a little face pops out to talk to me: it tells me what time it is and if the little face says I should be in the dining room- then I am ready to eat." She never used Tarot cards (or never shared...!) but she gave me a big black hardcover edition of a book called "The Encylopedia of Witches, Demonology and the Supernatural" or some similar title...I should try and find a copy. I was only ten and I read it all (100's of pages) in pieces, over and over...definitions of all kinds of arcane words- incubus, coven, and the instruments of a magickal altar (from 17th century writings). I had a Rider-W deck and the book (where from, I can't remember) since about the time I had that strange book, but I never used the cards to try to tell the future, and I really don't now (but that's a diff. subject) Answer to the Q's: Tarot was really the first tool I used, but I just remembered the palm stuff and the stuff Gramma used to tell me at four or five, and I think Anamae WAS my first tool- I have her ashes and volumes of collected poems that she typed out from the "Great Works" of many eras, and bound up in leather for me. I went to tarot in my early teens, dropped it for a long time, and became very serious with it in my eary 20's. The runes I had never even known about until five years ago- they are fascinating and they work in a completely opposite way for me than tarot, and I go to runes for real HELP- when I am at the darkest corner of my cystern, and the Robert Blum book and various sets of runes I made (a Scott Cunningham book said that only if you made them could you trust them to work with you) have pulled me up and out of the pit EVERY time I could pull myself together enough to focus on consulting the runes before doing some dumb thing. The most important thing in all the various forms of "divination tools" is that in most tarot books, under "correspondences" you learn the extent of the author's knowledge- because the planets, the numbers, the stones, the seasons, the runes, the hebrew letters, . . . You all know this- I'm definitely not gonna "preach to the converted" about how all these things work together*LOL* I think it is not a coincidence but a basic tenet of tarot lore that "all is one" in all things; the various tools for contacting the other parts of our Selves, in our methods for attaining knowledge/contact of the divine, etc... and the depth and scope of the correspondences is a lifetime's study. Final note: it is extremely interesting to me to see and experience how the "feel" and the "messages" of each of the tools are so wildly diverse .....shuffling and laying tarot cards is NOTHING like reaching into the deep dark rune bag and sifting the pieces through your fingers until one grabs back. I think you may have given me ANOTHER new thing to yearn for- a set of amethyst runes. . . I've seen only a few of those, and it's been a few years- Can you tell me where you got yours, and where I can find a set to view? MystiqueMoonlight: Thanks for the new obcession! Anyone w/ advice or opinions , I've been making and using more runes (more than tarot lately. .) which "ready made" runes do you use? & BTW-yes, on the Thoth, absolutely!!!! :) Never seen anything even close

MystiqueMoonlight	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by All Is One I think you may have given me ANOTHER new thing to yearn for- a set of amethyst runes. . . I've seen only a few of those, and it's been a few years- Can you tell me where you got yours, and where I can find a set to view? MystiqueMoonlight: Thanks for the new obcession! Anyone w/ advice or opinions , I've been making and using more runes (more than tarot lately. .) which "ready made" runes do you use? & BTW-yes, on the Thoth, absolutely!!!! :) Never seen anything even close Hi All Is One, here is a site you can obtain a set of amythest runes from. Mine are actually from Queensland and were handcarved. But this is a reliable place to purchase a set. Gosh as I read you message I felt a deep emtional plough in my heart. Your experience with your Gran is beautiful. http://www15.inetba.com/spirittomestreasures2/item11013.ctlg Blessed be...

The Tarot in comparison thread was originally posted on 23 Apr 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.