Inaugural Intensive Deck Study (IDS) Support Thread

OK Kat~ count me in~

I've been primarily using my Golden Tarot for a while anyway~
I love that deck and will take this opportunity to really understand it and become a better reader.

If I am join in the Oracle Circles I will use my personal My Southwest Postcard Oracle ~ which should no way distract me from the Golden.

Suz

I am Open Arms and I pledge that I will not use any other deck apart from the Victorian Romantic Gold for Tarot readings and the Madam Endora for my oracle work.

I pledge not to start reading with my brand new Bohemian Gothic when it arrives...only to check it is complete before it goes in my deck bag along with my beloved Gilded and Tarot of Dreams amongst others.

I have purchased a Spiral notebook and a range of coloured pens and pencils to enliven my journal in which I promise to write something every day either as a reading, a card examination..or just my random thoughts. The journal has three sections - one devoted to each area and I intend to fill it over the next three months to the winter solstice. I will fill this journal with my thoughts..my learnings and it will become a special part of me.

I pledge that whenever I leave the house to go out that wherever possible both decks will be in my handbag along with my journal, my decks will sleep beside me on my bedside table each night and that I will shuffle and talk to them every day.

I pledge to give my love and support to all others who join us on this journey...to help where I can...and to remember the one great truth my mother taught me...

" A day when you learn something..no matter how small...is a day not wasted"

May love, light and blessings fall upon all who walk this path with me

My name is Alamaris.

I pledge to do the Intensive Deck Study for three months -- from March 19th to June 19th -- with one scenic-pip tarot and one Marseilles: the Universal Waite and the Hadar.

I pledge to journal every reading, even if its just the theme and card(s) drawn.

I pledge to take the decks with me wherever I go, within reason. I have many super-Christian friends who would be more likely to arrange a sacrificial burning for the decks than anything else, so if I'm going to a function at the church... decks ain't following. *grin*

I pledge not to buy, play with, or shuffle any new or existing decks (besides my chosen two) until the study is complete.

I pledge to sleep with the decks on the night table at the head of my bed, every night. (I have a loft bed, so its like a half moon table secured to the "headboard". Safer than putting them under my pillow.)

I pledge to shuffle the decks at least 10-20 minutes per day, each, even if I don't do anything else with them that day. If I shuffle them each for 40 minutes or more every day of the study, I'll give myself a little extra reward. (This helps my obsessive-compulsive tendencies, so the reward is as simple as peace of mind while I'm shuffling, really.)

I pledge to reward myself with something worth around $40 if I finish the study without cheating or slacking off.

And last but not least, I pledge to have fun!

2nd iteration of my rules

I've slightly modified my personal rules for the IDS. Changes are in italics.

I WILL:

• start the IDS on Fri, Mar 22nd and continue through Sun, June 22nd (I MAY start sooner, but I won't start any LATER than the 22nd) using Clive Barrett's Ancient Egyptian Tarot
• make a deck-specific box for this deck, incorporating a pic of the Fool in the box cover
• remove all other tarot decks from the room in which I'll be doing my IDS
• try my best to do a daily three-card Mind/Body/Spirit pull before I go to bed to reflect what will happen for me the NEXT day
• at least shuffle the cards at some point during the day if I don't/can't do a 3-card reading
• do my best to journal with the cards at least a couple of times a week
• read and respond to non-IDS threads only when I'm at work (I do server and desktop support and have lots of time I can fill while I'm waiting for progress bars.... )
• only check/input to the IDS thread once a night after I get home (I can respond all I like when I'm at work )
• open the Buckland Romani and Alchemical Tarot reprints, Tarot of the Masters, Deviant Moon Tarot and Faerie Tarot if they arrive during the IDS to verify they are complete and then put them away (I don't think I have any other decks coming before the end of this IDS)
• not touch any other tarot decks unless I decide to make a box for one of four decks (Healing Earth, Guardian, Revelations and Londa) that I identified needed boxes before the IDS came into existence. If I do make a box for any of those decks, I will use the card that I've already scanned and won't need to touch the actual deck.
• buy new deck(s), but only if I run across a bargain in a used bookstore (and I will only check them for completeness and then they get put away until the end of this IDS)

I WILL NOT:

• arrange for any trades or purchases through the Trading Forum unless it's of a deck that's on my wishlist or would've been on my wishlist if I had known about it/remembered it
• not buy any decks off eBay unless it's a deck that's on my wishlist or would've been on my wishlist if I had known about it/remembered it
• order/pre-order any new decks through any mechanism unless I've wanted them for at least six months and am able to see more than the obligatory 6 cards
• touch any other tarot deck in my collection except as outlined in the I WILL section (If I happen to visit another tarot person and they allow me to thumb through their collection, you bet your sweet patootie I'm gonna touch decks that aren't in my collection! Also, if I get together with other tarot people, and one of them specifically requests that I bring a certain deck from my collection, I will, but only for the other people to look at.)
• study any aspect of tarot that's not directly applicable to my IDS deck
• play Freecell on my laptop (which I keep in the Study/Gym where I do all my tarot studies) when I should be studying my IDS deck
• use any other deck to do readings for other people if I happen to read for anyone else during the period of the IDS
• do any kind of reorganization of the tarot deck shelves or the tarot book shelves

That pretty well covers it, but I still have at least a week to make changes....

Rodney

I'd like to join in as well. Although my participation will be a little bit limited--I have a 7-week old baby and don't have much time to devote to Tarot right now. (I don't have much time for anything, including sleep, sadly...)

I will be using the Steele Wizard Tarot, it's companion book, and 21 Ways... when I get the time.

I'd like to keep this up until the end of the year.

As a way to further my commitment, I'm clearing out the majority of my Tarot collection. I'm only keeping one example of each tradition, my first deck (the Aquarian), my Robin Wood (a favourite), and two other special decks, along with my Steele Wizard. Over the years I've gone though so many decks, and never spent much time with any of them (with the exception of the Aquarian, Witches, and Robin Wood). What's the point of keeping them around if I never look at them, and never read with them?

I just had a terrible thought. Does doing this prevent me from participating in the ID the Tarot/Oracle deck games? I mean, if I get one right I have to post the next image, which means looking at other decks - either in the flesh or online. But I would only be looking to get an image for the game. So would it be OK, or am I being weak?
What do you think would it be against the spirit of the IDS or is this a rule I can bend?

Faolainn Storm

I've made the changes and additions, except for mosaica, as you sound like you're still iffy? If anyone else has changes, or anyone wants in, please PM me, in case I miss your post (easy for me to do).

Faolainn - Basically, I think if you think you're doing the wrong thing throughout this exercise, then you probably are. If you think it's okay, then go ahead. I won't participate in (my favourite) the Hide and Seek thread unless I can use my deck, but that's just me. I don't play the ID games, for the most part. But the rest of us aren't here to judge you.

\m/ Kat

I am Skimo and I am going to do the IDS with the Halloween tarot until Halloween, beginning next week the 20th.

I won't buy or trade any more decks except the ones on my wishlist (since at least one week), the ones I want to offer or the ones that may not be available anymore at the end of the IDS.

I won't use any of my other decks until Halloween.

Any new deck (some will arrive) will be checked for completness and repacked right after.

I will write every reading in my journal, touch my deck at least once a day and keep my deck and my journal with me all the time.

I will only read tarot books concerning methods and not meanings.

If I succeed and if all the conditions are filled, I may adopt a pet (a black cat, for example...)

Have a nice day!

I'm on.

Not chosen a deck yet, I'm going to give it some thought. I want to choose a deck I don't already know well.

I don't have a lot of time, with exams looming, so I'll use it for my usual readings, and journal some of them, or at least make a note of question, date and positions. I'll get to know the deck as well as I can, including any myth etc. associated with it. I'll meditate and pathwalk with it, and use it in magic.

I'll do this for an initial period of 3 months, until the Summer solstice, at which point I'll review progress and interest.


NB - The Spring equinox starts on the 20th March in this part of the world and in the East of the Americas (here in Western Europe it starts at around 7 am). Only in the West of the Americas is it still the evening of the 19th, I think. In Australia it starts on the 20th in the evening.

Welcome, Fudugazi! I'll add you to the list

Thankyou for setting us all straight on the minutiae of the Equinox. As noted in the first post, lots of people are already going or are starting later, which makes the 19th merely an arbitrary start date based on the Equinox. It's not a hard and fast start-gun, just a point for us all to work towards and from.

\m/ Kat