One Deck Wonder

[bleuivy]

Hi, Jewel-ry.

I'm coming a bit late to the party, but I just wanted to say how great I thought your reading was! I think it's marvelous that you pulled an Ace and a 2, but also a 9. There's something interesting in that reading about a journey beginning and ending at the same time. I thought your interpretation was lovely.

 

[bleuivy]

About journals...

I've kept a journal off and on over the years as I've learned the cards. Mostly off, I have to admit. I can never decide what should be in the journal, or how to organize it.

Lately, since about July, I've kept a journal, but it's been all electronic. This is the longest I've ever been able to stick with a tarot journal.

For this excercise, I am going to buy a great big journal though. Someone in the other thread posted how this excercise was all about yourself, a deck, a journal, and a pen - simplifying the entire process. I love that idea!

I'm going to write down any thoughts I have on the cards, to see if they come up in other readings. I'm also going to record the readings that I do, which I'm generally good about but I sometimes slack off if the reading doesn't look particularly interesting.

 

[lark]

My tarot journal is a very simple thing.
I wrote down the card at the top of its own page leaving a page or two extra for the things that will come later.
Then I wrote down the meanings I already have for the card right now.
Then as the new meanings come in I write those under the appropriate card.

I keep a daily draw journal and that is separate.
I write more about the actual meaning of the spread I'm doing in that one.
And many times some new meaning I've discovered from my daily spread will make it's way into my card meaning journal.

I found documenting everything hard and time consuming and I figured if I was going to stick with it I had to make it simple.
So I looked at what I wanted out of this journal.
1. I wanted a nice list of personal meanings, meanings the cards had shown me.
2. Also traditional meanings that have come up and been right on.
3. I wanted a few pages of really usable spreads.
4. And I wanted it to be in an easy to see and find form.

And that's it.
Sometimes I come across a little something that I think is worth noting and I'll add it to the end of the journal.
If you put too much in there you have to page through and read a lot of other stuff to find that one meaning you're looking for.
And so you tend not to grab it, but avoid it because it becomes a hassle and not a help. (been there done that )

 

[Satori]

Hi Jewel-ry, I imagine you number sheet is in the box you packed?

It is funny how we figure out ways to not look at only one deck.
I've been putting my decks away. I have a box I need to find that has deck boxes in it, the original boxes, and so I have the Self Care cards out on my bedside table. I've been pulling a card at night...and thought last night...uh-oh.

So I brought the icon up to bed with me and sat and shuffled...and I was under the covers, sitting up, and asking the deck....something. But nothing at the same time...no real question, just sort of a "give me a message to sleep on".

And I get...IX of Swords! And the picture is me! Under the covers, sitting up, but not with my head in my hands...I just laughed.

Who says Tarot doesn't have a sense of humor.

I think the message was, just get to bed. Put the deck down. Step away from the Tarot deck.

Today, I had ATians in the house!
And they had decks I tell you. gardener and Chronata were here with Gabrielle and I held the Sakki-Sakki. And I liked it! I liked it!

Both gardener and Chronata seemed to really like the Icon, and we got into the inevitable discussion about which of the II cards were too busy and didn't seem to support the minimalist look of the deck...and I do have a couple cards that I wish Robin Ator had scaled down...like the Sun and The Wheel of Fortune. They seem busy.

But over all, the deck reads like a dream.
I read for Chronata with the deck. Perhaps she'll weigh in on how she liked the deck....

 

[Chronata]

I loved the International Icon.



Even with some of the "busy" cards in it...it has wonderful depth.

I loved the reading too, Elf.

I found myself startingto do that thing I always say I'm not gonna do with other readers...(but I subconsciously do anyway)...

Which is...

I "read" the cards as the reader does.

But then...Elf said some wonderful things that surprised me.
OK, I thought...not what I would normally think of that card...but OMG...she is sooooo right!

And the interpretations of the-deconstruction-of-the-tarot that is the International Icon...they were just perfect.

I kept looking at the cards thinking...yeah...I can see that.

I think this is a very noble and interesting idea. I applaud all of you for having the strength and tenacity and sense of adventure to pull off reading with only one deck for an extended period.
I did it once...(for about 7 years) but that was because I had found THE deck for me. I have since changed that rule, to bring more variety to my interpretations.

 

[Kissa]

chronata, what deck was it that did it for you?

i chose the universal waite because i don't hate it but i don't love it either. it is quite neutral, at least the image i had of it was very neutral when i began this trip. it is imho the nicest of the re-colored decks. now of course, i have another opinion, because it is my only deck at the moment, i love it to bits.

i must admit i have an international icon tarot on its way to me too, but i'll see if i read with it or not. the universal waite tells me stories now, like i never had before with such a traditional deck, as elf, i don't really ask questions in my bed at night, i watched thru the cards, shuffle, compare, daydream. and i must really start the journal because i haven't taken the time yet and it is a pity.
the thing is i have problems compartimentazing (word?? sp??) my life so i always end up with a tarot journal where i talk about my day, my kids, my job, nature etc. or a "regular" diary where i talk about tarot... any suggestion, folks? maybe using different ink colors under the same day entry: one for tarot, one for nature, one for family. but then again, i cannot separate all of them that easily, that's why because i love tarot, it is so intricated in my life, the symbols of my life are in tarot and the tarot symbols jump to my eyes in everyday life.

i am taking the opportunity of coming back to Pixie's design to explore a bit more the different rws on Holly Viley's homepage and the Historical section. very interesting, incredibly interesting in fact.

kissa

ps: to all of you who "admire" us, there's imo nothing to be admired, we're just doing something you might consider doing in some time from now... or never. there is no right way, there are just individual paths. blessings

 

[Satori]

FYI for those of you who like me did not know, Pamela Coleman Smith's nick was indeed, Pixie.

 

[Kissa]

Pamela: a short lexicon
Pixie= Pamela's nickname, i think she chose it herself (?)
RWS= Rider Waite Smith Rider was the publisher, Waite the creator, Smith was Pamela (Coleman), see her drawings, she signs them PCS with the C and the S in the long leg of the P.
PKT= Pictorial Key to Tarot, the book by Arthur E. Waite
GD= Golden Dawn

nothing else comes to my mind right now... but don't feel stupid to ask, if not here, on another board!!! Nobody can know nothing until they are taught/told...

blessings,

kissa

 

[PlatinumDove]

I've gotten a journal last night, a simple steno notebook...100 pages. I'm sure that if I do it right (keep with it and not abandon the project), that I'll fill that one up along with at least another.

Definitely planning on having a daily draw card from each deck (VS and Thoth). Now its time to run and get ready to go to the dr!

 

[Satori]

I read weekly at a bookstore, so will be using the II exclusively for that purpose. Any insights I glean will be written in the my journal after the fact, and I hope to share many of them here.

Should we start some kind of reading practice here, on AT?

Or should we just carry-on as normal with the one deck? My thinking is that if we aren't using the deck often enough to see the impact using one deck might have then it will be easier to lose interest in just the one deck and then give up the whole exercise.

So perhaps at first we could do some readings for each other with our decks about the process and then offer some readings on the REX.

When I go to the store even if no one comes in to pay for a reading, I'll pull cards for the cashier or do a reading about something going on in the community etc. Just to stay sharp.

Let me know what you think we should do, if anything.