quintessence
It's great to see this thread on the Shapeshifter deck. I've had mine for years, and one of the things that drew me to it was The Initiate card.
After working with the concept of The Fool in all the other decks, (someone new or innocent about to take the plunge,) this story starts with a character who is rising from a former "plunge," like a rebirth, coming into the flow with perhaps strengths from former lives, knowledge (the apple) gleaned from prior experiences, passion (the fiery wand) to explore a new life lesson, and strength of guidance (dragon) fully forming to say that he enters with a certain birthright to follow this passion; that he will seek out others in the flow of the story with direction, not blown about in the wind as a fool, not being the brunt of the experiments but fully engaging in them. It sets the tone for the entire deck for me. How about you?
After working with the concept of The Fool in all the other decks, (someone new or innocent about to take the plunge,) this story starts with a character who is rising from a former "plunge," like a rebirth, coming into the flow with perhaps strengths from former lives, knowledge (the apple) gleaned from prior experiences, passion (the fiery wand) to explore a new life lesson, and strength of guidance (dragon) fully forming to say that he enters with a certain birthright to follow this passion; that he will seek out others in the flow of the story with direction, not blown about in the wind as a fool, not being the brunt of the experiments but fully engaging in them. It sets the tone for the entire deck for me. How about you?