Charlie Brown
About two to three months ago, I first came across pictures of the Shadowscapes Tarot. I really liked the imagery and the first thing I said was “If I were a teenage girl, I would be all about this deck.” Soon enough, the person I said this to got me a deck as a gift, with a little subtle prodding on my part if we’re being totally honest.
As per usual, I did a new deck interview spread and, for whatever reason, I’m feeling like sharing that with you here. I’m especially interested in hearing people’s perspectives on what The Devil might mean in the context of this reading. It was pretty confusing to me at first and even though I think I have a meaning I also, for reasons I’ll explain below, think that maybe I’m on the wrong track. Not FEEL that I’m on the wrong track, but think it with my skeptical mind.
Here is the reading. My interpretations definitely incorporate the experience I had working with the deck since then.
Four Card New Deck Reading - Shadowscapes Tarot
A: What can I learn from you? [Page of Pentacles]
This deck has new things to offer and teach (it feels appropriate here to read the page as similar to an ace). As Earth of Earth things things will be grounded.
It’s true. When using this deck I place much more focus on things that are grounded within the actual physical card in front of me and less so on my internalized meanings and/or keywords. This is a VERY kinetic deck and I find following the lines of motion both between and within the cards can lead towards clear interpretations in spots where I might otherwise find ambiguity. I also find the deck has very sensitive colors that sometimes guide me towards certain connections.
Speaking of the card itself, this deck’s Page of Pentacles in an extremely feminine and youthful card. Remember how my initial impression was that this deck spoke to my inner teenage girl? I think the deck is telling me that it can help me discovering/recover the perspectives of different parts of my psyche-my youthfullness, my inner feminine. I do feel like I read differently with this deck.
B: What is your specialty? [The Devil]
This pull confused me when I hadn’t read the deck yet, but now, I’d say it stands for pleasure. This is a fun deck to use and, like the Page promised, it exercises me in a different way than my main decks. Perhaps there’s a touch of that Devilish lust for the young woman I feel in the cards.
On the other hand, the path to damnation is lined with enticements and, as they said in a recent Doctor Who “All traps are beautiful”. Perhaps all the nice colors, dizzy movements, and fun girlyness are just a distraction to draw me away from my core competancies: frills and fillagrie that trap me in a prison of myself and my interpretive whims rather than forcing me to confront the meanings inherent in the cards’ archetypayl form. If color, feeling, and motion are symbolized by The Devil, then am I being drawn away from the “univeral ideas, behind which lie all the implicits of the human mind,” as Waite says? If that’s the case, I’m not sure that I care, in which case I’m likley caught in The Devil’s snare.
C: What makes you different? [Nine of Wands]
I interpret this card as ‘defense.’ Perhaps, as part of its pleasure principle, the deck is willing to sheild me from some harsher realities. Or perhaps its readings will be more oriented towards encouraging preventative actions rather than warning about impending setbacks.
My practice of tarot is, in some ways, 9 or Wands-ish. More of my reading is for myslef rather than others (although I want to change that). In it’s own way, my reading space becomes a wall that shields me from outside distractions and allows me space for reflection and self balancing. It isn’t a deck that I’m likley to bring out for public readings since I’m not looking to present as a deranged fake teenager. Perhaps this deck is best understood as a fortification where I can renergize and integrate.
A point of interest is that in this card, unlike a traditional 9 of wands, the main figure is NOT alone. Insted of a solitary figure behind a wall of set wands, the wall is made of up a group of mounted wand riders. Formidible soldiers acting as a line of defense.
Are these figures the different aspects of myself that this deck calls forth?
D: How would you like to be used? [Knight of Wands]
First off, let me note that, when using this deck, I draw the Knight of Wands ALL THE FLIPPIN’ TIME. I also seem to draw the Knight of Wands very often in new deck interviews. It’s a card that I tend to have a negative reaction to, especiall in RWS, but I really like the one in this deck. He seems less concerned with himself. Moving on…
This card tells me that the deck wants to be seen in personal terms. That it’s an entity of service rather than a tool of card reading.
In this deck, I see the Knight as the same main figure from the Nine of Wands and the comraderie inherent in the Shadowscapes’ Nine of Wands influences my interpretation of this card. That I should accept the Nine of Wand’s comraderie and protection and treat this deck as a a brother-in-arms who will come to my aid. Based on the other cards, this aid will be most useful when it has to do with self-reflection, jump starting my intuition, and integrating my different aspects.
Well, thanks for going through that. It ended up being much longer than I thought it would be. In any case, I’ve been having a lot of fun with this deck and am seriously considering getting the two companion books so that I can look at the gorgeous art in more detail. The cards are a bit small, I think, for how detailed the art is.
As per usual, I did a new deck interview spread and, for whatever reason, I’m feeling like sharing that with you here. I’m especially interested in hearing people’s perspectives on what The Devil might mean in the context of this reading. It was pretty confusing to me at first and even though I think I have a meaning I also, for reasons I’ll explain below, think that maybe I’m on the wrong track. Not FEEL that I’m on the wrong track, but think it with my skeptical mind.
Here is the reading. My interpretations definitely incorporate the experience I had working with the deck since then.
Four Card New Deck Reading - Shadowscapes Tarot
A: What can I learn from you? [Page of Pentacles]
This deck has new things to offer and teach (it feels appropriate here to read the page as similar to an ace). As Earth of Earth things things will be grounded.
It’s true. When using this deck I place much more focus on things that are grounded within the actual physical card in front of me and less so on my internalized meanings and/or keywords. This is a VERY kinetic deck and I find following the lines of motion both between and within the cards can lead towards clear interpretations in spots where I might otherwise find ambiguity. I also find the deck has very sensitive colors that sometimes guide me towards certain connections.
Speaking of the card itself, this deck’s Page of Pentacles in an extremely feminine and youthful card. Remember how my initial impression was that this deck spoke to my inner teenage girl? I think the deck is telling me that it can help me discovering/recover the perspectives of different parts of my psyche-my youthfullness, my inner feminine. I do feel like I read differently with this deck.
B: What is your specialty? [The Devil]
This pull confused me when I hadn’t read the deck yet, but now, I’d say it stands for pleasure. This is a fun deck to use and, like the Page promised, it exercises me in a different way than my main decks. Perhaps there’s a touch of that Devilish lust for the young woman I feel in the cards.
On the other hand, the path to damnation is lined with enticements and, as they said in a recent Doctor Who “All traps are beautiful”. Perhaps all the nice colors, dizzy movements, and fun girlyness are just a distraction to draw me away from my core competancies: frills and fillagrie that trap me in a prison of myself and my interpretive whims rather than forcing me to confront the meanings inherent in the cards’ archetypayl form. If color, feeling, and motion are symbolized by The Devil, then am I being drawn away from the “univeral ideas, behind which lie all the implicits of the human mind,” as Waite says? If that’s the case, I’m not sure that I care, in which case I’m likley caught in The Devil’s snare.
C: What makes you different? [Nine of Wands]
I interpret this card as ‘defense.’ Perhaps, as part of its pleasure principle, the deck is willing to sheild me from some harsher realities. Or perhaps its readings will be more oriented towards encouraging preventative actions rather than warning about impending setbacks.
My practice of tarot is, in some ways, 9 or Wands-ish. More of my reading is for myslef rather than others (although I want to change that). In it’s own way, my reading space becomes a wall that shields me from outside distractions and allows me space for reflection and self balancing. It isn’t a deck that I’m likley to bring out for public readings since I’m not looking to present as a deranged fake teenager. Perhaps this deck is best understood as a fortification where I can renergize and integrate.
A point of interest is that in this card, unlike a traditional 9 of wands, the main figure is NOT alone. Insted of a solitary figure behind a wall of set wands, the wall is made of up a group of mounted wand riders. Formidible soldiers acting as a line of defense.
Are these figures the different aspects of myself that this deck calls forth?
D: How would you like to be used? [Knight of Wands]
First off, let me note that, when using this deck, I draw the Knight of Wands ALL THE FLIPPIN’ TIME. I also seem to draw the Knight of Wands very often in new deck interviews. It’s a card that I tend to have a negative reaction to, especiall in RWS, but I really like the one in this deck. He seems less concerned with himself. Moving on…
This card tells me that the deck wants to be seen in personal terms. That it’s an entity of service rather than a tool of card reading.
In this deck, I see the Knight as the same main figure from the Nine of Wands and the comraderie inherent in the Shadowscapes’ Nine of Wands influences my interpretation of this card. That I should accept the Nine of Wand’s comraderie and protection and treat this deck as a a brother-in-arms who will come to my aid. Based on the other cards, this aid will be most useful when it has to do with self-reflection, jump starting my intuition, and integrating my different aspects.
Well, thanks for going through that. It ended up being much longer than I thought it would be. In any case, I’ve been having a lot of fun with this deck and am seriously considering getting the two companion books so that I can look at the gorgeous art in more detail. The cards are a bit small, I think, for how detailed the art is.
