Inaugural Intensive Deck Study (IDS) Support Thread

rwcarter said:

Either way I think this might be the perfect time to break my IDS pledge for a good cause Friday night and part of Saturday if necessary. Hopefully then I'll be refreshed and ready to finish tackling that Ace Cups....

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It sounds like a break will be just the thing. Perhaps we all should have put a "with occasional breaks" clause into our pledges.

Oddity said:

I would also be very grateful for ideas on things to do with the cards, little games to play perhaps, other ways to study that I haven't tried yet... some new approach just might bring back the enthusiasm.

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Oddity, this might sound dumb but I sometimes just like to play little sorting games with my decks. Have you ever watched pre-school kids play? They love to sort things because they are just learning about categories and connections.

You can sort out all the cards with roses on them, all the cards that have any flowers at all, all the cards where people have something on their heads, all the cards where people are not carrying anything in their hands, all the cards that show any water, think of a person and sort out all the cards you think they would like or that remind you of them... etc. you get the idea. It is fun and you might see some connections you hadn't before.

I also like to lay out the whole deck, three cards at a time, and for each three cards quickly look and try to "read" them almost like a comic strip. Who is turning away from whom? Toward what? What would be one possible thing it could say if it were a reading? It is more fun if you go quickly and don't think about it too much.

--Myrrha

Fluffy and Myrrha: thanks both of you for the encouraging words!

Myrrha, I think I will try your ideas, they don't sound dumb at all. Maybe what I need to do right now is to just play around with the cards for a little bit to get my spirits up again, and just stay away from any serious studying for the time being.

Thanks everyone for sharing some ideas. I do feel a bit stuck myself at times despite loving my deck. I have been doing some comparative stuff and don't feel that looking at different cards is detracting at all from my work with the Alchemical. I was working through some of the exercises in 21 Ways and got to the chapter on comparisons between decks and I just couldn't help myself.

Myrrha, I just love your ideas of sorting the cards and playing around with them. I'm definitely going to try it out. I like the idea also of sorting into colours to group cards with similar colouring and see if they have similar meanings. I can't wait to find some time so I can just sit down and have a good play

I think it's normal to be having feelings of being stuck, bored, burnt out, over the whole thing etc. We've been doing this a month or more now and so if you need to have some down time or just take a break, or whatever feels right then that makes a lot of sense. I think to be honest, as soon as this starts being a chore then a few days break is the best thing. Then you can reevaluate and even adjust what your goals are if you need to.

I'm BIG on sorting my decks.

Oh, I've got tons of ways of sorting. Some are more static, and some change every single time I utilize them.

One simple method is to make four piles of cards--cards you like, cards that make you slightly uncomfortable, cards you are frightened by or just generally dislike, and neutral cards. I find that it really does change depending on my mood and the current events of my life. It also gives you a chance to just disconnect and work with the imagery itself without even considering meanings.

You can sort them by predominant color, sort them by details, sort them by male/female distinctions, sort them by whatever the hell you want to! There are no rules in this, just let it be organic.

Something else I do is build my own little comic strip of sort. Use one card, use three or four, use the whole deck, whatever. Lay 'em out and create your own little dialouges between the cards. They can make sense or not, they can be funny or serious, whatever works for you. It's more or less an exercise in creativity for me, and I find that it helps me to just disconnect.

Welcome back to those who have rejoined us.

After reading all of the suggestions posted about what to do when you're stuck, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not "studying" enough? In the past, the studying is what bogged me down, anytime I try to make myself go through the entire deck, I give up on it.

What's working for me this time is just doing a lot of different spreads and journaling about them. I try to go through my own interps first, then refer to the book meaning to see if I was anywhere near what the book says. Then I sit and ponder, and journal about any specifics on the cards in the spread, and the connections between the cards themselves. I've been trying to do one spread a week from the Tarot of the Crone book.

I had a lot of weird things happen last week- nothing major, just unexpected things that I wondered about, so instead of using the spreads in the book, I just threw out some random cards on each little weird thing that came up to get some clarification. The free form method isn't one I'm used to, so I wanted to see what would happen. I get a pretty good overall feeling from the cards that way, but not much detail.

I guess what it all boils down to is we need to each find a way of "studying" that works for us. One that doesn't feel like a chore. One that makes us feel good about it and want to do it more and more. For me, at this point in my life, it's using the cards in a practical manner-meaning, in real situations. Using the deck for any reads I do-unconditionally.

If you're getting discouraged and you feel like the fun is being taken out of it, just switch to a different method of studying. With all these great suggestions, everyone is bound to find one that works for them.

Have fun,

Disa

rwcarter said:

I think I need a (temporary) break. [snip]

Maybe I'm just tired and I'll feel different tomorrow night. [snip]

Hopefully then I'll be refreshed and ready to finish tackling that Ace Cups....

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One day off was what the doctor ordered. When I looked at that Ace Cups Thursday night, I got nothing from it in terms of study material. I did nothing IDS related on Friday. I started on my side project, but wasn't really feeling it. Today when I looked at that Ace Cups, I saw all kinds of things in the card that benefited from further study. And although I only started around 3p.m. or so, I was able to post on the first four Cups tonight.

Off to do my Daily Draw before I go to bed.

Rodney

Hello all

I'm back . . . well, sort of. My personal computer is still kaput, so i've only got limited time here at work (what I can sneak in while there's no one looking!) but I wanted to say hello. It sounds like there are still a whole mob of people getting into their decks - great for you guys!

I was struggling for a fair while there, hating my deck and generally hating Tarot, really. I was forcing myself to do readings and to try and study. But then I thought, "Stuff it! If I want to stop for a bit, who's to say I can't?"

So there were days when I didn't touch my deck, let alone read with it. And I'm ashamed to admit, I fell off the wagon. I bought the Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards and played with those on a few of the days that I didn't play with my Wheel of Change. But you know what? I don't care. I cannot get over how totally different those cards are to Tarot - and the effort required for me to do a reading with them was a large part of the motivation to get interested in Tarot again, so in a way they're responsible for getting me back on the wagon! So I'm going to keep working with the RGFTC, as I enjoy them and they're a fresh change from Tarot. But they're not an everyday sort of thing anyway, not for me. So once a week or so, and maybe some readings for other *victims* . . . if there's anyone willing!

I'm a little happier now, having gotten halfway out of the depressive funk that has kept me away from here. I don't like sharing my crappiness around, and didn't want to drag anyone down with me.

If there's anyone whose changes I've missed and needs to be updated on the front list, let me know by PM. I'll get to it in the next day or so.

\m/ Kat

I'd be a ready and willing victim, Thorhammer. The first reading anyone ever gave me was with that deck, done by my counselor. Reminds me, I need to call her and see how she's doing after all these years...

I've decided I'm definitely rejoining the hoard! I'm giving myself a few days to see if I want to dive into the Alchemical Renewed or pop back over to the Universal Waite. I won't be putting as much pressure for journaling and studying this time, since I'm in the middle of some intense Bibliomancy and equally intense research for the oracle deck I'm in the middle of creating. (It'll be a balanced thing, much like tarot. No Doreen Virtue fairies for me, thank you! )

Alchemical... Universal. Universal... Alchemical. Decisions, decisions.

Hi Oddity,

Oddity said:

What do you mean by sets? Do you mean for example studying all Aces, or just Swords for a while? Are there other "sets" than numbers or suits?

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At the moment I am doing all aces, all two's etc. Though as others have said in the posts that followed this, there are many ways of sorting, so go with whatever feels right.

Oddity said:

I like that. I've tried it, but I don't write a whole story, just a short synopsis, maybe half a page or so. And the stories usually end up quite bizarre, but fun. I'm not a writer, but I do my best.

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Oh yeh, I guess this is depends on your definition of a story! A paragraph can still be a story. I tend to use the term very broadly because I'm obsessed with the idea of stories and their power, so I want everything to be a story!!

Oddity said:

or have the knight ride an elephant instead of a horse, or something...

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I know what you mean - not enough elephants in your average deck in my opinion!

Oddity said:

Just copying a card might be good too, it could be very restful, like a kind of meditation that allows one to get in the "mood" of a card and concentrate on all the little details that are so easy to miss.
I've never done this, but I'll try it and see if it works.

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Or, for those of us that are artistically challeneged - take a photocopy and colour it in (or get the official colouring in set set if you happen to have chosen the Sharman-Caselli Tarot (and inspired idea, that!))

Love and hugs,
PolarBear

Alamaris said:

I've decided I'm definitely rejoining the hoard! I'm giving myself a few days to see if I want to dive into the Alchemical Renewed or pop back over to the Universal Waite.

Alchemical... Universal. Universal... Alchemical. Decisions, decisions.

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I'm probably the wrong person to help you with your decision....but the Alchemical is just so AMAZING....and we have a little study group going... not that I want to influence you or anything