Intensive Deck Study Support Thread ~ Part 2

jema

I think I will join you!

I had a hard time thinking out what deck to pick though. Went through up to 15 of them. I wanted it to be a deck I liked and felt comfortable with yet one that still intrigued me, one that I didn't fully grasp yet.
I also wanted a deck that had a book that I liked. And I didn't want anything too traditional - nor too whimsical.

So I picked Tarot of the Spirit by Eakins (mother and daughter team)

As for the pledges I must say I liked Faolainn Storm's a lot :p
Esp the part that I will do this for my own enjoyment...

But I will aim for this:

* 22 june - 22 august
* The IDS deck will get a fresh new empty notebook that I will write in every day
* Totally random and intuitive order in wich to communicate with the cards (thinking of every day just spread them out and pick a most and least fave card and go from there)
* I will go out into the summer with deck in hand and actually use it with real people at least once during this time.



Edited to say - lol with WolfSpirit for thinking about the same deck as me the exactly same time. Syncronisity!!!
 

PeterS

Well. . . nearly time to go . . .

I have looked at, read with, and learned more about the Liber T than I thought was possible. I was right in my initial choice of the deck when I said that the only way I was going to get a handle on how I was going to use it was it.

I loved and hated my IDS at times and it was a chore as well as a delight.

It seems for me the best thing is to let my pledge finish out.

My High Points of the IDS:

1) Readings, I did a ton of readings during my time, which I why I think I am so tired.

2) Looking at the cards every day. I do not think one moment was wasted by flipping through the whole deck, every day, and really looking at each card.

3) I poured into Scion's guide for the Decans and used it as a study guide for the last half of the study. I printed it out and bound it together and wrote all over the thing. What was ultimately great about it was that it served as a workbook to keep me on task and confront me with new ideas.

4) The support of the other IDSers. I would have long abandoned the pursuit if not for the responsibility and help I gave and got from everyone who posted and told their stories on the thread.

5) Getting my head around the Thoth system. I am no expert and barely a beginner but this was an excellent chance to see it in action and how some of the parts worked together. If I were to continue on I would have to go deeper into Crowley and Kabala and I certainly need a break from that.

6) I tried tons of new stuff. I finally laid out the cards in the Tree of Life pattern, I laid them all out in the order of the year. I tried meditation, past life exploration, dream interpretation and one minor magical act. Though with mixed results it was great to get out of the Tarot box I had shut myself in without knowing it. (a reason I considered continuing)

7) I finally feel that I am cementing my personal approach to Tarot that goes beyond any one deck. (a reason I considered continuing)

8) Finally! One deck and one deck only for 3 months! I didn't think I could do it. It is the first time since I got my first deck that I only used one deck.

My low points:

1) Not Journaling enough, that is why I am pleased with the workbook approach. Maybe next time I will work through something like Tarot for Yourself by Mary Greer, or the exercises in What's in the Cards for You by McElroy. Something with structure and provided variety

2) It became clear early that daily draws were not going to work out. That was a surprise since I had been using daily draws for over a year. It was a specific deck issue. I would DD if I picked a different deck and did this again.

3) The dull moments when I just wanted to run to the safety of my other decks, (But I didn't, Highpoint!) At some moments I just had to tough it out and others I wish I had planned better. I think including a non-tarot oracle deck might have been helpful for a once a week break to provide a balance. Some did but I didn't. I would rethink that. I might have chosen a new oracle either cards or runes or dice. Something different.

Funniest IDS moment: I spent a few hours one Sunday morning putting all my other Tarot decks in order. It was desperate need to fight back the feeling to use other decks. It was as close as I would possibly allow myself to get but it was funny when I look back on it.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend the exercise for those who want a challenge. It is a challenge and a discipline, so be tough on yourself when you are just being lazy but be kind with yourself if you need the break. It is clear that real life can interrupt this exercise as we have seen. I would say keep it in perspective

Peter
 

Owl Song

Welcome new and old IDSers!

I really love these posts we're getting from people who have completed an IDS. It's so inspirational and it lets us all see where the journey brought you. I hope I can make a similar post in 3 months.

I'm getting myself organized for my IDS. I went to go buy "21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card" and I somehow came home with the book AND the Le Scarabeo "Pictorial Key Tarot" deck deluxe set (the one that comes with the bag.) I have not opened it though. It's sealed and put away. Is that willpower? LOL Somehow I don't think so! I gave into the temptation of buying a deck but I didn't open it. Hmmmm...sounds highly suspect to me.

One thing I've noticed is that people have been including the idea of handling the deck and looking at the cards daily. I think sometimes I forget how valuable that is. Even if I don't have time to do a reading, just sitting with the card images for a while is a great practice. I am going to put more emphasis on this during my second try around.

Kat, it sounds like you are working toward understanding and creating a system that will work for you with Wheel of Change, really personalizing the deck. That's so great!! Keep up the good work.
 

rwcarter

Starlily said:
One thing I've noticed is that people have been including the idea of handling the deck and looking at the cards daily. I think sometimes I forget how valuable that is. Even if I don't have time to do a reading, just sitting with the card images for a while is a great practice. I am going to put more emphasis on this during my second try around.
I've done something that Scion posted about in the original IDS thread - set my screensaver to use the images I'd already scanned in from my deck. Usually if I'm in the study working on the IDS, the screensaver doesn't get a chance to come on. But if I've left the room for a bit, it's nice to see the images forming on the screen when I come back in.

Rodney
 

Prism

thorhammer said:
The creator of my deck puts forward an alternative layout for the Majors, setting aside the Fool's Journey (which has always seemed contrived and somewhat of a "long bow" to me) in favour of what she calls the Tarot Tree.
I was so glad to see this, kat. I have been struggling with the whole "Fool's Journey" idea, which just doesn't work for me. But I think it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out that there was more than one way to look at it if you hadn't posted this. This morning I laid out all the Majors, and I think I might try to figure out my own system for understanding them. I only have a few more days left with my Prague deck, and I don't even know if it will carry over to a new deck. But it makes things a lot more interesting.
 

Cat*

Me too...

I'm in, too. :)

After some consideration, I decided to use my brand-new Housewives Tarot for an intensive deck study :D. I believe this deck will be appropriate to study alongside the writing of my Master's thesis for the following reasons:
  • They don't require me to learn a completely new system of cultural and spiritual symbols (unlike the DruidCraft or my also brand-new Jodo-Camoin Marseille - both of which are potential candidates for later IDSs when my time is less limited).
  • I assume that their kitschy-campy perfecly-designed appearance is pseudo-superficial only and therefore expect them to provide not only an attitude of lighthearted fun but also a healthy dose of self-ironic humor and way more depth than the concept might suggest at first.
  • My thesis topic is partly linked to the 1950s, so there might be interesting inspirations going back and forth between both of my areas of study/work.
  • Last but not least, the idea of doing an in-depth study of a deck that usually seems to be considered a collector's item rather than a deck one can seriously use, fills my rebellious little non-housewifey heart with delighted curiosity }) (after all, the Manara turned out to speak clearly and seriously to me, too!).
I therefore pledge the following:
  • I will only use the Housewives Tarot from June 21 (possibly a few days earlier) until September 21.
  • I will handle the cards daily. I will also make them a bag so I can take them with me whenever I go out to do anything that's not just grocery shopping.
  • I will start with a three-card daily draw to look back on the day. If this turns out to cause me an unreasonable amount of stress, I will adjust the number of cards and/or readings.
  • I will read for others, too, preferably face-to-face. When I do online readings, I will try not to spend excessive amounts of time on finding the perfect wording, especially not when that keeps me from otherwise studying the cards. :D
  • I will start writing (in both English and German) about the cards in addition to my usual notes on readings. This writing will be by hand and in any form that seems suitable. My aim is to write something about each card.
  • I will use any book or online resource that seems appropriate for this study, but I won't spend hours reading stuff on the internet instead of actually using the cards and/or writing about them. (Note to self: copying and pasting information does not count as writing. ;))
  • When I participate in reading exchanges, I'm free to look at the cards the other person has drawn for me. When my tarot-beginner friend asks me to look at her (Universal Waite) cards with her and to give additional input to her readings, or if she offers to read for me with this deck, I'm free to agree.
  • Other than that, I see no reason to look at other decks, especially not in online shops of any kind. If I still stumble across an interesting deck, I will make a note/bookmark for later consideration but I won't start googling or otherwise researching other decks during this IDS. I therefore don't expect to buy a new deck during the IDS, but if I still do, I will only check for completeness and then put it away.
  • If any of these rules turns out to cause serious problems, I'm free to adjust them. The main point of this IDS (besides getting to know the Housewives Tarot, of course) is to provide a useful structure that enables me to have regular tarot time in a busy phase of my life.
Looking forward to doing this! :)

afrosaxon said:
Does anyone want to do IDS readings with our chosen decks for this round?
I'm not sure in what way these readings would be different from other exchanges but, yes, I'd be interested in doing exchanges as part of my IDS. :)
 

Emily

I'm going to be doing my third IDS but with my Liber T again.

I'm thinking of it as a separate study because this time round I'm going to be doing the cards individually and not just doing dailies and reading with the deck. I feel the need now to delve a lot deeper into the symbolism of the cards - I wasn't ready before so I've been using this deck mainly with intuition and basic meanings, now though I am ready to find out what really makes this deck tick.

I realised last week that my study with this deck is far from over and to be honest I don't want to move on. My little experiment with the Universal Waite a few weeks ago was a real eye opener and for that week I was away if I could have gone somewhere to buy a Liber T, I would have. It was a huge mistake not taking it with me. After using the Liber T for nearly 9 months the Universal was too tame for me but at least I could still read with it. :)

I'm really looking forward to this leg of my journey with the Liber T. :)

Edited to say:

Not sure yet whether it will be the same deck or one of my new back up copies because my old deck is getting really battered and is starting to flake at the edges and the backs are wearing and they are warped.
 

thorhammer

Wow, this thread bloomed overnight! Welcome to new faces, again :). Again, I’m not going to respond to every single post, please, nobody get snitchy at me :D

@FS ~ I think you’ve nailed it. Some people went out a bit too hard – I tried to read every day, I tried to be very “intensive”. Some days, that just didn’t work. You’ve got to go easy on yourself, and let it be fun and enjoyable.

@ jema ~ I love your “random and intuitive order” thing! That’s how I do it! LOL If a card pops up to me a few times running, then it wants me to look into it. I hate order and being shoehorned into a regime!

@ PeterS ~ Thankyou so very much for a wonderful, inspiring and frank post about your experiences. It sounds like you’ve really immersed yourself in your journey and gotten a Hel of a lot out of it!

@ starlily and Prism ~ I’m going to start posting my journallings with the Tarot Tree, if you guys are interested. IMO, with a few minor mindshifts, this layout could be applied to most decks. I’d love for people to join me – I’m feeling the “sound of silence” that Rodney was talking about a couple of months ago!

@ Emily ~ You are nothing if not an inspiration. I am loving having you post with us, so dedicated as you are to your one deck. Thankyou so much for sharing with us.

More stuff got done on the WoC last night! :D I got down and dirty with the Courts!!!! I wanted to tackle them last night as I had the night to myself, and I knew I’d need some time to figure out the best way of going about it. One feature of this deck is that the Courts all feature people of different nationalities. Genetti divides the people of the world into four “races” PLEASE NO ONE BE OFFENDED BY THIS. This is to illustrate the four directions and elements and how humanity fills the spaces in this correspondence. Here, here’s how she puts it on her webpage:
Alexandra Genetti said:
The positive pictorial traits of the Wheel of Change Tarot give the cards a broad application to our lives. In each of the four minor suits the "face" cards - Queen, Knight, Princess and Prince - are each of a different race. The four Queens also represent the different races, as do the four Knights, etc. For example; there is a black Queen (Disks), a black Knight (Cups), a black Princess (Wands) and a black Prince (Swords). Symbolically this represents the fact that all people are made up of the various traits of the four suits: Swords - the intellect, Cups - the emotions, Wands - creativity, and Disks - the physical realm. Other multicultural Tarots generally picture one race as a single suit, thereby suggesting that the archetypal traits of a given race allow them only qualities of the one suit.
So I explored the idea of matching up the “families” and working with them across the suits. But that didn’t feel right. I tried to sit down and talk with the four Queens at once. *sigh* Prima donnas. So finally I tried the Courts of one Suit as a family. This worked, at least as far as the Disks, which is how far I got. I journalled quite extensively on them, and got a great sense of how a personality progresses through the Court. It was very enlightening. Study Group thread to follow!

\m/ Kat
 

Alamaris

thorhammer said:
:laugh:

I have yet to tackle the Courts, as well . . . that might be my stumbling block!

\m/ Kat
Those darn courts! :laugh: I'm having my difficulties with them as well. As if to illustrate the point even further, almost half the cards in the readings I did for friends on Saturday were...courts! I think the deck was trying to tell me I need to study it a little harder.

Why don't you tell me how you really feel, Mr. Mini Crowley?

Trundling along as normal over here, and probably doing some more readings for friends tonight. The gang and I have two nights a week where we meet and just chum, but they're rapidly turning into tarot nights. Not that I'm complaining!
 

Prism

thorhammer said:
I’m going to start posting my journallings with the Tarot Tree, if you guys are interested. IMO, with a few minor mindshifts, this layout could be applied to most decks. I’d love for people to join me – I’m feeling the “sound of silence” that Rodney was talking about a couple of months ago!

I would love to know more about the Tarot Tree, so please post your journallings when you get a chance. I really love the idea of the Tree.