The Pictorial Key Tarot

The Pictorial Key Tarot by Davide Corsi and Giordano Berti
Lo Scarabeo
Photo © Karen Wiedrhold

I've had the Pictorial Key Tarot for a few weeks now and am enjoying my time spent with it.  It is a modernisation of the RWS Tarot, created  by Giordano Berti and Davide Corsi for Lo Scarabeo and is rich and colourful in appearance.

Most of the images have a wonderful 3D feel to them which draws you in,  however there are a small number of cards where the artwork looks flat in comparison, which is a pity.

Some of the facial expressions are a little awkward in appearance if you study them closely, but this is a minor thing.

Overall it is lovely, easy to read with and a shows a vibrant palette when laid out in a spread.  My absolute favourite image is the 8 of Cups however there are quite a lot of others that come very close.

I'd recommend this deck as a good one for beginners who may not enjoy the traditional RWS artwork.

Tarot on my Bookshelf: Firsts, last and in-between

These past two weeks i've been floating about having a tidy up of cupboards, drawers and bookshelves.  I never really plan these type of sessions, they're more of a spontaneous thing that happens a few times in the year as the mood strikes.

This morning after a sort through of the tea and coffee cabinet in the kitchen I drifted upstairs to take a look at the "cabinet of wonder" as it's known to me.  This is the large corner cabinet that houses my tarot decks and books, paper crafting, colouring and painting paraphernalia.  It opens up and I can sit inside and busy myself for hours.  I resisted the urge to pull it all out in one go and instead went through it shelf by shelf which is much more manageable.  A slight drawback to sorting through things in this cupboard is the ability to become distracted by the contents 😆

Photo  by Karen Wiederhold

Here's the family of Tarot books that lives inside the "cabinet of wonder". I snapped a quick picture before putting them back in after rearranging the shelf.

My first Tarot book came with the Celtic Tarot by Courtney Davis and was written by Helena Paterson which was also my first ever Tarot deck, bought in 1995. It's not part of the pile here because its safe and sound in its box along with the deck.

My second book on Tarot was unfortunately lost to me because a friend who borrowed it never returned it, which is such a pity.  I can't for the life of me recall the author or the title.  I never did get it back before we relocated from South Africa.

My third book, which you see at the very top of the pile, was The How To Read the Tarot by Sylvia Abraham bought,  back in 1998.

Right beneath it is Tarot, Your Personal Guide by Steven Bright 2018, the last Tarot book i've bought to date.  After reading it I shared with Steven that I wished i'd had his book as a beginner back in 1995.  If you're just starting out with Tarot as a beginner or know someone who is,  I recommend both it and Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning.


If you fancy sharing your first book/s or your book collection i'd love to see them.  There's some pre-existing tags over in the usual places. ( #tarotbookshelf #tarotbooks #myfirsttarotbook #tarot )

Welcoming a New Deck - the evolution of a personal ceremony or ritual.

Recently there have been a few questions through my blog contact form asking about the best way to welcome a new deck,  either used or new and whether it is okay for this to change.  As far as i'm concerned there is no right or wrong way to do this, i'm a believer in doing what feels right and feels special at that time and for the deck concerned.  I wrote about this a few months back in the post titled Meeting your deck for the first time.  What I hadn't written about in that post was how the ceremony or ritual I use today evolved and which has since changed to how i'm doing things today.

Back when i'd bought my first deck, doing things the right way, the traditional way, the way it's been done for centuries and all the other writings on this really mattered to me.  As i've written before in discussing some of my little rituals or ceremonies, i'd noticed after some fastidiousness in this regard that the element of magic or connection was actually missing and that there was a stiffness and an element of fearing i'd done something incorrectly hanging about in the back of my mind.  

One afternoon I purchased a deck and being in a particularly eager mood to open the packaging and get at the cards I decided to throw caution to the wind and open the deck without waiting to get home.  Not wanting to do it standing up in the middle of the shopping centre, I walked outside to a small park area and sitting under a tree, opened up the packaging.  Sitting out there in the warm sunshine, under a tree, with the sounds of the birds around me felt special and the whole process of getting to meet the cards was a pleasure.  Arriving home there was the business of the evening chores to attend to so I placed the cards on a table to wait for quiet time later on, then lighting some incense and candles I busied myself cooking and sorting out homework.  It was later in that anticipated quiet time where I was about to welcome my deck in the usual way that I realised that the whole feeling towards bringing a new deck home had changed for me.  

Ever since that day my process of welcoming a new deck involves pretty much the same process or ritual with some additions or alterations here and there as I feel drawn to do.  Sometimes I still like to do this outdoors  (see my post about unboxing the Faerie's Oracle).

A change I have made since my last post on meeting a new deck is that if it's a deck published by Llewellyn then the cardboard inner is collapsed and slid back into the box while the deck is protected in a tarot pouch.  I do like to keep my books and decks in their original box but the cards now have a special pouch to hold them together inside.  The white cardboard box provided by Llewellyn is functional to a point but the cards tend to rattle about in it and isn't very inspirational in appearance.  If the deck and book comes with a nice sturdy box then I don't feel the need to put the cards into a pouch but that usually has the downside of there being a small book instead.  On that score Llewellyn publications are excellent.  I must say before moving on that this is my one and only gripe with Llewellyn decks, everything else about them makes me happy.

I still like to leave the deck to sit in pride of place for a few days, surrounded in crystals, shells, trinkets, stones, feathers or wrapped in a scarf of a chosen colour or texture as befits the deck if I feel the need on that occasion.

Someone else asked about bad vibes associated with used decks.   I've not ever received a used deck where i've felt bad vibes or anything like that so cleansing is not a concern for me. Usually used decks I own have been passed on to me from someone I know in some way and this makes the deck more special.  By my intention of welcoming the deck and treating it the way I do, should there be any vibes hanging about they would know I pay no attention to them and dissipate.  But yes, I understand some people worry about this, I know I used to back in the early days but again I will say, do what you feel is right for you.  There are many ways you could do this.  Some like to pass each card through incense smoke, others like to say a blessing, others like to knock on the deck.


No matter which way you choose to welcome a new deck to your home, it all comes down to the intention you welcome it with and the special welcoming ceremony of your own making you use, be it simple or elaborate, indoors or out.

Shuffling and selecting cards.

Quite a lot has been written about the correct way to shuffle and select cards when doing a reading.  When I first began to study the Tarot it was quite clear to me from most of the books I was reading that overall there was quite a firm approach to this process with warnings of inaccurate readings and all sorts if not done correctly.  I dutifully followed along because being a keen student I wanted to get things right and learn properly. For me though the traditional method never seemed to really resonate, I felt that something was missing for me and the idea of things not working if I deviated from this path didn't make sense either.  Being a creative sort, i'm very tactile and like to feel immersed in whatever i'm doing.  The structure of the traditional method, while useful and enjoyed by many was lacking in the magical, feeling of immersion needed to fully tune in to and to allow my intuition begin flowing.  

One morning I decided to shuffle the cards and then instead of cutting into piles, began swirling them around as though swirling water in a bowl, passing cards over and under and around each other which began relaxing my gaze. Then slowly when feeling ready I slid cards aside until coming across the one that seemed to stand out more brightly.  Here at last was the feeling i'd been looking for.

What I particularly enjoy about this method, is that when my gaze is relaxed the swirling and shifting of the cards is like looking at the shifting colours and patterns of a kaleidoscope, which as you know, is a fascination and love of mine.  Pondering on this observation I realised that all my life i've gravitated to the swirling movement and patterns of anything.  Spirals abound in my day to day, my choice of anything seems to have a spiral on it somewhere and the more I looked around the more spirals I noticed on my ornaments, jewellery, clothing etc.  I'm also fascinated by tornadoes..... yet another spiral.

Nowadays the only method of shuffling and selecting of a card I use is this swirling method because for me it feels right.  The point i'm making and what i'd advise is do what feels right for you and don't worry about what the rules say.  Often when you try and continue with a method that doesn't resonate it defeats the whole point of the process of shuffling which is to tune in and become ready for the reading.

Interestingly as I continue to read and speak with others who use, study and enjoy Tarot i'm finding that people are, in my opinion, more adventurous than before and explore styles that may suit them best.  The blog world is full of writings by these adventurous sorts with wonderful, personal ways of working shuffling and selecting their cards.  Maybe try some of these out for yourself.

Learning the Meanings of the Cards

While journalling your daily card, you will have been referring to the little white book or the full sized book that came with your deck to find the keywords for that particular card to include in your journal.  While both these provide information, less so in the little white book, you will no doubt be wanting to read more on the subject such as the History of Tarot, Cleansing, Card meanings, Spreads and so forth.  You will already be collecting your own personal keywords for each card while journalling your daily card, writing these in both your daily journal and into your working file.

Here are my favourite books and sources you may find enjoyable and useful to work with.   There are often variances in the meanings of cards between authors however the core messages are always present throughout.  Reading a selection of books can at times be a little confusing however it is useful and interesting to read differing thoughts to find the voices that most resonate with you.  By continuing on with noting down your intuitive thoughts for each card as well as studying the core meanings and combining them, you will eventually gather your own set of meanings for readings.


Books:


The Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen

Tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke

A Magical Course in Tarot by Michele Morgan

Complete Book of Tarot by Sylvia Abraham

78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

Learning the Tarot - Joan Bunning

Websites:

Learning the Tarot - Joan Bunning

Aeclectic Tarot

Journalling - What to do when you miss a day.

Life and it's events can sometimes mean that we miss out on drawing our card for the day.  Don't let this get you down or make you feel like you've missed out on a learning opportunity or message for that day.

When that happens for me this is what I do.





Just before bedtime I reflect on the day's events and whereas I would be writing down my reflections as they relate to the morning's daily card draw, instead I write about my day and the events that took place.  Then I select a card from the deck that I think best reflects the events and lessons of the day and write about why I think this, noting down any personal keywords, followed by keywords from the reference book.  In effect you would be working in reverse to the usual daily journaling process but it is just as effective.

Meeting your deck for the first time.

Learning Tarot is the fun part.  Possibly because you are interested in Tarot you may already have your first deck.  If you have just come across this post as a beginner you may like to read my posts from the beginning of the blog to see my thoughts on beginning this fascinating journey.

As you can see I have a few Tarot and Oracle decks but i'll talk more about them another time.

So where to begin?

When I meet a deck for the first time, the scene usually goes with me ripping open the postage packaging to get my hands on what's inside, I try to be restrained but that never happens.  Whatever i'm doing at the moment grinds to a halt the minute the parcel arrives- ironing can wait, dusting can wait.  Once the crazy unpacking is done though things slow right down and the deck is set aside while whatever chore or crafting i'm doing is finished before the peaceful moment of meeting the new deck.

Meeting the new deck is usually done over a mug of tea, taking time to unwrap the plastic cover.  The incense is burning and my working candle is lit at this time because I like to use both to welcome the deck from it's journey and welcome it home before starting to go through the cards.  Some people like to knock on the deck anything from one to three times, I like to use incense and you may have your own preference that gives you a sense of occasion.  All is just fine, i'm a big believer in everyone having their own style of magical doings.  Even if you've had the deck for a while and haven't really handled it much and it's been living on a shelf, start the process as if you have just met

With the plastic removed I pass the deck in it's box through the incense saying a few words that are meaningful to me and my work with the deck.

Your deck will have come with a small white book or a novel sized book.  Whichever you have, put them aside for now because you will come back to them soon.   For now it's all about your personal link and intuition.

Once this is done the enjoyment comes of looking through each of the cards and gaining a feel for the mood and personality of the deck.  Take your time and savour each moment.

This would be the perfect time to write in your working file.  Head up a new clean sheet with the name of the Deck and date you purchased it (or whatever other notes about it's purchase you'd like to make).  Then write a few notes about how you felt on receiving the deck and about how you felt looking through the cards, any that stood out for you in particular and describe what you think the personality of the deck is.  You can continue to add to these notes over the next few times you visit your new deck.

Enjoy this phase of meeting your deck.  Spend a few days having one to one time with it just to look through the images, shuffling the cards, regrouping them into their suits, laying them out into patterns and so on.  All of these gentle activities get you acquainted before moving onto the next stages of meeting each card in depth and finding out their messages and meanings.

You may decide as this point to keep the deck in it's original packaging while you search for a bag or scarf to wrap it in.  My decks all live in their original packaging while the one I am working with is kept out wrapped in a silk scarf and covered by a clear quartz crystal.

What I also like to do when i've looked through the cards on the first meeting is to put the deck and book back in their box and to lay out a pattern of crystals, trinkets, stones or flowers on it for a few days.  For me this feels like a welcoming ritual.  I'm also always interested by the patterns and collections of these items that come together completely by intuition and which gives me a bit of a clue to the personality or energy of the deck.

Have fun!

Journalling - Writing about your Daily Card - a Beginner's Template

Good morning.  Here is the layout for how I started out journalling my daily card.  You may like to follow this format initially but then find as you go on you want to change it here and there to fit better for you. The way I journal now is slightly different however this template gave me a good grounding and prompted me to think through things in a clear routine .  I'd love to hear how you work with this beginner's template and how you have changed it to become yours.

Doing your Daily Card Reading

A long time back when I first decided on drawing a card for the day, the setting of the scene and having a ritual was something that I thought had to be done.  Sadly it proved to be cumbersome and so resulted in making the daily card reading and journalling time consuming which then resulted in me skipping days because I couldn't fit it in.  Nowadays i'm much more relaxed about these sorts of things and don't worry that things won't work without the rituals.  I do love a ritual and indulge in it for those special occasions where I want to luxuriate in a full spread, development time or meditation but usually for my daily card reading it is pretty simple and no fuss.


My daily card reading goes as follows:

I go to my sacred place, centre and ground myself while lighting my working candle,

unwrap the deck from it's silk scarf,

shuffle the deck then spread the cards out on the table, swirling them and mixing them until i'm ready to draw out the card that calls to me,






















An alternative method which is more traditional is to shuffle the deck, then using your non dominant hand, cut the deck into three piles,








reassemble the deck in whichever order you choose and then fan the cards out,

select one for the reading.

Once ready I write in my journal using the same format as the templates shared.

Giving thanks I blow out the candle, wrap my deck except the card for the day and bring the session to a close.

You can read more about my preference for the spiral or swirled version in my blog post about shuffling and selecting cards.

How are things?

How are things with you?
Have you decided on a deck you want to learn with?
Have you found your perfect journal or created one?

I know, questions questions.

Let me know how you're getting on by either commenting on this post or use the contact form on the right.

Tomorrow I will be posting on writing in your daily journal and sharing a template to guide you along in your first few entries until you tweak it into your own style.

Have a fab day.

My relationship with Tarot.

For me personally Tarot is a tool that I am guided to use in my daily life, for personal growth, spirituality, motivation, self development and to help others with the same.  It is a means of looking at a problem or question, looking at the various options and outcomes, to gain fresh insight  and to make the best choices at that time.  The cards are also useful as a focus for intentional thinking and action, a prompter or a champion, an energy to focus on for inspiration or motivation.

With regards to the history and origins, these in my opinion are valuable so that you gain an understanding of the path the Tarot has taken, the input of various societies, belief systems, life experiences, symbology and so on.  The awareness and understanding of this will enrich your relationship with Tarot however I do believe that it's more important to form a bond with the cards as themselves when you feel drawn to them in the first instance.  Enjoy the process of discovery, the beginnings of the love affair because how you feel about your journey of discovery for yourself is more important that having read up on the history first, there is plenty of time for that later on.  For now enjoy and savour the new.

There is much speculation and argument about the facts of origin, how old it actually is, who used it first,  religious viewpoints, paranoia and so forth.  Some may say you should know what you're getting into first, I say that you should go with your gut instinct and if you work with positivity and light then the other negative mumbo jumbo has no place.  Every tool has its good and bad uses, it's not the tool, it's the intention of the user.  With regards to whether working with the Tarot fits in with your religion and it's beliefs on divination being unacceptable, the use of Tarot as a tool of self awareness and life guidance would not be in opposition to this.

I love that the Tarot exists, i'm thankful for the path it has taken to be in existence and all those who brought it through to being.  I honour it's history and appreciate the viewpoints and religious beliefs but I don't allow this to affect my personal relationship with and use of it.

As i've said in an earlier post, since childhood I have loved the whole process of shuffling, handling cards and laying them out to play a game or make patterns with them.  I find the process calming and thought provoking.  This combined with the imagery of the Tarot takes things to a new level in meditation/quiet reflection and intuition for me.  I enjoy the ritual of thinking about the day ahead, thinking of how I can approach a problem or a thought and then drawing a card, thinking what i'd like to achieve and how I can be a better person this day.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Journalling - Preparing your Daily Journal

 

Creating a daily journal is the most useful tool you will have in your exploration and study of Tarot. Your daily journal is where you record your thoughts and message/s received from your selected card of the day, returning later in the day to record you reflections on events and feelings.  The daily journal is valuable because it provides a wealth of personal symbology and meaning and how you view events in life and their correlation with the cards.

I took some time deciding on which type of book to use for this and chose, after much consideration of pro's and con's of various options, to use a page a day diary in A5 size.  The main reason I settled on this size is to guide me into being less wordy and be more to the point in my writing style. I also have a tendency to try to add too much information which then makes things too cumbersome for what is intended to be a 15 minute moment each day.

If you choose a basic plain covered diary or notebook, spend some time decorating the outside to make it special and uniquely yours,  an extra bonus is you get some fun creative time and a session of meditative reflection on what you are preparing for.  I'm a big fan of creativity and making things wherever and whenever you can get the chance.  There are some diaries and notebooks out there with lovely covers to begin with that may be just the thing for you.

Another very useful tool is your Working File which is where you will write your notes of study, insights into the cards, your personal keywords, things you want to study, books to read and so on.   I will write more on this in the near future.

So the next thing to do is venture out there on foot or via the internet and find your new best friends - your daily journal and a working file (an A4 ring file and pad of lined punched paper).  

Tarot Decks - Choosing your first deck.

In this subject, my own pathway did not demonstrate any clear direction or plan in my finding the perfect deck to learn with.  In fact my path to finally finding a beginner's deck that suited me absolutely down to the ground took until this year, 19 years after starting out as a beginner.  Up until then I settled with using the Universal Waite as my beginner's deck but just knew it was missing something for me.  I enjoyed liaisons with quite a few decks along the way, most of them too complicated for a beginner but beautiful nonetheless, some i've kept, others i've let go.  They all taught me something and helped me continue on with my love of Tarot but I always struggled to find that one deck that spoke to me as a teaching deck and guide amongst the others. 

The lesson I have taken away from this is that you can own some of the beautiful and complex decks, but it is easier and better to learn with a deck that is suited to being a beginner deck.  It is my opinion that starting out with a Rider Waite Smith based deck is the best way to start out, even if it doesn't make your heart sing it is easier and will start your journey off on the right foot, cutting out all the frustration I went through.  By all means collect decks along the way whose imagery does make your heart sing but while you are learning, keep using your Rider Waite Smith deck for this.  Keep it simple, keep it light.

The deck that I am loving and finding such a joy to use as my continuing teacher and guide is the Llewellyn Classic Tarot deck.  I wish this deck had come along in my journey a lot sooner but hey, that's the way it is.  This deck ticks all the boxes for me in terms of imagery, feel and colours combined with the clarity of the Rider Waite Smith deck.  So this is my recommended beginner's deck, absolutely.  Also the guide book is wonderful, clear and concise.


Some good beginner decks are,
Llewellyn Classic (love it)
Original Rider Waite
Universal Rider Waite
Radiant Rider Waite

So how did I get here?

For a very long time I have been fascinated with the Tarot.   In fact it all started from a very early age where holding playing cards, handling them, the feel of the weight and texture, the act of shuffling, laying them out, playing a game or inventing my own was something I loved and which held me enthralled.  Once I set my eyes on the first Tarot layout i'd ever seen, which was probably in front of Jane Seymour in that 007 movie, I was hooked. 

My first deck was The Celtic Tarot.  Bought in a bookshop in my local mall with a huge amount of excitement and the sense that finally I was taking that step into something magical and slightly forbidden in a delicious way.  I got home, unwrapped it and sat down waiting for the magic to unfold, sadly I felt deflated and unenthused.  Nothing spoke to me and the minor arcana were not cards showing activities, just the number of wands, pentacles, cups and swords.  I had bought this deck mainly because it was one of three in the shop and having Celtic heritage it seemed sensible, (you do have to smile at this). So here I was, uninspired and disappointed, sitting cross legged on my bed wondering what now.  I soldiered on with reading the book, a good sized book not a mini booklet, which was full of information but I could not get things to stick in my mind or make sense to me when I looked at the cards.  I tried a few layouts reading each description from the book and becoming confused, so immediately doing another layout and becoming even more confused - you get the picture and am sure some of you have been in exactly the same place.

Many different decks later, some were Oracles but mostly Tarots, we arrive to today, twenty years later with me finally having a deck I can really work and continue to learn with and a collection of others that I thoroughly enjoy.  (More on finding your beginner's deck later).  Incidentally it was while writing a few things that I want to investigate, read and write about in my workbook that while listing decks i've owned, I realised that my first purchase was actually in 1995.  How thrilling to see it is exactly 20 years which seems a good omen given all things feeling like they are coming together for me to put dreams into reality. 

So stepping off into the unknown with excitement,  I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures as they unfold or even start your own adventure.  There will be posts sharing things you may find helpful along the way.  I just know its going to be a whole lot of learning and growth for me this year and who knows what shape this blog will take in the process, but that's all the fun.

Stepping off - 2015

For twenty years I have been a scholar and enthusiast of the Tarot, often times a little reserved or reclusive about it but now its time to get the thoughts and ideas out of my head and into life.  It's time for me to share my love of Tarot and things that have inspired me or things i've learned along the way.