Welcome to the third part of the #31daysoftarot2020 challenge – day 21 through 31 (today)-
Part 1 and 2 can be found here:
https://www.joyincreation.com/2020/01/17/31-days-of-tarot-2020-community-challenge-1-3/
https://www.joyincreation.com/2020/01/19/31-days-of-tarot-challenge-2-3/
21. Your favorite 3 card Tarot Spread and why it is your favorite?
Desire – Conflict – Resolution
Strength – Weakness – Advice
You – Path – Potential
22. Your Top 5 Tarot Decks of 2010 – 2019
Oh I don’t know, only 5?! I am not going to overthink this, here goes from the top of my head: Tarot of the Holy Light, Pagan Otherworld, Decadent Dream Tarot, The Mary-El and Tabula Mundi.
23. Your Top 5 Oracle of 2010 – 2019
Oracle of Echoes by Ana Tourian, Threads of Fate by Brit June and Blaire Porter, Soul Cards by Kristine Fredheim, Oracle of Black Enchantment by Deviant Moon and The Illuminated Earth Oracle by Claire Mack.
24. Your Top 5 Tarot Books of 2010 – 2019
In no particular order Benebell Wen’s “Holistic Tarot”, “Tarot of the Holy Light” by Christine Payne-Towler & Michael Dowers, “Tarot for Yourself” by Mary K. Greer, “Pythia de Hogepriesteres” by Petra Stam and Pamela Colman Smith the Untold Story.
25. If you could meet any tarot creator, author, who + when
Oh nooo this is so hard, there are so many. Mary K. Greer comes to mind, again Benebell Wen, I think of Pamela “Pixie” Colman Smith and now I am thinking of people who are no longer alive in body, I also think of Madelene Montalban and Lady Frieda Harris. But who I would really like to meet is Aleister Crowley. Everyone that knows me, knows my interest in the occult. The Thoth deck is one of my favorite if not my favorite tarot deck and I have read many of his books. There is more to this man than him being”the beast” and “the wickedest man in the world”. I think he was a big personality who made his share of public mistakes, one of which was to so fervently and so publicly criticize Christian belief with which he was indoctrinated in childhood. I think that Aleister Crowley worked hard to evoke an aura of mysterious and powerful evil around himself. Artists have often rebelled against the standards they were raised with because they found them limiting, and in that sense, Crowley created his life as artwork. The Thoth deck was originally intended to be traditional but Lady Harris encouraged him to commit his occult, magickal, spiritual and scientific views to the project. Neither Crowley or Harris lived to see the deck itself printed and I would really like to know how they feel about it and how it is now used and loved by so many. With Crowley there is always the question of how literally he expected his statements to be taken. He demanded allegiance to certain ideas, but he also insisted that every idea must be questioned. Truth is relative and we need to see through the trappings of dogma to Mystical Truth. Crowley wasn’t afraid to assault traditional value systems and he insisted on individual thought instead of dogma. I think he would be very interesting to meet, wouldn’t you?
26. Show us your tarot journal if you have one.
I have so many and they are not really much to look at, ordinary notebooks. I write quickly and not neat, I jot down whatever comes to mind. I do keep track of my daily draws and journal about the card briefly. I do bigger readings for myself say once every week and I usually take pictures and also type them out (after initially writing by hand in a journal). I don’t really have a neat journal and a system for myself. I use my journals more, well to journal, I use tarot as writing prompts and not to be pretty. I do keep a Grimoire which I do put more effort in and I record things in such as spells, rituals, recipes, but also tarot insights I deem special and need recording.
27. What is the strangest place you read 2010 – 2019 and tell us about the reading?
Well I only do distant readings from home, so nowhere strange. I always make sure I am in the right energy space and so is my reading space. I have pondered working at New Age shops, fairs, etc. but I find those places to be draining. I was asked to read at a Fancy Christmas Party last year. I read their website and this just didn’t feel right. I don’t want to be a fairground attraction and be reading amongst partying people and alcohol. There is a time and place for everything and personally I love reading in my own sacred space and I love the distant readings. It helps me connect even better than when a person is in front of me. I can truly relax and take my time.
28. Ever turn someone from a Tarot non-believer to a Tarot enthusiast?
Not that I am aware of, you tell me? I may have sparked some curiosity here and there.
29. Your Top 5 underrated Tarot decks
First and foremost The Game of Thrones Tarot, it is really good and reads like a dream! Ofcourse this being a television series, it clearly describes The Hero’s Journey and the choice of characters on the cards is done really well (some cards I may have changed myself, but overall very well done). The person who made this deck knows their stuff! Secondly I think of the Zombie Tarot is underrated. It is created with collages from 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s American newspapers and the readings I do with this a really on point and clear. A fun deck for Halloween, but it is more than gimmicky as it cheeky and charming and as I wrote, it is very readable. The other decks I would like to mention are The Tarot of the Eternal Night (another one for Halloween), The Sacred Circle Tarot and I can’t think of a fifth one right now. About the Sacred Circle Tarot, okay it is not super pretty and the photoshopping is not great seen from our eyes now. But put this deck in perspective and see it through the eyes of what was possible at that time as this deck was made in 1998. I think it is charming and I love the Pagan nature of these cards and the sacred landmarks within Britain and Ireland.
30. What Tarot card do you feel best represents you (art, meaning, vibe) and why?
My first instinct was to say the High Priestess for this is my birth cards. And I have a lot of that energy within me and resonate a lot with the card. Though when unbalanced I tend to be more a Queen of Swords, but right now I feel more drawn to Temperance or Justice. Temperance because I am taking profound steps to balance my life and follow purpose and this card has shown up for me a lot in the past year. And Justice as that is my nature, how I show up in the world. I am very concerned with truth, fairness and responsibility. It is about the search for truth and this is forever present in my life as is the High Priestess, though she is more my Higher Self as the guardian of my subconscious mind and the teacher of sacred knowledge and hidden mysteries. So at this moment I chose Justice. These three images speak to me and the vibe of this art resonates with who I am in this lifetime.
I see Justice as One who “knows all”, thus the light emanating from her two eyes. She is Karma; you can’t hide anything from her (light and day on both sides of card) doesn’t matter if it’s done in broad daylight or in the dark nights. Seeing and knowing all allows her to make a fair judgment to you or your situation. Whatever energies you put out you will get back evenly. I see two triangles in both scales and putting them together you have the 6-pointed star which means equality. Also the Yin Yang sign. The Eagle also sees all, has oversight. And there is a scale coming out of a rose. I feel like this illustrates the idea of Justice on a more personal level, the level of the “heart”.
The Owl Seeing Eye. All Seeing Owl. Sword cuts through the crap. The owl is also a symbol of reincarnation: since it is awake at night a symbol of the soul that has left a dead body and remains in the night, waiting to re-enter another body that is being conceived and taking with them the Karma from the past life. Now I ‘believe’ this is not necessary and perhaps not even the case anymore, but that is another blogpost.
31. What are your Tarot goals for 2020?
My Tarot goals for 2020 are to show myself more as a tarot enthusiast and put myself out there more. 2019 was a bit of a Hermit year as I did a lot of reflection and shadow work and took the time and space, a bit longer than anticipated. Therefor I let go of my YouTube channel for the time being and now I really want to start doing videos again on a regular basis. I also want to make progress with my DIY tarot deck for this has somehow also slowed down. The Winter for me is always a time where my energy is low and besides working my daytime office job, there isn’t much left for anything else except some study and reading. Also the shadow work had to do with finding purpose and my place in the whole scheme of things. I have come to the conclusion that I need to create and claim my purpose. I worked and work still with a lifetime of not feeling seen or heard, a lifetime of feeling insignificant. And as an introvert showing myself to the world is a challenge, so doing videos or posting pictures of myself is not something I particularly like doing. I also feel very disconnected from the world as everything seems to be coming from a screen and I am staring at a screen as I am typing this. And that just all got a bit too much for me last year. I was craving real connection. Now I also found out that I don’t like doing readings in public spaces, I tried and I can push myself if I have to, but hey sometimes you just have to admit that things are not for you. And that is why I so love doing distant readings, tarot readings I can do from home, my own sacred space. This is my happy place. So yes please more of that in 2020, I would love more clients so I can expand my tarot biz. I need to put myself out there more so I can keep doing what I love. Also I want to start facilitating SoulCollage® workshops with tarot again. Let my creative juices flow. I am feeling the first sparks of creativity sprout and they are growing day by day. 2020 and beyond I want to deepen my knowledge of the tarot and its esoteric meanings. Also I want to buy less decks and work more with old ‘forgotten’ decks I have on the shelve. And this 31 day challenge has been a good start in rekindling my passion for long forgotten decks.
Thanks Ethony for creating this challenge, it was great to ponder these questions and most of all it was FUN!
I hope you enjoyed this to. Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments below.
Happy weekend and happy new month!!