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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoAlso, I just posted this on my tumblr, but I thought it would be a good discussion to have here.
I may have just fallen into an Etsy tarot hole. Crawling out now. Maybe.
But can we talk about this deck? Supernatural Tarot
I didn’t think I’d be into pop culture decks, but the few images shown just make sense to me. And damn, they are well dra…[Read more]
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoSince I started the tarot tumblr, I decided to actively wok on doing daily draws. I’ve managed to pull at least one card a day for nearly a week (impressive by my standards! lol). I did have a giggle/really? moment today when I pulled The Fool for the second time in a week. A good reminder about the start of a journey?
Anyway, how you all go…[Read more]
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I don’t do it religiously like many readers do – my daily draw habits tend to wax and wane. Right now, since I’m changing my business and gearing up for a change in lifestyle, I’m drawing a card every morning for a little inspiration – one thing I can do or learn today to move things forward, doesn’t have to be big.
A few weeks ago on holiday, Em…[Read more]
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That’s pretty fantastic, lol.
And so far I’m enjoying it, if just for the opportunity i’m taking to look at the cards I pull a little more in depth (I talked about The Moon a lot today thanks to the daily draw!).
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…the best being the Five of Swords, which I took to mean ‘choose your battles’. Em and I playfight a LOT, always trying to be the one who’s right, but on that day I gave in to her on every point. It drove her nuts :)
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Alison posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoHey everyone, hope you all still remember our weekly tarot analysis! Last weekend’s card was the Four of Swords – Rest and repose, aka what I was doing last weekend when I should’ve been posting this!

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From L to R: Rider Waite Smith; Wildwood; Herbal and last Hanson-Roberts.
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The image from the Wildwood tarot is really interesting to me — the other figures from other decks seem relatively peaceful and serene, but the placement of the arrows in Wildwood makes me think that the figure is in some danger. I’m also not sure what to make of the butterfly that takes up so much of the foreground; it makes me think of M…[Read more]
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I agree, the Wildwood card offers a very different take. I get the sense that the guy here has ‘earned’ his rest – he’s had a tough time and has simply collapsed (and the butterfly could then represent rejuvenation?) Whereas I normally think of this card as resting up *before* a battle or a big event – self-exile, getting out of the day-to-day to…[Read more]
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The Wildwood image always make me think of somebody who has just barely survived a battle – all those arrows almost hit home, but none touched skin. The figure is still lying there on the battlefield, or where he was ambushed. But all is quiet for now, because that butterfly has settled on the branch above.
I think the butterfly definitely could…[Read more]
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Some thoughts/ideas: Swords are the suit of thought and the mind, and fours are a number of stability and calm, so from this we get the basic theme of mental rest. It’s interesting that death is a common image in this card. We see the knight in his sarcophagus . Three swords hang over him, but what I presume is his own lies flat beneath him. This…[Read more]
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The Anna K tarot aligns pretty well with the tradition RWS image, though there are a few differences.
The booklet describes the rest here as the “numbed, exhausted, almost senseless state during or after a very high fever” or a kind of hibernation. I feel like that really goes along with what you said, Hazel Blue. It’s like a convalescence…[Read more]
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoOk, I did it. Here’s the tarot tumblr…
Potter does tarot.-
I made one too recently, it’s kind of my new obsession now. Mine’s here
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Awesome! I started following you.
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Yay!
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Awesome Potter! Following!
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoA good friend’s birthday was yesterday (yes, the day after mine!). We try pretty hard to have some form of contact with each other on both days, no matter where we are. This year, I offered to do a reading for her (I used the same spread I did for myself). It was my first reading for another person; so exciting! I asked if I could share it, and…[Read more]
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Here’s what she got from it…
“Wow! Holy cannoli. That spread is spot on. Overall the strength of the pentacle a comes through in my current focus on financial security, health, and education.
I’m using my daughters of the moon tarot book but these are my thoughts:
1. Interpreted as security, which to me was definitely a theme for last year…[Read more]
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Here’s what I got…
“I agree on the prevalence of the pentacles! They’re very focused on those practical matters of money, security, home.
I also found the two major cards interesting. Someone mentioned recently that they tend to refer to larger, overarching tends and themes in a person’s life. And looking at The Lovers and The High Priest for…[Read more] -
I love four and five – like, embrace hard work now, by next year you’ll be teaching others.
Reading for others like this is so awesome. I learn so much when I share a spread with another tarot-reading friend (or someone who doesn’t know tarot at all but just reacts to the cards). One of my best friends is a die-hard Thoth tarot user, whereas I…[Read more]
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I agree! And I like what you said about “work now, teach others later.” I’ll have to pass that on to her. :-)
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoMy birthday’s today, so I wanted to do a quick, general birthday spread before the clock officially ticked over to June 24. I found a nice 5 card spread that wasn’t horrifyingly intimidating, and laid out the cards. I’ll post a picture of the spread and my interpretation tomorrow, but I wanted to share what I laid down. It was the most major cards…[Read more]
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Happy birthday!!! Nice that you got the Magician for your next year! I wonder what it means to get a lot of Majors in a reading.
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Happy Birthday! That looks like a great reading! A lot of majors can mean that the reading deals with larger (more major) patterns and events in your life. It can signify a reading that’s “more important” than your average one – except I don’t really like to dismiss the minor cards with that phrasing. Basically, when I get a lot of majors, I take…[Read more]
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For one spread it was suggested that if a Major turns up in a particular position that it’s a long standing issue. I wonder if many Majors in a reading can also mean the same thing.
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Alright, here it is. Please feel free to add anything you think is applicable!
1. Last year: Wheel of Fortune
I felt this was pretty damn accurate. I went from the middle of grad school to graduating, to working three part time jobs, to being unemployed and still job searching (since October!). In addition, this speaks to the element of not…[Read more]
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Alison posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 3 months agoWhile I definitely need to catch up on everything that’s been going on in Tarot School recently, I’m once again excited to bring you your weekly card!
The Three of Swords!

I don’t have a lot to say to start us off (more excited for everyone else’s ideas!). Just a few incoherent thoughts about my own cards and their differences in meaning -…[Read more]
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I also like the Anna K image for this card, which focuses on heartbreak and betrayal. It also looks at the idea of making a painful head vs the heart decision in favor of the head.

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Great interpretation of this card! It really does look like they both are sad to be parting, so this is a decision made with the head not the heart.
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This is from the Steampunk Tarot. I like the image of the clockwork heart because it reminds me of the connection between reason and emotion. The book that comes with it connects it to heartbreak because of gained knowledge. Learning something that causes heartbreak, which you then can learn from.
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I don’t quite see that, although I like it. What do you think indicates that there has been knowledge gained? This is the next deck I’m going to buy once I have some cash.
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I thought that was an interesting interpretation, too, but I also don’t see it myself. I think it’s reasonable to draw a connection between heartbreak and knowledge, but not necessarily a specific order (knowledge leading to heartbreak, or vice versa). With this deck in particular, that balance between knowledge/emotion and science/magic is a…[Read more]
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Alison, great question re. real or imagined heartache!
I think it was in a YouTube video I watched where someone said that readings are all about how we individually experience reality. If that’s the case then I think I would lean toward an explanation that it indicates how we are experiencing things which may or may not be “real”. I think it…[Read more] -
Although the Collective Tarot suits aren’t directly interchangeable with the RWS suits, I thought it would be interesting to post the Collective Tarot Three of Feathers and the LWB description!
“The Three of Feathers is about the intersection between communication and the heart. It is the gut-wrench when people who care deeply for each other…[Read more]
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I see what you mean about it being so dark and hard to make out. Feather imagery is really interesting. Someone posted the Ace of Feathers from the Collective Tarot a couple weeks back. Really interesting to think about how Feathers relate to truth (Maat or Ma’at not sure which is correct).
What I see in this card is the person using the…[Read more]
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Dreaming WayI have always thought that this was one of the easiest cards to understand in the RWS–a painful situation that is temporary and will pass. As usual the Wildwood interpretation of this card is very interesting, and makes me think of the three swords more along the lines of a love triangle than the RWS imagery.
The Dreaming Way…[Read more]
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This is from The Wild Unknown deck. I haven’t had it come up in my readings, but it represents betrayal, heartbreak, and turmoil. From the guidebook’s description and how the imagery is, it’s better to try to not make any decisions in this state and wait for the heart and spirit to mend.

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I like the advice around waiting for it to pass. Decisions made in this state have always proved *very* dodgy in my experience…!
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I have come to really respect this card. A friend has it as a tattoo (the RWS version, which is utterly stunning) and for ages I thought ‘why the HELL would you tattoo that onto your body?!’
Now I see it as a reminder of how strong the heart is. The big red heart in the RWS version isn’t bleeding, isn’t crumbling. It says ‘you will get through…[Read more]
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 4 months agoI just had to share this:
I finally got the library’s copy of Greer’s 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card this afternoon. Last night, when I was doing a spread I made based on Dani’s Something Greater Than you Pride Edition (Thanks for the idea, Elisabeth!), I pulled The Devil in the “where do I want to be/Future” position. While writing on it, I was…[Read more] -
Alison posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 4 months agoAnyone know of a good spread (or want to create one?!) for when you are standing at a cross-roads in life, with multiple paths you could choose to pursue?
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What a coincidence! I was just thinking of this the other day. I kept thinking about the two of rods in Potter’s deck.
I was thinking it could take the form of a y, with the end of the y representing where you’re currently at and then two lines veering off of that representing two choices, or different paths. That only gives you two paths though. -
Decision making spreads, forking path (I guess that’s what I was thinking of), and crossed paths.
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This is really simplistic, but I like to draw a card for each option I’m considering. If it’s a crossroads between two paths, I’ll draw I card for Path A, a card for Path B, and a card for Off the Path – “Something Else I Haven’t Thought of Yet?” I’ll lay these out horizontally, and if it’s necessary or interesting to do so, I’ll continue by…[Read more]
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Alison posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 4 months agoIt’s been one week, and I was so excited and inspired by everyone’s posts on the Ace of Swords last week!
So this week I’d love to hear everyone’s take on the Two of Swords:

(Pictured: Herbal Tarot; Wildwood Tarot; and Rider-Waite-Smith)
This card’s always been intriguing but initially difficult to understand for me. Some meanings I’ve read…[Read more]
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Hmmm, I’ve never seen this card interpreted as a healthy balance, but rather as an unhealthy one, the kind of false balance or stasis that results when you refuse to make a choice. Maybe the artwork is more neutral in some specific decks? If so that’s a decision on the part of the artist to tweak the traditional meaning (which is of course totally…[Read more]
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Left to right: Tarot of the Magical Forest, Dreaming Way
Yay! I was excited to see your (now weekly) post.
I really love the image in the Wildwood Tarot! That has a lot you can read into.
A brief interpretation from Greer’s 21 Ways with the Dreaming Way:
(Stating the obvious may seem silly but I was surprised at what it can bring out,…[Read more]-
I just wanted to add that that is obviously my own story and that I don’t think that that interpretation applies to everyone.
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I think that this person needs to put down the swords (or arrows) in order to take that blindfold off.
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It’s interesting that the Dreaming Way character is the only one not balancing her swords. At the same time, this card makes it a lot easier to see her indecisiveness. I agree that she seems very vulnerable, and I like your story behind it a lot.
The book for the Wildwood tarot also makes the point that the bow underneath her foot is broken…[Read more]
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I agree with you about the indecisive quality in the Dreaming Way, and I find the previous bad decision making element in the Wildwood very interesting! That led her to the position she is in now. I just looked this card up in my Pollack book and I’m left with a feeling that this card can go a couple of ways. Pollack writes that this card…[Read more]
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I love hearing everyone’s insights on this card! I’ve always had trouble interpreting this one beyond just needing to re-examine your decision making. Also love the ties to justice/injustice in the Wildwood card – what a gorgeous image!
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This is totally it. There’s so much duality in this card/ in the two swords that it still feels impossible to pin it down to one meaning.
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Oh man, when I first drew this card, I felt immediately connected to it. I was pretty sad to learn that it had such negative connotations, but there’s still part of me that really identifies with it. There is a certain power in this card (in my eyes)- when I first saw the Rider-Waite version I expected it would be a card about inner strength and…[Read more]
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Also, what do you guys think about the moon making an appearance in this card? In the Rider-Waite version, it almost seems like the moon is hanging out during the day.
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I just stumbled onto something that is relevant to the moon symbology. An interpretation of the Steampunk two of swords on TABI Tarot’s blog.
The author says that this is about being led more by intuition rather than vision and clarity. Ok, now I’m done! :D
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Corinna, I really liked your additions!
I wondered about that moon too. Perhaps this is a nod to the Empress who is quiet and wise and the intuition (the Moon card itself).
This tarot website says that moons in cards deal with cycles, reflection, emerging from one phase to another. Here’s a neat image from that website of all the moons on…[Read more]-
I like that idea a lot. Let’s do it during the next full moon?!
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Great idea. That’s July 12th I think. I’ll add it to my iCal, otherwise I’ll never remember.
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I just wanted to toss Anna K’s 2 of Swords into the ring – it looks so different!

This is her description of the card: “The two of swords depicts the unpleasant doubts that creep over us if we have lost the connection with our center, our intuition. With intellect alone we can’t make decisions that satisfy, that feel right, even if they are…[Read more]
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Whoa. So different from all of the other cards! It’s interesting though that this one is still about being disconnected from our intuition. And I feel like I can see some self-doubt in this as well as in the other cards.
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the two of swords has always been a card that comes up for me often and that functions as a warning for me — to me, especially with the rider-waite deck, it’s always represented closing oneself off in an unhealthy way, kneejerk reactions of self-protectiveness that don’t actually serve. i find myself really noticing how her swords are held in a d…[Read more]
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That is a really interesting interpretation. I makes a lot of sense!
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Thanks Rachel, that was really helpful!
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Potter posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 4 months agoElisabeth and I discussed this a ways back, but are folks interested in sharing their journaling process? I don’t journal every time I run a spread, but I try to do it for most of them. Beth had some great journal ideas in her last article!
It is in a physical notebook, or computer, or online? What is your journaling process? How do you record…[Read more]
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cool idea! I currently have two physical old school paper type journals – one I started about a year ago. I have a page for each card, and I write down what I learn about that card each time I do a reading (if there’s something new to add of course). The second journal I just started a couple of days ago for readings themselves. In an ideal world…[Read more]
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I had every intention of starting a new journal that was totally devoted to Tarot but then it quickly became totally enmeshed with my regular life stuff. I can be organized enough to write the date on top of the page, the name of the spread, the deck used, and the question. Sometimes I do a rough drawing of the spread. After that any rules, if…[Read more]
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Alright, so I’ve got some time to respond to my own post, lol.
As I was taking pictures for this and reading your responses, Corinna & Elisabeth, I realized that I don’t really do a couple of things: write down the question itself or the relevance of the notes I do write. If I’m writing up a reading to post here, I go more into that, but…[Read more]
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Also, I might add that this is an old journal I made back in college from draft copies of my senior thesis and my friend’s thesis, lol. (I made one for her too!) I’ve had this thing for 5 or 6 years, and it’s served a number of purposes, which is why I have no qualms about taping and adding things. I’ve beat it up enough during disaster response…[Read more]
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I love it! I like to glue, tape, and scrap over my journals, too. They’re more fun when they feel more fluid.
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Wow, this is awesome in so many ways! I really like seeing other people’s journals. I wanted to post a pic of mine but I felt a wee bit embarassed.
The retreat sounds really fantastic! I would love to go to something like that! I see that you got two of the same cards that came up in your spread about the job issue, the 4 of pentacles and…[Read more]-
Just wanted to say, don’t be embarrassed about your journal, no matter what it looks like. Everyone organizes their thoughts differently, so as long as it makes sense to you, then I’m sure it’s amazing! Also, seeing your thought process may help others understand how to read the cards better! Just a thought!
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I agree with Allison – don’t be embarrassed! This is why I love Maggie’s column about journaling here on AS; she’s all about encouraging a “whatever works,” creative attitude towards it.
Also, re: King of Cups and 4 of Pentacles… yes, lol. I’m pretty sure the last time I got the 4 of pentacles, I wrote “I’m starting to you,” especially since…[Read more]
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Ok. :) Here’s two of my journals. You can see how anything goes. The funnest part of getting new pens for me is drawing them.

And I can be neat at times (on the right):

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I love these! I especially love the drawings! Looks like you’ve done a lot of work as well!
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Thanks! I pretty much have a lot of time on my hands right now.
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I really like the highlighting as well – and the sticky notes, which I think are an artist/writer’s best friend! Or, for that matter, the best friend of any one working with multiple ideas at once! I have one online journal that basically everything goes onto because I am addicted to pictures and basically, my computer. I’m also really visual, so…[Read more]
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Just wanted to say, I’ve been reading your entries while feeling like a total lurker since I don’t use tumblr and can’t comment there… but it’s been cool seeing your thoughts evolve so far!
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Thanks, Mary. No worries on lurking at all. If I minded lurkers, I’d have made it private. I’ve been lurking on your blog as well! And really enjoying all of your explanations of court cards. I need all the help with those that I can get!
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Awesome Alison! I missed a lot! And I have no idea how to use tumblr but created an account to follow your blog. Totally as an aside – I was basically born into a Handmaiden’s Tale kind of cult. Luckily my parents decided to leave when I was a toddler. Now I’m a raging feminist. Well…feminist anyway.
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Tumblr is a bit weird to use. I think just to read everything you don’t need an account, but since you have one, you should be able to comment! Which I’d love! I think you have to follow for two weeks before it allows you to reply (not sure yet how to override this), but eventually it should work.
About the cult – that is a pretty unique (though…[Read more]
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Yes, I do have memories of the cult. Bad ones. It was a Christian cult thing. Are you out to your parents? I can’t imagine what they would think of that if you were like a baby-eater as a feminist.
In hindsight I’m pretty sure that I came out to my parents in a sort of spiteful way because I knew deep down that I would never hear from them…[Read more] -
Yes, I am out to my parents. I came out as a feminist first, which I think was more shocking in part because they had this preconceived idea of who I was that got shattered.
Also my dad was really understanding about my sexuality because he understands that it’s not a choice. (Whereas… I guess being a feminist, however illogical it may seem n…[Read more]
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Lately I’ve been doing both a paper journal and an online one, and the blog has been a really useful addition for me… basically I do free-write style entries in the notebook for most readings I do, and sometimes I draw out the full spread in there. When I think to, I take a pic of my spreads as well in case I want to document them on le blog.…[Read more]
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I really enjoy your blog posts! They always make me think about the cards from a very different and usually much lighter position that I had been. I think reposting is good because of the scrolling issue and lack of organization.
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Right now I’m keeping two books, one paper and one online. I’ve been using the online one for readings, so I can put a picture of the spread (and any other relevant pictures, like if I worked from a template for the spread) and then type as much as I want. I’ve noticed that I write more and do more analysis if I’m typing, because my hand doesn’t…[Read more]
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I want to do this too, have a page for each card, instead of the random jumble that is my journal.
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Love this idea!
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Alison posted an update in the group
Tarot School 9 years, 4 months agoHi everyone! I’m really excited so see how quickly this group is growing. As some of you know, I’d like to use this space to pool our collective feelings/intuitions/observations/experiences to analyze each card, one at a time.
I know that it will help me a lot, in understanding individual cards, especially numbers and court cards, and think that…[Read more]
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I like this plan. It would be really nice to see this group stay active and grow! Just read Beth’s article and loved her insights. Swords represent the element air and are often associated with the mind and with intellect. Personally, they call up imagery of weather. The swords can be so tempestuous, I think of wind and storms, and the ace would…[Read more]
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Great addition about the tempestuous nature of swords. I think some decks depict clouds on this card in the distance as dark and kind of looming as well as casting shadows on the mountains in the background. I think that speaks to what you wrote.
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I love the idea of a jolt or a wake-up call for this card!
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Thanks for getting this rolling Alison. I hope we can keep it going!
To add to my reply to Hazel, swords do represent something new, new beginnings and with swords there seems to be a danger more than any other suit of negative aspects of the suit manifesting themselves. Hence, the double edge of the swords, which is really a very clever play on…[Read more]-
From left to right: Dreaming Way Tarot, Tarot of The Magical Forest, and Tarot of The Master.

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I would guess that “gift” is similar to “opportunity” in that a start at something is being offered to the querent. Maybe?
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Oops, that should have read “aces represent something new” not swords.
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Alison, what deck is the middle card? “The Breath of Life”, that is interesting and something to think about!
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The middle deck is the Wildwood Tarot. I still have not read the explanation for this card in the book that comes with this deck… but I thought it was very interesting that the smoke in this deck, unlike in the others sees to be coming from a fire / campfire/ signal on the ground.
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Love this idea too! Elisabeth, my interpretation of aces is that they are the suit in their purest form – they represent the potential of the suit (and perhaps in that way they are a gift)- the aces are some of my favourite cards. I usually think of them in a positive light, but it’s interesting to think about the dark side of that potential. The…[Read more]
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Corinna, yes, the suit in it’s purest form…in the Dreaming Way Tarot so many of the sword cards have people dressed in white which the creator says in the booklet refers to purity of intention. In this deck there seems to be a purity of intention even when things get a bit difficult.
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This is pretty awesome:
“ready to cut through bullshit, resolve conflict and seek the truth. This is the ‘take no shit’ card, I love it.” littleredtarot.com
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I love the Collective Tarot’s depiction and interpretation as well: http://tarotparlor.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/img_20131120_084710.jpg
“the ace of swords is the gift of communication- it contains all the potential of clear thinking and truth telling. It’s reaching into yourself and finding what you want to get across, pinching it index finger…[Read more]-
Corinna, that’s really awesome and helps me understand this card a lot. You can’t communicate clearly if you don’t understand clearly.
Instructions for doing all sorts of neat stuff in comments (like posting photos) can be found in Ali’s ‘Learn HTML and Build A Better Internet Comment: Part 2’.
I upload them to imgur. From all ‘images’…[Read more]
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I can’t get it to accept what I write in for the code. Best to check Ali’s article I guess.
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Oooh, HTML! Of course. THANK YOU :)
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This is really interesting, and brings up the question of it being positive or negative again for me. While this card / clear communication might be a gift, saying what you want to clearly is not always productive, depending on what you say. I like that ambiguity.
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Alison, really nice connection!
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Niki
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I have an iPad app of The Housewives Tarot, and I actually really like it. It’s funny and the images line up much better with their meanings and make more sense than I thought they would. Will probably get the physical deck at some point.
Yeah, it’s sitting in my Amazon cart right now…
Do it.
Oh I did, lol. Along with the Wildwood Tarot and a mini RWS.
…I had to get to $35 for free shipping?
Yeah, I always end up buying extra books/decks/random crap for the shipping. Good for you! Post reviews when you get them! :)