A Phantasmagoric Mistake

Last time this happened, it was with the Tarot of the Secret Forest - a beautiful, haunting deck that reminded me of the jungle at the bottom of my Great Aunt Ivy’s garden. (As a little girl, I was convinced there were fairies in that wilderness, and probably lions too.) I held off buying that deck for no more than a week. I gazed at scans online, read others comments in the forums, and daydreamed about how reading with it would make me instantly more intuitive and wise. Yet less than thirty seconds after ripping the cards from their cellophane, I knew I’d made a big mistake. The deck was beautiful, but it wasn’t for me. Two weeks later, I’d traded it away.

With the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot, it’s taken me a bit longer to realise the error of my ways. I just missed the subtle clues: the fact I haven’t looked at it since the day I got it; the fact it is already at the back of the drawer; the fact that I have no urge whatsoever to read with it. Okay, not so subtle clues. Anyhoo, the upshot of it is, the PTT is a goner. (It’s on ebay right now if you’re interested…)

I just wish I didn’t keep doing this but there seems to be no way of telling which decks will be a ’good fit’ and which will be all wrong. Both the Transformational and the Haindl were impulse buys, and both are here to stay. The same goes for the Amano, the Cosmic, the Mythic, and the Housewives. It takes time to get to know a deck and that can only be done by using it, conversing with it if you like – something that can’t be done just by looking at scans online. All of which suggests that choosing a deck isn’t just about whether or not you like the pictures; there’s something else going on as well.

Still, we live and learn. Or do we? I’m already lining up a replacement for the PTT, one which I’m sure can’t possibly be a mistake on account of it’s so beautiful, classic and would be a joy to own whether I can read with it or not. The Golden Tarot by Kat Black has been on my wishlist for as long as I can remember and yet has so far managed to escape my grip. So far…

Fin

I’m sick of reading “Death is not an end, it’s just a transition”. I’m sick of hearing “time to clear out your closets, girlfriend, the Death card is telling you to get rid of all your clutter”. I’m sick of seeing Death compared to a caterpillar cocoon “don’t worry about that mean-looking skeleton, everything’s fine, look you’re going to turn into a beautiful butterfly!”

The Death card in the Classic Tarot has got it right: TERMINE – END – FIN – ENDE. When you see the Death card, like it or not, something’s coming to an end. A big fat dead end. Full stop, no coming back from this one.

Everything dies. Everything will come to an end one way or another. It’s probably fair to say we encounter Death in our lives on a different level almost every day. So why do we shy away from it in readings?

Yes, Death can represent a transition, but to only focus on that is to mislead the querent. Yes, Death represents change, but when you change trains you END one journey before beginning another. Sure another relationship may come along, another career, another set of beliefs, and that’s great. But it won’t happen until after THIS relationship, THIS career, THIS set of beliefs has died. And it’s the dying you have to deal with.

Death will close the door on you long before another one opens – often long before you even realise there IS another door. Death takes away your wallet, your clothes, your shoes and leaves you in the wilderness with no ride home.

Death is death. It’s not easy, and it looks nothing like a butterfly.

Phantomwise Tarot

Every time Adam McLean sends out a newsletter announcing a new deck in his Artwork Tarot series, it pains me. True, there have been some in the series that haven’t made me salivate but those are few and far between. What usually happens is this:

1. Click link
2. Sigh
3. Scroll down
4. Sigh
5. Scroll back up
6. Sigh
7. Look at price
8. Close window

Today, his Devilish temptation is the Phantomwise Tarot - a stylish black and white deck of dark storybook art by Erin J McCauley. Here are a couple of cards. Nice, isn’t it? In a small way, it’s kind of got a Smashing Pumpkins ‘Tonight Tonight’ thing going on. Apparently, the artist is very much influenced by Lewis Carroll.

   

As with Millenaire Tarot de Marseille, the problem is not that the deck is too expensive. I’d say £40 (which is what the Phantomwise costs) is an excellent price for something that is a hand-printed, hand-cut, hand-laminated, limited edition, majors only collectors deck. No, the problem is that I just can’t spend that much on any deck. The most expensive deck I’ve ever bought was the Hoi Polloi, at £35, and that was only because a) it was out of print, b) I really really wanted it, and c) I promised myself I wouldn’t make a habit out of it. I never regretted that purchase and I have never seriously considered spending that much on any other deck.

Still, it doesn’t stop me pressing my nose up at the window.

Still Alive and Kicking

Seeing as I haven’t posted since Monday, you’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe my house really was struck by lightning this week. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but the Tower card kept its word and sent a steady stream of disruption and upheaval my way all week – hence, no posts.

Today has been calmer and I’m looking forward to tomorrow when I can do a new week ahead spread. I’m hoping to replace that Tower with something kinder: perhaps the Ace of Cups or a nice soothing Star. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Carnival of the Tarot Part Six

Forgot to say – the Sixth Edition of the Carnival of the Tarot is in town, featuring a proper review of the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot. Take a look.

Revelations

Sometimes I am amazed by my own stupidity. For much of today, I have been trying to work out the significance of the Tower card as Overall Tone in the Week Ahead reading I did this morning. I used the Haindl, which has the most intimidating Tower card out of any deck; naturally, I have been peering out from behind my net curtains all day to check for earthquakes, fires and floods. (Not really, but suffice to say I’ve been bracing myself for whatever catastrophe is due to hit.)

Meanwhile, my house looks like a bomb’s hit it: a new fridge-freezer is being delivered tomorrow; the old one is defrosting over the kitchen floor; and nothing is where it should be (in fact, many things are where they very definitely shouldn’t be). It wasn’t until this evening – as I was trying to clear a path through the wreckage to make dinner – that the penny dropped. What am I looking at? Chaos, disruption, upheaval. And what does the Tower mean? All together now: Chaos! Disruption! Upheaval!

The bad news is the Tower represents the overall tone for the whole week – not just today – so it looks like there’s more fun to come. Oh goody.

(You watch…now I’ve said all this, my house will probably get struck by lightning in the middle of a freak earthquake. Tarot cards eh?)

Bold Claims

As I was putting some stock away this evening, I found an oracle deck that I’d forgotten to add to the store. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often…

The deck is the Celtic Oracle by John Matthews. Now, you may think this is just another oracle deck, but you’d be wrong. This deck will change life as you know it. As it says on the back of the box:

“you will gain a heightened understanding of yourself and your place in the world, as well as insight into your true direction in life. You will also learn how to integrate your inner and outer worlds and develop your latent shamanic skills and live in harmony with all creation.”

Wow, all that AND a deck of cards for only £17.99? Sounds too good to be true…

Me, me, me, me

This evening I have updated my About Me page, which is good because the previous version was just awful and 4 of Cupsy. This one is much better I think, and all Magiciany.

My Match Prediction

In just a few minutes, England will play Russia in a Euro 2008 Qualifier. I thought I’d do a quick reading to try and predict the result.

ENGLAND
First half performance – The World
Second half performance - 4 of Cups

RUSSIA
First half – The Star
Second half – The Tower

RESULT
England – Justice
Russia – Ace of Cups

Hmm…things don’t look good for us. After a tricky start where both teams come out to play without their kit on, it looks like England may dominate in the first half but Russia will show signs of brilliance. The second half sees us having to rest after a few too many half-time oranges and putting in a lacklustre performance (where have I heard that phrase before…? ) whereas Russia will deliver a shock. Or they’ll get shocked. I’m not sure.

The final result? England will get exactly what they deserve (uh-oh) and Russia will walk away with a shiny cup.

Oh dear. I hope not.

       

       

Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot

My PT Tarot has arrived, and it is as colourful, twisted and entertaining as I hoped it would be. Unfortunately (as always seems to be the case when a new deck arrives…why is that?) I’ve hardly had any free time to play with it, but I’m hoping to have some this evening. So here’s a quick run-down of my first impressions:

I LOVE…
- the characters. This is a deck full of friends and friendly faces. The artist has given many of them names and describes them with charming little character sketches in the LWB.
- the size. These cards are large – just a little under 14 x 9cm. It is just about possible to shuffle them. The good news is they have very narrow borders, so there’s no wasted space and you have these great big images. I’m already eyeing up my trimming scissors. I think taking a few mms off would make them just that little bit easier to shuffle and let the pictures stand out even more.
- the ethos. Life is FUN! Life is a CIRCUS! Life is a BIG ADVENTURE!

BUT I DON’T LIKE SO MUCH…
- the card backs. I mean, they’re okay, but they’re really not that attractive…
- the card titles. Only because the suit title is at the top and the number at the bottom, and I’m used to looking at the top for the number (really lame reason).

MY FAVOURITE CARDS ARE…
- 2 of Cups (of course)
- the Hanged Man
- the Sun (he reminds me of my 6 year old nephew)
- 9 of Cups
- Page of Wands
- Queen of Coins
- 4 of Cups

       

       

BUT MY LEAST FAVOURITE CARDS ARE…
- 5 of Wands, for being so uncomfortable to look at (ouch!)
- 8 of Coins, for being a bit blah

   

More exciting observations to follow…