Hey there!
Finals week is just super fantastic right before Yule time! Was the sarcasm too obvious? Oh well! Due to finals week I did not post for last week, ergo my goal is to have two posts this week.This week I thought I'd talk a little bit about divination, but more specifically Tarot cards.
As I've said before I've been practicing for about a year and a half so I am a total newbie to a lot of things. Tarot is definitely one of them. I tried purchasing a mini pocket tarot deck off of Amazon around the time I first started on this path, however, 1) I was overloaded with new information and didn't dedicate my time and energies towards it, nor HAD any time, 2) I couldn't connect with those cards at all because they were really awkward to handle and 3) they went missing by the time I returned from my time abroad...not naming any names haha.
I have recently been going to my local metaphysical shop and looking at Pendulum's and decks because during Samhain I was sad I couldn't do any divination like runes, pendulum's or tarot. I did meditate, but I was anxious that day so it didn't end up working out in the way I had wanted. About two weeks ago I purchased my current Tarot deck, it's the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot deck and I like it so much more than my first experience with Tarot a year ago. If you want to see more about it you can check it out on http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/radiant-rider-waite/ .
Anyways, I was going to consecrate this deck on the last full moon of the year but silly me had been sleeping with it under my pillow in the dorm and didn't bring it with me when I went home that weekend! I will be consecrating it this weekend as it's Yule and also because I have Winter vacation yay!
I have kept this deck in a solid black drawstring bag that was in my metaphysical store. I bought that bag first before I purchased any deck because I wanted to make sure that when I had found the deck for me, it would have somewhere safe to be kept.
I have chosen the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot deck because I really don't feel like I will be comfortable with Tarot until I have learned one of the original and basic decks. I learn most things better if I first learn an outline and then I feel comfortable to customize something myself whether that be rituals or how I interpret Tarot. I chose the Radiant version because it has very beautiful colors, but is still very close to the original, I am very visual so this should help me progress better.
I do think that after the holiday presents come in and I have some spending money I will buy an instructional book, but at the moment I am just using one of my favorite online instructions paganwiccan.about.com . Patti Wigington has a lot of free online courses and I have just re-started her Tarot 101 course.
The first assignment has been completed without realizing it. I went to the metaphysical store multiple times, looked online, looked at Barnes n Noble etc. Finally I decided on one, I am super picky haha. I recommend when starting out to not overthink the art-work. It is good to feel like it should be appealing, but I was looking for something too specific to start with and it ended up frustrating me. I was trying to sort out if I should just buy one or if I should wait for one to call to me, but I'm sure that this advice will be more appropriate when I am comfortable with Tarot and am finding alternative decks. Needless to say I am happy with what I now have.
I consecrated the deck during Yule and started the second assignment for the e-course right away. This e-course is a little mixture of both experienced readers and rookies. It is important to read the articles to help with when you are comfortable with Tarot, but I know that this will make more sense later on. The course is designed for a refresher and as a basic 101. I am making my way through the Major Arcana and so far I am really surprised with the self reflection that I am tracking in my Book of Shadows/Mirrors :)! I hope that tracking my journey through Tarot will be an example of one way to go about it!
Blessed Be!
The Closet Witch
Coming Up: Yule Time
Coming Up After: Witchy Web!
