I bought a new tarot deck recently (the Norbert Losche Cosmic Tarot, if anyone knows it). I've always had a fairly hit-and-miss relationship with tarot - the symbolism fascinates me, and the potential for archetypal storytelling, but I've had varying success actually using the things. This deck, though ... feels around about right. Heh. It's my first real experience with the minor Arcana, too, which is turning out to be fascinating.
(I have, in fact, considered the possibility that it's less the deck that has improved/come closer to me, and more that my attention span/patience with the deck has improved -_-;)
To get used to the deck, though, my sister and I have been essentially ... Well. Using the seven-card spread, and asking the deck to 'tell us a story'. *smiles* Well, it seems a valid question, and the tarot is really good for telling archetypal tales. Using the seven-card spread gives you a protagonist (questioner), a situation (current problems/obstacles), a basic backstory (distant and recent influences), a trending towards the future, a potential consequence of that trending, and then a warning/POV/thought to consider alongside the story. It also gets you used to how the interpretation of cards can change depending on context (and interpreter - my sister has very different interpretations of some situations to me).
It's an interesting way to learn a deck, I think. Heh. Also, a lot of fun. Tarot really is excellent for off-the-cuff storytelling.
(Now, I've just got to figure out if using the suit equivalents in a normal deck of cards is a viable alternate to the minor arcana, because that's going to be handy in stories - hello Ezra Standish, for a start. Heh).
Yes, I'm not right in the head. Why do you ask?
(I have, in fact, considered the possibility that it's less the deck that has improved/come closer to me, and more that my attention span/patience with the deck has improved -_-;)
To get used to the deck, though, my sister and I have been essentially ... Well. Using the seven-card spread, and asking the deck to 'tell us a story'. *smiles* Well, it seems a valid question, and the tarot is really good for telling archetypal tales. Using the seven-card spread gives you a protagonist (questioner), a situation (current problems/obstacles), a basic backstory (distant and recent influences), a trending towards the future, a potential consequence of that trending, and then a warning/POV/thought to consider alongside the story. It also gets you used to how the interpretation of cards can change depending on context (and interpreter - my sister has very different interpretations of some situations to me).
It's an interesting way to learn a deck, I think. Heh. Also, a lot of fun. Tarot really is excellent for off-the-cuff storytelling.
(Now, I've just got to figure out if using the suit equivalents in a normal deck of cards is a viable alternate to the minor arcana, because that's going to be handy in stories - hello Ezra Standish, for a start. Heh).
Yes, I'm not right in the head. Why do you ask?