The Lovers Tarot: Because he loves hard and is willing to give his heart (and life) for those he loves. He deserves love.
The Devil Tarot: Because he was locked and chained up with guilt for what happened to Chrissy and others because of him or because of lies spread about him. As soon as he learns that he's not at fault and feel no guilt he will be unchained and feel free.
The Strength Tarot: Because he learned to let go of his fears and realize how strong he really is and because he sacrificed himself for the ones he loved.
Taking the time to reflect upon your current social standing, work in progress projects, your finances. What is left to do be done? What can you edit, fine tune? Who needs to be nurtured?
It’s time to look to those finer details, where can you attend to ensure that success on the horizon is sweet as can be?
“The Bed Song” by Amanda Palmer // Eternal Love by Frank Kunert // “Stuck With You” by Voltaire // (promqueendyke) // The Odyssey sparknotes dot com // Marigold Tarot The Lovers by Amrit Brar // “Skulls” by Bastille // illustration for Dante’s Inferno by Gustave Doré
It’s okay to still reference your books and notes when reading tarot!
I saw this guys video on TikTok, calling out a specific tarot reader (well actually he was calling her out for being a scammy “psychic”), and using the fact that she still references books as proof she’s scamming people because “real readers don’t need the books.”
First, that woman is a scammer but it’s not because she using tarot books and reference guides when doing readings; it’s because she lies about talking to people’s dead relatives and has been caught in a bunch of lies about other stuff (just lying to lie). She doesn’t know how to read tarot. And, again, it’s not because she used a reference guide or books.. it’s because she’s just really bad at reading tarot lol. I watched her readings. Even with the reference guides she’s not doing a very good job lol.
But her being scammy is not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on the fact that other tarot readers and wannabe spiritualist and shamans and psychics and whatever else, are using this as an opportunity to shame tarot readers who still use books and reference guides when doing readings.
1. Tarot is an entire system. Stop picking up the cards and thinking you ain’t got to learn you something. “I just intuitively know what the cards..blah blah.” Stop. No. Learn the damn cards. Because I’ve seen y’all’s “intuitive reading” bullshit and y’all be given the absolute worst advice to people. Pulling 3 of swords and telling someone it means they’re about to experience an epic romance with their soul mate and it’s gonna be full of love. Learn the system, then modify it to fit your particular reading style.
2. People with learning disabilities and difficulties exist and shouldn’t be excluded from professional tarot reading spaces! Okay, this is just self explanatory but I’ll explain anyways lol. People who have difficulty with memory and people who have trouble with retaining information exist. And those people need to be accommodated in our community. They shouldn’t be excluded from pursuing a professional career in tarot reading because they still reference a guide book or notes. This really goes for any sort of field. In the real world no one is quizzing you on how well you can memorize shit. This isn’t school. You’re actually allowed to have references and guide books and refer back to your notes.
And I know the argument will be along the lines of “well then that means they just don’t have the gift” and to that I say “stfu” lol. I don’t believe in that indigo child, star-seed, psychic medium bullshit. Anyone can tap into their natural intuitive abilities to read tarot or to use any other form of divination; provided you take the time to actually learn that form/method of divination and not pull the “I’m special and I don’t actually need to learn wtf I’m doing” bullshit. You’re not special Jessica, go read a tarot book and learn the damn card meanings lol.
I’m so disappointed in the community. Our community is known for getting on our soap boxes and screaming about inclusivity and then I gotta see this. We need to do better. And the thing is I agree with pretty much everything else he’s saying but I just can’t get behind the exclusionary language and ideology.
As someone who is currently writing a tarot guide book to help new and experienced readers understand and memorize the cards better, I wouldn’t dare tell someone that they’re not on a level to be a professional reader if they learned from a book or still need a guide.
my deck arrived today and i wanted to show off how hypnotic the foil is because i feel like the pictures don't do it justice.
the mirror oracle was designed and fully illustrated by amrit brar (@musterniillustrates), published by 13th press. it serves as a companion to the marigold tarot.
from the guidebook, amrit writes: "life and death are recurring themes in this deck. the artwork, specifically the borders, take a great deal of inspiration from Indian and Mughal miniature painting. the rock pigeon and its skeleton frame the border of every card, mirrored to one another and surrounded by foliage. they reinforce the cycle of life and death as it repeats into eternity, through every experience, emotion, or plight depicted in the cards."
This was one of the first ones I had in mind. I saw this deck on tumblr when it was kickstarted years ago, and it's perfect for him, I think.
For the Master of Secrets, I've chosen the Marigold Tarot by Amrit Brar.
I think this deck is absolutely beautiful, and it has stuck in my mind ever since I saw it on this site back in 2017, so let's get into it.
No Skin, Just Bone: I think that death is a bit of a theme for Keagan. He's an assassin a normal spymaster, first of all. Secondly, death and loss seems to follow him. His parents are dead, he rose to prominence during an extended (and extremely bloody) war. The previous royal family are missing, dead, or cracked. Also Keagan is extremely goth so jot that down. So I loved this deck because of the ever-present theme of bones, all the people are skeletons.
Colour Palette: It's extremely classy, very ornate. I like that black is the main colour for this, with the detail and lines picked out in white, and beautiful gilded. This is Keagan's colour scheme!
Symbolism: The artist has said that this deck was strongly inspired by their Punjabi heritage, and there's an extra layer of symbolism and meaning in the illustrations because of that. I love that this deck has that extra layer of meaning to it, so even if you are familiar with one layer, there's more to discover. That is really appropriate for Keagan, I think, because he is so cryptic and everything he says has a double meaning to it, as well. Also I just think he'd love the concept of this deck and would want to go and understand all the references, too.
Minor Arcana: Here is what the kickstarter says about them:
Rings, showcased by hands bearing rings or encircling ring-like ornaments
Swords, in this case ranging from longswords to daggers
Wands, which are symbolized by various flower stems
Cups, symbolized by skulls acting as vessels
I love this, especially considering that gold/silver rings are currency in NDM, and the skulls... i mean, see what i wrote in the point above about death.
If you click the tag “NDM in tarot” you’ll see my other posts in this series :)
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a, Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me
https://youtu.be/swURL1Na79Y
Thinking about how Adeline never actually saw the sun, the moon or even the stars for over 44 years being trapped under the bridge and submerged underwater, despite her prayers of being found fading away, she could never even look up at the sky and that would’ve completely shattered her if it wasn’t for her hopeful determination and her limbo abilities she gained over time. Just, oh gosh the feels.
“Oh,” Katie murmurs softly as she flips over the card. There’s a kind smile, the sort reserved for when she has to give a negative reading. “Three of Swords. The imagery sort of speaks for itself with this one. It’s the heartbreak card... you see how the swords are piercing straight through the heart? It usually comes up when you’re feeling deeply hurt and disappointed. Your heart has been pierced by the sharp blades of others’ hurtful actions or words. This usually causes intense emotions of pain, sadness, grief, and heartbreak. Usually these come unexpectedly, out of the blue, making things even more painful. Just remember that this too shall pass. Every hardship creates discomfort, but leads to opportunities to be stronger, to learn from your mistakes, and change the course of your life for the better.”
Currently contemplating setting up pay-what-you-want readings on my ko-fi for the couple of decks I'm less confident with (they're new and I haven't read with them much so I don't know The Vibes quite as well yet) so keep an eye out for a post about that sometime this week probably!