Instagram - Intuitive Interview Project for October @hobosafecamp

A photo posted by Judy K (@weirdeye) on Sep 27, 2016 at 10:08am PDT

#regram
#hobosafecamp "It's not so much a #tarotchallenge as it is an attempt to focus our combined energies to raise the global #frequency to a more loving tone. Use #tarot cards, #runes, #freewriting, #photography, or any form of artistic #divination. Get creative!"

I think I could get into this. I'm not entirely sure if this is intended to be a divinatory exercise or a tarot-based art project, but I'm going with divinatory - using random card to universally "answer" the interview questions. This "universal" aspect is more clearly stated in Papa Hobo's explanatory video.

Find me on Instagram.

Baby made me do it

So - I’m upstairs ironing, and I remember that I need to do something when I get downstairs. My memory for To Do type stuff isn’t reliable, so I call on my guides to remind me when I get downstairs (as you do). I begin going through those I know by “name” (in quotes because I don’t think they really have names in that sense, that’s just how they help me to differentiate between them), hoping one of them will take up the cause. Moments later I hear the name Baby.

What? A new entry? “Who are you?”

“I’m the one who bought the biscuits yesterday.”

Let me explain. While out grocery shopping yesterday I was drawn to the packets of Lemon Puffs in the Biscuit (Cookie) section.

Now, I don’t normally buy biscuits. For one thing, I’m trying to cut way back on the amount of sugary stuff I eat, and if I do crave sugary it’s usually in the form of chocolate or soft American-style cookies, not our crispy biscuits. But I bought them, despite the fact that I have a vague recollection that I've had them before and I didn’t actually like them.

But now it seems I didn’t buy them, Baby did. This could be a great get-out clause for all my impulse purchases. Baby made me do it.

I asked her “What else do you do besides make me buy biscuits?” and she just giggled. She giggles a fair bit. Because of her general childishness, I asked if she was a friend of Claire, my inner child (yes, I’ve named my inner child; it makes it easier to relate to her). “No.” Just like that.

So it would seem she’s not something internal but a distinct new “entity” in my spirit team.

She nagged a bit about the biscuits but I told her she’d have to wait – I’d have a couple with a cup of coffee this evening. That seems to have mollified her.

She has a somewhat annoying habit of saying my name. A lot. Maybe it’s just because it’s new to her. She’s quieted down now.

Why am I sharing this? I’m curious if other people have similar interactions with their guides/spirit team/woo woo crew. I’d love to hear your stories.

And, yes, I did remember the thing I needed to do. Really can’t say if it was a nudge or just that this whole experience kept the thought in my mind. But objective achieved, so it’s all good.

Seduced by a Deviant Moon

I have never liked the Deviant Moon Tarot.

While I appreciated the novelty and humour of the artwork, it didn't strike me as anything I'd want to work with. I was happy to leave the deck to those readers who responded to it.

So what happens? I'm checking out cheap tarot decks on eBay (search: "tarot cards", <£8, worldwide. Warning: do not do this unless you have a very tolerant partner or you can consistently get to the postman before they do) and someone is auctioning a new Deviant Moon Borderless Edition.

Now, because of my general disinterest, I didn't even know a borderless edition had been published (2013). Mildly curious, I had a look at the images. And something clicked in my head.

I Googled up some more images and that was it - I wanted this deck. Luckily for me, the rest of the world and his dog must already have their beloved copies because there were only 3 bids and I nabbed it for £11 including postage.

The deal done, I just considered it a cheap and quirky addition to my collection.

And then it arrived. Oh. My. God. I was not expecting to love it like a long lost friend as soon as I had it in my hands. The card stock is gorgeous - warm and velvety, and just the right stiffness for the size of the cards. And the size! I love the skinniness of it. My hands are just big enough to shuffle them side on.

And, of course, the images. Maybe they seem so familiar because you can't avoid seeing them everywhere on the interwebs. But it's more than that - I feel like I know them, almost like they're family. This is what drove me to blog about the experience within minutes of opening the box. I've not had a reaction like this to a deck before. I knew I clicked with the Earth Magic Oracle before I'd even bought it because I was always drawn to sample spreads posted on Facebook and read them with ease. But I ignored the Deviant Moon ones.

Very strange, but then lots of things have been shifting for me over the past week or so. What's going on astrologically right now? Must check that out. But not before I spend some time reacquainting myself with an old friend.

I didn't fall, I jumped

I was going to say I fell off the 28 Days of Thoth wagon, but that's not true. I clung on desperately, but I wasn't enjoying the ride.













Nothing to do with the Thoth. I like it. Admittedly, it's a challenge to work with for one so used to RWS imagery, but it's refreshing.


No, the problem was the restriction. A lot of the time I just didn't want to work with Thoth, I didn't want to struggle through a 15-Card Spread, or try to comprehend the subtleties of elemental dignities.

But I'd told myself, and you dear Reader, that I wasn't going to use another tarot for the duration. I'd made a commitment. So I distracted myself with other things and simply avoided the deck. Because I intended to use the 28 questions from moonlit.tarot's June Instagram challenge as my "finishing line", I told myself it would just mean that I'd be working with the deck until I got through all the questions, however long it took.

So, I barely read with Thoth, I wasn't "allowed" to work with other tarots, and even my use of oracles was somehow tainted by the feeling that I "ought" to be using the Thoth instead.

I pretty much ended up not reading at all.

I wanted to quit, and I agonised over this. I really did. I actually journaled about my lack of motivation. Should I give in to it? Shouldn't I? What potential gains would I be throwing away? Was I being self-indulgent? Was I just plain lazy and undisciplined?











But then I thought about how I'd worked with the Tarot Balbi, not for the two weeks I'd originally, and with some trepidation, committed to, but in the end for well over a month. Not just to the exclusion of other tarots, but all my other cards. And I thoroughly enjoyed it and really bonded with the deck.

Maybe now was just not the time for me to bond with Thoth. If it was keeping me from reading, I wasn't benefitting from the attempt.

So, I jumped.

I felt immediate relief. I pulled out a few favourite decks and mucked about with them just because I could.   I've started posting daily draws on Instagram to put my "release" to good use. And I'm excitedly using a new and unusual deck I bought recently (I'll probably post about it soon).

I am still working my way through the questions, but the pressure is off. Will I ever master the 15-Card Spread and elemental dignities? I don't know. But for now, I can just enjoy reading again.

La Corte dei Tarocchi - new deck interview (Instagram)

Questions 2, 3 and 4 from Ethony's "Get To Know Me" spread. 1. What are your strengths as a tarot deck? - I am the spark of Creativity. 2. What are you here to teach me? - To reach out to others. 3. How can I connect best with you? - Let go. I love this Dancing Death, swinging his scythe and boogieing on down. :D #tarot #lacortedeitarocchi #tarotreadersofinstagram #newdeckinterview #ilmeneghello

A photo posted by Judy K (@weirdeye) on Sep 8, 2016 at 10:22am PDT

There's an interesting play within the imagery here. Imagine Death's wrap extending underneath the table and appearing as the arm holding the Wand. Birth, communion, death. Repeat...

A mini makeover for a less than ideal deck

You are the boss of your cards*.

Last year I bought a secondhand Soul & Spirit deck off an acquaintance on Facebook. These decks come as occasional gifts with Soul & Spirit magazine, so they're nothing special. She had several she was offloading but only that one appealed to me. It was the "Your True Calling" oracle by Genevieve McGee. More about that deck in a bit - I mention it because I love it so much that when a new S&S deck featuring Ms McGee's artwork came up on eBay I bought it blind - the Angel Blessings Oracle Cards.

Hmm.
The technique used to create the artwork is very different from my other deck, and doesn't really appeal to me. Also, and I shouldn't have been surprised by this, it is all angels, or in some cases blobs that I imagine are supposed to represent angels

And then there's this -

Really, Soul & Spirit? You need 36 images to create a deck and you resort to this?

But never mind, I can deal with all that. What I can't deal with are the cheesy and frankly redundant "affirmations" at the bottom of the cards. "Whispers - Heart whispers bring you joy". Oh puleez!

At this point, I was so underwhelmed that I considered selling it on. But then I thought No, I'll give them a chance to prove themselves. So I tried a little reading, a follow-up to a playing card reading I'd done for someone earlier in the day.

The cards were so spot on for the situation that I knew I had to keep them.

But I had to do something first. I had pretty much the same issue with the Your True Calling cards. They didn't come with their box so I didn't get the "blurb", but the affirmations and advice on the cards seemed very much geared towards helping you to find or create your dream job. Job satisfaction basically. Too restrictive for the all-purpose use I intended to put them to, and too distracting. So I fixed them.

Just like this.   Correction tape rules!

Now I can use just the titles and colour patterns (if not the images themselves ) to trigger my intuition.

*I'm trying to remember who said this. It may have been Hexe Claire, but please correct me if you know differently.

Open Reading 15

Air      ---      Fire      ---      Fire

You can try to reason with them until you're blue in the face but you won't succeed in changing their opinion. You'll just have to hold your ground. 

Tell me anything

Client: I’d like a reading, please.
Reader: Wonderful. That will be £xx, please…
        Thank you. So, what is your question?
Client: Oh. I don’t have a question.
Reader: No question?…
Client: I’d just like to know what the cards have to
        tell me.
Reader: …
Reader: Is there an area of your life you’d like some
        insight into?
Client: Not really. [smiles encouragingly]

Okay, this is not insurmountable. The reader could use a spread that would help to define an area of enquiry, giving the reading some context. Or they could take the client at their word and just throw a few cards and see what comes up. And of course, if they happen to be psychic, pfft, piece of cake.

But…

You the client have just sat down (virtually, if it’s by email) and handed over your hard-earned cash to someone you probably don’t really know… and you don’t have anything in particular you’d like to know about? You’re willing to pay good money for a random message from the universe? Surely the reason you’ve approached a card reader is because there’s something that you’d like the universe to address.

What if the universe tells you to call your mother more often? Or that your next pair of shoes will be blue? Are you going to be happy that you spent £xx for that?

And how do you feel about the message itself? Do you believe it came from The Beyond?

If you have a question and the reading then addresses that question in some sensible fashion, you can feel fairly confident that the information came from Source. If you've posed no question, you have no point of reference, and no way of satisfying yourself that it is indeed a message from Spirit and not just from the imagination of the reader. Still, it may 'feel' right to you, and if so, all well and good.

Mind you, if you really have nothing better to do with your time and your money than to get a reading just for the craic, why not spend them learning how to read cards yourself. You’ll get more out of it, I promise you. 

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How’s this for synchronicity? I was ready to post this when I took a break to check my emails, and there was one from Carrie Mallon offering her “Serving of Synchronicity Reading”:

If you are yearning to receive meaningful messages but don't have a specific "focus area" in mind for a tarot reading, this option is perfect. You will not be asked to provide any notes or context for this reading. Instead, we'll trust synchronicity. I'll ask to be guided to the cards and insights that will be most useful to you, and your reading will be a serving of random (but oh so magical) support.

See? We do try to cater for everyone. 
Find it here --> http://www.carriemallon.com/readings/ 

Repost - Art of Cartomancy: Accuracy in a Cartomancy Reading

The incomparable Kapherus says Keep it focused and keep it simple.
Accuracy in a Cartomancy Reading

Big Brother? Or a Tarot fan on their lunch break?

So why does someone from the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions keep visiting my blog? Like 23 times now?

Maybe someone who works there logs in on their lunch break. If so, I'm flattered you keep coming back. Drop me a comment and say "hi".

Otherwise, one might think they're checking up to see if I'm selling readings, LOL!