(no subject)
This has proven to be a really interesting hobby. The most obvious reason is for the art, and to see how different artists create the cards. It also plays interestingly into Jungian psychology and mythological archetypes, mostly in the major Arcana, painted with an obvious European bent, but still using universal figures that everyone can understand, ex. the mother, who can nurture, care, but who can also be overbearing, controlling, etc.
The other reason is that, for whatever reason, different decks feel different to me.
I started out with a very simple deck, one of those mini kits you see in bookstores for tiny zen gardens for your desk and whatever. That one was pleasant, easy, gave very clear answers with no fuss.
My second deck had all this cute forest animal art, with foxes and bunnies and whatever, but I can't read that deck FOR SHIT. I get the most confusing answers out of it, and I almost never take it out except maybe to look at the art now and then.
My third and current favorite deck has creepy distorted human figures, sometimes with extra body parts, discomfiting eyes, etc. This one is very no-nonsense, gets straight to the point. Curiously, it also doesn't seem to care about the past very much.
I've taken to doing LONG in depth readings with the Celtic Cross spread, http://www.angelpaths.com/spreads3.html and everyone who's seen Escaflowne should be familiar with it. Certain spots in the spread mean different things, and in almost every spread I've seen, there's at least one spot that has to do with your past, the underlying reason why you're doing a thing. This third creepy deck of mine, it tends to give answers that feel like half assed responses, and focuses more on what to do in the present, and how my future will be a consequence of my present. It also tends to be REALLY BLUNT and also doesn't seem to care very much about things you can't control, like external factors. It's like someone is talking to me and taking me by the shoulders, shaking me a little and saying "look, forget about all that other shit. THIS is the stuff you can do something about RIGHT NOW."
There's nothing fundamentally different with these cards except for the art. Same Arcana, same suits, same numbers, and I barely look to the art itself to find meaning when I'm doing a reading. I dunno why certain bits of paperboard feel differently than others, and I'm aware I'm personificating (personifi... cationalizing I don't know but it's an interesting exercise anyway.
All decks (except my second weird one) also have a tendency to tell me what I already know. My first deck is gentler about it, the third is not. What I mean by that is that I'll have a general idea of what I should be doing to answer my own question, but I don't really want to face up to it. The decks tend to repeat exactly what I don't want to do, but should be doing anyway.
I haven't done many readings for other people. I tend to do a lot for me, mainly to familiarize myself with the tons and tons and tons of cards (the minor arcana are pretty tough to keep straight) so I'm curious if these uh, deck personalities hold up when doing readings for people who aren't me. If anyone wants one, poke me in the face, and if you like, request a specific deck.
It's for murky pseudoscience, alright?
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