Playing with a (New) Full Deck
A few weeks ago, after a lot of handling, a little humming and hawing, I purchased my first new Tarot deck in YEARS! The beneficiary of my decision (other than our local Orangeville shop ‘Healing Moon’)? The Wildwood Tarot.
It is this earth-based, wheel-of-the-year focused deck that eventually pushed me and my bank card to the point of no return. Since then, I’ve set aside time almost every day to go through the cards one at a time. I’ve grouped them by minors, majors and courts. I’ve laid the deck out in ‘wheel’ fashion, (as suggested by ‘The Little White Book’ that accompanies this deck and pictured below) with the help of Merlin, our cat! 🙂
I look to experience learning a new deck in different ways: visually, physically, intellectually and emotionally. I shuffle the cards, ask a question, see what comes up. Sometimes, I go to the book, see what it says. Other times, I want to connect them to previous knowledge of the other decks I use. I want to compare and contrast meanings and images. I want to feel the cards and look at them. I want to connect the deck’s energy to my own. I want to ‘hear’ the cards as they speak to me. By the end of the process, I want to know my deck. And I want to like it.
Eventually, I’ll do all of my ‘pagan-y’ deck prep. For me, that means I’ll cleanse the deck with a smudge. I’ll put it outside under a full moon.
But before I do any of that, I’ll play. A lot.
Which leads me to this question… How do you connect with a new deck?