So--here's a story. Forgive the formatting and lack of an accompanying image--I'm posting from my phone whilst curled up in bed.
I have searching for another tarot deck for some time. My Wildwood deck is my reliable companion in the overwhelming confusion that is divination, but it--like any tool--has both strengths and weaknesses. I've made a couple of false starts with other decks, and my miniature tarot is a good little workaday kind of deck, but I have
still been looking for just that right one.
This means that I pick up deck after deck in bookstores and hold them, searching for the frequency of their energies and their potential "rightness" (I'm sure I look like a lunatic, standing there clutching a shrink wrapped deck with a look of profound concentration on my face, lol). I have found some that felt almost violently wrong, many that are neutral, a few that are ok, and none that are RIGHT.
I finally took my search to Amazon. The problem is, of course, that I can touch any of them, but I decided I would take the chance on a deck that looked right and has reviews that spoke of quality. By the end of my initial look-through, I had 20 decks in my cart, and they spanned every kind of aesthetic out there. A review of the pros and cons of all these decks narrowed it down to 6, and I couldn't choose. I took my selection to Owlynn for advice. She immediately took to one that I had already almost chosen, but I was still hesitating just a little.
The deck was unusual. It used the "standard" tarot without remaining or reworking any of the cards (as some decks do), but the images were Ukiyo-e in theme and execution. For those of you who don't know--Ukiyo-e was an art movement which saw its heyday in the Edo jidai, and lasted in its various forms up until the beginning of the Meiji jidai. Another time I can go into more depth about Ukiyo-e, but that explanation will do for the moment.
I lived in Japan. I speak Japanese. I am a student of the history of that country, and also the literature from The Tale of Genji in the Heian jidai all the way up to post-WWII works like Black Rain. I have studied the art, poetry and spirituality of that land, and so I have a measure of profound feeling for its cultural fruits. I rather felt that this Ukiyo-e deck would be perfect, or it would be
After some consultation, Owlynn and I settled on that deck, and it was ordered.
It arrived today, and before the plastic was open, I knew I was holding something special. It was taut with humming energy, and it felt like it was ready to spark and glow at the end of a seeker's fingers. I slid the beautiful cards out and admired the art on the front, and then noticed the rich red backs, embellished with a swirl of water and maple leaves--gorgeous. Beautiful. A marriage of western occult and the dreamlike "floating world" ukiyo.
I put the deck on the mantle, set my Guardian (a fox spirit whom I met and made a fair agreement with at the Fushimi Inari Taisha) on top of the cards along with my carnelian. Fire incense was burned, and a red candle. My energies were twining about and into the deck, imbuing it with the energies that would allow us to speak.
Some hours later, i picked up the deck. It felt pleasantly neutral, and I wanted to read for myself before my own energies could confuse and hamper things.
I washed the. Spread it way out and mixed it about, then put it back together in totally random order, and then reordered them in my hands, waiting for the RIGHT card--there it was.
Eight of pentacles. Second, inverted jack of pentacles. Third, King of pentacles.
...uuuuuhm kay. Guess I didn't shuffle it enough?? I picked up the cards, shuffled them, and the carefully selected another card from the deck.
More shuffling, this time taking the top card.
But the point I am weirded out, but was determined to see it out
Another shuffle, another card---
This deck is freaking me out and has some significant message for me, I guess???
