There are times when I feel like my tarot deck is it's own entity, or rather, a collection of figures all of whom all have their own wants and desires. In a way it represents a system I suppose, and from time to time things change whether I expect them to or not.
The Veiled Bride
When I was drawing The Aphuanian Tarot, I used simple index cards and colored pencil for what at the time was supposed to be simply the prototype for the deck. I made sure to keep extra on hand, so that mistakes could simply be put aside, but I was not expecting one such "mistake" to take a mind of it's own.
I was nearly finished with the first suit, the house of spiders, and was drawing The Spider's Patron, Lady Cecillia Gwell'Irae, for whom my secondary blog is named. But... She came out Strange, like she wasn't supposed to be, and so I scribbled her out, and placed the card aside before I tried again.
Except... When I did, I couldn't stop looking back to The First Attempt. It was... Calling in some way. Sometimes seemed weird about it, and I almost felt like I needed to look away. Hastily I buried her under the other mistakes, and continued on my way.
I thought that would be the end of it, but The First Attempt had other plans, and so too did The Deck.
It was late that night, and I was lying in bed. The pile seemed to be calling in some way.
I want to look the world in the eye.
I got up, and I retrieved Her. I looked at her visage, now covered in a black veil of hasty scribbles, and I felt what I needed to do.
And so, I wrote her Truth on her surface, and I shuffled her into the deck.
When The Veiled Bride comes up in a reading, put a stop to what you're doing and look to the querant.
You are presented with a harsh truth you may not yet be ready for. The deck is warning you to turn back, but you need not heed it's advice if you are not afraid of the darkness.
Ask the querant 3 times if they so wish to turn back. If they choose to proceed, you may wash your hands of their fate, and continue the reading. You did all you could to warm them.












