Hi sorry I am textwalling something spiritual or spiritual adjacent once more.
A disclaimer, first I don't really believe in tarot, at least not for divination purposes. I am already trained in prediction as a meteorologist. I'm fine with sticking with my specific expertise in seeing the future that I can trust and make high-stakes decisions on thank u. HRRR convection allowing model my beloved. GFS my beloved. NAM my beloved they could never make me hate you.
anyways. As a tool for contacting any sort of spirits, I'm afraid the ones I'm interested in probably don't really want to have an out-of-body experience just to flip over some cards at a random suburbanite's house, if they are even capable of such feats.
I also do not need it for reflection. Usually.
But I'm still fond of my deck. I bought it in high school, with money from my first job at a grocery store. It's a cyberpunk themed deck, the Neon Moon tarot, from Pixel Occult. Absolutely beautiful artwork. It's the closest I could find to a modern city theme, without going too specific with the NYC photography deck (Tarot of the Boroughs, which is genuinely fantastic, featuring many NY artists and musicians), because not my city, not my references.
There's a specific card that caught my eye back then even before I bought it, Seven of Vials (cups). I resonated with it. Found meaning in its message and its design. There are some tarot reads that involve finding The Fool, meant to represent the questioner, but I always used the Seven of Vials instead. Vials/Cups is a suit I particularly like, being the one that represents community and emotional health, things I strongly value above raw intellect, ambition, or material wealth. Seven of Vials represents a man caught in visions, trying to figure out reality from illusion. A particularly well-suited card for a girl going to college to become a scientist while figuring out her relationships with animistic creatures of various kinds.
Recently, though, I opened up my deck and found that I don't feel much toward that card anymore. I recognize it, and I have the love toward it of an old friend. But it's no longer me. And it makes sense; I have a strong footing in my spirituality and a strong sense of the scientific method. * All of that is to say that I have no trouble seeing through and being able to manage my beliefs in a healthy manner without falling to conspiracy.
I searched through my deck to see if there was one that resonated more, and I think now it's the Chariot. Hate to no longer be a Vials card but I think at this point I'm balancing a lot of things, including a focus on my financial health so I can live in the city. The Chariot traditionally represents steady momentum, hard work and focus, seeing projects and things through. The card art for Neon Moon also is very representative of me going into or leaving the city lmfao it's the perfect art for my frequent train-taking life.
Speaking of trains while I'm still in my designated off leash mode under the readmore. I feel I should make a shrinebox for the trains as a thank you for our ongoing relationship as a traveler and the ride. I don't have the space thoughhhh and I don't believe a train would go out of their way in their free time to astral project into my room.
And, just for fun, here's a couple more cards from my deck. I do have a card singled out that I feel represents my lover the best; it's in this photo, go ham figuring out which one :)
/* This is not the first time I make this disclaimer. but I want to hammer it home not to make any major life decisions purely off of what an object says -- make an objective risk assessment first!!!! Contemporary animist theory in philosophy including neo-animism and technoanimism, object-oriented ontology, and the Turtle Island-specific worldview that is common to spiritual animist spaces currently, etc. is nuanced, and most of it does not currently support direct object communication. I'd be a hypocrite to be the fun police here, just have discretion please
