Soul Cards Tarot : Interview (a How To)
I often put other people before myself, and that is very true when it comes to my tarot readings- I got my Soul Cards Tarot literally a week ago and still haven’t done a single reading with it, no interview reading, no nothing. After a day of tarot reading for others I just want to rest, I don’t even want to look at a deck of cards. This, of course, is no one’s fault but my own.
That all said, when I had keyboard issues earlier and finally resolved them well into the evening, I figured I may as well get on into readings-- then I think to myself, well, the days already so far gone, I may as well get into readings for myself.
So today, now, I am doing the Interview Process with the Soul Cards tarot, and that is the point of this post. I am sharing this for others in case they want to know how I bond with my cards (and have such a strong bond with my decks).
Step One: “Hello, my name is Madalynn. Would you like to be my companion?”
I begin talking to the cards. Usually, I do a lot of SilentCraft- as in witchcraft where I am silent or do not make noise. I like purposeful silence, I like feeling the energy in silence. But in the event of a new deck and an interview, I do talk to the deck of cards. Obviously the interview spread is where they allow me some communication back but I can’t dare take that step until I’ve let them know who I am.
I like to think about it this way, and this might be a shit metaphor. Let’s say I am a boss, all my lil tarot decks are my employees. I could be like “Alright, welcome to the company, get the F*CK TO WORK NOW” or I could be like “Hey, welcome, I’m Madalynn, this is how I like to do things, this is who I am, and I’m going to set you next to a few of other decks so that they can whisper to you the truths they know about me for a bit.”
My deck is like a person, they want to know who they’re working for, they want to know what benefits they’re going to get (fancy cloth? fancy box? Do they keep their box and end up with a crystal signing bonus package where I specify a few of my quartz just for sitting atop this deck and cleansing/charging it?), they want to know if I’m going to treat them right, and if I’m going to listen and respect what they have to say or if I’m only going to be using them as a Magic 8 Ball to confirm what I want to hear while ignoring all else they tell me.
SideNote: When I got my cat, Jynx, I went to the shelter and their kitten room and crawled around with the kittens saying, “Hello, my name is Madalynn, will you be my friend?” This is how I got Jynx- she wanted to be my friend and answered the ‘call’.
Don’t shuffle for a reading, don’t shuffle to see the cards, just shuffle. Get the cards used to how you handle them. Now, I’m a rough shuffler, and that goes into the Step1, because I have to explain that this deck is perfect now and will continue to be perfect. Even if it gets bent, curved, or dinged. Those are just scars, humans have them and so do my decks. They grow with me, and I grow with them.
If you don’t know what a bridge shuffle is, it’s this. This is how I shuffle. And boy, do nice long tarot cards get one hell of an arc in that final step, I LOOOVE it. It feels like magic, the whispers of unknown “fwip fwip fwipping” into my hands! Small note- skip that first step where you seperate the deck when using tarot cards... the deck is over 20+ cards more than that of a playing card deck, its far too thick.... I uh... I eeehh... I have had accidents.
Also, I watch this gif thinking @just-themys (OP of gif) has some nice affffffff fingernails (unless this was gotten from somewhere else, this person has such nice hands, such dexterity, such agility, such fluttering fingers, love love love. ty for gif, its perfect for what I need)
Have fun shuffling your deck, enjoy the feel of your cards, enjoy getting to know them. Eventually, it might feel intimate and just kind of mysterious, you’ll get an intuitional tug when your cards are ready for that first reading- ready for you to shuffle, cut, and lay out your cards.
Step Three: The First Reading
I have several interview spreads I’ve slapped together depending on different vibes and tweaks that I have needed, and that is typically my first reading with any deck. You can find deck interview spreads on tumblr and on pinterest and via google- they’re literally everywhere. Find one that calls to you, and no, you don’t have to use the same one each deck-- each deck is different, and your relationship with your different decks are each unique. Feel free to show that in your “interview process”. Feel free to pull signifiers, ask “additional or followup questions”
Remember, you are the boss, this is your worker, interview them!!
Step Four: Benefits Package
In step1 I hinted at a Cards Benefit Package, like nice cloths or boxes or crystals. If you promised your deck any of this, deliver. I’m so serious. Do not make a promise that you’ll make an amazing cloth for your cards and never do it. Even if you just slap it together bleery eyed, do it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use your cards while you’re working on it (I do all the time) but remember, this is like a person, and broken promises hurt!
For my Soul Cards Tarot, I have promised a beautiful cloth. I have it ironed, pinned, and ready to sew and honestly--unfortunately--I hate it? No, it’s gorgeous, beuatiful, and will be a great tarot cloth. But after seeing it pinned together it just.... isn’t... what I want? And that’s okay!!! I’ve talked to SCT and I have told her (sometimes decks are hims, sometimes they are thems, this is up to you and your deck!!! I have a friend who names his decks) that I am going to crochet her a cloth instead, and this will take longer but I want something delicate and yet intricate, just like her.
For the Marigold Tarot, the cloth isn’t even sewn or anything. It’s a Fat Quarter I saw in a craft shop and fell head over heels for, saved it. Then when I got the Marigold Tarot I began using it with the plan to “tidy up the edges”. The edges have never been tidied and that’s okay too, because I still gave them a cloth and it’s still a lovely cloth, and when the cloth begins to try and fray I do tidy and trim it up a bit with my sewing scissors.
