Various Paganism, Tarot, Etc

Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot 2019 (Part 4)

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45132913-tarot-cards-tarot-the-world-card-in-the-foreground-

Today, I’m again returning to another installment of Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot challenge. But, I need to revisit the question I answered in my last response, first before moving on to the newer questions.

The question (#13) had been From the Major Arcana Cards, what card correlates to your sun, moon and rising sign? How has that resonated or played out in your life?

I realized today, while spending hours driving, that I neglected a very STRONG correlation between my sun,  moon, and rising signs and myself, and how they resonate in my life.

As mentioned, my sun sign (relating to personality) is Taurus, my moon sign (relating to emotions and inner self) is Scorpio, and my rising sign (related to how others perceive me) is Gemini.

Well so here we have the sun sign of Taurus, and the element that corresponds to Taurus is earth.  From my botany studies to my green thumb, my love of nature and the green to the way I see the world as a whole, this is the element that I most relate to.  Earth and the green are an integral part of -me-.

My moon sign, Scorpio, corresponds to the element of water.  This is the element of emotions and is my refuge.  When our D/s becomes intense and you take me into that space that so many call “sub space”, I call it “drowning”.   I find comfort in the embrace of water, whether swimming or floating, or just curled up in the bottom of the bathtub with the shower running.  I love the rain, and I’ve always found myself attracted to crystals that are water associated, such as amethyst, moonstone, labradorite, aquamarine, tourmaline, pearls, and selenite (although I hate working with the last one in jewelry).

Lastly we have my ascending (rising) sign, which is Gemini.   This sign corresponds to the element of air, which is in turn related to thoughts, judgements, logic, and the mind.  I’ve been told from time to time that I’m often perceived as “stand off-ish” and intelligent.  The one that stands back and takes everything in before choosing the right path for me.  I am fanatical about fairness and balance.   These are all qualities of that element.

Okay, and now onto a few new questions…

  1. Which tarot decks give you the most insight by way of the imagery and symbology of the cards rather than intuition or basic tarot knowledge.
    I’ve mentioned this deck before, but hands down this would have to be the Tarot of the Hidden Realms. I have never encountered a deck that spoke to me like this one does. In fact, when using it I find that my basic tarot knowledge is often the last thing that I tap into. With this deck in particular, it is all about the imagery which includes everything from the main images and facial expressions to the backgrounds, color schemes, and “mood” the artwork portrays.
  2. What is in your Tarot ‘to-go’ bag? Your Tarot travel bag.
    I actually prefer not to take my tarot or oracle decks with me when I travel. Instead, I pack playing cards and use them as an alternate, and I own a handful of decks that are specifically for this purpose. I also do not take my journals with me, but I will take notes on my phone instead.
    The reason for this is because I was raised to understand that there are some places I may travel and some people I will meet that will have such a strong adverse reaction to my faith (and items of my faith such as the tarot, pentagrams, etc) as to put me in danger. Thus, those items stay home and more innocuous items (that can be used for the same purpose) are taken in their place.
  3. What Tarot card in the deck do you look out for the most when you get a new deck? If you don’t like that card does it ruin the deck for you?
    The Hanged Man, the Two of Pentacles, and The Moon. Honestly, I check out these cards prior to ever purchasing a deck. With the internet, it’s usually pretty easy to get a look. There are times when the appearance of these cards could cause me to reject buying a deck, but most of the time, I can work with a deck even if these three cards aren’t as desirable as I’d want them to be.
  4. What is your favorite way to Tarot Journal? Planners, apps, bullet journals?
    For my daily draws, I do them here on the blog to share with you.
    I also have a yearly tarot/spirituality journal, which in the past has always been kept in a spiral bound sketch journal. I’ve been considering changing over to using a bullet journal system next year though, as I would not be stuck drawing lines on pages to keep my text straight. I’ve also been considering using the discbound system of journals, which I could still use in a bullet journal format. I need to find somewhere I can actually play with one in person and see how it feels in my hands, because I worry that structure won’t be secure enough for my liking.
    I have a “tarot study and spreads” journal that is in a Leuchtturm 1917 bullet journal.
    I’ve also recently begun the process of re-interviewing my decks. For this, I’m using a couple of lined CR Gibson journals, so that I can have one book for tarot and lenormand, and another for oracle decks and other systems. I have several of this particular journal, which will allow me to add a third or fourth as needed, if I overflow the first two in my re-interviewing process (which will happen eventually, because I use a two-page spread for the interviews).

So far, this is Part 4 of the series. Here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for easy reference.

I’ll make another post in a few days to continue on with more questions in the challenge.

Why I Own The Daemon Tarot

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So this arrived in the mail yesterday…

Daemon01

And the person I had with me had a pretty visceral reaction. As in, raised voice and “what the hell did you buy, why did you buy this”, etc. Poor guy nearly had an aneurysm, I’m pretty sure.

I’m not a Christian and I don’t believe in heaven or hell, an omnipotent god or evil devil.

What I do believe in is the inherent good and evil of people. No person is all good. No person is all bad. We all have a darker side, and that is what “Shadow Work” is about. And, Shadow Work is the reason that I purchased this deck (…and a couple of others I have in my collection. I’m looking at you, Secret Tarot of Dominic Murphy.)

“The shadow-self is where you keep your anger, your resentments, your self-loathing, your grudges. Some of us display our shadows for all to see: others keep them well-hidden, and appear unbearably and disgustingly cosmic to those who don’t.” – [Aeclectic Tarot Forums]

I had to explain this to him (once he calmed down) and I figured it might be something interesting for you as well.

The term “Shadow Work” refers to Carl Jung’s references in his work to the human nature’s “Shadow Self”. This is that side of us where our hidden (and sometimes not so hidden) issues lie. Our insecurities, our negativities, our morbidities, our toxicities. Our deep seated wounds. Our destructive tendencies.

Daemon02

My mother calls Shadow Work the “Abattage des Démons” which translates into the “Slaughter of the Demons”. And that is why this deck was so intriguing for me. It’s not about evil creatures for me, but about a 69 card deck filled with all different aspects of the Shadow Self.

[Yes, 69 cards, instead of the standard 78-ish. Which means this isn’t really a tarot deck at all, nor does it carry the structure of the tarot. If what I heard is correct, the author did not want it titled with the word “tarot” but the publisher did it anyway.)

“The shadow self can be raw, dark and unbearably real and often remains as an unconscious aspect as we rather not look at why we do or say things irrationally or instinctively.” – [The Shadow Self and Tarot on Tarotpugs]

The deck is a way to explore those shadowy parts in the self, nudge at them and examine them. And perhaps, ultimately, while bringing them into the light to heal them, even if that healing is minuscule and takes countless rinse and repeats to see any real progress.

In my case, I do this most often by working with a dark deck on the first day to pull forth an issue that I need to work on, and then switching to a lighter deck the following day (or days) in order to seek a positive path that will assist me in healing what had been brought to the surface the day before.

Shadow Work is an important part of self development, and something that takes immense amounts of time, like chipping away at a wall by picking off one little granule of mortar at a time. Tools to help in these endeavors are always a good thing, and I see this deck as a tool to assist me on that path.

Daemon03

Story of the Sacred Circle Tarot

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Usually, I do a group post for my deck modifications, since I’ve been doing quite a few of them over the past little bit.   But this particular modification was so surprising and so transformative, that I felt that it needed its own post.

First, a little backstory.

My very first deck was given to me, and so was my third.. fourth… possibly also my fifth.  I was raised by Pagan and Buddhist parents, and my mother gifted me the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling cards when I was about ten years old.

Gypsy

It isn’t really a deck that I use anymore, although I still own both the deck I was originally given as well as a version of the deck that is over 100 years old.

Soon after, I was given my first Lenormand deck (which is the system that I first learned with), and then a handful more of them over the years that followed.

Blue_Owl

When I discovered the Ryder-Waite-Smith system, I was curious and eager to learn, and I requested a recommendation from the shop owner for a learning deck.   Now, I’m not sure why they recommended the Sacred Circle Tarot for this.  And, at around fourteen years old or so?  I wasn’t “centered” enough in myself or the RWS system to realize this deck was not going to be a good match for me, or to speak up and tell him “Um, no. How about a different one.”

kf3cex3h

So, I bought the deck and I struggled with it.  I slogged through the reading, and fought with the deck at every turn.  For a while, I even thought that the RWS system was just not for me, and I retreated back to my roots in the Lenormand.

I’ve moved on since then, and back to the RWS.  I’ve discovered a multitude of decks that speak to me and that I enjoy (as you can clearly see by my list of decks that I now own).  But, I never got rid of the Sacred Circle Tarot I’d struggled with so horribly in the beginning.

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of deck modifications, and I have been eying the Sacred Circle deck with serious consideration since the first time I modified a deck.

Finally, I decided to take the plunge.   This is, hands down, my most aggressive deck modification to date, but I have to say, I’m really pleased with the results.

SacredCircle04

The first thing I did was trim the cards, of course.   You can see in the above image the difference that this made in the size of the cards.  A deck that was once oversized and on the edge of awkward has been cut down to the size of a mini deck.

It was the first card I cut that made me realize what my issue was with this deck all along, actually.   I trimmed the Tower first (because, well yeah, it was just fitting in this case), and as soon as it was trimmed, I was amazed at how much more I connected with the card.   What I realized is that those great big, highly intricate borders were what had turned me off to the deck to the point that it was nearly impossible for me to read with them or use them in any capacity.  Although there are a few borders in the Major Arcana that are beautiful, as a whole they’re impression on me is startling, garish, and in some cases an almost violent assault on the senses.

SacredCircle02

So, I cut them off.   All of them off.   The borders, the titles, the key words.   All of it but the main center picture on each card.

Suddenly, this deck felt much better.   The images spoke to me (although… not all of them), it felt good in my hands, it shuffles well and is screaming “use me, use me, USE ME!”.  The only issue I still struggle with is the “photo-shopped” imagery, which is a far and above improvement over it’s original incarnation.

I did have a small problem, though.  The Queen of Swords and the Warrior card (the Strength card) were a little too similar in my opinion, and a few of the other Major Arcana cards were easy to mix up.   The ones with people, I mean.    So, I decided to go ahead and use a fine point Sharpie and number the Major Arcana cards.

SacredCircle03

I didn’t really need to do all the cards in the Major Arcana, but I liked the consistency of having them all done, so I numbered each of them with their roman numeral correspondence.

What is not consistent is the placement of the numbers.  This is because the cards (and images) are now so tiny that there isn’t a lot of room to select any one place to put the numbers in the same spot on each card.    So instead, I tried to find wherever there was a good space that the numbers would both fit, and be visible.

Finally, I then edged the deck in black.   I did this in a less precise way than I usually do my decks.   Normally, I take each card individually and edge the card, wipe the excess with a microfiber cloth, then repeat a second time if needed.

In this case, I took sections of the deck and did the edges of these sections all at once.   This causes the ink to bleed a bit  in between the cards, adding a touch of a messy border to the fronts and the backs, which was the idea.  I think that bit of “messy’ in the border goes really well with the artwork on the cards and I’m really happy with the results.

SacredCircle01

Now?  After one night’s worth of work on altering this deck, it has been (nearly) completely transformed.  It no longer feels uncomfortable or awkward, and I no longer feel any inclination to avoid it or set it aside in the bottom of my tarot chest.  Instead, I love the way the cards feel in my hands, and aside from the photo-shopped look of some of the cards, I’m very happy with the aesthetic.

Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot 2019 (Part 3)

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Returning again today to Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot challenge. As previously discussed previous posts of this series, I’m doing these a bit at a time instead of one a day. That said? Today I am answering just one of the questions, as it was a pretty long answer and took a good deal of research for me to put together.

  1. From the Major Arcana Cards, what card correlates to your sun, moon and rising sign? How has that resonated or played out in your life?

    Okay… so this one took some research, as I’m not well versed in astrology. I actually ended up calling Z for some guidance, as she has a good deal more knowledge in this area than I do.Here is what I learned.A Sun Sign is the “basic” astrology that most people are familiar with and is indicated by the date of your birth. These dates around the wheel of the year are stagnant from year to year.

    TaurusSun signs are believed to be related to one’s personality. Mine is Taurus, which correlates to the Major Arcana’s fifth card, The Hierophant.

    I’m a stickler for “correctness”. I like it when there is precision and when things “fit together”. The Hierophant is a representation of tradition, convention, education, and guidance. I always seek to better knowledge in a vast variety of things, and I always strive to provide good counsel and guidance for those that seek it from me. All of this fits well under the “umbrella” of the Hierophant card.

    A moon sign refers to the position of the moon at the time of your birth. Moon signs do not change every day, but have much faster transition period than sun signs, and are not stagnant from year to year.

    ScorpioMoon signs are believed to be related to one’s emotions, habits, instincts, and inner moods. My moon sign is Scorpio, which correlates to the Major Arcana’s thirteenth card, Death.

    Since meeting you and your assistance in awakening my emotions, this fits me much better than it once had when I was younger. In my youth, I had closed myself off and was not in touch with my emotions. It was a box I tucked in a corner and never touched.

    These days, my emotions are far more volatile and ever changing. They run the gamut and fluctuate depending on external sources and internal dialogue. The Death card is a card of change and this can be taken two ways. It can relate to the change that you created in my life. Or it can relate to the constantly changing volatility of my spectrum of emotions found since then.

    The Ascendant sign, aka. rising sign is the zodiac constellation that was rising over the eastern horizon when you were born.

    GeminiAscendant signs are believed to represent the “outer you” including the way others see you, your general impression on people, your spontaneous reactions, and possibly even your appearance. My ascendant sign is Gemini, which corresponds to the sixth card in the Major Arcana, The Lovers.

    This card does not just represent relationships, but also choices, duality, commitments, and crossroads depending on its appearance in a spread or how it is being used. To be honest? I have NO clue how other people perceive me, and so I have very little input on how this card may relate to it.

So far, this is Part 3 of the series. Here are Part 1 and Part 2 for easy reference.

I’ll make another post in a few days to continue on with more questions in the challenge.

Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot 2019 (Part 2)

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Wheel

It’s time to return to Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot challenge. As previously discussed in Part 1 of this series, I’m doing these a bit at a time instead of one a day.

  1. Top 5 decks on your wish list now
    Tyldwick Tarot, Delos Tarot,  Les Adorables Tarot, Liminal Tarot (2015 Version), Tarot of the Hidden Folk. These are in order, incidentally, although the Delos and Tyldwick sometimes change places with each other depending on my mood.
  2. Tarot goals 2019
    I really just want to get back on track with my spirituality. I feel a bit like a Christian that’s been “skipping church”. You know, they’re still a Christian, but not practicing? The last two years, that’s been me with my spirituality. Tarot is (and has always been) a part of that spirituality, and my goals for returning to practicing my faith and my tarot practice are intertwined.
  3. Tarot decks that you want to work with more in 2019
    I have a handful of new decks in my collection this year that I’m excited to work with and get to know better. I also have a few that I haven’t used in years that I would like to reconnect with. That list includes (but is not limited to) the Cucoloris Tarot, Alchemical Tarot, True Black Tarot, Anima Mundi Tarot, Crow Tarot, Anna K Tarot, Sacred Circle Tarot (which I recently did a major modification on), and Mary El Tarot.
  4. Oracle decks that you want to work with more in 2019
    Like with the tarot decks listed above, this list is not comprehensive but more of a sampling of decks from a longer list. They include the Moonology Oracle, Roots and Wings Oracle, Empty Cup Oracle, Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle, and the White Hare Wisdom Oracle.
  5. Have you ever dealt with Impostor Syndrome in your Tarot practice?
    I had to look this term up.

    Impostor syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts his or her accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds, and do not deserve all they have achieved. Individuals with impostorism incorrectly attribute their success to luck, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent than they perceive themselves to be. – Wikipedia

    I’ve had my fair share of times when my self confidence was at its worst and my insecurities were a torment I couldn’t seem to escape. That said? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this particular issue. I work damn hard for what I have from my physical comforts to my education, and everything in between.

And there you have it, another handful of questions from Ethony’s 31 Days of tarot complete. Like last time, I’ll come back in a few days to make another post to continue the challenge.

Deck Modification Line Up – Spring 2019

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So, over the past… oh hell, I don’t know. Few months? I’ve done a long list of deck modifications. Which, to be honest, I’ve really enjoyed.

I don’t modify every deck in my collection, but I’ve found that there are a variety of decks in my collection that I either don’t use for some production value reason (too big, awkward sizing, unfinished looking, distracting borders, titles that don’t “fit” with my reading style, etc). This year I’ve begun going through my collection and picking out the ones that I feel need a little TLC of the “deck mod” variety.

I do have a couple of previous posts [Post 1, Post 2] where I went through a couple of mods. This one will be… bigger. And a lot more comprehensive. But it will not contain the decks previously mentioned as this is more of an update on my progress of going through and altering those I feel need some adjusting.

These will be in alphabetical order (instead of chronological) simply for convenience. (I named the pics for this post with the deck names and so now, in the folder, they’re in alphabetical order.)

Angelarium_Eminations

First up is the Angelarium: Oracle of Emanations deck. I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of angel decks, but I did end up ordering this one because the angels… well, don’t look like traditional angels. I like the artwork, and I’ve actually pre-ordered the sequel (Angelarium: Oracle of Watchers) which I plan on combining with this deck to make into a single larger deck.

The only thing I did with this deck is edge it in black. Interestingly, something about the card stock made the black turn a shade of dark, dark blue which I really like. I decided to only do one coat specifically to preserve this blue hue.

Angels_Ancestors

The Angels and Ancestors is another deck with angels in it, and yet they also are not the traditional iteration of the concept.  They actually give me an impression more of spirit guides than angels, which along with the artwork and color scheme, made this deck easy for me to bond with.

For this deck, I got the idea for the edging from Boho Tarot.  I liked what she did with her deck and modified it a bit for my own tastes.   I first edged in yellow marker before using Distress Ink’s Tea Dye shade as a finger-rub along the edges for an uneven, aged look.  I then used gold ink in the same finger-rub method to give a hint of sheen.

Arcana

The Arcana deck by Dead On Paper.   I looked and looked for this deck for quite a while after I stumbled upon a random image of one of its major arcana cards.  I couldn’t find it and was so frustrated.  Then I saw it on BoyDiviner’s YouTube and he was kind enough to provide me with the name of the deck and publisher.  From there I immediately ended up purchasing the deck and I’m really glad I did.   The card stock is SO nice, the size is standard playing card size (as opposed to standard tarot size).   The deck is structured so that it can be used as either a tarot deck or a playing card deck.   I love it.

The cards aren’t black but actually a really deep, dark brown with a hint of distressed texture.  So, what I did was I edged them in black.   I then used the finger-rub method to add bronze marker ink to the edges.

Badgers_Forest

The Badger’s Forest Tarot was a bit of a debate for me when I first got it, to be honest.  I have absolutely no fondness for the thick brown border on the backs of the cards.  At all.   But, the deck is borderless on the face of the cards, which means if I wanted to remove the brown border, I’d have had to cut into the artwork… and I just wasn’t willing to do that.

So… I decided to live with the brown borders on the backs.  I don’t do a lot of face-down spreads, as I prefer to set my cards down face up and get my initial impressions as they are laid into place, so it’s not a huge sacrifice.

For modification,  edged the card in brown, taking a good deal of care to ensure that I didn’t pollute the artwork on the front of the cards with the ink. I then did a finger-rub with bronze marker ink.

Dreaming_Way

The Dreaming Way Tarot, I edged in a combination of greens.  This included green Midliner marker overlayed with yellow PrismaColor marker, as well as three different shades of Distress Ink (Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters, and Old Paper).   Essentially, I shuffled the deck, and then split the deck into four equal sections and colored each section with a different shade.

Faery_Forest

The Faery Forest Oracle is the oracle that I pair my WildWood Tarot deck with when doing intricate spreads (such as the year in view spread).  You can see the swaddle (cotton cloth) that I use to store the deck in within the background of the photos.  That fabric is the same fabric that I use to swaddle the WildWood deck. For me, the two decks just… go together.

I edged this deck in PrismaColor green marker.

WildWood

As you can see above, I also edged my WildWood Tarot in PrismaColor green marker.  I did this with intention, because like the swaddling of the Faery Forest Oracle, I wanted the colors to match each other.

Before edging this deck, I trimmed it.  The white borders on this specific deck of cards really bothered me.  It felt like the artwork and message of the cards was “trapped” inside a cage.    Freeing this deck from its borders makes it feel far more open and has made it far easier for me to read intuitively.

At the same time, I didn’t want to remove the titles, because I -do- use the guide book with this deck and sometimes need a little help identifying the cards due to their nontraditional depictions. By leaving on the titles, it made the design on the back a bit off-center.   Although this niggles at my anal-retentive side, it was the most practical option, and I can live with it.

Familiars_Tarot

The Tarot Familiars just felt unfinished.  Black backs, dark fronts… white edges.   It just didn’t jive for me.  I had initially wanted to edge the cards in colors to match the dark hues used in the borders on the fronts of the cards, but I found it impossible to find inks that were a good match, so I ended up edging the deck in black marker instead.

Godard_Bird_Spirit

Godard’s Bird Spirit Tarot (sorry, I don’t have a link for this one) is a deck that I don’t really see passed around a lot in the tarot community.  That said?  I love the deck.  I think the artwork has a sweet depth to it and the cards have vibrancy to them without being overpowering.

I simply edged this deck in black to finish it off, because like the Familiars Tarot, it felt unfinished with black borders on both the fronts and backs, but white edges that were raw and unfinished.

Kuan_Yin

The Kuan Yin Oracle is one of the decks that I recently wrote about in Part 1 of my response to Ethony’s 31 Days of Tarot.  I really like the softness of this deck, but it felt unfinished in the way some of my other decks that I’ve edged did.   The card faces have borders in a variety of different shades, and although I considered cutting them off, I ended up using them as a guide to color the edges in matching hues.

In the picture above, you can see the hues all in order, and then on the far left you can see what the deck looks like shuffled.

Mystical_Shaman

The Mystical Shaman Oracle was given to me by you just recently for our anniversary, and you’ve already seen a few pics of the finished work, because I was doing it while we were talking.

I edged each side of this deck in a different PrismaColor marker to match shades of color off the card backs (green, yellow, red, brown).   Once edged in marker, I then applied bronze Sharpie ink with the finger-rub method before repeating the process with Distress Ink in black in a fade from the corners.

Oracle_Echoes

The Oracle of Echoes came into my collection recently and also felt unfinished with the plain white edges.   This deck also comes with a PDF “little white book” rather than a printed one.  I ended up printing out the PDF and making it into a book.  I might make a post about that later at some point, as it was my first experience in making a book.

I debated between whether I wanted to edge this deck in black, or edge it in red and then antique it with black ink.   I ended up going with edging it in black because I felt the deck’s artwork (back and front) was busy enough and that the red might end up distracting from the artwork.

Pagan_Otherworlds

This is turning out to be a monster post, yeah?

Next is the Pagan Otherwords Tarot.  This one, you can barely tell the edging even in person.   I edged the deck in the gold colored Brilliance DewDrop, but I kind of feel like it’s too light or… not opaque enough.

I might end up trying again with a gold Sharpie.  I would really like to get to a shade and texture of colors that better matches the antiqued gold look on the inside of the box.

Sacred_Geometry01

Maria Rikteryte’s Sacred Geometry Cards are a deck that I really debated on whether I wanted to trim or not.   I originally bought these with the intention to do just that.   I bought them to combine with the Cosmic Cards deck by Amaya Ajay, which would have involved trimming this deck to match the size of the Cosmic Cards.

Sacred_Geometry02The problem was… these cards are really huge.  I mean REALLY huge. (I’ve included a picture of one of the cards set beside a standard tarot sized card so that you can see what I mean.)  They’re bigger than I thought they would be, even though I looked at the size before buying them.   Trimming them down to match the size of the Cosmic Cards wasn’t feasible.   Trimmed vertically, you would end up with a few cards with the phrases truncated on either side.  Trimmed horizontally, you have to sever the designs exactly in half.

So… I decided to keep them their original size.  At least for now.   And I edged them in orange Midliner marker followed by yellow PrismaColor marker in order to match the shade of orange in the designs on the cards.

Secret_Forest

For the Tarot of the Secret Forest, I did another edging in black.   Sometimes?  That’s all that’s needed to make a deck feel finished.   In this case, that was especially true.  Both the backs and the fronts of these cards contain artwork, and both the backs and fronts have black borders.  The white on the edges just didn’t look good at all, whereas in my opinion the deck now looks really nice.

Student5

Another deck that I just edged in black was the Student Tarot (I believe this is v.5).  I don’t have a link for this one either, unfortunately. This is another deck you don’t see very often in the tarot community.   It was a gift from my sister and is… well, cute as fuck.   It’s designed with little anime characters  on the cards and always has a very “cheerful and fun” energy whenever I use it.

Vintage_Oracle_Tarot

Third in a row!   Another black edging.  This is the Vintage Oracle Tarot.  As you can see, like the Tarot of the Secret Forest, it has a nice thick black border.  The white on the edge of the cards really bugs me on cards with black borders and edging the deck in black in those cases always seems to create a sense of relief… as if the white causes some sort of stress that edging them in black eases.

White_Sage

This is the White Sage Tarot, which as you can see, I edged in multiple colors.   The reason for this was because this deck has a clear intention to it as to being used with Chakras energy.   The information for Chakra associations is very clearly outlined in additional cards included in the deck as well as in the little white book, where the author specifies which Chakra each card is associated with.    I divided the deck into the seven chakras as per their associations in the little white book, and then used Crayola permanent marker on the edges to correspond with the Chakra colors. I then used the Brilliance DewDrop in platinum to add a bit of a finger-rub of sheen to the cards and “cool off” the colors a bit.

The last picture on the right shows how this deck looks after being shuffled.

I initially wanted to add a little colored dot to each card instead, and leave the edges white, but the card stock is so glossy that I couldn’t get any of my markers to stick.  The marks just rubbed right off, even after letting them dry for a bit.

WildWood_Mini

This is my Mini WildWood Tarot, which I’m pretty sure is an unauthorized publication out of China?   I’m not entirely sure where I got this deck, as I have had it for a really long time.  If I’m not mistaken, it was a gift.  I could be wrong on that.

Anyway.   I edged this deck in yellow PrismaColor marker to match the yellow on the back of the cards.  I considered doing it in green, as I had for my full sized WildWood mentioned above, but I didn’t want it to be a clone as the mini deck has it’s own energy and personality.

Wisdom_Seekers

Last, but certainly not least, is the Wisdom Seeker’s Tarot.   It’s funny, because I’ve noticed that people either seem to love the backs of these cards, or really dislike them.  There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground there.

I personally like them, which is a bit surprising, because I’m not really a big fan of “hot” colors (reds, oranges, yellows).   But for this deck?  The backs seem just right.

I trimmed this deck to remove the white borders that were present on both the fronts and the backs.  They just felt so wrong.  So…. I cut them off, although I ended up leaving the titles mostly because I’m a fan of precision.  Reading from a deck without the titles is a very intuitive process for me.  Sort of the difference between spilling ink over paper to create art, or instead using a pen nib to draw with.   The titles are the nib.  I may spill ink too, but I like having the pen handy.

After trimming, I edged this deck with orange PrismaColor marker on the horizontal edges, and yellow PrismaColor marker on the vertical edges.  I then used the Brilliance DewDrop in gold to do a finger rub that was heavier on the corners and lighter along the planes, causing the orange and yellow to blend a bit rather than being so stark in transition.

I’ll probably let another handful of modifications build up again before I do another post like this.  It just feels easier for me to post them in a group like this than to share them individually.