Cards

My Akhu got to claim a deck of their choosing today.

Yes…to my relief, they somehow got the package back for me: it was mysteriously “found” somewhere other than where it should have been and was then delivered to me, late, but with apologies from the post man. Sadly, my neighbor did not get her packages back…so I am doubly grateful that mine was ultimately recovered.

As I said before, despite being “just some playing cards” these decks are important to some of the current work I am doing. To give a brief explanation, each of the decks in the order was purchased for a different purpose...

 I am working with playing card divination and, having come to it from fully illustrated Tarot cards, wanted something a bit more special than the standard bicycle deck to learn with. The deck I ultimately chose, the Black Warrior deck, serves the purpose well, with beautiful court cards and half shaded pips which can allow for double meanings if I so choose.

However, given that I have several self-created divinatory decks which I have mentioned on the blog and, as many of you may know from having spoken to me, a fairly extensive collection of tarot cards as well this probably begs the question: why do you need yet another form of card divination? The short answer is that some of the work I’m doing now relies on listening to signs and omens, and because I tend to over analyze, I’ve had to resort to double checking everything via divination. While I’ve developed a strategy for that using my tarot decks, the truth is, I can’t keep a deck of tarot cards, or even a homemade oracle deck, on me at all times.

There is a constant worry that someone might see them in my purse and ask about them (a real fear for a public figure in a small town). There’s also the fact that tarot cards are expensive to replace if something happens to them, and depending on whether they are still in print or not, may even be impossible to replace. Not to mention that, in the interim, switching between tarot decks is a pretty big deal for me—I get used to a particular set of symbols and images and find it jarring to learn new sets or even apply the same set to more than one purpose. This is why my tarot decks have designated uses.

Playing cards, on the other hand, are cheap, easily replaced, and basically the same from deck to deck even if the art styles differ. They are a good option for on-demand divination because, as long as I am not too remote from civilization, I can always pick up a deck from a convenience store if I find myself caught without one. And of course, if someone sees an interesting playing card deck in my purse, it may start a conversation about collectible playing cards but it won’t tarnish my public image. In fact, if I can learn a few card tricks to perform when someone does notice them it even makes having a pack in my purse seem like an interesting facet of me as a person instead of a random oddity.

So…yeah. That’s why. I know that’s mostly just an excuse to buy pretty cards, but I am very happy with the deck I got and so far, the standard method of playing card divination has proved fairly easy to pick up with minimal practice.

I also ordered the Archangels deck and Artifice V3 decks—originally as alternatives to the deck I got for divination, but also just because I liked the cards and couldn’t help myself. Though one of those decks, the Archangels deck, is now claimed by the Akhu and I would guess the Artifice deck will eventually find a specific use as well.

Lastly, I got a deck of Arcane cards, which has a more complicated mystical purpose. I would explain in greater detail exactly what I am doing with it, but I’m not sure I have my thoughts about the project in order in a way which lends itself to being written about.

As a matter of fact, that’s partly why I got the deck in the first place: I needed to have something physical to represent this wordless *thing* which is building in my psyche so I can interact with it in more concrete terms. So in that regard, I guess you could consider it a talisman of sorts—though this specific deck won’t work for the talisman I have in mind. I was really just using it for proof-of-concept before I went scrounging up money for the deck I actually wanted but can’t afford right now. (In case you’re wondering: proof-of-concept is positive and I do hope to get that Moth Myth deck at some point in the future so I can make the concept a reality).

If this all gels into something useful, I will eventually write it up and post it here on the blog. In the meantime, I’ll quote from my notes the closest thing I have to a summary of the current phase of the project:

 “Illusions are, on the surface, a matter of hiding and revealing— but in more esoteric terms; they are the shadow of our fondest longing cast across the face of reality. In a way, they unmask us: they betray what we wish to deny and what we wish to create, and in doing so, betray the reflection of our deepest selves.” 

 (For anyone who read that and wondered: Yes, this relates to my trance work on an abstract level, and yes, I do think the magician dream factors into this as well though I am personally still uncertain of how or why.)