My Tarot Journey

I've been reading for I don't know how long, at first I was overwhelmed by having to memorise 78cards , started off with John Dee's deck which looks like a Van Gogh version of the Rider Waite. But me being me I challenge myself and fell in Love with the Voyager and started to do past life readings with it, it just came naturally.. Then the Druidcraft came out, I think it was 2005 , the first deck that just sang to me, opened up something in me that opened so much ability, I still have and use this deck, its helped 100s of people and I can't bring myself to replace it, even with its tatty corners .. It helped me read in a way I've strayed from the book meanings and I now psychically read with them, their interpretation depends on what I'm drawn to in the images, pictures form in my head, numbers pop up, I see threads linking certain cards, combing the impact and meaning, I use a Celtic cross, but as many of you know spreads tend to become personal over time, meanings of different positions morph and become your own.
Tarot is such a passion, I just Love reading, one day I'd like to work with others, helping guide the way to read through intuition alone..

Hi Dancing Bear. I am a cross-over from Aeclectic (starrystarrynight) and miss all of my friends from there. I think we interacted in the Sheldrake experiment many years ago? Anyway, I am glad you started this forum, and I hope a lot of our old friends join up!

Hey Debn, I remember your user name Starry starry night. It was a long time ago wasn't it! Ooo Sheldrake experiment , not sure how that one went? we did sooo much in there. It was fun and friendly , hopefully we can mimic something similar in here ..
Tell me about the Sheldrake experiment , I'm getting old and using that as an excuse for memory loss , haha!
And a big Welcome Debn <3

Hi Debn/Starry Starry Night.  So glad you came here too!  I know nothing about the Sheldrake experience and now my curiosity is peaked!  Hope you will share about it!  

DB, I had the John Dee deck as well.  I hated it!  One of the very few decks that I disliked STRONGLY.  I got rid of it immediately.  Just couldn't use it at all.  

When I started to read Tarot, the friend who got me into tarot convinced me that one must read with the Rider Waite deck.  I didn't care much for it either, but I did purchase it.  I think my second deck was the Hanson Roberts Deck.  I bought a mini one and loved it and used it for years too.   Then, many years later, one of my customers found a deck in a 2nd hand shop and bought it.  She originally thought it was just a card game and got it for her young grandsons who were coming to visit her soon for a few weeks in the summer.  Luckily, before they arrived, she took the cards out of their box to look at and realized they were a tarot deck.    One of the first cards she pulled out of the deck to look at was the famous Lovers card from it.  It was of course "The Robin Wood " Tarot Deck and she nearly fell over laughing.  She couldn't wait to give it to me then and it was also the first card she pulled out to show me.    

DB, I meant to seek the images online for the Voyager deck earlier and forgot. I like the images, but only because I am more of a visual reader and its a good thing if you're going to read with this deck, I think!

That deck as a beginner reader would have scared me. but I find it interesting too that you used it for past life readings. I would love to find out if you have a specific spread for a past life reading or if you just throw a few cards and what specific questions you ask for this type of a reading. Can you elaborate on this type of a reading and how you do it?

Not done much Tarot as I found it a bother to keep reading the book with every card drawn. Then tried those other cards more on the 'feel good' series of Doreen Virtue - before she went ultra religious and has now pulled back from all her previous card decks. Good luck to her!
However I have always felt that if you set your intention correctly it doesn't matter what pack you pick-up it will talk to you. DB you would know more than me being a rank beginner.

I do agree with you re: decks. I also want to tell you and others who may be reading this post, that there is really no need to memorize 78 card meanings. Look at the card you have before you. Look at what really jumps out at you and what does that mean to you? Pay attention to the direction the person (if any) in the card is looking. To the left? That is probably meaning something has just happened in the recent past. To the right? Something that is about to happen. Straight ahead, something that is currently going on around you. Seeing the person from the back? Perhaps something that the person is planning for. (or at least how I sometimes read these positions). If everyone saw exactly the same thing....how boring that would be!

Again, welcome to our little special oracle world!

Hey Pach yes i do, It actually made the AT little phamplet on 3 card spreads that came out quite some time ago, My Past Life reading was the condensed version.Ill post it up in Tarot spreads for you. Voyager is awesome for it, Like you i am a visual reader, these really jumped out at me for those type of readings.I even trimmed this deck haha!! I have a habit of trimming decks as my hands are only little, and i find a lot of decks have too much fluff around the edging LOL!! I like the card to be about the image, I even cut off the Tarot card name that was allocated to each card LOL! Which now i have no clue what card was what..Id have to look them up! But the images still sing for past life readings.

Hello SuzieQ lovely to have you on board, like Pach says you don't need to remember meanings for all 78 cards, I allocated a one or two word meaning to them all. and these days i just read what jumps out at me, I know each card intimately these days, and the meanings morph for each reading. its more about whats feels right these days for me. 78 cards for me was too daunting, and im impatient so developed my own way to read cards. Depends on who you are and what sits right for you, some people love to stick to the traditional meanings, and have learnt all 78 meanings and do some brilliant readings that way, and i know brilliant readers who just read what jumps out at them! There are absolutely no hard and fast rules when it comes to divination. Dorreen Virtue is very popular for thousands of people who relate to her oracles, I know many people who got turned off of her decks when she became uber religious,I even heard the word betrayal, but in her oracles you can see she had those leanings anyway. I dont own any of her decks myself, as i am more of a Nature person, with leanings in Buddhism and Druidry in my spirituality, hence my druidcraft.
So what you have done was smart and gone with a deck that resonates with you, its what it is all about, finding what your soul recognizes. If we were all the same, the world would be rather boring haha!!
What one do you have? How does the Oracle read for you? do you get good readings from it?

Dancing Bear wrote:Hey Pach yes i do, It actually made the AT little phamplet on 3 card spreads that came out quite some time ago, My Past Life reading was the condensed version.Ill post it up in Tarot spreads for you. Voyager is awesome for it, Like you i am a visual reader, these really jumped out at me for those type of readings.I even trimmed this deck haha!! I have a habit of trimming decks as my hands are only little, and i find a lot of decks have too much fluff around the edging LOL!! I like the card to be about the image, I even cut off the Tarot card name that was allocated to each card LOL! Which now i have no clue what card was what..Id have to look them up! But the images still sing for past life readings.

Yes, I have small hands too and have MANY decks needing a good trimming.  I'm terrified of doing that though, as much as I'd LOVE to have it done!  Especially my Wildwood deck, which I love, but the cards are so large, I just don't use them.  And, one reason is like you stated, I'm fearful of cutting off the label of the card, though at the same time I tell myself they don't really matter as they are just a label and that its what I see IN the image that matters, NOT the label someone assigned.  I need to just take the plunge and do it!  I may invest in that Voyager deck myself.  I find the images very interesting!  Especially as a visual reader--it should be a delight to read with.  With mothers day coming up, I just might ask for it.    I am also very interested in doing past life readings.  

Oh, Suzie Q, I meant to tell you that I had a very good friend who LOVED Doreen Virtue and used her decks primarily.  She was great with reading the cards, and they just seemed to sing to her.  I know a lot of people give Doreen Virtue a bad name - especially now since she has found a new path for herself and is herself talking bad about her past cards and such.  But that is ridiculous imo.  We all have a path to follow and perhaps right now this is her right path, though it may seem odd to us.  I wish her well and hope she finds she is on the right path.  We should never judge another till we are walking in their shoes awhile.  

I had/still have I think-- a few of her decks at the start, and I don't necessarily connect with her decks much now, but some of them were great, in my opinion.  The older I get and the more I look back I realize we have no right to make judgments about another's path in life.  Even if we feel they are making a mistake.  Sometimes the mistakes we make in life are the biggest lessons we are in need of to find our way.

I think I have her deck "Mary the Queen of Angels", as I love the Blessed Mother and tend to purchase every deck made in her honor.    I also had an angel deck by her and Healing with the Fairies, which I LOVED for a long while.  I don't know if I still have these decks, will have to look to see.  When I first was ready to accept and develop my gifts, I found her books and cards very loving and helpful.  But then I grew to liking others a bit more and connecting deeper to things that are a bit more earthy. I need those more earthy deck as I am such an airy person. (yeah at tiems a real airhead too! ) and the earthy decks help to keep me grounded.  I do lean towards the Celtic decks and Shamanism now.  Doreen was there for me when I was beginning on my path and now I've taken a different avenue.

I'm off to again, look for the voyager deck and to see if I can find my Doreen Virtue decks!