WHAT BROUGHT ME TO THE TAROT AT THE VERY START

THE FOOL in The Deviant Moon Tarot*

Kate (a/k/a Solandia, the owner and editor [and bright light extraordinaire] of aeclectic.net) recently queried her contacts in an email. She was interested to know what got us started with The Tarot. I've answered this question many times over the years and always enjoy telling the story. When I answered her email I realized I don't think I've ever shared that part of my personal Tarot history on this blog. So here's my response to Kate:

Back in the middle 1970's my dear friend and roommate was given an RWS [Rider/Waite/Smith] deck and lessons for her birthday by mutual friends of ours. None of us were more than vaguely familiar with Tarot or anything else esoteric. But our friends had noted my roommate's intuitive nature and wanted to help her become more comfortable with it. (It tended to spook her out a bit.) Each evening when my roommate came home from the class she'd tell me about it, illustrating with cards from her deck. The study of Tarot ultimately did not take fire with her, but it did with me! I began talking about Tarot to friends and co-workers. When a co-worker gave me my own first deck (The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age by Cooke & Sharpe) I was off and running and haven't stopped for breath yet. [end of email response to Kate]

Nor, might I add, have I stopped collecting decks. At one time in the 1980's I had 120 decks, and now I have close to 80. The above Fool card is from one of my newest additions and a favorite to read with these days, The Deviant Moon Tarot. And I just got The Golden Tarot of Klimt and am looking forward to posting some of my favorite cards from it here once I've finished studying it, card by card. I've also designed a complete deck of my own years ago, and have three others currently in the works with an idea for a fourth. I doubt any of these will ever see print but the journeys are well worth the time I spend on them, whether they are completed or not.

I don't think those friends ever realized what a gift they were giving me when they gave our mutual friend that deck and lessons. Not only did it open me to the universes of The Tarot, but ultimately to many other intriguing studies (Kaballah, astrology, numerology, etc.). I'll be forever grateful.

*I have no idea why The Fool graphic above is not quite as clear as usual. I tried posting it in a larger version, no improvement. I even re-scanned the card and re-posted it, still no improvement. I can only say that I've been having problems with how the images I post appear on one of my other blogs. I'm inclined to think this has to do with blogger and not the images I've been posting. Especially as the pictures (both scans and uploaded photos) appear absolutely fine in every other program I view them within, but not blogger.

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'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever ways it comes to you in your life,





[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS) (charter member); Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.