21 Tarot Answers – A Blog Reply to Lisa Papez’s #Twentyonetarotquestions
As I mentioned on Friday, I decided to do a few Blog Replies to youtube tags while passing the time, waiting for a verdict. Here’s my Blog Reply to Lisa Papez from Supportive Tarot‘s #twentyonetarotquestions
1: What is the deck they’ll have to pry out of your cold dead hands?
I know many people took this question to mean, what’s your favorite deck? But not me. I have a more vain take on it. Seriously, if someone found me dead in my rocking chair, I would want to be found with a deck beyond reproach, a deck that’s not only classic but classy. Would you rather be found with Shakespeare or Soap Opera Digest by your death bed? Do you want a half empty glass of a fine wine next to the book or a melted Slurpee? So, to me, nothing says I died with my grandmother’s pearls on more than the classic, classy Jean-Claude Flornoy Noblet. Nothing. And, if I were to die with a tarot deck in my hands, there’s a good chance of it being the Noblet, because it is a favorite.
2: What’s your guilty pleasure deck?
As you can probably tell from the above, I like to keep my guilty pleasures close to the vest. I do not want to be found dead surrounded by guilty pleasures. I really don’t have any guilty pleasure tarot decks in the sense that I would be embarrassed to admit I have it. My guilty pleasure, really, is my Tarot de Louttre-B, because of how much money I spent on it – both from the perspective that it’s my most expensive deck ($159 with shipping from Italy, so it was like $129 plus $30 for shipping), but I also paid much less than what I’ve seen it selling for (its currently $800+ on etsy). I love that I’m only one of a handful of people that has this deck (maybe 2 or 3 handfuls, but it’s a pretty rare deck), and that while I did go over budget, it was also kind of a bargain. So, I feel a little guilty that I went over my once firm line of $100 for a deck, and the slippery slope that could follow (which actually hasn’t) and I also feel a little guilty that I paid much less than it’s actually worth, but on the other hand, I’m just so happy to have it. I’m gleeful when I use it.
3: What’s the deck you wish existed?
I want Bob Dylan to create a tarot deck. Of course we all know he won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, but did you know he’s also a fantastic artist? So, I do not want an illustrated deck of Dylan songs curated by someone else (like the Welkin Dylan Tarot), I want Bob Dylan to create a Majors only deck of his oil paintings, interpreting the Major Arcana through his unique, poetic lens. Get to work Bob.
4: What deck would you give to a new reader?
So, if I could go back and do it all over again, what deck would I want someone to give me? Would I have wanted to start out with Marseille instead of like I did, with RWS? Would I have wanted to find the Read Like the Devil method sooner? And the answer is no, I had to come to it over study and discovery. You can’t break the rules and not rely on fixed meanings if you don’t know what they are in the first place.
When I gave my niece her first tarot deck, I gave her the Wild Unknown and a Rider Waite Smith Centennial Edition. I thought it was a good combo. But, neither has sparked her interest, as far as I know, and I kind of wish I had given her The Superlunaris Tarot, a Rider Waite clone on steroids. It’s pretty, it’s modern, it’s diverse, it’s good. It means what it says, and it says what it means. There is no ambiguity in this deck. I used to use it when I did free readings on the Biddy Tarot site – if someone asked for the 100th time if their person was coming back, and they got shitty looking cards, there was no argument when I gave them a “no” answer.
5: What deck do you want to get along with but it just never clicked?
6: What deck do you only keep for the art?
8: What deck is over your head or just baffles you?
13: What deck gives you the willies?
The answer to all 4 of these questions is the Pholarcus Tarot, a totally bonkers, batshit crazy deck. I really wanted to like it – it has my favorite Tower card ever. But, it just makes no sense. I can read with it, but all I ever think when I throw the cards, is wt actual f.
And, it does give me the willies. How creepy are these cards? Is the devil devouring her brains? What is up with the creepy dead looking bird in the Justice card? And what does this card have to do with Justice anyway?
7: What deck did you buy because everyone else did?
Didn’t everyone buy this deck because someone else bought it? It’s a fine deck. And like I said, I gave it to my niece along with a traditional RWS when I wanted to get her into tarot, but that’s because I thought she might recognize it from having seen it in pop culture, and some of the shows she watches. I thought she might feel like a cool kid if she had it.
9: What deck surprised you?
Tarot de Carolotydes is more than just a pop culture referencey deck. It’s a great storyteller.
10: What deck doesn’t really work for you but you keep it because it’s a collectible?
This is a beautiful deck, and I like having it, it feels special. But, I really enjoy people in my deck – the gestures they are making, where are they glancing, what direction are they facing? I need people, people.
11: What deck is your favorite gilded deck?
This isn’t quite gilding, but the Playful Heart was edged with rainbow sharpies by the creator, Kittenchops. Such a special touch! And who doesn’t love a rainbow? Be on the lookout for her new deck, PipSpeak Tarot, a super cute Marseille style deck.
12: Which deck do you love – but hate the card stock?
Bonefire Tarot. Oy! It’s shiny, it’s a weird size, it’s sticky. It’s plastic. It’s not good.
14: What’s your favorite deck for shadow work?
I don’t do shadow work. I believe you ask a question, you get an answer.
15: What deck do you love in theory but not in practice?
I’ve written about this deck before, and I don’t want to beat a dead horse. In theory, I like the idea that you can put every correspondence imaginable in a deck and create a deck that is for everyone because you can use what you want, ignore what you don’t. In practice, it doesn’t work for me.
16: What deck would you never use to read for someone else?17: What deck would you never use for yourself? I’d use all my decks for anyone including myself. Except Pholarcus. Bat Shit Crazy.
18: What deck could you NOT bring yourself to buy?
Tarot of Vampyres. Once upon a time, I was Team Lestat. I couldn’t wait for the next Anne Rice novel to come out. But now, eh, Vampires are just blood sucking murderers to me. I don’t care about their thirst, or desires, or angst, or whatever. I no longer see romance in death. I get the love for this deck and guidebook, but it’s not for me. Enjoy if it’s for you, no judgment here.
19: What’s your favorite pip deck?
Not a lazy pip in the bunch, in the Wayhome Tarot.
20. What deck slaps you with the truth?
This is a hard question for me, because I just think tarot is tarot. If you ask a question, you get an answer. Some of the answers suck. Whether you are slapped in the face or not is just your reaction, and a reflection of how you weren’t expecting that answer. I think that says something more about you, not the deck.
21: What’s the deck that got away?
The Lo Scarabeo Anima Antiqua Soprafino Tarot. I had it in my cart, I took it out of my cart, I put it back in. By the time I was done with this whiplash shopping over the course of several months, it was gone. Snooze you lose. I’m not going to pay the prices it’s listed for now, but I always have my eyes open for a bargain. Maybe it will still come to me yet.
So put a fork in that tag! I enjoyed watching everyone’s answers, and it was a good distraction from what was my task at hand.
