Fun for Jung

Hey there.  Welcome to my Tarot weblog.  I’m Yukino.

I wish I could tell you a really dramatic experience story.  There isn’t one, though, so I can’t.   I first learnt about the Tarot from a small pocket divination book my Father randomly gave me.  It was 2003, I think, or maybe 2004, and I was either 19 or 20.  Strangely enough, Tarot didn’t really attract me back then.

Then there was year 2006, month of November.  My Mum and I were in desperate search for a gift for my Grandmother, her Mother.  She’s very hard to give gifts to.  She’s never satisfied with anything, or even if she is, she will make it sound like she’s not.  :-)  It’s a special trait of her, and you get used to it after a while, even though it is annoying indeed.

The thing is, my Grandmother divines on cards.  Playing cards, that is.  So my Mum and I had this bizarre idea that maybe she would like Tarot, too.  So we rushed to the only open book store (it was last minute, as I said), and asked for a Tarot deck and a book on them, not really hoping that we’d score one.  But we did.  It was a huge tome on many kinds of divination, and in the back it had a “cut it yourself” section of RWS deck.  Only I had no idea that it was RWS back then.  I didn’t even care that much.

When we came home and gave the book to Grandmother, she…  Well, she didn’t like it.  She glanced at it, didn’t even open it, said that it was “too big”, and put it aside.  Peeved a little, I said, “Oh well, then, I’ll try them for myself.”  So I took the book to my room, not even sure that I’m going to go through with my word.

… Later that evening, I sat on the bed, and decided to at least look through the poor book.  The card descriptions were really dramatic and even a bit dogmatic.  There were many mentions of some guy named Etteila, and page-to-page illustrations of cards were black and white and were’t anything like the DIY section in the back.  (Later on I’ve learnt that those images were a variation of Marceilles Tarot.)  I was intrigued.   There was more than one way to draw Tarot cards, then?  And more than one way to interpret them, too?

Over the next two weeks I was carefully cutting out the deck.  I took my time, there was no need to rush.  As the deck grew, I explored other divination techniques in that book, like I-ching, tea leaves, coffee grounds (these two were my late paternal grandmother’s favourites),..

I think the first spread I did with my deck was Celtic Cross.  (No surprise.)  I carefully read all descriptions, tried to find a deeper meaning, went ‘hmph’, and put the book and the cards away.  But the intrigue stayed.

So the next day I went to that same bookstore where we’ve acquired the previous book.   Luckily, they had more works on Tarot, specifically, the one from For Dummies series.  I took it home, and started doing the simple exercises provided.  The authors recommended keeping a Tarot journal, so I started recording my cards in my Dream journal.

My journey was slow.   There was a hectic time of moving and living in USA for 3.5 months, where cards mostly stayed in my bedpost cabinet.  I browsed through US’s bookstores Tarot selections with little enthusiasm, and didn’t get any other deck while there, even though the choice is wide, compared to the whopping maximum of 10 decks I can find in this country.  (If the stars align and permit for luck.)

As I came home, however, I started taking Tarot studies more seriously.  I bought more books, discovered more websites.  I started recording my own interpretations of cards.  I started comparing my months old spreads with events that took place later on.  I tried many other spreads.  Purchased three more decks and got another five in DIY form with various books.  Bought my first Oracle deck.

I cannot say that I’ve got very far.  Learning Tarot, or any other type of cartomancy, is a never-ending journey.  Out of all the decks that I own, I still feel comfortable with my first one only, the RWS DIY clone.

But I had thought, why not share?  I love Tarot, it’s one of my absolute favourite things.   I may not have wide knowledge, but I am not here to teach.  I’m here to talk about sudden inspirations, discuss spreads, write on books, go through new decks card by card…

And if you’re reading this now, and something makes you stop and think, please don’t hesitate to comment with your thoughts.  I would love to hear from you.