Stuff in Steve's office (#3)

[sleigh]

On one of the writers email group to which I belong a discussion on Tarot cards recently erupted, and I was surprised to find how many writers owned a Tarot set (or several) and that they seemed to regularly get them out.

The Tarot has always interested me as well; I have three decks.  You can see them in the picture below.  From the top and moving clockwise:

-- one version of the Rider-Waite deck, which is probably the most popular deck in use, and the one you generally see as the ‘generic’ Tarot deck.  I was given this one long ago, my first deck, and though I’m not a great fan of the artwork and the rather Christian symbology of the deck, it was my first introduction to the Tarot.

-- the medieval Scapini deck.  It’s a lovely-looking deck, which Denise gave me as a present.  She has a good eye for the kind of art I like.

-- Aleister Crowley’s Thoth deck, which is the one to which I’ll usually gravitate.  I’ve had this one for some time (and I believe that, again, Denise got it for me after I expressed in interest in getting the deck.)

I’m not one who believes that the Tarot has the ability to foretell the future -- in truth, most Tarot devotees might agree with that statement, as most look on the deck being able to show a possible path through the near future, a kind of “if this goes on” situation, but not one that is fixed and unchangeable.  The Tarot is generally supposed to act as a guide.

For me, it’s more an occasional meditation exercise:  I’ll look at an array and the symbology of the cards, and think about what import they might have for me.  It’s far less ‘fortune-telling’ than a way of giving me something on which to focus.

Plus, often they have some lovely art on them -- which is why I prefer the Crowley deck. I’ll might pick up a deck if I like the images, but I’m neither obsessed by the Tarot nor much of a believer in its fortune-telling abilities (nor very practiced at ‘reading’ the cards).  But they do pique my interest...