#Deck Interview

[kikiskitchenwitchery]

Happy whenever this finds you. This is a supplemental post to the previous deck interview post of the Ask the Witch Tarot, by Francesca Matteoni and illustrated by Simone Pace. Why the additional cards? I am not 100% sure actually, but the cards lept out while I was shuffling and I respect that. I see leapers as cards who may not have a specific place in a reading but that do have something to say about the reading. If I am doing daily pulls, leapers are the cards that are most important. In scripted spreads leapers are appendixes, at least that is how I see them. The card on the left is the 2 of Swords. Taking the context of the reading (the post just before this) this is about blending reason and intuition in my work with this deck. Twos in every suit tend to be about balance. Balancing the spiritual world with the material, or emotional with the intellectual. Here, because the previous reading was so focused on the material world and my education within it, this card is here as a reminder that my intuition has value and matters when it comes to the tarot work I do. The card on the right is the 10 of Wands. 10s are about completing some project or finishing a phase of life. This does not mean the ending of things as we often will seamlessly move to new projects or move to new phases. This card suggests that working with this deck will take more work than I am used, at least when it comes to tarot. Tarot reading comes very naturally to me. It is a handy way to tap into my intuition and my subconscious. This deck is letting me know it will challenge that. It will force me out of my comfort zone, push my intuition and in the end make me a better reader. I am so here for that. If you would like to support this page and this blog, feel free to venmo me at @lunarmagicteatime or book a long form reading. DM me for availability. Have a magical day.

[thekettlewitch]

Deck interview spread

Clearly, graphic design is my passion. This is more for my own reference than prettiness, anyway. This spread is a modified version of a spread I found online, many moons ago, and found extremely useful. The questions have stayed more or less the same, at least in vibe, but the placements of the cards have been altered to suit my own flow.

The questions are as follows;

“What can I learn from you?”

“Describe yourself.”

“Describe me.”

“How can we best work together?”

“What are your strengths?”

“What are your weaknesses?”

“What is our potential together?”

[thequeensgrimoire]

Deck Interview! The Alleyway Tarot

Greetings all! I've recently gotten three new decks from Seven Dane Osmund and am excited to do my first new deck interview in quite a while - a spread for the new mismatched Tarot deck I picked up, which is called The Alleyway Tarot.

I'll be using the deck interview spread from queerjusticetarot.com, shown in a screencap below, and you can find their spreads linked here if you'd like to check them out!

Now without further ado, let's continue with the interview down below...

I love this deck already, it's energy is nice to work with and seems very easy to shuffle and intuitive to use.

What major lesson are you here to help me learn? High Priestess - Pure intuition and magic, a divine muse of inspiration. This deck is here to help me be inspired and open to magic, to learn to take opportunities and not to hesitate or doubt myself in a reading, a magical working, or in life.

Through what energy can we best communicate? 9 of Pentacles - With adult maturity, a stable mindset and centered sense of self, and a commitment to putting in the work. The energy needs to be a balance of enjoyment and a willingness to work hard for the results - not a slackers deck.

In what area can you help me to help others? The Devil - In the area of allowing them to be their true, basic self. This card if about the body and ones wants and desires not as controlling, terrible things, but as natural and unavoidable. It's going to be most useful in the area of helping people accept who and what they are, and not trying to force people into something they aren't. Truth to the self.

In what area is your guidance most easily understood? 8 of Cups, Reversed - This deck's guidance will be most clear in the area of assessment, in waiting and watching or in giving signs on when to move on and when to stick things through. It's a deck of moderation, not just in refusing excess or restriction but in moderation between choices or opposing forces.

What can I do to keep our communication clear? Ace of Cups - Keep your heart open for the new, and treat each reading as a primal origin and a blank canvas from which new insights can emerge. Accept the reading as it is with an open heart - not good, not bad, just being.

How can I use your guidance for the highest good? Queen of the Cauldron - When you read with this deck, it's guidance is that of motherly advice, or of an assured mentor's guiding hand. When using the guidance of this deck, do so with the firm confidence and gentle touch of a wise, maternal figure - never condescending or haughty, but assured of ones own intuition.

How will I know when we're ready for a new lesson? Ace of Pentacles - You will know it's time for the next lesson when the opportunity presents itself, plain and simple. It will be offered, not made, but it will come either way.

[allthespreads]

Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?

What are your strengths as a deck?

What are your limits as a deck?

What are you here to teach me?

How can I best learn and collaborate with you?

What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?

[truthinlifetarot]

🤩

I love to use this deck. The imagery is amazing!

😍Etsy Shop 🕯️

🤩Patreon🔮

🖇️Link Tree🖇️

[hermitsmirror]

Deck interview: Apothecary Spirits Oracle

The Apothecary Spirits Oracle is an as-yet unpublished collaboration that I’ve created with Eric Maille and Michael Anthony of The Diviner Life to celebrate the wisdom and healing magic of herbalism.

The original concept of the deck started as gay flower fairies, and I was going to create a playful, sexy deck to honor my Venusian natal chart, but then I realized I wanted to make something useful more than I wanted to make something silly. (That’s a separate healing journey.) Plant magic was how I entered into the world of witchery and spiritual questing, but I largely abandoned it until recently, so it’s been nice to see it come back into my life in a new way. Sure, it was there in the background, but I wasn’t doing much with it proactively. And Michael, a trained herbalist, has brought practical knowledge to this oracle deck that’s been so lovingly illustrated by Eric.

If you’re wondering what my part is beyond initial ideation, it includes project coordination, layout design, editing, communicating with the printers, and shipping. But the most interesting part for you as the user is a thorough early section of the guidebook on using the deck for divination, from single-card prompts to forecasting and more in-depth spreads. My chonky section is really a guide to using oracle decks in general because I wanted to include the type of information I wish I had had when first conducting oracle card readings. So now the world gets that knowledge without having to spend years figuring it out on their own, not that there’s anything wrong with experimenting, as the deck will show us.

If you want to read that and see the deck come to life as more than a prototype, you can back our project on Kickstarter. It's funded but we're still stretching from now until April 19!

I used my own deck interview spread, which you can find explained on my blog.

What major lesson are you here to help me learn? Coffee

Through which divine energy can we best communicate? Gardening Tools

In what area can you aid me to help others? Vinegar

In what area could your guidance be easily misunderstood? Ghost Pipe

What can I do to keep our communication clear? Measuring Spoons

How can I use your guidance for the highest good? Lily of the Valley

How will I know when we’re ready for a new lesson? Garlic

What a delightful return to deck interviewing the Apothecary Spirits Oracle has provided me. As a deck I’ve been working on and discussing with two other creators for nearly two years, I’m very familiar with what our intentions behind the project have been, so it’s nice to see where my own personal connection reflects that while also diverging in some surprising ways, notably in the appearance of Coffee in the first position.

Coffee is the card of passion and excitement and a lust for life. There are other cards that might mean passion in different contexts, but coffee is very much an elixir of life for me, a necessary start to my mornings and a real pleasure midday. I have no doubt that I’m addicted to its caffeine, but I actually don’t drink that much coffee; I just drink it regularly, and I love it. Good coffee—not just a quick pot of whatever’s convenient—is one of the few luxuries I indulge in regularly, and I like how the deck is reminding me of how important that indulgence is but how it's only a part of the puzzle.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what excites me and what I want to be doing in my free time rather than simply going through the lists of tasks I assign myself. It’s a methodical way of going through life, but it’s hardly fun. This deck is a reminder of how fun it is to create and play and work in partnership with others. This last part is intriguing since I’ve restarted deck interviews for that exact reason, the desire to connect with others—you the readers, who are interested in how they could be using other decks, and the creators themselves.

This excitement and my use of the deck overall—much like my coffee intake—needs to be measured and proportionate. It’s about helping others to heal and maintain their own inner work, the lesson of Vinegar, not about wallowing, a downfall of Ghost Pipe. This is surprising to me for more than just the apparent paradox of encouraging a lust for life and the need for moderation. It’s surprising to me because Ghost Pipe was one of the first three cards we worked on. To get a sense that we were all on the same page, I suggested we do a card of wisdom, a card of desire, and a card of mourning. The specific choice of mourning was a nod to the queer experience of loss since this is an inherently and sometimes explicitly (not that kind of explicit) queer deck. And although there’s a lot of beauty and life to celebrate, there’s been a history of death and loss as well, and I wanted to make sure that we weren’t skipping over that for light and love.

But of course Nature is nothing if not balanced, and you can’t wallow in loss when there’s so much life to live. This is a healing deck, but it may not be a shadow work deck, at least not for me. It’s so much more about supporting the maintenance of life. Herbalism as a general practice is very much rooted in prevention and administering early correctives to help rediscover healthy balance and natural flow. While there may be loss, there’s no point in focusing on it except for how it’s affecting the present. Acknowledge it, help process it, and move on.

The “higher cards” of Gardening Tools and Lily of the Valley are also a bit of a pleasant surprise for me. I associate both of them with Eric since he wanted to include green carnations somewhere in the deck (they’re in the basket) and his favorite flower is Lily of the Valley. For me, I would have expected to see Lily of the Valley in the second position as it’s a card of wonder and curiosity and of fairy magic (as well as the dangers posed by that), while the Gardening Tools card doesn’t feel especially magical or divine. As the card of planning and preparation, it feels the least connected to the magic of the earth itself and the fey goddess work that I had originally thought I was working toward with my original deck concept. But I’m reminded of my strongest spirit guide, Vulcan, a craftsman (and fiery destroyer), and there’s something divinely inspired by the Fibonacci spiral, the perfection of heavenly ideals found in mundane form. Remembering the distinction between the plant spirits of this Apothecary Spirits Oracle and the plants themselves seems key here. They are related but not the same thing. The plant (or fungus or tool) is an entry point, but it’s As above, so below, not As below, it is what it is.

And as for what happens next with the deck? Garlic as the card of everyday magic feels like a clear sign for kitchen witchery. This deck will no doubt encourage me to reinvigorate life and reconnect with my passions, such as art and plants, while also inspiring me to rekindle the magic of the kitchen. And that’s a lesson I am excited to take on. See? The excitement begins already.

[callu-na]

1. Introduced self as kind, but wrathful if wronged

2. Strengths as a deck are giving a surprisingly accurate (if sarcastic) response

3. Limitations are relationships and conflict (same, deck, same)

4. It said I can learn how to better pick myself up and keep moving forward

5. Best way to work with the deck is when I'm feeling apathetic and need a push

6. Outcome is confidence and leaving ego behind

originally posted on @callu-na on May 19, 2020

[particlewaveform]

so considering What Happened im gonna need yall to read Sid's wild ass interview from April this year ok? ok

[thisisahyperfixationnow]

Something something something Andrew Robinson and Alexander Siddig’s convention performances walked so lower decks could run something something

Also damn, spirk and garashir in like a month? We’re eating so good

[blamemma]

These deletions are not the act of someone “happier now” imo

yeah. i kinda didnt wanna say it cause i'm way too delicate right now to do discourse, but i've never been on the 'he's happier' train. he loved f1. it was his life and his dream and his passion and his everything. it was his everything. to have that ripped away from you, so suddenly, so harshly, when in his mind, from what he'd been made aware of in the summer break, it was going to be a few more years before he had to say goodbye...i think the moments we've seen of him, he's happy, he's filling his time and he's doing something that brings him joy. and i hope he keeps on filling his days with those moments. but idk. for me this proves, in the quiet times, it's still tough for him. it's still difficult. it'll take time to heal. i'm glad he's home.

[kingjasnah]

[kikiskitchenwitchery]

Happy whenever this finds you. This is the first of our deck interview series. I have picked my copy of the deck Ask The Witch by Francesca Matteoni and illustrated by Simone Pace. This was published in 2021 and I do still see copies pretty readily available. I went with this deck for the first in the series because it was the first one I picked out of the large tarot storage. This storage is an old potato bin from my mom's and I can't really see the decks I keep in there. So I just reached my hand in and went with the first one I pulled out. Silly but also, I like the spontaneity. I liked that I drew out a deck that I don't have a relationship with. I am honestly not sure I have used this deck in the past. So let's see what it has to say. Cards to be read clockwise from upper left Question one: What are you here to teach me? Card: 7 of Pentacles. I really like this representation of the 7 of Pents. It is vaguely Buddhist in it's art and conveys the message of both hard work and hope very well. The cards meaning is taking a breath after the hard work of planting and tending the work and appreciating what you have done. While you are appreciating that hard work, you are still waiting for the fullness of harvest. It will come. Because you have done the work needed. This card is here to remind me that my decades of life have been that work and the harvest is still to come. But do not let go of that drive. Question two: How can I get the most out of working with you? Card: The Moon in reverse. On the surface it seems odd to draw this card as an answer to this question. I am not 100% sure that I will get this right. I do believe that this is telling me that when I work with this deck I will also want to be asking Hecate directly. I can respect that. I may not remember that, but golly, I can respect it. The Moon is about peeling away lies and deception. Putting a little light on the shadows. It also seems clear that working with my shadows will assist me in working with this deck Question 3: What is your personality? Card: Page of Pentacles. I really like this as an answer. Playful, but connected and grounded in the material world is how I see the Page of Pentacles. This is s studious deck. It values learning and education. At the same time it fully recognizes play and nature as some of our greatest teachers. That is a personality I can easily get along with. Question 4: What subjects do you prefer? Card: 9 of Pentacles. One thing we notice pretty quickly is that we drew a lot of pentacles for a four card spread. That tells me that even if this card was a different suit, the focus would still be on me moving through the material world. That is interesting to me as that is a new focus (there will be loads of time to talk about that later. For this deck the focus is education, the material world, perhaps the intersection of the material world and the spiritual world. There will be a bonus post following this one. Thank you for joining me on the new series. If you would like to support the page feel free to venmo me at @lunarmagicteatime or book a reading with me. Just DM me if you would like to schedule on. Have a super magical day.

[thekettlewitch]

Deck Interview - Children of Litha

Overall reading: This is a fairly free-spirited deck that likes to speak to the intuition rather than (necessarily) logic, that doesn't like to be asked to look too far into the future but prefers to focus on the deeper issues in the here and now. It can offer gentle wisdom and possibly creative answers to problems, and isn't afraid to jump headfirst into the heart of an issue.

“What can I learn from you?” | VIII of Wands (reversed) - obstacles, delays, slowing down Won’t lie, this felt a bit like a personal callout at first, and I was worried that maybe this deck was just going to be uncomfortably blunt about… a lot of things.  I tend to be the hesitant type, the type to let setbacks hit them hard.In the context of the other cards though, I think perhaps it’s more about learning to manage that - when to take things slow, and when to push past those obstacles.

“Describe yourself.” | The Fool - new beginnings, free-spiritedness, innocence, leaps of faith This might sound strange, but I wasn’t at all surprised to pull this card in this position for this deck.  I kind of had a feeling, even before the deck arrived, that it was going to throw The Fool at me as a self-descriptor.  The whole deck just kind of has that energy about it, somehow.Anyway, what this says to me is that the deck is adventurous, unafraid to take a leap into the unknown with the reader, that it has a sort of youthful enthusiasm in its approach.

“Describe me.” | The Magician - willpower, intellect, gaining experience, manifestation I don’t really know what to make of this, honestly just because any way I could interpret it seems to paint altogether far too flattering a picture of me.  I expected to pull The Tower or something here, because I am (in every sense) a walking disaster.

“How can we best work together?” | The Empress - nature, maternal wisdom, creativity, abundance I like this.  I feel like with this card, the deck is telling me that overall it’s best used to provide wisdom and guidance (particularly in conjunction with the cards that come next), that it’s good at providing creative solutions or insight.

“What are your strengths?” | The Void - the unseen, fears, deeper issues, depression, emptiness Really interesting to me that when asked about its strengths, this deck responded by showing me one of its original cards.  For all the lighthearted energy of The Fool, and all the gentleness of The Empress, this is a deck that knows exactly who it is I think.  It wants to do real deep dives into heavier, potentially more personal topics where its guidance is most needed.

“What are your weaknesses?” | VII of Coins/Pentacles - laying seeds, investment, future planning I mean, same honestly, but I don’t think this deck wants to be asked to look too far ahead.  It’s more concerned with the present than the future.

“What is our potential together?” | The Moon - the unconscious, intuition, fear, unconscious/conscious duality I feel like this is sort of echoing #5 and The Void; the potential here is to dive deep, to enhance intuition and the unconscious, to tackle bigger topics.  This deck wants to be that light in the dark.

[trekkie-polls]

Choices, choices.

I thought about adding Michael Westmore, but wasn’t sure if enough people know who he is… but you listen to what he has to say about how Armin’s neck magically fits the prosthesis without needing the little fabric hat thing to cover the join, and it sure sounds like love to me.

[hollywoodoutbreak]

Over the past four seasons, Star Trek: Lower Decks has offered a new, animated, and certainly more comedic perspective on the long-running franchise. But the show's upcoming fifth season will, alas, be its last. With that in mind, the series will be finding ways to give its characters a proper send-off during the new episodes. Tawny Newsome, who provides the voice of Lieutenant Beckett Mariner, spoke at a Comic-Con panel and said this new season will see Mariner hit an emotional growth spurt.

Star Trek: Lower Decks will start streaming its new season October 24 on Paramount+.

[dent-de-leon]

Taliesin: “[Asha] is hunger and violence. There’s one of the cards of in the Moonweaver’s—in Jester and Molly’s oracle deck—that is Hunger and Sacrifice, and it’s an undead skeleton piercing a wolf with a spear, and the wolf is attacking and eating the skeleton, and it’s…it was always meant to be a conversation between the human intelligence and the natural world. You know, the world is hungry, and—human sacrifice. Humans take things and remove them, to make new things…”

Some Taliesin insight on one of Molly’s tarot cards, I thought it was really interesting that he talked about it while discussing Asha’s character :,)