Self Care / Tarot

Today Tarot Self Care Equals 2 New Decks

Hi Musers and happy Sunday! While I am still a long way from back to normal, you’ll be happy to hear that I am feeling a bit better. Partially on the advice of my tarot for burnout spread , I ended up taking holiday for the last 5 hours on Friday and have done fun things and rested as much as possible. As the title says, I also determined that tarot self care could be actioned by the purchase of two new decks. To be clear, they’re actually not tarot decks, they’re oracles.

Did You Need Two New Decks CMoo?

Wow! You jump straight to the tough questions don’t ya!? Actually no, I did not but here’s why I did it in the spirit of tarot self care.

1. Although I battle to find healthy coping mechanisms, my go-tos are comfort eating and retail therapy. Not clothes, honestly I find that a dull “has to be done” activity. But tarot decks, crystals, candles, wax seal kits…come to mama!
2. For deck one, I am currently reading a wonderful book that prompted me to buy it. It’s called If Women Rose Rooted by Dr Sharon Blackie. I’m not done yet, but it’s an immensely powerful book. I had to stop reading on Friday because reading examples of how women’s power has been stripped and eroded as well as the damage we carelessly inflict on the ultimate woman – Mother Earth, had me in tears. The book details how rather than competing with men and fighting to be part of The Hero’s Journey. We need to take a journey of our own. Dr Blackie refers to it as The Heroine’s Journey. She has created an oracle deck to help women make the journey and it’s the first of the two I bought – The Rooted Woman oracle. It truly is beautiful and so powerful.
3. The second deck also came to me because of spiritual work I’m doing. In January I did a 3 hour shadow work and deity master class with Kate Olsen who posts YouTube videos as The Mystic In The Woods. Part of the class involved a meditation where I met my animal guide. As we were in the woods, and I’m from the UK, during the meditation I was certain my guide would be either a fox or a squirrel. It turned out to be a big, gorgeous badger. Even before this class, I was looking into animal oracles as I love animals. My Oak, Ash and Thorn tarot which was a gift from my husband is one of my favourite decks hands down. Once I found my guide is badger I wanted a deck with a badger in it. Luckily, I recently watched this video by Mystic Mand, a wonderful Irish Tarot Tuber. She introduced me to the Winterseer Animal Oracle which is stunning and contains a badger.

Saying Hello

Now you know why I bought the decks I’m going to explain how I get to know any deck that enters my collection. If you don’t work with tarot you may not know this, but your relationships with your tarot or oracle deck is something that you build over time, like any new relationships. You don’t meet a new partner and instantly become soulmates, you don’t meet a new friend and instantly become BFFs. You need to spend time getting to know each other. There are SO many ways to do this and it seems every Tarot Tuber or blogger has their own method. This is mine:

1. Open the box and carefully look through each card
2. Either using incense or sage pass each card through the smoke to cleanse it of the energy of all those who touched it before me. I’m not suggesting there’s anything wrong with the energy of others but I want my decks to bond with my energy
3. Once I’ve smoke cleansed them, I pick up and hold each card in turn, imprinting them with my energy.
4. On the next full moon, I leave them on the windowsill of my study / altar room to absorb the energy of the moon. By the way, the full moon also cleanses your cards so if you’re not down with smoke you can just do this step.
5. I do an interview spread, a kind of “hi, how are you, what are you all about” kinda thing.
6. I sleep with the deck next to my bed for several nights.

Tarot Self Care Deck 1 – Rooted Woman Oracle Interview spread

Of all the steps above, the most important one for this post is number 5, the interview spread. Not every reader does an interview spread. My sister was very wary of them for a while as she got such a negative interview spread on a deck she previously looked that it out her off working with it. It still like to do it though because in the last yeah that I’ve been working with tarot and oracle decks I’ve come to learn that they are very much like people. They have their own personalities, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes.

I’ve never found a deck unusable for any spread but sometimes insights just flow and it makes sense immediately. Other time it seems cryptic or hard to figure the meaning. I find that by introducing myself and asking the deck which types of reading its good at, i can get the most out of my spreads.

After trying various deck interviews I find a four card spread works best.

1. How would you describe yourself
2. What types of readings are you best at?
3. What types of readings are you not so hot?
4. Where do you see our relationship going?

1. The Lake. The keyword is What Lurks Beneath. I believe this deck is telling me that it has hidden depths. That what I see at first in its images may not be the whole picture. I need to think about the images, sit with them, maybe even meditate on them to get the full message. This is a Celtic wise woman deck and it is made for shadow work.
2. Labyrinth. You’re great at readings where my path is unclear, where I feel lost in a labyrinth. The image is at night which would make it even more confusing. You’re great at shining a light on my path, my next steps. It may not be an easy journey but there are great rewards at the heart.
3. The Sacred Marriage. You are here to help me on my heroine’s journey, to show me my path and help me grow. My relationship with the earth, with deities and with others are something I need to work through either by myself or with other decks. The book says this card relates to the integration of the feminine and masculine energies within me. How I do this is up to me, not the deck.
4. The Crossroads. It could in many different directions, I guess the choice will be mine. It is a liminal space, supposedly crossroads demons make deals for the souls of mortals there. I could go in any direction but I cannot stay at the crossroads, eventually I have to decide. I should not be afraid though as every path has benefits and a treasure at the end. So will my relationship with the deck.

Honestly, on the back of this spread I am SO excited to start working with this deck!

Tarot Self Care Deck 2 – Winterseer Animal Tarot Interview spread

1. Fox. The keyword is cunning. You are wise and wily. You know what you need to do to thrive. You will remind me that direct action is not always the best way and that stealth and diplomacy may carry me farther.
2. Frog. Luck. This isn’t the best keyword as the guide focuses on internal focus as well as transformation. There are many stories where a frog becomes a handsome prince (or in the Worst Witch books of my childhood, a powerful wizard) Rather than looking outward for solutions you’ll remind me to look for the treasure within.
3. Hawk. Sight. The Hawk has extraordinarily sharp eyes but he tends to view things from high above. This deck isn’t great at “big picture” questions.
4. Doe. Caution. We will form a bond of feminine energy. It’s not about a show of strength and forging ahead. We will move carefully and explore my path together.

Here’s To Better Times

I hope you enjoyed my deck interviews as well as taking a look at my new tarot self care purchases. I look forward to working with them regularly in the months to come. Please feel free to pop any of your own interpretations of the readings in the comments sections. Til next time, take care xx