I find tarot to be amazingly fascinating. I think it is the combination of meanings meeting imagery where you can ultimately build up such a large library of connections with a deck's artwork and previous readings. It's where these two worlds converge: the intimate base of knowledge and experience one person has and the ability to form connections and spin readings into existance.

After all it isn't as if the cards tell me exactly what to expect, but rather I am drawing from my own contexts of the situation, my current personal situations, and everything around me during the course of a reading. I consider my decks to be a guide of sorts, nudging me to pay attention to different aspects of life, and to also remind me when I am overthinking things again.

As a sidenote, I find it much easier to do readings for myself than for other people. It makes sense considering that whenever I do a reading for myself, I already have previous readings written down in my personal notebook, and it feels more like prolonging a conversation than anything.

However, on occassion I do feel proud of my readings and I do offer readings for my friends. It is also another way for me to learn more about my deck and how she responds to other's situations.

I will also be describing my decks in a personal manner, mainly because I have been in a working relationship with them for a good chunk of time. I also consider them as having a sort of personality, per se. I will describe this more later, but I have built a relationship with an entity / force who has associated herself with the High Priestess. I also consider both of my decks as two iterations of the same force, but this is a more recent discovery for me and I have yet to explore it more.

Sept. 16 2023, Update: After working more with my deck, as well as learning more about my practice, I've found that one of my patrons, Athena, was the one who showed herself to me as I asked for a guide. Hence, the High Priestess card!

I've also done more work with trying to use the cards as tools to communicate with my patrons, and so the tarot decks are now more neutral to me now. In terms of personality and difference between them, I feel as if their differing imagery makes for some decks being better at certain questions than others! Further mentions below about the High Priestess can then be concluded as having help at the time by my patron, Athena.

My first ever deck was gifted to me by a best friend I had at the time in highschool. This was way before I actively studied and worked with any divination method, and also before I felt comfortable enough to say that I practice witchcraft.

It's a pocket-sized Art Nouveau Tarot Deck by Antonella Castelli. By pocket, I mean that it basically fits in your palm! At the time, I was very interested in art nouveau and its aesthetics. I have this deck to thank for being my first toe dip into tarot and by extention, witchcraft. It is also when I did my first interview of the deck where I learned more about her personality and her methods of communicating with me what I need to focus on.

My first introduction with this deck went as followed: I took time to actively shuffle and pay attention to how I reacted when I rested my hands. I really didn't want to screw up my first proper spread, which was an Interview spread with all sorts of questions for my deck. It was going swimmingly until I asked her to describe myself. It was then I drew the funniest card: the 'Title' card for the deck. (You can see it in the image, it has the name of the brand who printed it: Lo Scarabeo.) I was absolutely blown back, and also was laughing at myself because I couldn't believe that I forgot this 'non' card in my deck before I shuffled it!

The very next day, I decided to ask my deck if she could assign me a mentor from the Major Arcana, and that is when I first met her: The High Priestess. I wrote down in my notes that I "already expected this" considering the previous night. You can also see why I felt as if that was going to happen, considering the 'Title' card actually showcases the High Priestess!

From that point forward, I have always considered her a firm but thoughtful guiding figure in my tarot journey. I often joke in my personal notes how she keeps pointing me in obvious directions, and that she keeps 'bonking' my head, so to speak, whenever I am ignoring something willfully.

I would describe her personality as firm, but more of an older sister figure. She sees through the masks I put up, and faces me towards what needs to be worked on. She also listens to my requests for positive assessments of situations, meaning that she isn't always about revealing the shadows, but also about revealing the hidden light that I turn away from as well.

More recently, she has been reminding me to reach out of my comfort zone and to not be so reserved: that opportunities come only when you work for it. This is my current challenge, and one that while very grueling to face, has also come with a lot of unexpected surprises and success.

While I have a lot of positive experiences with this deck, it also comes with unignorable drawbacks that keep me from saying that this is the deck I'd want to use for the rest of my life. The drawbacks are solely based in the imagery that this deck uses. Typically, the deck has a beautiful illustration of a 'typical' figure in art nouveau, which is a feminine figure. All that is fine, and in fact it sometimes brings with it interesting new interpretations of certain cards.

However, I have a specific issue with two illustrations: the Lovers and Strength. The Lovers card depicts a man forcefully grabbing a woman's wrist and keeping her head angled in what I am guessing is supposed to be interpreted as a passionate kiss. Instead, I feel extremely nauseous at seeing this card, and funnily enough, I've never drawn it in any of my readings. The illustration reads to me more like possession and aquiring a prize rather than the actual meaning of the card: harmony, unity and balance.

The second card I have issues with is the Strength card, which depicts a man beating what I think is a satyr or humanoid monster. It completely misses the point of the Strength card, and it really makes no sense why this was the illustration. I understand that reading "Strength" can bring up images of physical strength, but in tarot it more refers to the inner strength one has to overcome obstacles. I actually adore the original Rider Waite depiction of strength, where a lion stands at the side of the figure and is guided by them.

Because of this, I have decided to slowly retire this deck and focus on working with the next deck I will be describing!

During 2019, when I began to heavily get into tarot readings with my Art Nouveau deck, I began to fall in love with the idea of choosing out my own deck. While I thoroughly enjoyed mine, I also wanted to get a 'proper' sized deck to have two different options. I stumbled into a bookstore that amazingly had a wide selection of tarot and oracle decks: all available to be browsed through! I spent a good chunk of time in there, but I ultimately walked out with one deck: the Everyday Witch Deck by Deborah Blake.

I cannot describe how beautiful and how full of symbolism these illustrations are. After acquiring a new deck, I typically look through all the cards and pay close attention to the illustrations. And wow, if there was a deck that closely matches my interpretations of each major and minor arcana, this one's it! The Everyday Witch brings a bright energy within its illustrations, and even when it is a more "scary" card, it keeps it tied to reality. I just absolutely adore it!

Funnily enough, when I first got this deck I didn't even use her much because I was in the middle of forging my relationship with my Art Nouveau deck. I also had the fear back then that I may replace my Art Nouveau deck with this one, and that scared me so much at the time! I really felt so close to my Art Nouveau deck, because of the High Priestess that was guiding me, so I let that become a barrier in my tarot journey. Because of this, Everyday Witch was stuck in a box for the longest time. And the longer time went on, the more guilt I felt towards her.

More recently though, I had a realization that this entity presents herself in more than just my tarot practice, and is actually present within my shrine that I upkeep. Because of that, I slowly came to the idea of switching decks. The reason I wanted a whole switch (which would make my Art Nouveau deck a secondary and lesser used deck) was because of what I explained earlier: the completely conflicting illustrations within the Art Nouveau deck. It was also because I connected much more with the imagery that this deck uses over my previous one. With this entire combo, I decided hey, it won't hurt me or anyone to move on from my old deck and pick up this one proper

To make this transition, I decided to let the Everyday Witch deck describe herself with one card after a good shuffle. I cannot tell you the series of emotions that I got when I pulled the High Priestess. It was almost like she was telling me that I needed to stop worrying and that nothing major was going to happen, that she will always be by my side no matter how much I change. With this, I am so excited to say that I am practicing tarot with my Everyday Witch deck 99% of the time!

Overall, my journey with tarot has been a rocky road, but one that I can say has really grown alongside me and where I can see most of my progress. It has also been central in me building my shrine which has become a physical reminder for me to take a moment to pause and reflect. I am still excited to see where tarot brings me, and who knows, maybe I might collect a few more decks along the way!