I am very fond of Tarot and astrology, and I have a passing familiarity with runes (Elder Futhark) and I Ching. Hell, I'm very fond of randomizing characterization choices in tabletop games, and I've got a few personality generators saved (and printed out). And all these things are similar for me. Like, with a quick and simple sorting, I'm a Taurus sun sign (and short, and chubby, and fond of food and soft blankets, and stubborn, and...). That kind of thing is a fun way of grouping people and feeling a bit of connection with strangers, but not much else. Those categories are almost arbitrary in the four elements and the cardinal/mutable/fixed system, and broadly generalize. Not much better for understanding people than treating all people the same. With astrology, I want to think about sun sign and moon sign and rising sign at the least. Better to start getting into things like aspects, because that's where I start to get interested; clear categories of the signs, but the different sorts of tension between them tugging a person toward conflicting goals. I like to get a sense of the spectrum of a person, the constellation formed between their various traits, the tug-of-war between the different facets of their personality. Spoiler: star spectrum Spoiler: constellation With stuff like Tarot, I generally avoid doing single card answers for much the same reason; I don't like being asked a complicated question and told to answer only with yes or no, so I don't want to ask a question like that. (At least, not if that's all there is to the conversation. Yes/no questions in a lengthy conversation, where clarifications are allowed afterwards, are a different sort of thing.) What's interesting to me in these sorts of means of divination isn't in getting a quick and easy prediction of What Will Happen. It's asking, "so what's going on now, and what past things have pushed toward this point (and are still pushing, or are no longer directly influencing), and what's the projected outcome of continuing down this path? Any advice of upcoming obstacles, or things to change?" The attitude I try to take with divination tools is that I'm shifting my perspective. That in day-to-day life, I'm distracted by my concerns, and ignoring or overlooking things that contribute to the problems I experience. That by putting my mind in a place where I think about all the things going on in my life, past and present and projected/feared/hoped-for future, I can come to see them and deliberately make my choices about what to do. This ramble is brought to you by the fact that the last three drawings I did for myself featured the Queen of Wands in such a way that I'm getting a sense that that's the card I should be using to represent myself, and I'm somewhat bewildered by it. I'm used to using the Page of Swords for myself, and I'm wondering if I've really changed enough---or come to understand myself better---that this change is appropriate.
(so there is! @seebs @jacktrash can i request this thread be merged into the other tarot/divination thread?) eta ...hmm. actually, is that the best idea? it looks like that thread is for requesting readings. would it be better to have a divination request thread, and a separate discussion of divination thread?
This thread makes me wish I could explain my bird augury thing better. Basically I view all birds as potential messengers of the Gaelic gods and ungods. Crows and ravens especially but all birds. Crows and ravens are often, but not always, signs of some sort of negative thing. Injury, death, an unpleasant meeting with some asshole. It can be lots of things. However sometimes crows are good signs like when they hop alongside you happily. That is a very good sign. Also sometimes their portents of doom and gloom are meant to be helpful. Yes it's terrifying but they're just looking out for you. By being creepy. Hawks I view as being symbols of Lugh and potential messengers of him. While they are normally just hawking about sometimes they point me to places I should go or that I should do a thing. A lot of it boils down to just pure gut instinct. How does the bird make me feel? Why? Are there other things that might be causing the feeling besides the bird? It's a hit or miss thing and you've got to be careful. Other animals work with this sort of thing but birds are the best.
[hauls thread back up] Do we have any Lenormand folks in the audience? I'm considering making a deck (because the symbology is more straightforward to plan than Tarot) and was looking for opinions/reviews/general perspectives on it.
greetings so I am not a tarot person but because I am perpetually bored and also thinking about music I am contemplating making a personal tarot 8tracks playlist if I figure out how 8tracks works ...if I finish it (because I also want to include reversed, so that would be something like 156 songs at the end of it all) would you guys be interested in hearing it? I definitely feel like some of these song choices may be personal meaning to me only, but I love feedback and also music
I love astrology! I think it's a great starting point for identifying aspects of the self one wants to focus on, even if stars don't literally pull your personality into whatever shape. More starting points are never bad. Tell me, do you know much about the Eastern zodiac? I feel that's neglected in Tumblr's astrological side and it's fascinating to combine it with the Western one.
I know regrettably little about it! I know my sign and element and a little about what they mean together, but I don't have the context for them. No myths about them, or much understanding of the elements, or anything.
I keep thinking I ought to do some Tumblr astrology memes with the Eastern zodiac, but I'm afraid of getting dogpiled for not being Chinese over it. Anonymous sideblog, perhaps?
There is actually one thing I've always wondered about Chinese astrology - is there any comparable concept to a cusp in western astrology? I ask because (being a New Year's Day kid) I'm born in the period between Gregorian New Year's and Chinese New Year's, and I always thought that seemed vaguely cusplike.
So I backed the Pacific Rim tarot kickstarter back in October, and I have mine now and it is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous, and I also got the handbook, which has both descriptions of the cards and the artists' reasoning for choosing a certain character for a given card. I'm loving this so much.
I do love it when a fandom tarot comes out well. I'm actually slightly mad about the SU one because that is definitely a series they should have waited for more material on. (Yellow Diamond as the Emperor, anyone?)
not meaning to be rude but i HAD to share this image here Spoiler: things heating up in the divination fandom
that's so accurate it fucking hurts. the only thing it's missing are the oracle deck users off in a corner.
Oh man, here’s my astrological chart! My friend who’s really into astrology says it’s pretty accurate, which is eerie to me. For the main sign shit: Aquarius sun, Capricorn moon, Sagittarius ascendant. I’m also a bit of a tarot deck collector, and I’m especially fond of my SU deck—not just because of course I am, but because the art is very appealing (simple but pretty and unique), and because it does some things I like in fandom decks. (Specifically, the suits are very nicely divided by character—Garnet for Cups, Pearl for Swords, Amethyst for Wands, and Steven for Pentacles, with the majors all being other characters—and each one of the minors alludes to specific events/episodes in the art, which is REALLY cool. They did a good job of making the meanings fit too!!) I’d love to see a more updated deck with characters who’ve appeared since, but for the time being I love it. (Here’s a link—it’s unfortunately on the pricey side (I got it as a gift) but it’s easily my favorite deck and I highly recommend it.) Plus I vibe with it really well—I trust it more than my other decks somehow. Is that a common thing, having a deck that seems more accurate than the others you own?
