The Crafts: Wixes, Spells, and the Weaponized Placebo Effect

OOOOOOOOOH NICE
that's gotta be a cool deck in terms of pictures and such. I didn't even know there was a Night Vale tarot deck....hmmmm....

 

The art is heartbreakingly beautiful.

 

soft screaming
I need it

 

Here's how the interview went, if you guys want to kibitz ;)

Spoiler

Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
7 Swords: the Old Oak Doors
Deception and getting away with things? Seems fairly apropos for a Night Vale theme, if nothing else!

What are your strengths as a deck?
6 Swords: the University of What It Is
I'm kind of wondering if I shuffled well enough, but it's not as if I just took adjacent cards, I guess this is just what it gave me. Moving forward, making progress, travel both literal and metaphorical?

What are your limits as a deck?
Knight of Pentacles: Carlos
...I don't really understand court cards. My first instinct was to note that, in response to a question about its limits, it gave me the character to whom "perfect" is constantly applied. Are you just really egotistical, Night Vale?

What do you bring to the table -- what are you here to teach me?
Death: the Tiny City
Between this and "strengths", I'm getting a lot of MOVE THE FUCK ALONG ALREADY.

How can I best learn from and collaborate with you?
The Hierophant: Josie and the angels (reversed)
I know a lot of people don't do reversals; I haven't decided yet, so I left the option open. The art on this one works almost equally well in either orientation, and that kind of suggests something to me. I dunno. Still pondering.

What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
7 Cups: Condos (reversed)
...either getting caught up in chaos and illusion, or... not doing that. Kind of a callback to the "deception" thing at the beginning, too.

 

hmmm.
I feel like I should interview my tarot deck now.
I never did that back when I got it, I didn't even know it was a thing you could do....now I kinda want to.

 

Deception is not a trait I personally would hope for in a tarot deck, honestly.

 

I won't say that didn't worry me a bit!

 

That said, I'm pretty optimistic overall? Like... the Condos are a pretty heavy "bogged down in perfection" thing, which is a huge issue of mine (hello, gifted-kid angst) so if it's suggesting any kind of diminuition of that... I'll fuckin' take it. And there were enough other "move forward" cues that I think that read is supported.

 

it....could maybe also mean that it's helpful at uncovering/revealing deceptions?
trying to think outside the box :P I could be totally wrong, but that popped into my head when I first read that interview.

 

I really want to get into PCP (not the drug) and see if it works, but I have no idea where to start. What would any practitioners here recommend?

 

I only do hero veneration things with it. So my advice there would be to think about characters that are particularly meaningful to you in some fashion. If there's one you particularly admire then you are already half way there. Raise them up to the status of a god through respect and veneration.

 

The lowest-key of low-key pcp: found a little plastic toy of a Pea-Shooter from Plants Vs. Zombies, now I keep it on a shelf pointing at the front door for a little protection, occasionally taking it into the sunlight to keep it happy. No idea if it does anything, but I've yet to be invaded by zombies!

 

Other big thing is make use of symbols. Homestuck is especially rich in symbols. I use the aspects in divination and similar things. Bloodborne is another I use symbols from. I'll just write them on things or repeat phrases from the game with particular weight and meaning to them. Things like "Fear the Old Blood" and "The Sky and the Cosmos are One".

 

I really love picking out archetypes and parallels. I feel my practice should involve something with that? Call on similarities between this character and that god or something?

 

Possibly if that's your thing. It's a good a start as any.

 

Hmmmmm. Now I'm thinking of archetypes as many-faced Gods. Pop culture polytheism where many/all characters of a certain type (as defined by the practitioner) are pictured as different faces of the same entity. I.e. the Pure-Hearted Hero (John Egbert, Goku, Luffy, etc), the Fairy Godmother, the Revenge Seeker (Sasuke Uchiha, Kurapika, Eren Yeager, etc), the Sacrificial Lamb, the Record Keeper...

 

Characters often fit multiple archetypes; might they be fusions of a sort?

 

I'd call that multiple Gods(archetypes) being able to share the name/face of one character, depending on the capacity in which the practitioner calls on them. (Did you want Bilbo the Scholar, or Bilbo the Thief? Aaahhh I could look up examples all day)

You can think of it two ways: Either the archetype is the God and different characters are its aspects/names, or the character is the God and its different roles/types are its aspects. I'm trying on the first because it's a fun inversion, and because when I need to call on someone, my mental Rolodex is organized archetype-first.

 

By the way, did you guys know TVTropes has their own (bloated, of course, because TVTropes) pop culture pantheon?

 

What I find the most interesting about this pantheon is the PPC entry. Apparently, the entire organization counts as an overdeity. I could take inspiration from this concept.