Dollar Store Tarot...?

A sample from my dollar store deck...

Ok, I am still alive, just so you all know. lol

I haven't had much time for anything the past week since this is my finals week, and I have had no time whatsoever for any writing outside of my assignments. Thankfully I am nearing the end, and have finished the majority, so I should be posting more often again soon.

On a side note, I wanted to take a mo and tell about something interesting I found today. Those who know me are aware that my first steps into paganism came about as a natural desire to learn the Tarot at age 12. I was fascinated then by the iconography and symbolism, and fascinated by divination in general. I purchased my first deck then and learned to read the cards. By the time I was sixteen I was actually quite good at it,and my friends often requested I "read their future." Of course for them it was a novelty, but for me the cards were more.

I could feel their energy, and the divine spoke to me with the turn of a card. It made me realize that there was something beyond the mundane, and that I had finally found a means of communication with the energy I had always felt. In short the Tarot made me a pagan, in a way.

Sadly, about a decade ago I went through some personal problems which extended into the spiritual, and my connection to the original Tarot became negative. This is too complex to explain really, but I turned from the Tarot in favor of what I felt was a more positive deck, in my case The Goddess Oracle.It was through this that I found Freyja. I connected much more deeply with the Goddess energy than the strange dualism of the Tarot symbology. I threw out my Tarot decks because in my mind they were tainted by negative energy.

Well, lately I have felt the Tarot calling me again, and I miss them. I purchased a deck about six months ago, but the feeling was all wrong, and they ran away from me, somehow the cards seemed to get lost or separated on their own, until I finally threw that deck out.

Anywho, Today I happened to be in the Dollar store, picking up a few things, when I actually found they had a deck of Tarot cards for sale in the toy section, alongside the magic trick decks and playing cards! I was skeptical but figured, hmmmm for $1, no harm in checking them out eh?

Well, there is of course some give and take when you pay a dollar. Upon examination I found the deck which claimed to be the traditional 78, was actually 70. There were no nines and tens of the suits. But the Major Arcana was all there, and the royals all intact. This would be a major problem for some, but many times I personally have utilized the Majors and Royals alone, without the Minor cards, so for me they are useable. They will do until I find a new deck of the traditional 78 which calls to me.

The surprising thing about this amputated deck is the illustration. They are comprised entirely of black white red and gold colors, and illustrated in a style reminiscent of medieval woodcut with a bit of art nuevo. Yes, a strange combo but I dig it. They look much less cheap than I expected, atleast when it comes to the Majors and Royals. The minor cards of the suits are...yawn... You get what you pay for, but still an interesting little cripple of the Tarot.

I am looking forward to trying them out, and seeing if their little broken, throw away uniqueness might create a wholeness of it's own. Sorta like me. =)

In Frith,
Cena