Wicked Tarot Deck Review

It is with great reservations that I write this Tarot review at all. I finally received the Wicked Tarot deck the other day, after months of waiting, and little to no updates.

The Wicked Tarot started as Kickstarter project that launched sometime in September, and I wound up helping/ funding it, back in October 2015. Mind you, it is the end of May 2016 now. There were very few updates about the work of the deck during the time myself, and anyone else awaited their arrival, and when we did start getting these updates, it wasn't until the very end and they were being shipped out within the week,

"Tarot has never been this..wicked!"

(An actual quote from their page)

That quote alone really inspired me, and set my heart aflame when it came to the deck, and the images that were shown to represent the art of the cards blew my mind. I will always say I have a love for the darker things, and these cards knocked it out of the park! Skeletons, creatures, and spooky-cool colours, how could I not be in love?

The above are just a few of the cards, such as the Kings of the Minor Arcana, my favorite card in any deck, The Hanged Man, and Death just happens to look like a skeletal centaur. There's no way I', going to deny being smitten with such a card.

As excited as I was for them, even upon arrival and holding the deck box in my hand, I was still over the moon, however, it quickly fell into despair... Now, I don't have a fancy camera or anything, but other than cropping the photos, no adjusments have been made, and while I noticed some issues right off the bat, they became ever more clear as I laid out the cards for this post in general.

Right off the bat, after removing the shrink wrap from the cards, I noticed the edges of the deck. In the second picture you can see all the white dotting the edges. I didn't know how to explain it at first, it tends to be a look of wear and tear, at least in my case, after a long handling and shuffling of decks in general. Cards get beat up, it happens, not brand new, right out of a book they don't.

They could have been printed or cut badly, either way, it's not quality work, and upon a friend's recommendation, the people behind the project were emailed the same day the cards arrived.

Some other things to note, the card stock is light weight and the cards themselves scuff easily. I actually damaged a card lying it out for the photos. The guide booklet doesn't have much in the ways of inspiration or explanations, just the basic info about each card. Yes, the booklet is meant to be a guide, but I', the kind of person who like a bit of background to the cards, who they are, where they came from, the mindset of their creator. Hell, they even went about adding additions to the well know Celtic Cross spread without reasons as to why (see below).

The last thing I ever want to do is to complain about someones hard work. At some point, I have to believe that there was love and time invested into the art and these cards but at that same time, everything looks and feels completely rushed. The cards themselves give off more of an abandoned feel and there's certainly no means at the moment for them to be worked with. I've already thought about setting them aside, or putting them together like a giant picture and framing them, but then, there's still the issue of all the scuff marks...

So, while I love the art and the idea of these cards, I'm not happy with them in the slightest, and I actually ache for the beings in the cards themselves. Now maybe if I hear a response back from the team and something changes, my attitude will change, but until then, they're going to sit in their box and I'm going to be glad I didn't spend much more money on them or the offered Kickstarter rewards then I did.

 In all hopes though, I just received a bad deck and everyone else out there will be pleased with theirs, as well as any prints or inked guitars and everything else that was purchased between the tiers.

Wanderlust

Travel photos, blogs, people's leather bound journals, I could stare at some of these things all day when it comes to people documenting their adventures, and I think I'm bordering that line of obsession if I haven't already crossed it. 

    Traveling, adventuring, back packing and road trips, one or all of them, it's something I always wanted to do, to be able to get up and go. To be able to see sights and and hear stories and maybe pick up little things like post cards, stamps, key chains and whatever else might be able to decorate my own (in the near future) journal, that says I've been there, and I've seen and as a writer, it's a really big deal to me. 

    I'm writing this post as I long for such things. I tell you this as I've spent the last two days browsing the internet looking for the Midori travel journals, and cute pages and stickers to go in them. This post is a before and after planning has begun, as my dreams, though small, are slowly starting to happen. 

    Sure, it's not Ireland or Greece or Spain in my near future, but states I haven't been too. Seriously, being stuck in Ohio blows, and it's not fun driving anywhere either when every other street is construction and or filled with the same potholes that just grow every year. I was almost considering taking a five hour trip in my car until Mapquest showed me the eighty construction images along the way, and my anxiety is bad enough when it comes to driving some place new, but trying to navigate through orange cones and doing 45 when the speed limit is 70 is not my cup of tea.

    It's a bit whiny, but Kentucky and Chicago are right around the corner and I couldn't be more excited! We all have to start somewhere, and while I continue to read the pretty posts about people touring islands I've never even heard of, I do hope people will share their own stories with me too, big or small. I wouldn't complain if a few words of advice were thrown in there as well.

    Cheers fellow adventurers! 

The Alchemyst: A Book Review

      I'm not going to lie, Picking up The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott, was a spontaneous, I'm just in it for the Alchemy bit, sort of buy, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed in the slightest. 

    Nicholas Flamel is the immortal of legend, and he's dying. You're introduced to him and his plight right off the bat with a letter to you, as the reader. Of course I dove in immediately, and needed to know what happened to him! Spoiler alert, this is a series, and nothing is resolved right way, alas, I must wait to find out what happens until the rest of the series have made it to my hands. 

    Nicholas and his wife Perenelle are protectors of an ancient book known as the Codex which was written into existence by Abraham the Mage. The book itself is pretty much a mystery, but Nicholas uncovered the elixir for immortality, the Philosopher's Stone.  The couple are hundreds of years old and in hiding, working across the street from one another and in the company of twins, a brother and sister, Josh and Sophie Newman. Everything is normal until an evil man, Dr. John Dee, a teriffying Necromancer, and his golems, come to steal the book. They Ransack the shop Nicholas and Josh work at, kidnaps Perenelle and set the twins on a dangerous course towards their fated destiny. A destiny that was foretold in the Codex itself. 

    There is no time to rest as the trio must drive out of the city of San Francisco to meet allies that put even Flamel on edge. A warrior ninja with a deadly secret they call Scatty, an elder who happens to the goddess Hekate and The Witch that all witches come from. Magic is abound, and no one can deny the fact that ancient creatures exist and all myths have a dark root of truth to them. 

    The only downfall I have to this book is the concept of history and myth. There were small points that irritated me, such as the fact that the dark elders had created everything, or that every god and goddess were one in the same person, just took different names and forms, or that a certain ancient artifact could be used in the hands of such evil. Again, they were really only minor bits that were easily looked over once the action set into motion.

     If there's anything to know about magic, is that in all uses, it come with a cost, there's always a price to pay and this book held true to that too. Even the elders grew weary after intense sessions, and needed a recharge. I was happy to see the rule still rang true in this book as well.

     I am a sucker for magic and myth, and it was why this book was such a spontaneous buy. I'm more than happy to give it 4 out of 5 stars. I find that lately, a lot of the young adult novels I've been picking up have been incredibly amazing as far as ratings go, and I am happy to add "The Alchemyst" among them. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series and I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of magic or someone that needs a light and quick read!

Full Moon in Sagittarius

    So It's been a really off week, plenty of ups and downs, a cold that won't make up its mind if it's staying or going, and do not even get me started on the weather. Furthermore I haven't done much in the ways of Tarot or writing, though I've made a good dent in the book I've recently started (and haven't dropped it yet to start something else). I guess that's why I felt the need to do this Full Moon spread by @ethony on Instagram. Not just because the question are some I definitely need to be asking myself, but being a Sagittarian, I feel a little connected to this moon I did have dreams about elves and centaurs last night after all). 

    Apparently, with this moon being a blue moon, it is aligned with fate, and it is the first of two full moons that will take place in Sagittarius.

     I've been seeing this quote around a lot

"The universe is throwing us a wild card—one last chance at getting the hand we’ve been gambling for all along."

     What I take from this is that we've got a shot at whatever chances we've been taking to actually seeing them comes to fruition by the end of the full moon in June. This actually delights me seeing as I've got a lot of plans for the next few months, I don't know if I would say they're huge plans, but for me, they are, and I do not take lightly the decisions I'm making with them. 

    I'm not sure if that comes off as mysterious or not, but a girl does have to keep a few things to herself. 

    Anyways, the spread consists of five cards asking the following questions.: 

     1. What impulses need taming? Two of Wands 

     2. Where can I best direct my energy? Knight of Cups (Rx)
     3. How can I best redirect my aggression? Four of Wands (Rx) 
     4. Should I speak up or stay quiet? (look for clues in the card you pull as to what this card is trying to tell you) The Empress (Rx) 
     5. What spiritual and personal beliefs need re-examining? Ace of Wands (Rx)

 I always worry when my cards are reversed, and there's a lot of them this time. Believe me when I say I shuffled the hell out of them. I even let the floor get involved. 

     Without going into detail about every card, I remind myself that tarot cards tend to not beat around the bush and they don't really care about what you want to hear, and will snarkingly tell you how it is. 

    The cards tell of a choice that needs to be made, and that there may be more than one, but I only have the energy to make, follow through, and put the energy into that one choice. That choice being ( I think ) what I want to do in the next few months, while the Knight of Cups speaks to my selfishness. I know, I know, and I know, that being selfish isn't a nice thing, but my entire life I've always put everyone before me, always put off what I wanted to do, or what I wanted in general. Sometimes, being an adult really sucks, but then, I think that a lot of the time I spent as a kid, I wasn't really much of a kid either. 

    The Four of Wands, along with the Empress are powerful cards, full of magic and energy, and definitely cards you want on your side, and then you reverse them, and that all disappears. The Four pretty much reiterates what I've already thought about, that whether I have support from others or not, that what I'm doing is mine to do alone, no one can really help me now, and they can't. 

     That being said, the last thing I should be doing is putting any of this on blast... That's not really saying anything about what I'm doing except it's for me and I'm willing to admit that I am going to take some time to be selfish. 

    I guess this is where I admit that I don't really know how to read the reversed Ace of Wands in this context. It could either be if I go ahead with this, my spirit will grow dull and lazy and my plans will be thwarted, it could be that if I don't keep my mouth shut, OR, and this is what I'm feeling a little more, and maybe that's just me jumping at a glimmer of hope in an otherwise depressing set of cards, that, doing this will help me to work on my lazy spirit and currently thwarted plans. 

    My thoughts are ones of a mostly made up mind, and while I plan on looking further into the choice I am making, there is still that "I have to do this" feeling that I cannot ignore. Perhaps I will find a better way of doing things, and I'm hoping the full moon can shed some much needed light into this ever growing darkness, but for now, I'm perfectly aware, and completely fine with the face that I am on my own. 

Soul Cards Deck Interview!

    I just want to scream about how in love with this deck I already am. I've looked at them here and there, the only place I've ever seen them was on a friend's Instagram feed, and then she uploaded a video onto YouTube showing them off and I don't know if it was because it was late in the night and I was tired, or in some state of mood, but it was like they were calling to me. 

    Here's the thing about Soul Cards, there are no keywords, no designated meanings, and the guidebook is just a means for ideas how you might want to work with, and incorporate them into your life. The art is meant to speak to your soul, and lying in bed watching this woman show them off in her video, that was exactly what they did... like old friends crying out for me to remember them.

    If you read my last post. This is a huge thing for me right now. Old friends and working with spirit.

    Now, it's been awhile since I have done a deck interview, and they can be long and tedious, so, I sort of went with my own questions and spreads, though I did look around for a few general ones as I didn't want a card or two when a pyramid seemed to fit better. 

    The questions:

1. Who are you?
2. How do you see me?
3. What can you offer?
4. How can I connect with you?
5. Where can we go together?
6. Is there anything else I should know?

    Prior to going into this, I had looked through the deck, I mean, who doesn't try and see what their cards are all about first? I really cannot explain the sensations I got, but a few cards did call out to me more than others, and a few of them actually appeared for this spread and questionnaire. 

    It's hard to ignore the colours of these cards, and I feel like there is a good representation of the elements going on in them. Not so much fire, which is my astrological element, but definitely earth, wind and water, and then there's the red in cards One and Five, red like blood is what comes to mind, and I'm not going to sit here and try and hide it. A lot of feelings have surfaced this past week, and a big one is my left behind sixth sense... or whatever it's called, and it directly links to the fact I've always had a passion of the ancient, the mystical, and that which has passed on.

    While I'm not going to go into all the cards, or else this might become really long, I will go into a few. 

    The first card, I see a few different things going on, the most prominent and probably not the obvious, is a person in the water, but at a closer look, the person may very well be jumping over a wall and ready to free fall, or it's hardly a jump at all and they will land on their feet and run off where ever the wind chooses to guide them.

     Again though, it's more like they're drowning, the water swells around to carry them below, the red of them, the pressure getting to them, and this could very well be the end. While that's what I see, that's hardly what I think the deck is about. I think it's more along the lines of rising from the depths, that there might be crushing pressure but with the right support you can rise above. Break the surface, take a long, deep breath, then go back to work. 

    I like the "What can you offer" card a lot. Like a literal guide purring he can show me the magic, remind me why I started doing this in the first place. He's not talking about reading Tarot cards or the New Age spell books either, but being able to feel like I used to, connect to those that have moved on, hear them. I know it sounds crazy, but I remember the blood freezing chills from when I was a child, and I remember those sleepless nights waking up and knowing I was being watched. I'm done playing pretend with the lot of it, and I'm done letting people think me silly. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I'm not entitled to listen. 

     Card five, again, that blue and red, the red like blood... I'm just going to say this. This is me connecting to spirit, connecting to the afterlife and what's beyond. This is my window, I can see them, they can see me and I am allowed to come through, all I have to do is ask. 

    These cards are everything I need right now and I have much need of working with them and plan on it so long as they let me. 

    I must indeed sound silly at this point. I am a writer, I am doing what I can to build a foundation to be an author, to be published. I am working on networking so that the day may come where I can have the relationships that I need, that suit me and that are willing to support me then and now. Then I throw something in there where I sounds like I think I can talk to the dead? Who is going to want to know someone like that? Perhaps nothing is that direct, but do not think for a second I might deny the possibility. 

Dear John Doe

    Dear John Doe, I cannot tell you how many times I've written this out in my head, how many times, I've wanted to tell you since we've started texting, or how many times these emotions just came flooding back in general. We started talking again like it was nothing, and I bet you never even considered what a blow it was to me, the way we were terribly close and then you were gone, and I had no idea how to get by without the guy I once considered my best friend.

(not my photo!!!!)

    Dear John Doe, while yes, you have a name, I don't feel like using it. Though I hope you'll see this. I hope you'll know it's about you. I haven't decided if I'll hold back much of anything, just your name or maybe more. If you're reading this already, like you're hovering over my shoulder, I have to wonder if you're cringing, knowing exactly what's on my mind and the story that goes with what comes after. You know, or maybe you don't. Maybe you've completely blocked them out of your head, those forty-eight hours of dread. Those forty-eight hours I stayed awake, crying and consoling, you and your mother. Maybe that's what I'll leave alone, but you know it's there, and we were teenagers, of course we move on, but of course, all things impact us. 

    Dear John Doe, you were my brother's friend first, and we were silly, dating around at fifteen, hardly being able to kiss one another, and then you were into that guy. Do you remember him? I do, I adored him and I adored you two together, you broke his heart, I felt his tears and then again, you disappeared from my life, and I never heard from the other again. 

    Dear John Doe, to be honest, I actually can't remember the intervals of time you would be in my life then stop talking to me. I do that now. I'll talk to someone for awhile then just drop off the radar and leave them. I wonder if some broken part of me picked that up from you? Damaged, not broken. Though, maybe you lit the fuse but all the bullshit after the match was struck exploded into everything else. 

    Dear John Doe, I actually started writing this months ago, when, again, we first started talking, now on the eve that we're suppose to meet up, I find myself worried. We still haven't acknowledged jack-shit, and I'll take fault for that at this point too, but you still think we're going to be buddy buddy and talk like we've always have.

    Don't you remember what you said to me in those final words when you writing me out? That you felt uncomfortable and had always just told me what I wanted to hear? Don't you know that things I told you, between what I might have thought of as psychic abilities and seeing ghosts were from my heart and soul, that you were the only person I could talk to about them and I had thought we were sharing in something?

     I let a lot go after that. I forgot what it was like to tap into a different side of me, and I don't feel like I used to, I can't hear the other voices anymore and when I started reading Tarot cards, and a friend told me I needed to connect with my Guides, Spirits and Ancestors, it nearly broke me. Even now, I feel useless when I try to talk to them, and I'm pretty sure they're still harboring some sort of grudge against me. 

    Again, this is that lit fuse, but I don't blame you. I can only blame myself.

    So here I sit, on the eve of our finally getting together, meeting for the first time in what will nearly be a decade and I brood and worry, and rush to get out everything it is that I feel. I wouldn't be much of a writer if I didn't do such a thing.

    So here's to tomorrow. To hoping it's not as awkward or menacing as I think, and that maybe we'll find some closure, because you cannot tell me you don't need it too. 

Tarot Aftermath

 Within the last two weeks I've come to realize a few things. One, that paying for school out of pocket, even for one, online class, it's expensive for someone who makes less than twenty-thousand dollars a year, especially when your out put is more than your input as far as checks and bills are concerned. Two, that I really enjoy reading Tarot cards. Not just for myself, but for others, and I've now had the privilege of putting this to the test a few times. In person and online. 

    

    Prior to Sunday I had announced for a few days over my Instagram that I would be giving away free Tarot readings. While I don't have a large following (which in this case was probably a good thing), I did get to read for a few people online, and Sunday was the day I sat down to pull cards, and jot down notes (in my lovely Snow White notebook while listening to classical music like Chopin). 

    Here's the thing about Tarot, and, at least for me, writing in general, it's Exhausting! It really does take a lot of mental focus and I prefer writing everything by hand. Yes, keyboards are nice, but the internet is distracting whether you can put a time limit on a block for it or not. I find that I switch through songs a lot less on my phone using iHeart Radio than I would if I had YouTube up on my computer. Plus, classical music songs, some anyways, have a tendency to be a lot longer than a three-and-a-half minute hit. 

    The exhausting bit isn't just mental though, it's something more. Tarot cards involve interpretation and intuition to unlock and understand, but when I got caught up writing a piece for my story at work the other day, I realized that investing yourself into characters, unlocking their  minds and dipping into how they think takes quite a bit of mental work too. 

    I was actually impressed when my characters popped into my head Thursday night, and I had to focus between running my machine at work and getting everything down between a woman called Dirk, a man she calls Quinn and the doom that is the AI they're trying to take down, but that's a matter for another time.

     Everything change for me in that span of time, with her thoughts and his reactions and what such imminent doom might spell for them in what could be their last moments. Perhaps I wasn't so much impressed with myself as I was with the resulting feelings after. I was tired and empty. Drained might be a more appropriate term. 

    When I had sat down to do the Tarot pulls, I was ready to do them all, write them down, type them up, except, I forgot that there is a strain on the mind, and that after I took care of the first one, I had to slow down a bit, writing them out turned into jotting notes and to give each person their reading to the best of my abilities, I had to type them up over the span of a few days. By no means am I sorry about this. There is a trust being built with a client and their reader and the last thing I want to do is rush that and do a piss-poor job, especially if I plan on offering readings as a service, and as a way to help pay for school.

    Paying for school, this is a ball game I lost miserably the first time a few years ago, and I'm trying to do things a little differently, okay, a lot differently this time around. 

    Without going into to many useless details, things turned out to be much more expensive than originally known, where what I thought was going to be the price of three classes, turned out to be the price of once class. So, it's a bit of a set back as I'm only taking one class now, and I was initially upset, it showed me that I need to do more in other ways to get where I need to be, and the one thing that I really have at my disposal right now is Tarot cards.

    I have learned a lot this week reading for people, and I know I still have a lot to learn, but there is a point where reading isn't enough and you have to learn by doing. In this process I do hope to be able to open an online store, perhaps Etsy, to offer a few readings at affordable prices. If it comes to the point where this happens to be successful (one reading will count as a success I think) I plan on using every penny to help pay for future classes. That's not to say I'm not pinching pennies elsewhere, but again, every little thing helps and I cannot rely on anyone without helping myself first.

    This is one of those huge-small victories for me! I'm tired of hanging on the past and I don't think I've ever wanted to move and keep pushing forward as much as I do now. Anything and everything I do anymore, no matter how small, is in the hopes that I attain my goals. Goals such as furthering my writing career, one day being able to travel and hopefully not be stuck in such a bottomless pit. 

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Ground Control, We Have Book Goals

    So it seems anyone reading anymore, uses the Goodreads site and or app, and they have a goal where they can keep track of what you read when you finish it and all kinds of things. I didn't realize this until after the fact I started keeping count, while I'm sure it's not really a big deal... It's not at all. I do not have much of a liking for the site, and yes, I do in fact struggle with using it. Anyways, none of that is really important. 

    I said I was going to read at least twenty books, and on April 30th, I reached that goal!

    Now, I know twenty isn't a lot, but for me, someone who has never quite been a reader since they were a kid and were reading the Harry Potter books as they came out, it's quite a feat. 

    At one point, a few years ago now, while I was still with my now-ex, I had taken to reading again. I started with The Fault in Our Stars, jumped to The Host, and went on to start reading the Divergent series before it became an issue. Yes, my reading was an issue. The fact that I wanted to waste my days with coffee and my face in the pages was an issue. Then my writing became an issue, and really, anything that involved me doing something by myself was an issue, so needless to say, the reading stopped pretty much until this year. 

    Really, I have my best friend to thank for it. Gillian, she's my other half, and why she puts up with me, I haven't the slightest clue, but I will forever be grateful for her, and the books she buys and lends me. 

    So, I think this calls for a book list of what I read, and hopefully It'll be only long list I put on here. Like I said before, I'm hoping to start regularly doing book reviews. 

• Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians books 1-5 by Rick Riordan
• Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft by Natalie Goldberg
• Global Fever by William H. Calvin
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
• Soundless by Richelle Mead
• Map of Bones by James Rollins
• Me Before you by Jojo Moyes
• Dorthy Must Die by Danielle Paige
• The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige
• Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige
• Dorthy Must Die Stories vol. 2 by Danielle Paige
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

     Most of these I was in love with, whether I was in tears or, and still, not sure what to do until the next releases. Luckily, May is a huge month for new books, including A Court of Mist and Fury, the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses, and already on its way to me! 

    There are a lot of things changing this month, I just hope I can find time to get the few books I want to read, in. Otherwise, I'll just kidnap a Time Lord or something and dangle in space for a few days.

The Good, The Bad, The A.I.

  Last night I found myself reading tips and tricks, and everything in between for blogging and networking. If I haven't admitted it yet, note that I'm doing so now; I have no idea what I'm doing with this blog, or quite frankly, most of social media along the internet as it now stands. 

    

    My long term goal(s), if anyone's curious, and I actually said this out loud to my dad today, is that I have some sort of foundation when I hopefully go to publish a novel, or an array of short stories, or anything really. 

    I absolutely love the communities on Instagram and Twitter when it comes to young authors, or small businesses advertising their shops. Maybe that's what I long for too, to be part of something. Which, in reality, it makes prefect sense for someone who doesn't do much but work, eat and sleep. Yes, I'm boring, and I'm working to change this. However, I do like my independence and solitude.

    None of that is really the point, the point is, when you find things that tell you to post often, to find things that intrigue you, that speak to you, you write about that!

     My Tarot post, while, they are very much for me, since they're explaining my cards, I have to assume not many are really going to care for that. Perhaps, if they know me personally, or we have a good relationship between screens and across the internet, but someone dropping by is probably just scanning it and moving on.

    That being said, I would love to interact and talk with more people!

    Anyways, I'm hoping this is the beginning of a new series of posts. I still plan on posting my Tarot things, I like writing for it, but I would like to try my hand at book reviews too, and hopefully, my finding, and or thoughts as I delve into the realm of Artificial Intelligence. 

    I'm completely serious about this writing thing, about one day publishing a book, and after an intense dream about a month or so ago, AI has been on the forefront of my mind and will be playing a large role in what I'm writing at the moment, and as long as I keep whatever momentum I have going, then I have to believe that it's bound to go somewhere. I don't want to give much away yet, but it's safe to assume that Artificial Intelligence isn't going to be playing a pretty role.

    So yes, it's short, and it hops around, but here's to goals, and new experiences, or rather, new versions of the same.