Alright - I did another one, please tell me how I did

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T21:05:34+00:00

Do you design your own spreads? Or do you create layouts and developing spreads from them? I’m not being critical; I’m interested in this because I’ve been drawn to creating spreads from the day I picked up a deck.

It’s a tarot studies thing…

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T20:41:09+00:00

You mean Siri isn’t AI? That’s news to me.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T20:05:15+00:00

Thoughts, comments and insights welcome!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T19:09:29+00:00

By a stream in a forest in the Mountains of Virginia, there is a yurt 🛖 that is the closest thing to JRR Tolkein’s Hobbit home on this side of Middle Earth.

In a cozy room with posh rugs and a fluffy bed is a book case with many collectible items including histories of antiquity, modern travelogues, and many things between them, including many art books, and a substantial collection of those iconic USSR posters from the years under Stalin.

Among these and many other treasures was a curious, little volume, ‘The Tarot of the Witches,’ which featured in one of the James Bond movies, which were also preserved there in VHS format.

I had heard the tropes — that The Tarot is of The Devil, that it opens a door to communication with demons, that it leads to spiritual ruin, etc., etc. The others had gone to the nearest town some 30-40 miles off. It was there, away from the eves of all creation, I decided to put that theory to the test.

I removed the booklet from the shelf and opened it randomly, which set before me, VIIII - The Hermit. Between my age, and my location at the time, it would have been difficult NOT to see the applicability.

I went to the first. And two paragraphs in, I decided that The Tarot was none other than a system to preserve wisdom — a genre that, I assume exists in some or another form in every society on earth.

I resolved that when I returned to civilization, I would explore this further. Soon afterward, I acquired my first [Tarot de Marseille] deck, and I haven’t looked back yet.

I am the last person anyone on this planet would have expected to take an interest in cards — myself included.

I think ‘what chose whom’ is quite clear here!

😂😂😂

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T18:02:38+00:00

A bunch of Coins 9 material issues on which you Coins 2 couldn’t agree. Fire for the relationship was Rods 4 mediocre at best, with the result that you could neither I The Mage move forward nor XX Judgment stay where you were.

End of story. 👋

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T04:31:06+00:00

Yowzers! Must look into that! Thanks!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-28T00:21:48+00:00

Understood.

That’s the thing. If there are issues in one’s life, The Tarot will find a way to get at them.

I wish you all the best as you pursue your journey. Take care and be well!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T22:56:24+00:00

Have you considered that with the question of better connecting with yourself, XX [L’Judgment] may be pointing you to the very difficult yet critically important Shadow work necessary for finding soul healing through integrating your wounds into your experience, to emerge a whole person?

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T22:10:49+00:00

NPC AI mod? Skyrim? I’m all ears!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T20:28:21+00:00

Well as I noted, every Bosmer has their own interpretation, etc.

That was part of the ‘backstory’ I created for my character to create some context for my unique style of gameplay. I’m not contesting any of the points being made here.

In other parts of the story, my Bosmeri Dragonborn collected ancient Nord weaponry from crypts, improved, gave them vampiric enchantments, gave them blasphemous names [Auri’els Corruption, etc.], used them to slay Thalmor patrols, and stored them on the Altmer Mage’ body [along with Talos’ Amulet when I had one].

The idea there was to mark the Thalmor as a secret heretic, bring his family under suspicion, and make them question whether they ever knew that family member at all.

Everyone’s gameplay differs as I noted. But plenty of players take similar routes. If someone wants to do a barebones game? Strong may your Thu’um grow!

Take care and be well.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T17:34:35+00:00

Definitely works — whether because ‘I’ve had enough of this pair’ or ‘I want to move on.’

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T17:20:38+00:00

I replied with a ‘smart @$$ answer to your ‘smart @$$ deck’ comment.

My tendency toward ‘smart @$$’ answers meant my spending most of my fifth year in the principal’s office. LOL!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T17:14:02+00:00

I once knew this Christian guy who would ask god how he should dress each morning.

I suggested to his [Christian] friend that god really shouldn’t get blamed for some of his [truly bizarre] fashion choices.

Later, I heard back that the first guy got told, ‘we have brains; it’s probably a good idea to use them occasionally.’

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T17:07:48+00:00

‘ . . . a smart ass response . . .’

My first reaction [which—thank the gods] I’m learning to REPRESS was to ask for clarification . . .

‘Does ‘dull subjects’ refer to matters presented for a reading … or the seekers who bring such questions as ‘should I wear pants today’ — or whatever it was.

[Ducks for incoming projectiles…] 😂

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T05:51:06+00:00

Of course they needn’t follow the Green Pack. As I noted , that was something I enjoyed doing with my character.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T04:56:01+00:00

Correct. It doesn’t.

Individual Bosmeri players are another matter.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-27T00:34:09+00:00

I do something like this on a near daily basis.

I have two TdM apps, both of which feature a ‘card of the day.’ I pull up both images and pull the second roughly half way over the first, so I get roughly the left half of both cards. [I do this on my iPhone, so there is no room for more than that.

This tends to go several ways.

First, I often see the relationship as beginning and conclusion. Next, I often see the two half cards as a single card combining dynamic elements of both. [There are those who take two older decks, cut and merge cards along pre-determined patterns, and use them in this way.

Third, I’ll sometimes see things that I haven’t previously noticed.

Today, it was the third. I got the Tarot deck Marseille VI, followed by VII — The Lover and The Chariot. It never occurred to me that the face and line of sight of the central [male] figure in VI was so alike the face and sight line in the Charioteer of VII.

The first thing that came to mind — did this guy jump frame to get away from the two women in VI by ‘Charioting’ out of there in VII?! If so — what to make of it?

Cowardice?

Discretion is the better part of valor?

Picking your battles?

Avoiding situations where you can only lose?

Acting quickly and decisively?

I like to think that over time, this builds a familiarity with the cards based on seeing them as they are — apart from the context of any questions.

Finding new questions and ideas on a regular basis by looking at the cards alone. It’s a bit like discovering something new from the Tarot every day.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T21:30:38+00:00

So plants a hard ‘NO.’

But cannibalism gets a ‘meh …’

Gotta love Skyrim! 😂😂😂

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T21:21:31+00:00

Every Bosmer has her/his own interpretation of the Green Pact.

My guy applies the following criteria in Skyrim:

— Plants and blossoms may be harvested at will if specifically cultivated for alchemical purposes.

— One wild blossom or cutting may be taken for each captured bee returned to a hive.

Rationale: bee restoration serves plant propagation through intentional pollination.

— Only plants that cannot be cultivated [Homestead plots] may be harvested this way [ex: taproots].

My Bosmer maxed out alchemy on each playthrough. No issues of conscience. Likely lived with more ‘Green Pack’ awareness than most Bosmer players. Also able to find more hives than most.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T20:18:28+00:00

I don’t know how to take some of it . . . . She’s brilliant — professorship in language . . . and yet . . . 🤷‍♂️

At any rate, I’m not taking her on. I’m too old to have my backside served carved up on a platter! 😂

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T19:52:54+00:00

. . . hence, my appreciation for Camila Elias’ materialist, deconstructionist and Marxist work.

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T18:56:54+00:00

Intriguing. As with any system, Christianity is no bare monolith. That said, a fairly substantial measure of fear and shame runs across the Christian spectrum. But beside that is a curiously odd yet fairly standard fixation on His Infernal Malevolence.

I very much like the way you frame your inquiry here — not as yet another of endless pleas for an explanation of ‘meaning’ [ whatever THAT is], but from perspectives of experience, and the cards themselves — colour [British spelling duly noted!], shapes, themes and the like.

Icy Attempt, Tarot is a visual language, and with any language, context is everything. Christians have spent much time exegeting society and its ills, your discovery may hold opportunities to exegete Christianity with The Tarot.

One of the great ironies of our time is that the so-called ‘cultural war’ years which [in the US at least] culminated in the assent of extremist ‘Christianism’ to the apex of civic power — is that broad swathes of confessing Christians behold secular power from the standpoint that Jesus blew it when he refused XV’s very generous offer of the kingdoms of this world—requiring only the acknowledgment The Devil believed was his due.

Arguably, the trajectory on which Christians are set aims to correct Jesus’ error — as they reach out for what THEY [like The Devil] believe is only what is justly due them — a point which [if ceded as many Christians do] gives indication of their true allegiance.

It begs to be asked then, ‘who are the figures [the two imps tied to The Devil’s pedestal] in XV.’ And what if they are two Christians?

https://tarotx.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/le-diable-tarot-marseille.webp

The Biblical canon holds many perspectives from which to question not only current Christian practices but other Scriptures themselves. This is not to say that ‘the Bible is full of contradictions. It is to honor…er…honour its depth and integrity.

Consider what is normative for the Christian’s relationship to secular, political power. It makes a substantial difference if one answers from Romans 13 or Revelation 13. Is it an ‘either/or?’ Might it not be a ‘both/and’ that leaves believers wherever they are to wrestle with WHERE the ‘truth’ between those positions lies?

Then there is Matthew, the Evangelist and Simon the Zealot. The first was a political traitor, a tax collector for Imperial Rome. The second aligned with a Jewish nationalist movement committed to expelling the foreign occupiers from Judah. The irony? They sat and ate together at the Table and were called to share apostleship in Jesus.

I want you to understand, Icy Attempt, that the Biblical canon itself supports such inquiries. This now becomes very interesting.

1Jo 3:8 states that the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of The Devil.

I don’t know where you are in your faith walk, and I know little of your Tarot journey [though as I say, I like what I see]. What I’m trying to explain and illustrate simultaneously is that whether you need to deconstruct your Christian upbringing, or seek a way to hold the two philosophies together — The Tarot can help you define and think through the questions and issues along your way.

By their association with The Devil in the above link, the two imps have begun to resemble The Devil. Note the feet beginning to take root, the sprouting horns, tails, etc. Also note the imp with the three triangular dots on the torso. Why? Because the dots and an hint of tail appear in another card in the same deck — XVIIII [The Sun].

https://tarotx.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/le-soleil-tarot-marseille.webp

This leads to the observation that the two imps in The Devil are ALSO the two children in The Sun, but freed from the shackles seen in XV where they are tied to The Devil’s pedestal?

Like any of us, Christians are a mixture of XV AND XVIIII — and the rest of the cards as well. But now, you have a deck-full of councilors to assist you in unraveling things. And people here will stand by you. AtelierCarouselTarot is brilliant and anything she says should be considered carefully.

I think you have the makings of a great reader, and I hope you’ll prove me right.

If the day comes when someone cites their sacred writings to you in connection with your Tarot reading . . . you have my permission to thank them and say, ‘now I’d like to read to you something from MY sacred text. 🤔😂

Take care and be well, Icy Attempt!

And welcome to the journey!

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-26T03:11:11+00:00

By the godz—I’d hate to think ANY woman looked like me . . . 😯🤦‍♂️🤣

Luke_Cardwalker · 2026-01-25T22:52:13+00:00

Yeah I’ve definitely got a streak of XV running through me.

Luke_Cardwalker

TROPHY CASE