I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any more tarot decks.
At least not for a while. I am adamantly not a tarot deck collector.
But… then I spotted this one. The Tarot of the Cat People, by Karen Kuykendall. I saw people of different colours. I saw awesome outfits and earrings and *incredible* hairdos. I saw vivid greens and blues and pinks. I saw cats. And I clicked ‘add to basket’. Like you do.
Call it a birthday present to myself.
I’ll interview/review this new deck properly soon, but just to give you a peek at some of the cards, here’s the birthday reading I did with these cards yesterday.
[Check out the birthday tarot spread Em and I created here.]
1. What to leave behind in the past year
The Devil
Unhealthy habits – I certainly have a few. The first one that springs to mind is that sensation of being ‘busy all the time’. I’m busy, yes, but when you first start out self-employed, there can be this feeling that you are working from the moment you wake til the moment you go to sleep… and it’s not really okay.
It’s turned me into a flake, who regularly misses out on time with friends because ‘work is more important’, or who can’t reply to letters and emails because I’m simply ‘too busy’. I’m not. This is a state of mind. And it’s time to leave it behind.
2. A lesson you learned last year, to carry with you into the next
Two of Swords
In this deck, the Two of Swords is said to represent strength and victory – qualities that are very visible in the image on the card. For me, it’s more about time out to think, blocking out noisy fuzz to hear my own thoughts clearly. Combining the two, I can see there’s been a lesson for me in my 32nd year about how I think, how I like to work.
Towards the end of last year, I spend two months pretty much alone, having just moved to a new city, and my partner having gone to the US to do an apprenticeship. And I loved it. I used the time to focus, to turn inwards, to conquer mental chaos and procrastination and for the first time in my life, to get down on paper some real, tangible life goals and strategies for achieving them. I want this to continue this year.
3. The next thing you will learn
Three of Cups
For me, this is a card of loving, supportive friendship. Assessing my social circle with a warm heart and open arms, valuing those people who I love and who bring so much to my life, and letting them know. Saying goodbye to relationships which are no longer working. Being open to the new friendships that will develop this year. Investing in friendship and love.
4. The theme of the year ahead
Queen of Wands
Enough said. I get it. I do. My whole life I’ve said ‘I have no ambition’, ‘I just want to pootle along and be happy’, ‘I’m not a leader’. But now I’ve found something I truly love to do, and I’m excited and yes, ambitious. This is a year of confidence and dream-realising. Of being unafraid of leadership. It began with the Alternative Tarot Course (or perhaps much earlier, with this whole blog), and this year, it’s going to get bigger.
I frickin’ LOVE the Queen of Wands, and I’m really excited to see her here.
And I especially like the tiny cat on her head.
5 and 6. Today – what to celebrate or do today, on your birthday
Three of Wands, Seven of Cups
Writing this retrospectively, I can totally see where the Seven of Cups came through. Over and over again. It’s the burden of choice, the feeling of being faced with a plethora of fun things to do…and being rendered immobile by this. Should I get a tattoo, go to the gallery, catch a film, go to Todmorden, go to the seaside, drink fizzy wine at midday, work as normal…?
The danger with the Seven of Cups is always that you either choose nothing, or spread yourself too thin and half-ass everything. The Three of Wands says, make a positive choice, do one thing well, do it wholeheartedly and with energy. Celebrate that decision. So I did. And I had a great day 🙂
7. A birthday message from your ancestors
Seven of Pentacles
You reap what you sow
Thank you, ancestors. I hear you loud and clear.
I’m a 30-something writer, artist, tarot reader, and perpetual explorer of the space between thought, feeling, and action.
I believe that spirituality and ritual are for everybody. I’m about the journey, in all of its messy, non-linear, chaotic iterations. I am excited by anticapitalist business and living with my whole entire self present. I use tarot cards to bring forth hidden truth, and ritual to affirm my commitment, over and over, to my ever-shifting path.
I want it to be my birthday too! Not until November…..*sigh*
I LOVE this deck. 🙂
Ah, you’ll just have to find a friend with an upcoming birthday to try it out on 🙂
Yeah, it’s a lovely deck! Looking forward to using it more in coming weeks. Expect an interview post soon…
Happy Birthday to us!
I like the look of this spread, will do this later today 🙂
Cool! Do pop back and let us know how you get on…
Very interesting imagery in this deck. A great reading, and a great interpretation! Thanks for sharing! I can so relate to a lot of what you said about the too busy state of mind. Ahh…that Seven of Cups, my daily draw, I know it well!
Yeah, that Seven of Cups can be a right pain! I usually take it to mean ‘stop messing about. Make a decision, and make it with your whole heart.’
I feel like this is one of those cards that has so many layers of meaning. There’s the traditional nod to illusion and temptation, but personally, I feel it often takes on the connotation of dreaming of the future. Actually, the Shadowscapes version of this card perfectly signifies this for me. Thinking (dreaming/fantasizing) about what I want in the long term and trying to figure out how I am going to get there. A truly beautiful image that really speaks to me. Then there’s the ‘too much going on, stop and take a breath, you’re all over the place’ interpretation. I’m sure there is so much more.
Oh gosh yes – the Shadowscapes version is amazing! It could be read in so many different ways – are dreams trumping reality? Is the woman simply deluded with ‘castles in the sky’? Is it about figuring out a way to achieve your dreams? Studying the Shadowscapes tarot really opened up this card for me.
This is wonderful. What lovely messages. I have this deck on my wish list, along with the Medieval Cat Tarot.
This is my favorite go-to deck. I’m happy you picked it up!
This is the only deck I own. I bought it at a psychic fair in Toronto in 1996. It came as a set with an instruction book. I love it’s 1970s sci-fi look 🙂