Stacy’s Decks

I will openly admit that while I don’t make a *big* deal about it, I really like celebrating Valentines Day, and I like to imagine February as being the “romance” month. Part of it is February here at least is cold, grumpy, and generally hung over from January so any excuse to make it better I’m on board with. I have a real romantic streak in me that goes out of it’s way to try and find excuses to make things more lovey-dovey for lack of a better word.

So no surprise, I wanted to bring out some of the most romantic decks I got!

First, we typically don’t see any signs of spring here for another month or two. The quirky Le Tarot de Marseille-Waite by Emmanuelle Iger and Alice Laverty has such a bright, happy spring tones that really soothes the soul. This French mass market deck, as implied by the name, is a hybrid of Marseille majors and RWS minors. It’s imagery is set in Europe, high-medieval era, and is just a wonderfully Hollywood romanticized (see the Medieval Europe Tarot for a not-so-romanticized version). So chivalric, much quaint, very wow. This deck gave me the Reine des epees (Queen of Swords). I guess despite my imagining that all’s going to be fru-fru, I’m going to have to be a discerning bad ass and cut the shit out of my life. ;cries;

Next, we are really still in some short, dark days, and I wanted to put to use my much beloved The Nameless One tarot and oracle deck. This underrated, sigil including masterpiece from Xia Hunt has such wonderful gothic-romance vibes. It’s beautiful, it’s lush, it’s dark. What more can you ask for?!?

I drew the Queen of Cups from this one–so maybe there’s some hope yet for the idealized February! This queen of cups is rather cold, but she has Cancer in her crown, reminding us to embody the best of this zodiac by being the caregiver to ourselves and others–to be a devoted and emotionally stable partner. To practice empathy and trust our intuition. I tend to see the Queen of Swords and the Queen of Cups as opposite sides of the same coin.

Of course I had to include The Victorian Romantic Tarot by Baba Studio. There’s little point in me even explaining this one. This deck gave me the Four of Cups, which is probably my favorite four of cups ever (my god, the poor man’s expression!). I’ll have many options, but I won’t like any of them. What I have isn’t perfect, and I’ll turn my nose up to it in dissatisfaction (omg!). I’m going to keep searching.

And finally, I wanted to bust out and use the mass market edition of Fyodor Pavlov’s Tarot. I have the indi version, but the mass market is so beautiful I want an excuse to use it! It’s perfect for the month of romance with all its various expressions of love. That, and it’s just saucy as all get out.

This deck gave me the Queen of Wands! Three queens??? This queen is a total bad ass as well, focused on her goals, the boss, a lady that knows what she wants and how to get it (thank goodness, because apparently I don’t), and she has a little magic luck on her side too.

And for an oracle deck, I wanted to use Xia Hunt’s companion oracle to The Nameless One tarot. I drew the card XV called The Victor’s Blade, with the tl:dr of “I rise victorious; I overcome all hindrances and defeat all opponents.” This is a very Machiavellian card that feels like a hybrid of the Six of Wands and the Five of Swords. It’s the ‘do anything to win’ card, the ends justify the means, but it also means standing up and defending that which is meaningful or precious to you.

Phew! Well, taken all together, I’d say this month requires me to wear many hats of my feminine persona, none of which necessarily fulfill me, but together get the necessary job done!

What decks are you going to use in February?