Aka Medieval Fantasy Madness aka when your decks are done with your shenanigans.

Okay folks, I made this tarot list back in October (yes, sometimes I do get my homework done in advance!) because, well, I wanted to do something just goofy for the dark month of December! December can be hard, with the pressure and stress of the holidays, the lack of sun, and if you’re in the northern sphere, the cold might make one feel trapped indoors. SO! Where I can, I try to lighten things up, especially in my deck choices. Bring forth the Medieval Fantasy Madness Decks!

While these are not all of my medieval themed and certainly not all my fantasy themed decks, these needed to have an excuse to be on the playground together.

I like big boxes and I can’t deny! Nah, just kidding. I typically HATE big boxes, but I do have a bit of a love affair with the limited edition The Citadel: A Fantasy Oracle and The Deck of Emblems’ book-box, and I am really mesmerized by the huge limited edition Slavic Legends Tarot box (I mean, its WOOD and they made the spine accordion-like so it can bend?!?). Also this month we have the Medieval Europe Tarot, the Förhäxa Tarot, and The Woven Path Tarot.

I broke down and bought The Citadel (limited edition) Oracle decks, because I did love the first edition and I do think it’s a great deck to use with most of my Tarot decks. I really like the simple line art and how most of the keywords and images are quite symbolic rich. I’ve been trying to wait to use it until December, but it has sneaked out of it’s box here and there the past few months (oops) for a trial run or two. It’s just as fun as its first supposedly special edition (don’t get me started), and the cool card shapes are still as interesting as the first edition hexagonal deck. I also like the bonus sister deck that came with the limited edition, but I cannot figure out why they decided to edge them in different colors–this makes it difficult to want to use them in a combined deck. Ah well.

I had followed the scant progress of the Woven Path tarot for years before it finally hit kickstarter. I as a general rule don’t like decks with multiple artists, HOWEVER this is a notable exception because the premise of the deck is to be like a medieval tapestry, which of course might have multiple weavers, and would certainly have had many repairs by various people through time. I also think that the deck creators generally got the “medieval fantasy vibe” down just right, and there is a rich, deep tone and earthy color pallet that brings it all together. It’s a funny deck for sure in that it has strange idiosyncrasies. I’ll be really focused on getting to know it this month because it’s the least familiar of all the decks out for the December line up.

The Medieval Europe Tarot cracks me up! I won’t wax on too much about this deck because it frequently appears in lists of decks I love and adore. It’s a collage deck of Medieval (and Renaissance) European Art and it is perverse, violent, tongue in cheek, rude, and in general has some of the best shock value of all my decks. And the card stock is to die for. If The Haunted Mansion Tarot was what I wish my family was like, the Medieval Europe Tarot is a much more accurate portrayal of my family.  Perfect for the holiday seasons.

The Slavic Legends Tarot is arguably one of the most beautiful decks I own, and there’s a strong winter fairytale vibe in several cards and it just has that “festive” feel to it that begs to be used in the cold season. I never feel down using this deck; it’s as kind of a reader as it is beautiful. With the intense nature themes and folksy vibes, it also fits the Yule season. I also like the large card size; I do like to have size variation during my various month decks, but I don’t have a ton of decks that are extra big.

Even though the Förhäxa Tarot is more of a fantasy/fairy tarot than “medieval,” I love using this during the darkest season of the month and it seemed to fit just fine with the other decks. It has a very feminine feeling to it (to offset The Medieval Europe’s masculine feel), but it isn’t particularly hand-hold-y. Rather, its a very brazen and bold deck! It has a strong sense of adventure, and go forth and blaze your own trail mentality.

Onward with the draw!

I may have mentioned in passing that I choose my cards via “jumpers”, or “peekers” if I’m using a particularly matte finished deck. These are cards that fall out, jump out, or stick out as a byproduct of my bad shuffling. I really like this because I am a details-person, and if I use a deck long enough, I’ll start to know specific cards from little faults or flaws, so letting them fall on their own takes me out of the equation as much as possible. Though on this blog I typically only show fairly structured draws, my daily draws are not anywhere near as formal, and sometimes I get five cards, sometimes ten, sometimes one. I’m not really all that particular. Now, for posting lovely internet pictures, I typically like to have one one card from each deck, but try as I might to get The Citadel to give me just one card please! I got two cards in a row from four different shuffles, so I finally gave up and took the two that came out the final time, which are The Aspirant and The Orator. Oh what a pair!

So, it is my personal belief that the magic of Tarot (and other cartomancy systems) happens because the images represent universal human experiences that we can all relate to at one time or another. I tend to tell people that I’m not a strong believer in the “woo” of Tarot. However, there are times when a deck just seems to call you out, isn’t there? Uh, this is one of those times.

I really love how this Oracle deck divides its cards into practical and alchemical groups: there is “the court:” achievement and responsibility, fire, where the Aspirant comes from, “the academy:” development and growth, air, home of the Orator, “the crowd:” community and hard work, earth, and “the troupe:” internal thoughts and identity, water.

The Aspirant seeks success and has all the trappings of expectations. Setbacks are seen as a negative thing. Things should just progress smoothly and learning happens on a linear rising line, doesn’t it? Oh boy does this ring true. I suffer from “not enough-ness,” even when things go perfectly, it still isn’t good enough, there was (in retrospect, of course) something more I should have been doing. I’m getting better with age at removing myself from this mindset, but it is kinda my default setting, so it creeps up on me whether I want it to or not. It can get really difficult when I hit a hard point in my learning or growing of a skill and nothing I seem to do gets me over the hump. Just yesterday I overheard a stranger say something I always tout, but seem to forget: “People think you learn when you are not struggling, but that’s completely wrong, you learn when you hit a wall and struggle.” Which leads us to…

The Orator. Of course, the card states the obvious in its key words of communication and confidence. But the book expounds that to doubt yourself is only to hold yourself back. It is okay to take the time to voice your needs, and write yourself a “script” if this will help. It’s okay to be heard and to take up space, to ask for that which will help you. I think that much of my current struggles could be solved by simply having a poignant conversation, but that seems almost insurmountable until I start to actually list out my needs which don’t seem all that complex to begin with…

And then I draw from The Deck of Emblems, The Broom. “Mundane yet vital work that must be done to support a community…sweep away complications…it may also suggest that support is needed.” Yeesh, I get the point, cards!

So I could have stopped there in my draw seeing as these two decks in no uncertain terms are telling me “just talk about it, for Christ’s sakes!” but nooo I had to draw my tarot too, because this is a monthly draw after all! So from the Woven Path I draw the nine of swords–my goodness isn’t it a pretty nine of swords? I love how the thorns of her tapestry seem to come to life and wind around her bed! Talk about the fear of something making it real! Geez, I get the point!

Then Förhäxa pulls out a card that I don’t think I’ve drawn from this deck before. This playful page seems to be mixing fire with water! She is not afraid to try something new! She is working outside of the norm and therefore she has to explore different options. The snake is her tame friend rather than a scary creature. Become friends with the fear and then the fear isn’t a terror any more. Trying something different with confidence and boldness rather than fearing an unknown outcome, I think I can say when seeing these two cards.

Oh the Medieval Europe Tarot! How skeptical does the man look in The Lover’s card? If the women weren’t there, I’d think this the Four of Cups! I’m often of a divided mind with the traditional Lovers–one of actual love and affection and emotion, and one of choices, divisions of a path. This clearly looks like “choice” to me, and our man seems rather disappointment in his choices! What do you do when you don’t like the obvious choices? He also seems to be reminded by the animals that there is only a or b, and he has an audience watching what happens! No pressure!

I like that this draw ends with The Slavic Legend’s Queen of Coins. This lady has it all–beauty, grace, flowers and wealth! She doesn’t have to make a choice! You can have your cake and eat it too. You are in a powerful position to affect your personal outcome. Approach with the attitude that you can give to others, and this will in turn help you with yourself.

This month’s draw seems to be saying “Life ain’t easy, learning isn’t easy. Being fearful will only set you back. Ask for what you want, don’t settle for less! You gotta try new things in order to progress. You got this!”

How about you? Have your decks ever had a talk with you?