Scents and Stones

So, last week, buying a tarot deck was on my mind. I was in Covent Garden for the day, doing my NYR Home product training, and I knew that just around the corner there used to be a shop called Mysteries. I hadn’t ventured into that part of London for several years, so I wasn’t entirely sure exactly where the shop was.

I wandered down to the end of Neal Street, turned left, and could immediately smell incense. So strongly, in fact, that the staff were requesting that it be put out! I went through into the room on the left of the shop, to have a look at the books and the tarot cards, still not entirely certain whether or not I was actually going to buy anything. A member of staff showed me a display book with a few cards from each oracle and tarot deck, and I spent a while flipping through the pages.

I picked out three sets of cards that I really liked. The first was the Paulina Tarot, but it was out of stock. So that was that decision made. My second choice was the Fenestra Tarot. The artwork is absolutely stunning, but the deck doesn’t come with an accompanying book. I could have bought a book separately, but my third choice came in a package with the deck, a matching book, and a little bag to keep the cards in. Perfect.

I then went to the shelf to pick up the boxed set, and was slightly embarrassed to discover that I’d chosen the Mystic Dreamer Tarot. The box was pink. Which should have been a good sign, but as if buying a deck of tarot cards wasn’t weird and embarrassing enough already, I’d only gone and chosen a pink deck! And could there possibly be any more ridiculous airy-fairy name than “Mystic Dreamer”, for goodness’ sake?

Time to have a wander around the rest of the shop, and a bit of a think.

Eventually I decided that it was stupid to be embarrassed about buying a tarot deck, particularly from a shop like Mysteries! Then I decided that it wasn’t the cards‘ fault that they’d been named “Mystic Dreamer”, I was choosing them on the strength of the artwork, and the fact that the box happened to be pink could only be an added bonus!

I started to read the book on the train home, and immediately enjoyed Barbara Moore’s writing style. There’s a very helpful introduction for complete beginners, lots of suggestions for different spreads, and each card has a couple of additional questions suggested by the imagery. The artwork itself is extremely detailed photo-montage. There’s a short explanation by the artist of how the cards were created, and I’d love to see them at a larger size so that I could really get into all the tiny little details.

I’ve only done one reading with these cards so far, but it was so ridiculously pertinent that I was very glad I’d overcome my embarrassment and bought them anyway!

Tags: tarot