Personal information:

"I'm a Saggitarius . . ."

"So am I!"

"The most philosophical of all the signs . . ."

"Me too!"

"But I don't believe in any of that crap!"

"Me neither!"

Page of Wands

Personal Tarot History:

> How did you begin doing Tarot?

Read about them somewhere probably, saw them in a store and snatched them up. Bought _Pictoral Key_. In college I used to do a lot of work with the Thoth. Stuff like making a living-room-floor-sized Tree of Life and laying the cards out on it, writing notes, etc. Studying and learning. After I hooked up with my hubby, I had less time for such things. Then, when I moved to Switzerland, most of my books and cards (and lots of other stuff) got lost. After I got on the Internet, I got an email forwarded to me about a list/class for discussing the Majors. I went through them all, and starting creating my web site.
When the class was finished, I wanted more, and so I joined TarotL group. I was an active member of the list for a few years, and met up with some great list members and others in Italy. Then my daughter came, and the computer and Tarot got demoted.
(Okay, now I'm looking back at the question, and I'm thinking, "Where did I *begin*? At what point was I *doing* Tarot? Am I *doing* it now?)

> Why did you start doing Tarot?

Because it is intensely interesting. I'm sure the "lure of the occult" and teenage rebellion played their parts in my introduction to Tarot. My re-introduction to Tarot came about mostly because I got on the Internet. It was the very first thing I ever did a search for. (Found Joan Bunning's site, and Mary Greer's.) At that time, I had a couple of decks--RW and Dali (which I bought at his museum in Spain!). All in all, I guess the "why" is just the search for understanding. It's a good tool for that.

> What do you use Tarot for?

I use Tarot as a tool for understanding. The more interested I am, the more interesting Tarot gets. I'm mostly into Life-sized Tarot, as in correlating cards to life experiences, and vice versa, and also to a lot of things from other literature, movies, culture. I do actually read cards, but not so much to read the future as to look at life trends. Creating a web site is an excellent way to bring these correlations together.
http://www.moonchild.ch/Tarot/Tarot.html

> How did you choose your first deck?

My Tarot history is divided into two eras, so I really feel like I have two "first" decks.

As a senior in high school (B.C.E.), I was voted "most likely to put a spell on the senior class." (My counselor advised me not to read the Necronomicon at school.) But at that time I still didn't know about Tarot. The following year, I was on spring break in Ft. Lauderdale, and my cousin took me to Coconut Grove, where I visited my first "occult" shop. Amazingly, after 20 years, I still have everything I bought in that shop: Rider Waite deck, Pictorial Key to the Tarot and Crowley's Moonchild. I probably bought the RW because it was "the" one to get. I'm sure that shop must have had Thoth as well. (It was probably out of my price range.) I acquired a few other decks in college (Thoth, 1JJ Swiss, Tarot Classic), but they were hard to find in those days. Most of those decks were lost when I moved to Switzerland. (Not the Thoth, which I found at Goering's Bookstore in Gainesville. Probably hocked something to buy it.)

After college, I didn't spend much time with Tarot for many years. Then I got online. The first thing I ever searched for was Tarot, and I came to the facade.com site, where I saw the New Palladini Tarot. It was love at first sight, my first online purchase, and my first deck C.E. It may be that I chose it because it was the first "new" Tarot I had seen, and I was just so impressed. But I still love it, and I keep it to myself for personal readings.

Now I'm waiting for my 22nd deck. That's where I plan to stop. Although, if I don't find my Stick Figure, maybe I can buy one more. I wonder if my daughter got ahold of it (again). And speaking of that 22nd deck--I have spent entirely too much of my life in postal anticipation. My relationship depended upon it for five years, and now online shopping and Tarot...

> What deck(s) do you use?

I have 23 decks, but I use less than half of them: Rider Waite, Ancestral Path, Thoth, Wheel of Change, Palladini, Cosmic, Halloween, Stick Figure.
I also have: Tarot de Marseilles (Grimaud), Dali (doesn't get used since I quit work), Renaissance, Native American, Wang GD, Hallowquest, Gothic, Shakespearian, Navigator's, Healing, David's, Bob's (#12), Tennessee (iii), Maninni II & III.
Of course, then there's the question: Define "use."

> Is Tarot widely accepted or practiced in your community?

I don't think it's widely practiced, although I have met a few people who have claimed to own cards. I'm not sure how accepted it is. We don't have restaurant readers, but this *is* the home of AGMüller! People play all kinds of cards here.

> Have you ever been the victim of discrimination of any kind for doing Tarot? If so, what do you think the reason was?

Well, slightly. It was my mistake for bringing the cards into the bar. That was in the States. I did an *intense* reading for a guy (and his girlfriend), and some other guys were making comments. I tuned them out pretty easily. The reason(s): the way I looked, the way I dressed, the way I drank.

back 

http://www.moonchild.ch/Journal/personal.html