I received this deck several weeks ago, and haven’t had a chance to spend time with it until today.  I’ve been carrying it around, shuffling it, admiring the beautiful art, but hadn’t committed the time to actually use it in a reading.  Today, however, I’m taking my second day of Yule to work with it and see what I can learn.

I bought this deck thinking that it would be a good deck for Winter.  The art is beautiful, but it’s also stark and uncompromising.  I tend to have some SAD issues in the winter, and that suits my mood.  So I thought this would be the deck that confronts you with the harsh realities, and doesn’t pull any punches.

That’s not at all the energy that I got from this reading however.  I felt more like this deck brings hope.  It does feel like it will be a personal deck for me, one that I don’t use to read for others, and I really get the sense that this deck is going to help me in this new cycle that I’m starting over the Winter tide.  It seems very encouraging, very spiritually-focused, and very healing.  I need that.

The reading starts with the top center card, and then goes clockwise around the circle.

1.  Tell me about yourself.  What is your most important characteristic?  Helping me see through self-delusion, confusion, day-dreaming, choosing illusion over reality, unhealthy temptation, helping me when I’m not sure which way to turn.
2. What are your strengths as a deck?  A new beginning, fresh energy, courage, self-esteem, a fresh start in a new direction, growth, a journey.
3. What are your limits as a deck?  This is not a good deck to consult about financial matters and it won’t be a deck I can use to give professional readings to earn money with.  It will work better on an emotional/mental/spiritual level.
4. What are you here to teach me?  Slow down and take care, focus on how you can be productive and stop trying to do everything while accomplishing nothing.
5. How can I best learn and collaborate with you?  Reversing my bad luck, finding new work, getting involved with a community, finding my compassion through the lessons of my own loss, courage and hope.
6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?  Improvement in health, letting go of loss, light at the end of the tunnel.  New horizons, positive cycle, being released from a long and difficult struggle.