At the June 28th Totally Normal Event, I was videotaped giving a Tarot reading with Lo Scarabeo’s Tarot of the Pirates. This excellent deck is distributed in North America by Llewellyn Publications. Since real-life pirates are Not Very Nice People, this deck presents an idealized version of the lifestyle. It’s clear in a few cards that the artist was heavily influenced by the recent popular pirate movies. What I like most about the deck, besides the opportunity to make bad pirate jokes, is that it is very action-oriented. The Nine of Swords, for example, shows a pirate crew staging a mutiny instead of the classic images of worry and fear. Some of the other cards show pictures so different from the traditional Pamela Coleman Smith images that they force the reader to stretch his/her psychic muscles to interpret them. This is a perfect deck to use if you are reading cards at an event where you expect pirates to show up!
The reading I did at the TNE is now available as a podcast from the Con Goer group on Vidgle.com. If you’ve ever wondered what a reading from me would be like, this will give you a good idea, though I usually dress better and don’t look as hungover—it was a great event! To schedule a telephone or online reading with me, just email me via ibonewits@neopagan.net with “Tarot Reading” in the Subject line.