Interviewing the Dark Wood Tarot Deck

Deck InterviewsWorking with Oracle and Tarot Cards

Jan 19

Disclaimer: I approach my interviews as if it’s a conversation with the deck and write whatever comes to me intuitively. Sometimes, this shows up in the reflection as a stream of consciousness report. It may be hard to follow, but it’s an accurate depiction of my reactions/thoughts/feelings at the time of the interview.

Reflection of the interview:

I love when these interviews start off strong! The Strength card in the position of personality is quite telling. I think this card is saying that this deck has the power and strength to give solid readings. I'll admit that the strength card doesn't surprise me given that I was attracted to his deck because of the strength of the shadow aspect it claimed...but also, all the card illustrations seemed to be strongly in favor of females. I like female strength! So, if anything, this card is confirming something I already felt about it.

I'm so happy to see the Queen of Wands in the upright position for the question of what strength does this deck carries because I find the Queen of Wands to be most associated with creativity and pursuit of knowledge. So I think what this card is telling me about the deck is that its strength will be in conjuring creativity and wisdom. Also, the illustration for this card just screams: Badass witch.

Uh oh! The Knight of Cups, reversed in the weakness position tells me that this deck does not like sharing readers. As the Knight of Cups, reversed is often associated with jealousy, clinginess, self-indulgent — it seems like that might filter over into how the deck feels about its use. Do I think the deck can ACTUALLY be jealous? No. But I'll be interested to see what kind of readings show up when I use the deck after a long period of absence from it. Maybe it will give me all reversed, horrifying cards?

The Five of Swords is a pretty dark card, and even more so in this deck. While the card indicates deliberate cruelty and destruction — it's also a card of awareness. So I think this card is telling me that this deck is going to be brutally honest in wanting me to take responsibility for whatever destruction or cruelty I may have caused in the past or could cause. Seeing where we've "wronged" others can be a painful but necessary part of growth so I feel like that's what this deck is going to facilitate.

Eight of Wands, reversed in this position is pretty straightforward as it usually indicates a lack of taking action or unclear motivations/goals. This tells me that the deck would like to be used when I'm not sure what my motivation or goals are at the moment and when I feel like I can't move forward or take action.

Interesting. The Two of Cups for this question is not what I expected. Since the Two of Cups usually refers to a mirroring of the soul in the embodiment of a person, place, thing, spirit, etc., this tells me that this deck and I are connected on some level. (I already knew this since I felt drawn to its shadowy nature). I think the best way to work with this deck is exactly when I need a mirror into the shadow or dark parts of myself.

Well, in typical fashion for this deck, the remaining card and answer are of a dark nature. The Eight of Swords in its reversed form is that of resistance to change and deep-seated anger. I have a feeling that the overall relationship with this deck is going to be turbulent. Like a love/hate relationship.

Any sensations/feelings to note:

Oof! This is definitely going to be a turbulent deck. Getting all those swords and wands and darkness is definitely making the vibe feel that way too. Not that it's a bad thing! I just think I'll have to be very aware of when and how I use the deck otherwise, I might run into issues with readings being too heavy and dark.

How do you feel about this deck after this reading?

I'm feeling nervous but also intrigued by this deck. The reading didn't go as expected and though I knew this was a dark deck, the interview even turned out darker than I thought it would. So now I'm a bit on edge about using the deck, but I'm still very intrigued about what I can learn from it.

What do you like or dislike about this deck so far?

To be honest, this is not my typical kind of illustrated deck. It comes off more fantasy-like and I tend to be turned off by that but something about this deck, the author, and the vibe drew me to it. After reading the guidebook introduction, I was hooked. Between the story vibes and the emphasis on female strength, I definitely have grown fonder of this deck.