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Okay, as some of you may have noticed my whole forum plan is falling to bits. And with that massive failure I am also inclined to quit the whole blog thing. It’s an emotional thing really and I know I have to think things through for a bit before actually quitting. The blog does have a steady following, thank you for that, so unlike my forum I am not completely talking to myself. But I have come to terms with the fact that it will not be the great success I would have liked it to be and the effort I put in isn’t really weighing up to the reward I get out of it anymore. I was wondering why the whole forum thing means so much to me and it’s not really that hard to understand, it’s more than just wanting attention.

To explain it all I will have to take you back in time. When I was a young, well younger, lad and internet was not as common as it is today I was a member of the Iron Maiden BB (that’s bulletin board, though at the time it already was a forum) though the music wasn’t really my thing anymore the forum was all kinds of awesome and I spent hours a day there (on a dial up connection, imagine my phone bills). We were a tight knit community and I met some really great people there, among who one of my great loves (Thrice loved) Some time later I came to the After Forever forum, again I spent many hours there, this time on a broadband connection, and if it wasn’t for the people I met there, especially my wife, I might not even have been here today. We became a group of good friends in real life as well, meeting at concerts and festivals and visiting each other all over the country and though it ended in a weird way I still look back at that time with a smile on my face reaching from ear to ear.

Some time ago I joined my wife on the Twilight lexicon forum (yes Twilight), where I once again met some great people, many of who I still see posting daily on facebook. And even though I left the forum, I had some problems accepting the rules they had there, I still regard the lexilly (lexicon family) as some of the greatest people I know online. So thus far forums, or fora, have been places for meeting great people, making awesome friends and sharing bits of your life. And silly me tried to recreate that. Off course I should have known that without a band or book or even anything remotely interesting I would not be able to draw in people. Maybe forum posting is becoming somewhat outdated with all the new social media like facebook and twitter out there. But I hoped.

And now that hope is almost gone, I have become somewhat more realistic. I did some remodeling and editing, trimmed down the forum and for now I will let it be. I have one last card up my sleeve to try and instill life in this forum and I will launch it today. The first person to reach 150 posts on my forum will receive a free Crowley Toth Tarot deck.

That’s right…

A FREE CROWLEY TOTH TAROT DECK
For the first person to reach a 150 posts on nltarot.forum2go.nl
Single word or emoticon posts, copied or double posts and posts containing little more than just a quote do not count. This contest will run till the end of may.

If this works out and the forum will come to live and become the awesome online place I envisioned it to be, I will do something like this again, if it does not, I will pull the plug end of May. So as it has always been, it’s up to you.

Busy day today….

First in five day of waking up without a killer headache and the weather is absolutely gorgeous, so there’s a bonus. Got a meeting planned with a new client, looking forward to that as well. All in all a demanding but interesting day. And since there’s so little to complain about I’ll leave you with some commercial messages and a card of the day.

Grand Opening, Yes it hurts - Tattoo & Piercing

Saturday, 16 April 2011 at 12:00

And don’t forget my forum…. Go post new topics, reply and have fun….because right now it is becoming a somewhat sad affair. Nocturnal Lure "Tarot" Forum

4 of Coins

Four of coins as with most fours symbolizes some form of stagnation. Adding to that the concept of earth and the material world this card implies holding on to ones possessions even though it may not always be the best choice. Saving for a rainy day and forgetting to live a little today.

-discuss on NL Tarot forum ( nltarot.forum2go.nl )-

Okay this is one I get asked a lot during readings, workshops and trainings. What is the best tarot deck? Well it’s almost too obvious but there is not one “best” deck. There are however several decks suitable for certain situations, people or questions.

Today I will focus on which decks are best suited to start out with. Some people stick to one deck for most of their tarot reading life, many however start with one deck but continue searching for the deck best matched with their personal preferences. Some wish to have several different decks for different types of readings, I for instance have several decks well suited for Halloween readings… or readings to scare the crap out of people any day beside Halloween. Fact remains, there has to be a “first” deck for every tarot reader. Often how this deck works out is key to what type, if any, of reader you will become. Some decks are especially difficult to work with and have been known to make people leave tarot altogether.

Rider Waite Smith In many cases considered “the” traditional tarot deck. Mister Waite and artist Pamela Coleman Smith designed this deck to be used and have a certain degree of graphic information that makes the meaning self explanatory. A big bonus in comparison with many other decks is that the pip cards, that is any other then the majors and court cards are illustrated as well. Due to it being probably the most well known deck there is also plenty reading material about it as well as way too many “tarot for beginner” books and box sets. A colorful user friendly experience that’s not too confronting.

Crowly Haris Thoth Aleister Crowley, the self proclaimed “great beast” is the name many a conservative Christian considers equal to the Anti-Christ. Though the spiritual equivalent of Marylyn Manson in his time, this man was all about shock. Not without point however, he bitch-slapped people awake in a literary fashion and made them consider the cosmos in a whole new way. This modus operandi is what his Thoth tarot is all about as well. Sure you can do readings on a completely uncomplex and reader friendly level but when you take effort to immerse yourself the Thoth gives you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me… God, Goddess, gods well let’s keep that one open to debate ;-). But the truth is what you get, whether you like it or not. Due to it’s build up and naming of the cards however, but in no less important way due to the brilliant artwork, this deck is suitable for newcomers still getting to know the cards. You can start out with the Crowley and never need another deck again because it invites you to explore. Even when you have used the Crowley for years it still manages to take you deeper. It is however a deck that seems to be a tad unforgiving and confronting. A big difference with the RWS (RIder Waite Smith) is that when you are looking for a second deck it’s a harder transmission coming from the Thoth.

Haindl The Haindl is a complex and rich deck and each spread invites you to spend hours pondering all possible connections. So why is it suitable for newcomers? Well in truth it’s not, not really. I put it up here because it is suitable for people who have some knowledge concerning the spiritual and mythological. I tjing, Kabala, Runes are all present on the Haindl cards together with prominent deities and astrological symbols they flavor the cards to such an extend that even with little knowledge of traditional Tarot these cards can be used without difficulty when you’re advanced in other area’s of spiritualism.

There are more decks suitable for beginners, like the Gilded or the Legacy tarot but often they are basically visually re-designed Rider decks. What’s important when starting out is; get a deck that feels good, has at least more then one reference book available and has illustrated pip-cards. This way you will get the best beginners experience.

For extended reviews of all kinds of decks check out: Aeclectic Tarot

Happy reading!!!