The Muse Tarot, published in 2020, is a new-to-me deck. If you read here, you know the concepts of the Muse, and muses, are important to me as a writer and a creative person in general. I won’t belabor this; it’s my own system that works for me around inspiration, imagination, and action. It might have nothing to do with traditional stories of muses or anyone else’s perception of what a Muse or muses are.
Some of the struggles I experienced with writing in 2021 were on my mind when I left the Hall to pick up a box of nag champa incense to replenish my supply. And I knew, I just knew, I needed to go to Body Mind and Soul to do it. When I went inside, my first goal had me picking up their lone box of my brand of incense, which felt fortuitous.
As I walked toward the cash wrap, I spotted a display of kyanite, a favorite stone, and among many, I picked up the one pictured under my incense holder/burner in the photo. I knew it was supposed to come home with me. Kyanite has a high vibration, making it an amplifier of only the positive, and it corresponds to the throat chakra, which has to do with communication and using one’s voice. Writing is my voice, so kyanite is a good helper. Kyanite also helps with sleep and dreams, so at night, it now rests with several other stones on the table next to the bed.
Then I glanced toward the shelves with all the various decks of cards, including their tarot decks, and there it sat: The Muse Tarot. There may have been two there, I don’t remember, but all I had to see was “Muse” to know I was getting the deck. Thank you, Christmas cash and gift card givers. =) Also, the staffer who checked me out was a highpoint of the visit; when he struck the three-toned chime as part of the ritual of clearing the shopping bag with my purchases before handing it to me, his eyes and mine widened with surprised delight at the tones we heard.
The Muse deck is a little different from more standard decks. For one thing, in the suits, there are no Kings. Those have been replaced by Muse cards as the highest card of the suit. Also, in place of Pentacles are Materials, and in the other suits, Wands have become Inspiration, Cups have become Emotions, and Swords are Voices.
The author/artist does not provide the traditional Tarot spreads in the guide, assuming a user will know those or can easily find them. I rarely lay out any of the more detailed spreads; again, I use a system that seems better suited for what I want to contemplate with the cards’ help. I shuffled the deck and pulled three cards face down. Before seeing them, I had a specific question for each card (no need to blare my questions to the Internet).
The Major Arcana card the Magician was there for my first question. Briefly: She’s a reminder to bring one’s desires into form, in a way that creates something healing for others and is rooted in love. The guide also explains some of the other symbolic significance of the art on the card.
For my second question, I pulled the Knight of Materials. The Knight is the third highest in the suite, indicating I may be far along on this particular question. The keywords attributed to the card include productivity and diligence paying off, determination, and planting and tending seeds for the future.
Even without reading about the card, pulling the Muse of Materials for my last question was visually a resounding answer to the either/or question I asked. The Muse sends a message about manifesting and abundance. Please note that for both of these cards for which I drew Materials, I wasn’t asking questions about money or worldly success but about something more intangible. So while keywords include prosperity and wealth, more relevant to my question are the keywords gratitude, health, comfort, and happiness.
I see the Muse Tarot as being a great deck for creative people or for anyone needing guidance about any journey or choice, really, whether related to vocation, spirituality, or relationships.
Do you use a particular deck for a particular question? If not, what draws you to a particular deck on your shelves?
I like your incense burner. I have similar, though not where you can put the incense on the top – rather, the smokes comes out through the latticed wood. I don’t know where mine are, though, since I can’t use them anywhere near the birds.
Good questions for me to think about, and I’ll answer them in a future Tarot post. I’m having fun with my Thursdays now. =)
It must be beautiful for the smoke to rise through the latticed wood of your holder. I can imagine it. This one’s an older holder of mine that I haven’t used in a long time. When I reorganized my metaphysical bookshelves where it was, I decided to begin using it again. It’s great for storing incense sticks.