Rachel’s DoW 18 Rocambole Tarot

[Rachelcat]

It’s time to throw caution to the winds! I’m going to be choosing some decks in my collection that I have just because I like them, and we’ll see about me reading with them for a week! Wish me luck!

According to Aeclectic: “The Rocambole Tarot is an 89-card deck of images of Toltec magic art. It was published in Russia in 2003 and the cards have titles in a geometric Russian font only. Created by Sergey Rocambole, Anna Nikolayeva.”

I love this deck because I love geometric design! The cards are an elongated shape. As mentioned, the titles in Russian, and the Roman numerals are a bit scrambled. It has four Fools for the elements (the earthy one is labelled XXII), and each suit has two pages (one centaur, one human), and two knights (one riding an elemental animal and one riding a horse). Oh, and swords are fire and wands/staves are air.

I’ve had this deck for years but I’ve never read with it. Can she do it? Stay tuned, tarot fans, and we’ll find out together!

Sunday Deck Interview

Most important characteristic: 9 Cups
Undoubtedly, it just makes me happy. Nobody else might care a bit about it, but it’s mine and I love it! Check the double-headed snakes border.

Strength: Horseman of Swords (fire)
I’m going to read swords as I would wands and vice versa. This card is both masculine elements, fire and air. It has a masculine vibe. It’s strong and rushing in where angels fear to tread, or at least where no tarot deck has gone before. While also looking back to tarot history. One of the Visconti decks has male and female pages and knights. The rider’s dragon crest is breathing fire! And the horse’s hoofs aren’t touching the ground. Is that the rider’s cloak blowing out behind him because he’s going so fast?

Weakness: Queen of Coins
And this one is both feminine elements, earth and water. It’s weakness is its feminine cards. They’re just not as geometrically cool as the masculine ones. Very balanced strength and weakness! Looks like she’s in some kind of bull cart. The bulls of the card and on her hat have crescent moon horns. She has lots and lots of coins, in her skirt, in her hands, and on the ground.

What can it teach me? Emperor
How to take charge of my readings and my tarot work. Things mean what I SAY they mean, darn it! Ferocious beard! He’s got eagle head décor on his knees and serpents around his throne. And an orb and scepter.

How can I learn that? Devil
I’m going to go with my interp of the devils in last week’s readings: I need to be devil’s advocate, for my own interpretations and for the wonderfulness of this deck! And those giant moustaches or tusks? He’s got the face in his belly, a hint of genitals, and eyes in his wings. I love the wings. How did they make them so reptilian in the geometric form? And male and female captives, of course.

Outcome of our work together: Death
A week of reading with this deck is about all I can take. After that, I’ll never read with it again. The skeleton has four arms. The bird flees. He is dancing on the world globe and has an hourglass hat. Your time is running out!

I can’t stop raving about this deck! And I can’t wait to share more cards with you this week. Have a happy week!

[Joan Marie]

What a crazy looking deck! I can definitely see the Toltec influence but I also get a sense of what reminds me of circuit boards.
It's like modern and ancient at the same time. High and low tech.

I look forward to seeing more of it this week!

[Rachelcat]

Monday Why the Who is in the What

World, Queen of Cups, 3 Wands, Ace of Wands
(Wands are air, so I’m reading them as I would swords.)

In the intellectual realm, I’ll be using my intuition and emotions to learn or teach something of general or widespread importance.

I love the birds on the ace, the queen’s seashell and fish and scaly skirt, the bird-headed wands, and winged creatures on the World. Everything is more fun when it’s geometric! I could look at these cards for hours!

Enjoy your Monday!

[Rachelcat]

Hi, Joan! I didn't reply to your post. It was Monday, what can I say. I hope you enjoy more glimpses of this deck. You put it into words better than I can. All I can come up with is "geometric." But, yes, high and low tech at the same time really describes it! (Be careful or I might be showing off my robot decks later!)

Now on to today's reading:
Tuesday Why the Who is in the What

Ace of Swords (fire), 7 Cups, Female Page/Centaur of Coins, Hanged One

In the realm of action, I’m realizing we’re going to be hanging around at home for a long time yet. And that I’m still a beginner at the logistics of making it all work at a practical level, and that’s making me a little overly emotional.

Oh, forget about the reading, let’s talk about the cards!

The cutest baby dragons on the ace with red triangles on their tails. The sword’s hilt is of dragon? Faces.

Fish, conch shells and double-headed serpent borders on the 7 Cups. And each cup has a different rainbow design.

I’ve been using this spread to show off as many cards as possible, and here’s one of the “extra” court cards. The female pages are centaurs of their suits, and this one is half-woman, half cow. I was going to say bull, but that doesn’t work! She holds a cow-headed scepter and has a large coin on her head. And a great striped hairdo!

The Hanged One is tied up with both feet. He’s dropping his coins. There are serpents winding up and down the supports, and an ominous looking bird perches above his feet. His mouth is in the straight line conventional neutral position, but it looks like he’s almost smiling. I like the way it shows his hair hanging down.

And that’s it! I hope you’re enjoying this fun and creative deck. Have a healthy and happy Tuesday!

[Rachelcat]

Wednesday Why the Who is in the What

Ace of Wands (air), 4 Coins, Horseman of Coins, Tower!

Oh dear, Tower is not good for today. I’m working on an important legal filing due today . . . Well, let’s see. In the intellectual realm, I’ll be working hard to get the physical aspects of this project right and squared away, as it were. I’ll take ownership of it. (I hate when that happens!) Hopefully disaster will not strike, but if it does, I’ll be working in the trenches to make it right.

Once again let’s forget the reading and talk about the cards!

The wand is a scepter with horns or prongs at the top, accompanied by birds and has serpent heads. Maybe they are twined up the scepter?

I love the turtles on the coins cards, very earthy creature. And, like the cups, each coin has a different rainbow decoration.

The horseman is all coins, on the horse’s blanket, a big shield, and he has a crook with a coin hanging from it. And a bull crest.

For the Tower, here’s one of those scrambled Roman numerals, but that’s ok. I like the geometric lightning bolt that ends in a squared off labyrinth on the ground. The people falling are dropping their wand, coin, sword and cup.

I’m noticing today the limited color palette. It’s colorful but unifying.

That’s all in card appreciation I have today. I hope you enjoy the cards. And your day today. I hope none of us have any Towers today!

[Rachelcat]

Thursday Why the Who is in the What

Ace of Coins, 5 Wands (air), Horseman of Coins, Temperance

I think this is a health reading. I stayed up late last night to help with a work thing, and I now have an ugly headache this morning. (The bosses stayed up even later to file something by midnight!)

Regarding my health, work has made me confused or intellectually fuzzy, and I’ll probably be fuzzy at work today, too. But it’s nothing to worry about. I am in good health, and the alchemy of my body is actually in good working order.

The ace is crossed behind by rainbow lines emanating from the sun and moon. And has a very circular urboros around it, and a pile of coins below.

Same knight as yesterday, lots of work going on!

Airy wands have bird heads and a descending bird with the double-headed snake borders.

Temperance is lovely! A halo. I can’t figure out what the headdress is. Beautiful rainbow wings and a rainbow below on the sea. Sun and moon are on the cups and the angel’s shoulders. And I think symbols for fire and water on his robe.

Still loving this deck! Have a healthy Thursday!

[Rachelcat]

Happy May everyone! Here's hoping it's a more cheerful month for everyone!

Friday Why the Who is in the What

Ace of Wands (air), 6 Swords (fire), King of Wands (air), Sun

Well, this is very masculine, but with the Sun and 6 Swords, it looks very positive, too! In the intellectual realm, I will be very organized and focused, in charge of my thoughts, which will help me lead someone into the way of good sense and organization. And everything will turn out well and open and bright!

I have a conference call today in which I have to orient new people to a project that I was just helping with because they are replacing the person that was really in charge of it. It looks like it will go well. They’ll be glad to get the info, and I’ll be glad I don’t have to do it anymore!

Here is the Ace of Wands again, with its birds and clouds and serpents and sun and moon.

I like these swords, some straight, some with small curves on the tips. Nothing here to really show it’s fire, but other swords cards make that clear. Oh, except the red triangles. Duh.

The King has a fancy round collar, a two-bird crest, and birds on his throne. And the sun and moon rainbow line above.

The Sun has mirror-image children, one brown with blue skirt, the other blue with brown skirt. (That’s where I got the idea that we’ll both be happy. Two people under the sun!) Serpents make the wall. Instead of the sun and moon rainbow, we have a yellow sun and a blue sun, in addition to the main sun above.

[Rachelcat]

Saturday’s question: Why do people want or need religion and spirituality? Why do I feel like we’re all stumbling around in the dark?
This was a question very much on my heart when I was shuffling this morning, so I figured why not read on it?

Four Noble Truths/Medical Model Spread (See viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2716 for details on the spread.)

Symptom, characterizes the question or issue: Judgment
That’s the question! Is there a higher level of life, afterlife, or spirit? What is the call? Can we rise?

Diagnosis, the cause of the issue: King of Cups
We want to master our emotions. We have these feelings, and we want to explain them. Then the explanations become authority. Feelings of awe, gratitude, peace, cries for help. Fire of water = the energy of emotion.

Prognosis, the possible outcome or answer: 3 Coins
Well, that’s challenging! The answer is form of form, only matter matters! Emotional have a physical basis, in life and in the brain. Concentrate on that, at least first.

Prescription, advice to deal with the issue: Star
Be the blessing the world needs; don’t wait for god or gods to do it for you. Bless yourself and everyone. Those emotions you’re trying to figure out? Let them pour forth if they’re positive, or drain out if they’re negative. The Star is pouring two streams. (She’s also watering plants and animals with her two streams.)

Path, way to put prescription into effect:
Star is number 17, so 8 path cards:

Magician
The power is in you, not something spiritual outside you. Use it!

2 Coins and 2 Wands (air)
Balance your thoughts and body and money.

4 Wands (air)
Calm your mind

7 and 8 Coins
You are your body: Love it and take care of it, and use your mind to do that. That’s what you have a mind for.

9 Wands (air)
Your thoughts and actions determine if you will be just: give everyone their due, including yourself, or locked in a nightmare of your own creation.

Female Knight of Cups (riding a fish)
Air of Water. Ride your emotions, don’t let them ride you. Again, think, use your head/mind, that’s what it’s there for. Go forward in life with its confusions and all. That’s all we can do, but we can do it better. Without gods to help or stand in the way.