How to Play "Poor Relations"

[Joan Marie]

To play "Poor Relations" just post images of any two cards from any deck you choose. Consider how the cards relate to each other visually, symbolically, any way you like, and interpret them as a pair.

You can also interpret the cards in other posts.

Subject line: use the name of the Deck and the 2 cards you pulled
for example: RWS - 3 of Wands & 5 of Cups


Opening a separate thread for each pair enables others to offer their interpretation of the pair.

This a free-form game, open or contribute to as many threads as many times as you like.

It's fun and creative and will help you build your pairing skills, intuition, and just loosen you up a bit.

Enjoy!

Go here to play Poor Relations

FYI- A related activity focused on the Thoth Deck can be found here.

[Joan Marie]

I really thought "Poor Relations" was funny when I thought of it, but now I'm not so crazy about it.

Does anyone have a better name for this game?

[stronglove]

how about
‘it’s all in the cards’
?

[Joan Marie]

how about
‘it’s all in the cards’
?

I think it needs to be more more descriptive of what the game is.

[stronglove]

why? it might get people interested to find out more.....
and i think the game is about everything you can see/deduct/intuit in the cards, isn’t it?
at least, that’s how i see/experience this way of looking at the cards

just my 2 cents....

[jaq]

I sort of like "Poor Relations." It sounds like an old fashioned game. But I'm not married to it.

Tried it here: Just took an image off the internet of a deck I don't know. Here is what I saw:

The Star looks a little looney, like some madwoman doling out riches with no rhyme nor reason. She looks up into an unseen distance. She feels very, very scattered. The Empress, on the other hand, is the opposite. It’s all about her and her little monkey. Both don’t seem to give a damn about an real people in front of them. It makes me wonder whether those two are shadow parts of me.

[stronglove]

ha! what a great idea to grab the cards from the internet....
these two are fascinating!

the star woman looks as if she’s emptying a jug of milk and the empress has just bared her breast to feed that monkey.....
so i would probably come up with something like:
don’t spill the milk of human kindness



and it doesn’t really matter what the name of the game is, as long as it gets played....

[AstralPasta]

I couldn't think of a name. I've been thinking for three days. I can't think of anything.

Also, I'm fine with Poor Relations. I'm also going to probably be in the Thoth area more, since I'm curious about the Thoth deck.

Just wanna say I'm doing pretty well weaning myself off of addictive websites and social media and my smart phone I'm trying to be on the PC more so I can use an actual keyboard on here too and type more intelligibly (in my own brain....writing essays on a phone is just the WORST most frustrating experience holy cow, especially when you don't expect it to get so damn long). All that to say, I'm using thinking of a snappy name as another carrot to get on my PC more, if I want to get anything done. If I'm around the game more on a PC, I'll probably be able to think of something in a not-stressful cramped format.

(....it's kinda like "Apples to Apples" right? Poor Relations to me sounds like an older name for a game. Or like for jacks. Or something. That sounds weird.)

Or maybe we just need a drawing of it, like a logo. Apples to Apples sounds like a lame game until you...see the game...and play it. Yeah, Poor Relations has a Scrabble feel to the name. Hahaha what am I talking about? Like old, bookish, woody smells, but still damp and outdoorsy. Like a leather pocket journal. Some ol' scraggly black-and-grey bearded guy with small thick black rimmed glasses, sitting on a rock, oiling his cane, talking about some cool secret stuff by the gap in the cobblestone fence encircling the village. Yeah.

Card Combos....Apples and Oranges....Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake and Kool-Aid (PBCCKA).....Chicken and Waffles....Yeah, I'll keep thinking.

[BreathingSince72]

I kind of dig everything at the end of Astro Pastis post all those little names that were posted. Perhaps new relations, perhaps magical relations, perhaps oh I don’t know I think poor relations works too. Visual rhymes?

[Joan Marie]

I love all your suggestions.

First the idea behind "Poor Relations". For those who don't know, that's a term rich people use for their "less lucky" (read monied) family members.

It's a derogatory term and it popped in my mind and wouldn't go away after I had a look at the Tumblr page Libra recommended, Unhelpful Tarot. It felt tongue-in-cheek like that title.

The big difference, by the way, between this and Unhelpful Tarot, is on Tumblr you can really only "Like" a post (you can comment but no one sees those really). With Poor Relations, you can also add your take on the pair which opens it up a lot.

I like the logo idea, and I like that you think Poor Realations sounds like an old-timey game. I also like all the names you all suggested.

i'm going to think about all this and in a couple of days let you know. Please keep the comments and ideas coming.

Also, regarding jaq's idea to grab cards off the internet, that's such a fun idea.

You can also maybe have a look at the Library of Decks. I sometimes go there for Today's Card, just sort of scroll with my eyes closed and see where the curser lands.

Great work everybody!!

[katrinka]

I like the moniker "Poor Relations". It piqued my curiosity and brought me to this thread.
Off to make a thread!