My intro to The Hermit's Cave on Facebook on 9/10/19

Just a cut and paste of what I shared there- figured it was also a good way to introduce myself to this new blog...

My real name is Heidi, but I go by Panda Fortune on this profile (I’ll answer to either 😊). I am 45 years old and live in New Orleans. I started reading Tarot cards when I was a teenager. I had two decks- a standard RWS and The Gill Tarot, which at the time I just didn’t like (it didn’t look like Tarot to me in a world where different decks were judged that way). I only read for myself. But when I was about 25 years old, I packed up all of my supernatural type books and gadgets in a move and never unpacked them. I had nothing against these things, I guess I just wasn’t progressing with the cards as much as I’d wanted to. I relied on the books and didn’t give myself enough credit to work without them. And along with that, I never really gelled with standard RWS as much of a purist I purported to be.

Flash forward 20 years (the end of June 2019), I got this massive urge to unpack my things and start using cards again. I couldn’t find my RWS anywhere (still can’t), but I did find The Gill. As I explained I didn’t prefer that deck even back in 1990, the cards are still in order and have never been shuffled. The box has a couple little dings on it, but the cards inside are in mint condition. Looking at it and remembering that I just didn’t like it back then… I set out to get myself a new deck.

The first thing I did was look on Amazon, and I was floored by how many decks that are available today. When I was a teen, the only thing that you could ever find in a bookstore really was RWS. Other decks existed, but you had to look for them and go to specialty shops. Today, with the Internet and a *little* more of an acceptance of Tarot- we see everything available via major merchants. It’s really only been about 10 weeks, and I have 20 new Tarot decks and 4 Lenormand 😂. My husband just ordered the 2nd edition of The Dark Mansion for me! I’m just out of my mind excited to receive that one.

I started binge watching Tarot-specific YouTube channels and was quite frankly shocked there was such a large community out here just waiting for me to find them 🙂 I’m mostly upset that I waited so long to recapture this passion, and have missed out on the Idiosyncradeck! She says that will never be for sale again and I know I’ll probably never be able to afford one out there at this point. #crestfallen

In my YouTube binges I learned about Katey Flowers’ love for The Gill and realized for many years I have had a gem I’ve never given a chance to. People were looking for it when it was out of print and it’s been sitting in a box in my closet for years. I listened to what she had to say about the deck, as well as reading a review about them from Benebell Wen. I took a quick glance of the cards without yet shuffling them, and I am understanding more about what that deck has to offer. It’s still in order and unshuffled, but I do believe I will give some time to it.

This is what I’ve accumulated so far (several have been gifts):

1 Gill Tarot
2 Centennial - crappy print from China (eBay)
3 Universal Waite - tin
4 Radiant Rider Waite - tin
5 Biddy Everyday Tarot
6 Mystical Manga Tarot
7 Joie de Vivre
8 Tarot of Pagan Cats Mini
9 Santa Muerte
10 Ceccoli Mini
11 Harmonious Mini
12 Golden Thread
13 Spiritsong
14 Illuminated Playing Cards
15 The Dreaming Way Tarot
16 Universal Tarot Mini
17 Tarot of White Cats Mini
18 Chrysalis Tarot
19 Ostara Tarot
20 Panda Tarot
21 The Dark Mansion (shipping to me soon!)

Lenormand:
1 Gilded Reverie
2 The Dreaming Way
3 Under the Roses
4 Bluebird

I’m looking forward to interacting with you all and continuing to be amazed about the new world of Tarot via themes as well as diverse interpretations.