u/loam-and-light

Strength is one of the cards I tend to look out for and spend special attention to in every new deck.

My personal favorites are (in no particular order): woodland wardens, honey & lavender, the shadows we cast, lunalapin, yukika, botan

• What are your favorite Strength cards?
• Which card(s) do you pay special attention to in a deck?

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Pictured in all photos: Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot (mini version)

Photo 1: all the Strength!

Photo 2 (counter-clockwise from top left):

• Paws Tarot
• Shadowscapes Tarot
• Tarot of the Woodland Wardens
• Verdance Tarot
• Golden Art Nouveau Tarot

Photo 3 (counter-clockwise from top left):

• Earth Woman Tarot
• Sasuraibito Tarot
• The Shadows We Cast Tarot
• Honey & Lavender Tarot
• Lubanko Tarot

Photo 4 (counter-clockwise from top left):

• Botan Tarot
• Dive to You Tarot
• Tarot de Luz
• Lunalapin Tarot
• Yukika Tarot

People have always had a tendency to really spill a lot about themselves to me, and I find myself becoming a sort of emotional support vessel to many people (my friends joke that I'm a magnet for wounded men in particular). But it wasn't recently until I was talking with a friend who asked me when this started that I realized how longstanding and persistent this has been in my life. Even as a small child, adults would literally tell me about their very grown-up problems. Ironically, I didn't even understand what they were talking about half the time, but for whatever reason, they were compelled to tell me...

Anyway, this is a pattern for me everywhere I go. Coworkers, friends, etc. are often telling me deeply personal and heavy things about themselves with little prompting -- almost like they've been wanting to get the load off and in me they found the right person for it.

This same friend who prompted this self-reflection pointed out that even though I'm soft and empathetic, I also feel solid and reliable and trustworthy, like I won't crumble under the weight of heaviness, so she can just feel the comfort of talking to me rather than worrying that she's burdening me. She said that even in the middle of storm, it feels like I would be able to point out that there is a clearing or pasture just beyond the clouds and help guide her there. (She is obviously a very lovely friend and also a writer whose words I'm sure I'm mangling.) She said it's just an energy I give off, and she felt like that even when we first became friends as teens.

I am not well-versed in astrology, though I know the basics. I was just wondering if my birth chart could point to some specific energy I might be giving off that makes me a magnet for this type of interaction. I don't dislike it (it's all I've ever known tbh), but I'm only realizing now that the frequency with which this happens might not be the average person's experience.

(I don't know if this is related, but speaking of seeming reliable... strangers ask me for help all the time, in stores, in public areas, etc. For example, I get asked for directions often, ironically a lot of the time being when I'm a confused or lost tourist myself. Also friends and family will hit me up asking if I know the most random things, like what is our state's law on XYZ topic? To which my response is usually, "How would I know that? I mean, I can Google that for you..." The answer I often get: "you just seem like you would know.")

I’m so sorry in advance — I have so many questions, and I feel bad bc I wonder if I’m being too nitpicky and yet… something just doesn’t sit right with me. I’m fairly new to collecting decks, so I was wondering if I am being unreasonable or if my concerns are valid.

So I recently purchased this deck from an authorized stockist listed on the creator’s site after seeing multiple flip throughs on YouTube… but the cards I received are so different from what I saw there. First, the edging is gold on mine instead of yellow. And the cards themselves don’t have that more matte linen finish… it’s not a high shine gloss but reflective enough to be challenging to really look at the art sometimes (the deck has a softer vibe + a lot of the cards are dark, so it’s so annoying to have the light bouncing off of it).

I really like the art, but I think out of the 13 decks in my collection, the cards themselves are the worst quality despite being one of my more expensive decks. The quality is TERRIBLE. The print job doesn’t seem crisp. I am not an aggressive shuffler by any means, and I literally only had these for a day, so it’s not like I used them that much yet. But look at the card peeling in the photo! This is what all the cards look like. (Ironically, the gold edges are totally in tact.)

Anyway, I was just wondering:
- Does anyone else have this deck? If so, are you experiencing the same quality issues?

Allegedly it’s a new printing (although the deck was just released less than six months ago. I haven’t seen anything about a second printing on the creator’s site or social media.
- Is it common to have a second edition out in such a short timespan)?

I’m just curious if this is a fake being sold by an official stockist, or if the creator rolled out a really shitty low quality second printing without advertising the changes, so she can have bigger profit margins… bc this is not a cheap deck. I reached out to the stockist, and they insist the cards I received are the ones pictured on her site, which is patently false (see comments for photos). I reached out to the creator, but I haven’t received a response. I don’t want to make it a thing and dispute the credit card charge if I don’t have to, but I just feel like someone is screwing me over, and I’m not sure who it is.

Anyway, apologies for the rant/questions — I just don’t know what is considered “normal” in the tarot deck world when it comes to changes in cardstock, diff printings, etc., and what should be acceptable vs unacceptable.

Hello! I only understand rudimentary concepts when it comes to astrology, and pretty much when it’s just talking about individuals. But I have been curious about the connection between me and this guy I’m seeing, and I def don’t understand enough to get the synastry of it all.

It’s a very strange connection, I feel we became very quickly comfortable with each other, and we definitely have physical chemistry. We talk easily and comfortably, and yet something doesn’t quite “click” effortlessly sometimes (like we don’t always get each other… we’re quite diff as people). I find his patterns to be easy to read but his actual thoughts/feelings very difficult to read. I honestly don’t know how he experiences me. And I don’t get the sense either of us are head over heels, passionately in love.

And yet it’s like… we somehow sunk under each other’s skin? And it seems we have developed a lot of affection for one another. This isn’t usually the way it goes for me with romance, so I have a hard time understanding it.

I’m partner A (she/her), he is partner B. Thank you in advance!!