My "Bright Idea Deck" Called the "Worst Tarot Deck of All Time."

This fine young lady says my "Bright Idea Deck" is the number one "Worst Tarot Deck of All Time." ("It's the gift that keeps on giving!") 

Hey, I'm in good company -- the Thoth deck is on her list, too ... but it languishes down at number five. (Now I can say I beat Aleister Crowley at something.) Don't miss the comments!

Crowdsourcing Your Future

zohar.jpg

Over on? The Future of Self-Knowledge, Jessica Charlesworth posits an interesting idea: what might you learn (about yourself and your future) if you were to ask your friends, "What do you see as my possible future?" and "What would you offer as a preferable future?" (These aren't her exact questions ... but bear with me.)

Some definition of terms is in order. A possible future, I'm guessing, is what is, in your friend's opinion, a likely future. A preferable future, though, should reflect some changes your friend think would be a better outcome for you.

For example: I think a perfectly possible future involves me working at The Company (or somewhere similar) until retirement age. A preferable future might be "Mark writes or creates something that allows him to lead a more self-directed life as a writer, information artist, or workshop leader."

My own vision, though, is limited by perspective -- and breaks with the spirit of Jessica's experiment, which involves making an effort to see your future as *others* might see it. Problem is: her method involves printing and mailing a bunch of postcards, and "Mark prints and mails a bunch of postcards" simply isn't in my range of possible futures.

So, MadeByMark reader, I'd like to ask your help. If you've stumbled on this entry today, would you please consider entering a comment (or sending me an email at mark@madebymark.com) containing any one of the following?

1) the job you think I ought to be doing (or not doing!)

2) the book you think I ought to be writing (or not writing!)

3) a project you think I should be completing (or abandoning!)

4) a workshop you think I should be offering (or not offering!)

or

5) your vision of my future, as you think it ought to be.

Be honest. I can take it. And -- if you're willing to invest that time in me, I should return the favor, yes? I hereby promise that everyone who responds to the above request will receive something similar in return:

1) if I know you personally, I'll provide one of the four items above based on what I know about you, or

2) if we've never met, I'll draw a Tarot card and use it to brainstorm a list of pseudo-random possibilities for you to consider as you plan your own best path.

Thanks in advance for playing!

That Card-Reading Gypsy Guy

ls-fool1.jpgIt was only a matter of time, of course, before someone at The Company Googled me and discovered MadeByMark.com.

As word spread about the site, I've seen a huge spike in traffic from The Company's servers (yes, my dear co-workers, I can see when you visit me!) and a big increase in Google keyword searches on my name.

And that's just fine. I've been writing about my life, right out here in the open, for eight years now. I'm proud of who I am. I'm proud of what I believe. And I'm proud of this web site, where I've been posting on a regular basis since the year 2000.

Especially if you're a casual reader, you might expect that my fifteen-year marriage to another man is responsible for all the water-cooler talk about MadeByMark these days. Well, you'd be wrong. The Company, you see, values diversity, and my marriage has never, not even for a day, been a secret. Without wearing anything on my sleeve, I am who I am ... and so I've never made any effort to cover up the relationship that means more to me than anything else on Earth.

What has 'em whispering, then?

Well ... it's that Tarot thing.

2007 UK Tarot Conference

Uktarot-1Last year's 2006 Tarot Conference in London turned out, for personal and professional reasons, to be the high point of my "Tarot year." In addition to adding host Kim Arnold (and her great husband, Martin) to my list of good friends, the event introduced me to a warm, welcoming group of Tarot enthusiasts and professionals. The weekend was perfect in every way -- just thinking about it makes me happy.

So: I'm excited to report I'm now packing my bags for the 2007 Tarot Conference! Like last year, we'll start the weekend on Friday night, October 19th, with two pre-conference workshops: "Making Friends with the Spooky Cards" and "Unlocking the Meaning of Dreams." These are practical, hands-on workshops exploring valuable techniques every Tarot reader can put to use right away. (They're beginner-friendly, too, of course!)

On Saturday, October 20th, I have the honor of kicking off the morning with "Test the Tarot," a session based on "What's in the Cards for You?" We'll cover 20 different applications for reading the cards ... so bring your favorite deck, hang on to your hats, and get ready to put the Tarot to the test!

Other speakers include Geraldine Beskin, Riccardo Minetti, Suzanne Corbie, Miranda Gray, and David Goddard ... and, of course, host Kim Arnold will be on hand to keep things moving in the right direction!

The conference web site has all the details. Please join me, if you can!

Elves! Elves! Elves!

Though it took more than a month to find its way to me straight from Italy, my personal copy of the Tarot of the Elves kit (including both the companion novel and the deck) finally arrived.

I know I'm probably a bit biased ... but all I can say is: wow. Lo Scarabeo has really blown out the stops for this one. The shiny black box makes the golden-hued graphics really pop. Davide Corsi's artwork looms large on both the front and the back of the box -- a good thing, since online images (with their lower resolution) don't capture the depth and fine detail of his work the way printed images do.

And the book ... ah, the book!

$3555 Worth of Tarot Decks

Okay, so, the other day, Clyde spent $3550.00 on Tarot decks.

You read that correctly: Clyde spent $3550.00 on Tarot decks.

Well, in truth, it was a joint effort. About two weeks ago, a curious listing appeared on eBay: a lot of more than 200 Tarot decks, many of which were out-of-print or hard-to-find. I saw this as a sort of dream come true; Clyde, great businessman that he is, saw this as an opportunity to:

1) snag a few great decks for me, and

2) offer the others for sale on Amazon.com and eBay.

So: today, somewhere in Illinois, a UPS truck laden with five huge boxes of Tarot decks is rumbling toward my doorstep. We expect delivery on Wednesday or so ... and I can't wait to see that many decks in one place at one time!

If you're into Tarot -- especially if you're into out-of-print or hard-to-find decks -- you really should watch TarotTools.com for "The List": a comprehensive listing of every deck from the auction, complete with the following information:

- the deck's title
- the deck's condition
- links to the Amazon.com or eBay page where the deck is for sale

I'll be posting the list within a week or so. Meantime, over at TarotTools.com, I've posted a little FAQ designed to answer all the questions we've been getting via email about the auction and the decks. Enjoy!