Sunday 24 March 2013

I trimmed my Thoth!

Trimmed Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot
Yesterday I took the plunge and trimmed my green box Thoth. (I also have the small purple box Thoth and the 1986 blue box Thoth, so no worries!)

As usual, when I made the first cut on the first card (The Magician, as it happens), I felt huge pangs of angst and regret. OH NO! I thought. No, no, no, what have I done! But of course, after the first cut, there's no turning back. The point of no return begins as soon as the scissors make the first miniscule bite into the first side of the first card. What a sickening feeling that is.


Actually, I had done over a third of the deck before I began to warm to the idea of trimming. Right up until the bitter end, I kept consoling myself that I still have two intact decks. I finished the deck last night, after about two hours or so of trimming. (I made a blister on the base of the back of my thumb, which thankfully is gone this morning. I can't help myself, once I start trimming a deck, I can't stop until the whole thing is done. I don't understand how people have the discipline to do ONE CARD A DAY!! What!)

So there I sat with this strangely denuded deck. I've worked with it daily for three months, and now seeing it borderless was a bit like standing before a respected elder who you've only ever seen in a suit and tie, trying to have a conversation with him while he's not wearing a shirt. Weird! Disconcerting! Where do I look! Wrong!! I put the deck in the box and went to bed.

This morning of course the first thing I did was get the deck out and start shuffling. It's gloriously beautiful. I can't believe there was a time when I didn't like the artwork of this deck. It is truly dazzling. I'm pretty much convinced that this is the best tarot deck of all time. Strangely enough, I think I may have found my mythical 'primary deck'. I think I'll always prefer the cards with borders, but this borderless one is fun to have, too. Whew!

My One Deck Wonder finished last week on Spring Equinox, but I'm just not done with Thoth. I don't think I'll be done with it for the rest of my life.


How gorgeous is that? It's like a quilt. Wouldn't they make fantastic bathroom tiles??





4 comments:

  1. It's funny, I think most decks look better borderless! Yet, I haven't the patience to trim any but the best-loved ones, and those are the ones where I'd be most hesitant...

    Hope you'll enjoy your trimmed Thoth - the colours seem warmer without the border :)
    Cx

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    Replies
    1. I have mixed reactions to trimming. Sometimes I love it (Druidcraft) sometimes I sorely regret it (sides of the Roots of Asia). In one case, I trimmed one card, freaked out, and glued the trimmed one to a spare card from an entirely different deck so that I could use the cards untrimmed (Celtic Tarot, with one card glued to the back of a title card from Matthews Arthurian. That's the one I tried to colour the edges blue. I ended up buying a whole new copy of the deck!)

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