Tools you can bring with you anywhere you go
Divination is an art form, and just like any art form, it benefits from practice. But we all lead very busy lives, and it can be very difficult to find the time to practice. However, sometimes the time finds you, usually when you're away from your tools. At least that would be the case unless you believe in everyday carry.
So that's what we're going to be talking about today. We're going to talk about the concept of tools that you can bring with you anywhere you go and what makes a good everyday carry divination tool. So sit back, relax, and join us as we explore the art of divination.
The deck in my pocket
Welcome to The Art of Divination Podcast presented by Artisan Tarot. I'm your host, Z. Mann Zilla.
On this episode, we'll be discussing everyday carry. Now, I remember as far back as the first episode when I was bringing up how I carry a small deck of Tarot de Marseille cards with me at all times. It's a majors-only deck. I got a little silk wallet from Artisan Tarot to put them in. I also used it to put my bus pass in.
And I recall discussing how I used it during the first episode. I discussed how I used it to choose which birthday gifts I was going to get for some of my friends. For my first friend, I drew The High Priestess, and I was inspired by that drawing to get them a set of runestones. My second friend, who has a bit of a penchant for crafting, I drew The Moon.
So I got them a set of blank cards that they could use to make their own oracle deck, along with some resources to help them do that, including a pack of Sharpie markers. And then for my third friend, I drew The Sun. And so for them, I just got something fun. It ended up being a set of Legos.
This is just one of many examples of how I was able to use my everyday carry tool to make some little decisions for myself. And sometimes when I'm out and about and I meet people, and they find out that I am a tarot reader, they are often interested. They say, Oh, I'd like to have a reading at some point. And it's really nice to be able to pull out my cards and say, well, you could have one right now if you wanted. I'm reminded a little bit of that old saying that when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Well, when you're always carrying a tarot deck, it is amazing how many problems you run into look like tarot solutions.
Why majors only
Now it could easily be asked, why am I not carrying a full deck of 78? I mean, there are certainly decks that are small enough to be carried around like that. Artisan Tarot makes a Jean Noblet reproduction Marseille that is about the size of poker cards, so you'd think, oh well, that's plenty portable enough, isn't it? And while that is true, the reason why I like to have this particular deck that I can just slip into my pocket is because, well, I can just slip it into my pocket. Plus, if I'm just doing a little quick reading for somebody I've met on the street, I'm not necessarily setting up for something like a Celtic Cross or any sort of a big complicated reading, right? I just want something simple that I can use to demonstrate my craft. And as we've discussed, if all you're using is the Major Arcana, that's really all you need.
Divination with no tools at all
But I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. Let's talk about some of the ways that people have done divination in the past while they were just out and about. You're just out living life in the moment, and an opportunity to do some divination comes up. And what if you don't have your tools in that situation? I'm actually going to kind of start there because there are lots of fascinating ways that you can practice your divination craft without even having a tool to hand.
In fact, throughout history, there's lots of little low-tech ways people have figured out to do tiny little divinations within their own life. Just anytime you want to leave a decision up to the universe, there's little things you can do. The first one that occurs to me right off the top of my head is to flip a coin.
In fact, I'm pretty sure almost nobody that flips a coin to make a decision has ever thought of that as a form of divination, but it really is the simplest form of divination. It's the very bare root of it. The flip represents a random element that the universe has some control over, and if you are a believer in the divine or in intercession, then it presents an opportunity for those intercessors to come in and alter the result. And at its root, it's a little tiny way to get a piece of advice on a decision that you're trying to make.
But I don't think I have to oversell this one. I think it's pretty clear. Flipping a coin is a form of divination. It's certainly not unique in that aspect. You know, we think about when people are doing the he loves me, he loves me not thing with flower petals. That's another form of divination, and you're actually pulling a tool from outside of yourself to do that.
Also, there are methods like palmistry, where you're reading the lines on a person's hand. You don't need any extra equipment for that, except perhaps a guidebook if you haven't memorized stuff.
Reading the environment
We talked last episode about portentia, which is the act of reading things in the environment, and there's whole lots of ways to do this that have already been established. Probably the most general method is going to be transataumancy, which is the study of unexpected or accidental phenomena. Something happens which feels a little out of place or like it shouldn't have happened, and that snaps you right to attention, and you can study what happened, what sort of signs are present in it, and what that portends, and come up with a reading that way. One of the more popular ones, probably because Enrique Enriquez is a huge fan of it, and a lot of us are big fans of Enrique Enriquez, as we should be, and that would be augury, or the reading of the patterns of birds as they're flying through the air.
And then there's symbolomancy, the reading of objects and people that you meet along a journey. This is one that I do in small doses whenever I'm on the bus. So familiarizing yourself with at least a couple forms of portentia also gives you all of these little opportunities to practice your craft along the way. And it needn't even be restricted to these particular practices. As we discussed last episode, when we were talking about runes, runes lend themselves very well to portentia, especially if you're walking through the woods, because you can notice that a lot of the shapes that the runes make are shapes that trees can also make with their branches.
But I cover all of that to tell you this, which is with a keen eye to the universe around you, you are being given lots of opportunities to practice your craft. On a personal level, it could be because there is a problem that's going on in your head or some sort of a question you'd like answered for yourself. And by using the observational techniques that are stressed in these crafts, you can arrive at some answers and some ways of thinking. They are also fun little tricks that you can pull out, say, while you're out camping or on a nature hike. A way of using your craft to give advice to others without having your tools at hand by using the very nature that all of you are engaging in in that moment.
And sometimes timing is the most important part with any of these things, right? The very time and place at which the reading happens and the reasons for which it happens in that time and place are also part of the reading. There's that everything is part of the reading principle I'm constantly going on about.
So why carry anything at all?
But wait a minute, Zilla, said Zilla to Zilla. You started this whole thing by talking about everyday carry, and yet none of these crafts have anything to do with everyday carry. They are, in fact, almost a discouragement of it. Well, you see, the thing with portentia is it's very specific to a time and place, first of all. You know, you can certainly see rune shapes in the woods around you, but what if you're not in the woods? And augury's not doing you any good if there's no birds around.
So while I certainly encourage people to look into these portentia-based arts, I still believe everyday carry is a great thing to do. Indeed, one of the things I love to say about the divination arts is you're taking a thing you do understand, throwing it at a thing you want to understand, and noticing the results.
So it's not a bad idea to have something you do understand on hand at all times. And that's just one of a few reasons why you should have an everyday carry. Here's some other ones.
Practice is the whole point
One thing I like to say is that the universe often provides the ways, but not always the means. The divination arts are in many ways an exercise of many parts of your brain, specifically the parts that are creating and crafting narratives, but also the parts that are thinking about how to give the advice that you're trying to give. And it all sounds very simple on the surface, but the fact of the matter is there's a lot of complex stuff that's going on, and the more you learn, the more you have to rope into that exercise that you're doing. There's a lot of knowledge to bat around, there's a lot of ways it can be assembled, and there's a lot of situations that it can apply to.
So it's all very complex, and there's only three things that are gonna help you whip that out quickly in the moment, and that's practice, practice, and practice. Everyday carry is what you are doing in order to take advantage of those moments to practice. Instead of trying to find the time, let the time find you, and for that matter, allow yourself to create the situations that require that practice. You know, a lot of times when you're practicing the divination arts, you're reading for yourself first, and there's these little moments in your life when, you know, you need to pass a little bit of time, and sure you could be doom scrolling on your phone, or doing a Sudoku puzzle, or reading the news, which is just doom scrolling with a newspaper, or you can give yourself little moments of introspection with a little impromptu Q&A with your chosen divination tool.
Seasoning your deck
On a side note, I talk a lot about provenance, knowing where an object comes from and the sort of power that it lends to the readings that you're doing with that particular tool. This is part of a bigger belief that I maintain, which is the idea of seasoning. The idea that any tool that you use, the more often you use it, the more, and I'm gonna use in quotes here, flavors that it absorbs from all of the readings that it does. I call it seasoning because it's similar to the way you season a cast iron skillet.
These little personal practice readings that you're doing in your off times here in these little stolen moments are creating opportunities to add that seasoning. In later readings, when you're using the same tool and the same card comes up, and you find yourself perhaps reminded of the reading that you did for yourself while you were practicing. And it turns out that, hey, what I was asking questions about has some similarities here, and then your brain makes those connections, and you've got even more to offer your querent.
So there you are, you're carrying around your cards, and what starts with, you know, for example, just out of thin air here, using your cards to decide what birthday present to get your friends, you could be doing a reading for someone else, and then one of those same cards comes up, and you are reminded in the back of your head of that gift you gave, and you allow that memory to also color your reading.
Reading for your supper
Now, so far we've talked about how it helps you practice your craft, but the fact is there's also some practical reasons you might want to have your tool with you at all times. One of the questions I get asked often is, well, can you read poker cards like you do tarot cards? And like I said during the Tarot de Marseille episode, yes, because I know how to read Tarot de Marseille, but I don't always have to do that either, because I have my everyday carry tarot that I have with me at all times.
So while reading poker cards at the bar for free drinks is certainly a fun parlor trick, I can also just do the same thing with my tarot cards, can and have. I have a cousin who reads tarot out in Buffalo, New York, Teddy, and he once told me- he said- the person that taught me to read told me that if you know how to read tarot, then you'll never go hungry. I'll be honest, I think this was his subtle way of getting me to pick up the tab, but you know what? It worked. And indeed, recently I was actually able to trade a tarot reading that I did for a ride home, which is not insignificant because I lived over a half hour away from the person giving me the ride.
So develop your tarot skills to a certain point, and you will be able to use them to barter for things, which sort of makes sense now that I think about it, because you carry your wallet everywhere to pay for things; why not carry your tarot deck for the same reason?
Reading at parties
But that does play back into the other thing that I was talking about, which is being able to read at a bar. Even if it's not for free drinks, it does present a social opportunity. One of the most common ways I get asked to practice my craft in public is to come to parties or events where lots of people are going to be, and I represent an activity that people can do there.
Now, of course, when you're reading in a social setting, you definitely don't want to get too vulnerable with people. I mean, especially if other people are on looking, you know, it's not necessarily comfortable for your querent to go into big, deep personal traumas or anything of that nature, but it is still possible to have fun public readings, and I do this all the time. And of course, if I'm being invited to the party specifically to read, I'm gonna bring along a lot more decks.
But let's say I get invited to a party, yeah, fantasy of fantasies, and I didn't think to bring any tarot cards with me. Well, I've still got my everyday carry, and for what I'm trying to do here, at least, it's just as good. I mean, I'm there on my off hours; I'm off the clock. I'm not necessarily trying to be a full-service tarot reader in that particular situation, right? And besides, when you're in these social situations, a lot of folks are familiar with tarot from the media they consume and just sort of bits and bobs they get from other places. You know, they're not necessarily missing what they don't really expect to be there in the first place. In that situation, you're basically the cover band, so just play the hits.
A card against the world
And then one other opportunity I like to take is very related to what we were talking about with portentia earlier. Seeing things in your environment, seeing spontaneous things happening around you and wanting to comment on them in a fun and artful way. The nice thing about smartphone cameras nowadays is they're just getting really nice and really easy to use. You don't have to have a lot of photography experience to take a good picture with them anymore.
So a thing I like to do from time to time is I'll see something out in the environment, and I'll take a picture of it while I'm holding up a tarot card next to it. Just a little one-card commentary to say, oh, this reminds me of this. And again, obviously couldn't do that if I didn't have my tarot cards to hand.
Choosing for portability
So those are all the explanations I have, at least, for why you might want to do everyday carry, and I'm sure some folks out there have some more. But it's not all sunshine and roses, especially on days when it rains, right? So why don't we go over some of the things you might want to consider when thinking about what to do for your everyday carry.
Now, I need you to understand that I'm speaking from the perspective of somebody that does carry a backpack but doesn't necessarily want to have it on hand at all times, and in fact, doesn't always have it on hand. If you are a person that carries a large bag or a purse at all times, some of these will be of less consideration.
So, you know, just bear with me while I talk about, you know, what I consider to be the most important considerations for portability. One of the issues with full-size tarot cards is they're just slightly too big to fit into a pocket. I mean, they're about the same size as the average smartphone, but the problem is they're also much thinner and can bend.
So if I'm looking for an everyday carry for my pocket, I'm looking for something that's more poker-sized. At this time, Artisan Tarot offers two majors-only decks that are poker-sized. There's a Jean Noblet, and then there's one that was originally done by F. F. Solesio. And they're both poker-sized, and they work just fine for that application. There's also a little silk wallet that they make. I know they sell other wallets. I haven't had a chance to play around with the leather ones or anything like that yet, but I do know that the silk ones are designed to carry the smaller cards, and it works perfectly; it just fits right in my pocket and stays out of my way. And the fact that it is that sort of velvet outer fabric means that if I'm putting it in the same pocket along with my smartphone or anything else that might be a little fragile, I don't have to worry about it scratching things up in there. So it's portable, it's durable, and it's not going to mess with anything else that I'm carrying alongside it.
Too small is also a problem
Now, when it comes to small, you want to make sure it's not too small. I also have this keychain that has the Rider-Waite Universal Tarot in it. It's sort of a tiny tarot, and it snaps shut, and it's got a little keychain on it. On its surface, that seems like a great way to have a portable tool on hand, but that's really gonna depend on your own personal dexterity because those tiny cards are not the easiest to shuffle. They are fun for art projects; they're also really great for that thing I talked about with taking photographs next to one of your cards. It's great to pull one of those out. It works really well for that.
Also, every once in a while, when I see them, I'll just buy an extra one because, again, with the situation I told you about with the birthday party, when I was giving the birthday card that came with the present, I also glued a little copy of the tarot card that I pulled to the back of each of those cards.
It was just a nice little added touch. So those are really great for art projects, and there's lots of other applications there. But again, unless you have really good dexterity and fine motor abilities with your fingers, I wouldn't recommend those as your everyday carry.
A smaller data set, and keeping cards clean
The other thing to keep in mind is any compromises you have to make with your data set. When you're dealing with majors only, you got a data set of 22 cards, which is fine if you're only doing like little one-card pulls or even going as high as three card. But don't expect to get a full Celtic Cross out of that, right? The other reason the wallet is important is because it helps keep my cards clean and bend free. When I'm reading out in public, a lot of times I'm not even laying the cards down. I'm just keeping them in my hand as if I'm holding a poker hand. Being out and about, if you've got a surface, chances are it's a surface that's used for other things, mostly food or alcohol.
Hecklers
And then probably the big one, or I say big and big quotes here, but you know, the potential of having to deal with hecklers and holy rollers, people that take a look at you doing tarot readings and have something negative to say about it. Honestly, that's only going to be as much of a problem as you know you make it really. I do believe I covered during the giving advice episode where I was saying that you're not reading for them.
So their opinion really doesn't matter. But if you know yourself well enough to say, yeah, I don't think I want to be around people that are actively heckling me, it's not something I want to deal with while I'm out in public, that is something to keep in mind. And if it's the case, that's fine. You know, nobody's forcing you to have to deal with people like that.
But that's the part where you exercise your own agency and decide what you will and won't deal with. And again, if you're just reading quietly to yourself, what are they gonna do? They're the ones intruding on you if they're trying to heckle you while you're just looking at some cards on the bus and doing a little introspective reading for yourself.
So those are all things to think about when you're trying to decide what your everyday carry is gonna be. And at this point, I'd like to go ahead and segue into some recommendations. Let's do it.
What I actually carry
So I've probably danced around it a couple times or mentioned things, but I'll go ahead and let you know exactly what it is I'm carrying all the time in my right pocket of my kilt. My everyday carry is the majors-only version of the Jean Noblet Tarot from Artisan Tarot. Mine is actually the version that includes the Two of Coins as one of the cards. And the reason why that was included in that version is because it's got the maker's mark on it, which is just kind of a cool thing.
But also the inclusion of the Two of Coins has been useful in a couple ways as well because of its representation of up-in-the-air decisions. That deck, again, is being carried in a sort of I want to say it's like velvet or silk, perhaps. I'm not sure, but it's the soft wallet that carries the poker-sized cards, and it's got enough room in it for me to slip my bus pass in there.
This has been my everyday carry for about two and a half years now, and it's one of the things I check for along with my wallet and my phone before I leave the house.
Poker decks
If you really would prefer to carry around a full-size deck, then I can recommend just about anything that's poker-sized. Although we did talk earlier about how you can read poker cards just about the same way you can read tarot cards. And one of the nice things is that most poker decks are only 54 cards, giving them a slimmer profile in your pocket. Plus, they're just openly available just about everywhere, right? You can just go to the gas station, and they're selling packs of cards, but you can also find a lot of themed cards from a lot of places as well.
And as a result, there's one pack of cards I like to carry around, especially in June, called the Pride Knights playing cards. The cards are gorgeously illustrated by Francesco Musiani, and the deck itself has a much thinner profile, and so it fits into the pocket very well. I do find that even if you're dealing with poker-sized tarot cards, a full 78-card deck is just that bit too much to really fit in your pocket and still be able to fit other things around it. But really, your mileage may vary on that one.
Runes, dice, coins, and pendulums
But here's the thing you don't necessarily have to restrict yourself to just cards. We just talked last episode about rune reading, and if you're into rune reading, then there are dice that have runes on them. So you have basically a portable rune bag by carrying one or two of these dice. And if you're looking for a fun challenge and something a little more abstract, I am gonna highly recommend the Seeing Stones by Art of Play.
This is a set of five 12-sided dice, and my favorite method for reading with them is actually to pull one at random from the bag like I would be reading a rune before I roll it. In fact, full disclosure, I think I've just talked myself into carrying them around more often. I'd really like to have more opportunities to use them.
Now, if you're well-versed in I Ching, then I already don't have to tell you that all you have to do is carry around three coins and you're all set. I mean, along with the guidebook, obviously. But if you're looking for one more excuse to get into I Ching, that's one of them. It's a very portable system.
This is another opportunity for pendulums to shine. So get yourself a nice piece of jewelry and ta-da, you have got a pendulum to hand. And of course, as we discussed at the beginning, every coin you carry is already a divination tool waiting to happen. So I personally haven't really come up with an interesting way to dress up coin flipping, but, I'm sure you could if you had enough time to think about it.
That said, there are actually coins that are made for divination purposes that have little inscriptions on them, and depending on the facing when they come up, they can offer additional insight. so look into those as well.
Tarot apps
Finally, I do want to give a shout-out to a portable method that I've actually bought a couple of decks for, and that's there's a company called The Fool's Dog. They do these smartphone apps for your phone. Each app is a digital recreation of a tarot deck. Now, the thing I really enjoy the most about these apps is you buy them once and you're done paying for them. There's no ads. And the other thing I like about them is that they are a nice little crossbreed between letting you be very self-directed with your work and also offering you guidance when you need it. A lot of the cards can be flipped over with a tap so that you can see what their traditional meanings are.
Now you know me, I'm not big up on modern technology when it comes to tarot, but the reason I big up these is twofold. First of all, as we discussed before, there's a real no-nonsenseness to it. There's an old sensibility. You know, you pay for it once, you're done with it. They're not trying to shoot ads at you or anything like that. That's pretty cool.
But the other reason is the Fool's Dog apps came out before AI. And so this was definitely the work of people who were really looking for a good way to bring tarot into the digital age in a legitimate way. This is also reflected in a lot of the sensibilities of the program's designs themselves. You can choose the different methods by which you shuffle them; you can shuffle as much or as little as you like. You have a lot of control over the process in a way that you wouldn't normally expect to with a digital product.
Now, granted, you are losing a lot of the tactile fun that comes with using these divination tools. Personally, I prefer cards, and it's really hard to be doing shuffle banter for another person when you're just pressing a button to shuffle the deck. So if anything, it's more for personal practice than public presentation. I think of it like the little set of scissors that's on a Swiss Army knife. I'm not using it every day, but if I need it in a pinch, it's there.
But whatever you're choosing as your everyday carry, choose it and carry it well, preferably along with a small journal that you can use to make notes of your results. After all, what is it we're always saying to one another? We're always calling this a tarot journey. This is your divination journey. And what's a big important journey without a walking stick?
Closing and where to find us
This has been The Art of Divination Podcast, presented by Artisan Tarot, publishers of both historical and modern tarot decks, and your one-stop shop for all things metaphysical. Look for many of the items we discussed today at www.artisantarot.com.
As for myself, I've been Z. Mann Zilla, and you can find more about me at www.Pandangit.com. I wish you all the best of luck on your own divination journeys. Happy reading, and thank you for your time.
