Neophyte Wants More Presence

As I said goodbye to 2020 and welcomed in 2021, one of the things I reflected on is my study, work, and practice with the cards (and I mean as a whole, all the various decks I use and the systems I utilize), which was impacted when I returned to the working world last year.

As a coping mechanism to deal with all that was happening throughout 2020, I began creating personal oracle card decks (which I shared in my previous post). The last of those creations, Neophyte, sparked so much interest from people that I set up an online shop with Make Playing Cards (the printer I worked with) to sell the deck.

With that, one of my intentions for 2021 is to do more with Neophyte, to really develop it as a viable divination system I could regularly turn to – especially since I put in the time, energy, and resources to conceive and create it.

As a reader, when I contemplate working more with a system, I turn to it to offer possible insight, guidance, and advice. So, I thought I would do that with Neophyte, asking it to shed some light on this intention of mine.

With deck in hand, I asked, “What do I need to know about working (more) with my Neophyte deck in 2021?”

I drew five cards, in a line, to answer this question: Intimacy, States of Consciousness, Gifted, Man, and Shadow Self.

Opening the line up is Intimacy, in the Origin position. This position talks about the question posed – why it’s being asked. Intimacy suggests that an intimate bond or connection with the deck hasn’t been formed, and that’s behind the intention to work more with the deck this year.

States of Consciousness fell into the position of My Expectations. Here, the card suggests getting the deck “on the map” (the map of the United States of America on the back of the man) and using it as a tool for direction and guidance (map) are my expectations going forward.

Gifted turned up as Hidden Influences (third position), and I found this to be quite telling. Gifted suggested that the deck would like to have more “presence” (pun on “present,” another word for gift) at this “present” time.

Gifted, being a card of gifts, talents, and abilities, also suggests that forming a more intimate bond and connection with the deck (Intimacy) would allow my innate intuitive abilities to further develop (open up, as one would open a gift or present).

With that, Gifted suggests allowing Neophyte to “surprise” me.

In the position of Guidance, the Man card turned up. Man is a personal significator, much like Gentleman in Lenormand and Main Male in Kipper (my nod to both those systems), so this represents me specifically. With that, I took the guidance offered to mean I have a definite role or part in the process. It served to validate my intention.

The appearance of Man also turned the row of cards into a line of sight reading, as Man was now facing Gifted, States of Consciousness, and Intimacy. Man facing Gifted validated what that card presented; with Intimacy now at the end of this line of sight, the message was that a more intimate bond and connection would most likely be formed.

The Man card has an eagle on it; as a symbol, it represents being able to see the past, present, and the future. As a directional cue, it points to Shadow Self, the card behind the back of Man – the past, when read as a line of sight. Going further, Gifted would be the present (the pun for the present moment), and Intimacy would be the future (end of the line).  

Reading Shadow Self as the past (line of sight approach), it talks about being able to put former limitations and restrictions behind me.

Reading it as the Outcome (the actual positional meaning in this particular layout), Shadow Self says that Neophyte will have more of a role and/or part (the mask, which can symbolize actors, who play roles and parts) throughout 2021 – that it’s role and/or part may become more revealed.  

At this point, I wanted more clarity around both Man and Shadow Self, so I decided to draw a card for each. But before I could do that, a card fell out from the deck: Neophyte.

I found it quite interesting that the namesake card of the deck was now in front of me. The chief meaning of this card is an initiation process – the deck was clearly giving me the go-ahead, with its namesake card (its representative, if you will) taking this leap to get my attention.  

Still continuing with the clarifying cards, I first drew Crossing the Threshold for Man. Crossing the Threshold is a card of transition and seeing the light (awareness and enlightenment). The image also conveys wading into the waters – going forward and going deeper (remember Man was in the position of Guidance, so that last bit is also guidance).  

Clarifying Shadow Self, I drew Beacon. Beacon is a card of navigation and a “guiding light,” symbolized by the lighthouse.

In another light, the symbol also indicates an intuitive ability, and to use this ability to help others find their way in life (also referenced by the city in the background of the card).

Clarifying Shadow Self, the cards were saying that this is the “role” (mask) Neophyte has the potential to play – I just have to give it time to “perform.”

And with that, I closed the reading. So, based on that reading, you can expect to see more of my Neophyte deck in this space. I’m excitedly looking forward to seeing what it will have to say.

To learn more about Neophyte (Dream Oracle Cards), you can visit my site here.