Learn With Me: Meet the Alleyman

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This is an interesting post to write. My love of writing, my love of Tarot, my cynical desire to attract Tarot clients with the blog and socials and my sincere admiration for the Alleyman Tarot, Oracle and Podcast are all crashing into each other right now.

In his YouTube posts for the original Alleyman Tarot deck, Mr. Asmund hinted at vision of the deck creator, card artists, Tarot readers and Tarot clients all being a part of ephemeral, ethereal, muse-like collective I that co-creates the giving of messages and spiritual learning. My hope is to contribute. My impulse is to boost the signal in whatever small way I can. I don’t want to take inadvertent advantage of their hard work and popularity.

In the spirit of full disclosures, I feel compelled to take the usual detour to tell you that this isn’t a paid promotion, nothing was provided by Publishing Goblin except their kind permission to use these materials in my blogging and social media. I want to be a good member of the “Alleyfolk” so please, visit publishinggoblin.com and be sure to read the artist credits in the guidebooks if you can. Sometimes I get in the flow of reading and forget to be careful with attribution details. If you ever catch me doing that, please ask for source material. As woo woo as my Tarot side can be, I’m also equal parts science geek and academician so I’m happy to give credit where credit is due. According to the dice guidebook, the artist for today’s Lord Card is credited as Czarfunkle.

There are parallels between the oracle dice and Tarot cards. After we chose 7 of the 22 dice to use as a learning exercise, we looked at one individual side or face on each die. That single-face level felt very analogous to a single Tarot card. Each die has a name and theme. Additionally each die has an accompanying “Lord Card” that symbolizes the die’s guide and guardian. Those of you who have worked with your spirit guides might get a little of that vibe as we explore the oracle dice at the name and lord card level. The dice name and lord card resonates with the suit or arcana level meanings in a Tarot reading as I see it.

Today is the Alley die. We first looked at its single face, “scavenge.” Now we broaden the focus to include its card, The Alleyman.

At both the single face and lord card levels, I’ve found a lot of overlap between the dice and Tarot cards. Seven Dane Asmund is clearly a very skilled Tarot reader and deck creator, but it doesn’t feel like that is a direct influence as much as a by-product. Both Tarot and the oracle dice look at the same grand truisms and core human experiences.

As the energy looks today, this card / die combo resonates with a blend of the Queen of Cups, the Queen of Swords and the Emperor with a sprinkle of the World card for good measure.

“The Alleyman doesn’t exist…He exists to be the bogeyman of your uncertainty.”

Seven Dane Asmund

The Alleyman card and die challenge us to recognize our own deep competence when it comes to setting our own path. The Queen of cups is about finding our own deep inner wisdom and knowing. The Queen of Swords teaches us to accept and own our power. The Emperor teaches us to use that inner wisdom and self-acceptance with confidence.

The energy of the Alleyman Lord card resonantes with the energy of the Alleyman’s Tarot deck and feels like an extension of that lore.

From the moment I learned about it, I thought the Alleyman’s Tarot was to Tarot readers what a Stradivarius is to violin players.

This comparison draws a little bit on intangibles like ‘star power’ and ‘stage presence’ and thus draws on the qualities of the two queens and Emperor.

If a performer expect an instrument’s quality to make or break their performance, they give away their power, their part in the process. A poor player can make a rare violin sound mediocre. By the same token, a player who puts their best self into the performance will touch the audience’s heart with any instrument. A master player can give a virtuoso performance on a toy instrument. Give a Stradivarius to someone like Itzhak Perlman and magic happens. Inner wisdom, power and confidence alignt with outer circumstance to make something greater than the sum of the parts.

The same is true of Tarot and oracle readings.

If you surrender your power to the cards or dice, the guidance is mediocre. If you surrender your part in the reading, even if the professional you consult is the best on Earth, the impact on your well being is limited.

Own your part in creating your own fate and you can get an excellent reading with a pack of playing cards from the corner dollar store. The Alleyman…the right message for you…will find you one way or another.

This is where the World Tarot card comes in. All is one. We are part of the greater cosmos. Just as in the Alleyman’s podcast backstory those who encounter the deck and the alleyman co-create the reading and the experience. Our individual deep wisdom and knowing is as valid for ourselves and our place within the universe as anyone else’s insight.

More so.

Relying on a stranger’s advice or predictions is like relying on the instrument to make or break the performance. Taking that advice or insight under consideration but ultimately, relying on your own wisdom is the virtuoso performance.

Learning, growing, getting guidance from a metaphoric shadowy alley man when you need it – that is how you become part of this artist’s collective that we call life.

Thank you for reading along! I hope you will follow this blog and check out PublishingGoblin.com to learn more.

See you at the next sip!