## Whether it was related to my newly-established presence on the tarot
## forums or not, I got a few queries about the topic. Most were questions
## about buying items from the collection that I was taking over. One inquiry
## that [belatedly] came via the publisher got forwarded to Mom to handle.
Date: July 6, 2022 at 9:10:18 PM MDT
From: Mystic Rose
Subject: Looking for updated information
Hello to all,
My name is Mystic Rose.
Im a metaphysical practitioner and tarot consultant.
I want to inquiry about information on how [Mom] is
doing these days (happy birthday to her on this day).
I have her tarot deck (new version) and started
working with the deck last October. It has had an expanding influence on
my tarot and metaphysical practice.
I would like to know if there is a way that you can forward
this email message to her. I dont know health wise how she is doing but
I would enjoy to hold a conversation with her
if at all possible to discuss the deck and her exploration of
the tarot. I have her tarot secrets book which is a treasure for me.
## The delay had been a month, but I replied with some info anyway...
Date: Thursday, August 4, 2022 at 10:47 AM
To: Mystic Rose
Subject: Re: Happy Birthday
Hi -- since you inquired, Mom's still living in a very nice retirement
facility in Sarasota FL, and I'm actually here with her to help with various
logistics at the moment. [Normally I live in the Boston area.] Recently I
also sat down and built a small website for some of Mom's unpublished stuff --
various essays, interviews, and other material.
I have also joined a couple of the larger tarot and knitting forums, just to
keep those communities up to speed on my mother's status. If you're already
on the tarot ones, you may have even seen my self-intro messages and
subsequent discussion.
Again, thanks for the well-wishes to her. Her age is nothing to sneeze at!
_H*
##
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2022 09:58:55 -0600
From: Mystic Rose
Subject: Re: Happy Birthday
Hello, Thank you for the reply.
I just sent a follow up email to your mother.
As I'm getting ready for work, I took a quick peek at the site.
Wow! she has quite an extensive background of information, etc.
If she is interested, I invited your mother to be a guest on my
YouTube channel for a live discussion about her books, tarot, knitting, etc.
I'm not sure of her health, but I'm certain many
would like to hear from her. Of course, there is no obligation.
I was part of a online tarot community but haven't checked in a long while.
I will have to revisit again. I don't work from home
often so social media tends to be on the backburner.
Below are a few links where I was part of a YouTube discussion
of her Deck and did readings the with it to welcome in your mom's birthday!
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW5Gx1GbFmTozjh9xDBoreA/videos
Please keep me updated and I will see about reconnecting with
the online tarot community.
in spirit...
##
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2022 06:14:38 -0500
Subject: following up
To: Mystic Rose
Near as I can tell, thetarotforum.com is the most active one these days, with
tarotcollectors.com being a distant second. Aeclectic's big listing/review
site is still up, but its companion forum at tarotforum.net shut down to new
sign-ups a while back, but all the old posts and threads are still there as
an archive. I think I found some of your old posts/conversations, in fact.
I hopped onto the first two sites, and posted some updates on Mom and hints
that her deck collection is available for sale. Both of them are mostly
readable without having to sign up, if that helps catching-up.
I wouldn't really class special-interest forums as "social media", the term
has taken on a much more mainstream and toxic meaning lately...
Mom's in the process of going through the videos you sent. Her computer skills
aren't exactly proficient, so even to play a youtube takes a bit of coaching.
That's one reason she never got onto forums like Aeclectic and Ravelry, the
huge knitting/fiber-arts hub. I doubt she's very interested in doing video
interviews these days, her thing is mostly writing [as you can see from her
prolific works, published or not].
If you know of good channels to find people interested in buying decks, you
probably saw the complete inventory at Mom's site, and I *just* set myself up
on paypal, after many years of resisting and considering that whole thing
super-sketchy. PP seems to have cleaned up its act a bit lately, and some
tech buddies and I experimented with some small "friends & family" payments
last night.
_H*
##
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2022 06:34:41 -0500
Subject: Re: following up
To: Mystic Rose
I am keeping the "tarot-inv.html" page current -- in fact, five decks
disappeared from it yesterday, as we had a couple of people over who were
interested in some collected minerals, and then one of them was like "ooh,
tarot! These are really popular at the ren-fairs we do" and bought a
handful of decks. Pretty amusing.
I don't have visible pricing, but I do have a master file with what Mom
originally paid for each one [she kept incredibly careful track of it all
through the years]. Most of them are between $20 and $30, with one or two
rare pieces that she or the Aeclectic site can identify. As I'm brokering
sales these days, live pricing is pretty negotiable.
If you want me to look up a publication date, I can probably do that.
You mentioned hiking in the mountains east of Albuquerque at one point. How
was that? I've been out west a couple of times [from my Boston-area home]
and loved it. Although those are very, uh, *dry* mountains, in contrast to
my beloved greenery-covered hills back home. I do a fair amount of hiking
too, and all without shoes, as that's sort of my thing these days. It's a
great feeling to slam along trails and experience every texture.
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/bf/
I loved all the "weird rocks" especially around Utah and such, and wanted to
bring them all home! I guess if New England didn't have all the trees, its
hills might look like that too.
_H*
## Then I engaged with a different correspondent who had seen my posts on
## one of the forums, and who then actually placed what we laughingly called
## an order. Very informal, and a complete experiment given my very new
## setup with Paypal.
Date: August 7, 2022 10:56:57 AM EDT
To: Card Collector
Subject: Re: Deck Availability ~ as posted on Tarot Tea & Me forum
I actually played with token $1 payments with some of my tech buddies the
other night, so I do see how it works. A thing to try is to stay with the
"friends & family" mode payments to avoid fees, I gather. So if we want to
go ahead with the deck deal, feel free! I've got it nicely pre-packed, just
need the ship address and to print up a label for it, and then it's off to
the postoffice.
_H*
## The conjecture about "f&f" payment mode was refuted later by some folks
## on one of the forums, because it doesn't give a buyer any protection or
## recourse if a deal goes awry. The Paypal fee for a normal transaction
## is fairly minimal, but gives far more buyer assurance.
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2022 19:43:34 +0000 (UTC)
From: Card Collector
Subject: Re: Deck Availability ~ as posted on Tarot Tea & Me forum
Good afternoon!
Payment has been sent. If the mailing address did not show, here it is:
...
## Well, it actually worked, and once I "accepted" the transfer, it showed
## up in my linked bank account just fine. Well, okay, so I guess it works.
##
## But back to the "birthday correspondent", who actually had more
## interesting stuff to talk about as she continued the conversation.
## Maybe edging on woo-woo, but a relatively naturalistic outlook.
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2022 22:35:00 -0600
From: Mystic Rose
Subject: Re: following up
Hello.... :)
Well, I took some time and perused through your mother's
listed collection of oracle and tarot decks.
Below are the ones that have caught my eye and inquiring about
their availability and pricing:
* Vampire Tarot by Robert M Place
* Ansata Tarot (Majors Only) by Paul Struck
* Frown Strong Tarot (Majors Only) by Leo
* Tarot of the Old Path by Sylvia Gainsford
The nearest mountain range in Albuquerque are the Sandia Mountains.
About a 25min drive from where I'm currently based.
What I enjoy about the Sandia mountains is that at the lower
plateau it starts in an arid desert setting and as you climb up in
elevation the environment transforms into a magickal forest.
I used to live in the SoCal mountains of which I have sorely
miss the greenery.
The SW desert holds a lot of fiery energy which is excellent for
purging and regenerating personal forces, but since spending the summer
in New Mexico I'm definitely
not a desert weather individual. Waaay to much heat for me to handle.
The only bare foot walking I would do is solely on sand or
lightly pebbled dirt. I used to walk barefooted in my backyard when I
was living in the mountains.
##
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2022 07:17:22 -0500
Subject: Re: following up
To: Mystic Rose
All of those decks are still here. Frown Strong is a funny little item, and
apparently quite rare these days, leading to a highly volatile valuation. I
didn't find anything less than three digits in random poking around... but as
we're trying to move these things, would $80 seem agreeable for that one? On
the rest, I'm using my mom's original buy-price figures as a guideline [which
she dutifully recorded in those amazing looseleaf binders] and reducing
somewhat from there. Shipping, however, is pretty beastly these days no
matter what carrier you choose. [Even if I generate my own labels at home
via usps.com, arrgh.]
Anyway, as an offer I'm coming up with
Vampire 20
Ansata 15
Frown 80
Old Path 15
and $10 to cover shipping, total $140. Again, negotiable -- the motive is
getting stuff into welcoming new homes, not profit... next question, you do
paypal, right? I've only just set myself up on that, still getting used to
how it works. I thought there was a way for non-paypal users to still send
money to paypal users with a debit card or something, but everything I mess
with insists that I sign in. Anyway, if all this sounds reasonable and you
want to shortcut negotiating, I have a special paypal address.
+1 on "magickal forests"! We have our share of those in New England too,
fairyland places with dozens of varieties of moss on the ground, deep shade
with little slices of vivid crystal-blue sky peeking through the canopy, and
rocks that look like they'll roll over any moment and turn into those little
happy wood-trolls like in "Frozen". I'm glad you can still find your share
of fun places in the desert. Even though, when I was out there pounding down
gravel backroads in my "Prius RV", my favorite plant became the jumping cholla,
just because it's so over the top in its perverse nastiness. I don't know how
desert animals manage to avoid tangling with that sort of thing on a regular
basis.
Florida, by contrast, is flat, hot, humid, boring. I've done a little hiking
in the local state parks, and it's not all that fun.
_H*
## This transaction eventually stalled, but Mystic had gotten busy with
## other things in her life -- including planning for a big move, back to
## a place with more green woods around.
##
## I also told another friend who knew of my skepticism about Paypal that
## I had finally "caved" and signed up.
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2022 06:13:16 -0500
To: [another friend back home]
Subject: Re: busy needles
Be afraid, I think I'm having to set myself up on paypal to handle deck sales
[and head off various occasional needling, so to speak, from the TF folks].
PP seems to have started acting more like a real financial institution over
the years and straightened up a bit, unlike a decade-ish ago, and I can
stovepipe their interaction with a bank in a tiny little separate account
managed under an online umbrella.
Now may not be the best time to look at homebuying, though, the market has
gotten really crazy..
_H*
## So a few of the decks got sold off while I was still in FL, but then I
## brought the entire rest of the collection with me up north and intended to
## work on unloading them from there. I had a listing on the web, but without
## any pricing -- the only guideline I had on ballpark pricing to re-sell was
## the original purchase amounts from Mom's notes. That did not reflect the
## potential rarity / out-of-print state of some of them, whose market value
## might have crept up over the years. One of the discussions got into this
## more, and I appreciated the honesty from that participant and cut them what
## we both thought was a really good deal on a selection. One also has to
## consider shipping costs, which run close to what an average deck goes for.
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2022 11:30:27 +0000
From: [tarot correspondent]
Subject: deck collection sale
Hello!
I'm a big fan of your Mom's tarot.
I'm interested in several of the decks for sale -- can you send me
prices/availability?
1. Tarot of the ages
2. Tarot of the northern shadows
3. Sacred sites tarot
4. Karma tarot
5. tarot of reflections
6. shapeshifter tarot
7, Aleph (Cathar) tarot (majors only)
8. Tarot of metamorphosis
9. New Hurley tarot
I have a couple questions:
Has the ravenswood tarot been colored in?
What edition of the aurthurian tarot do you have (what do the backs look like)?
Do you have the Victoria regina tarot deck (or just book)?
Thanks,
##
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2022 13:27:33 -0500
Subject: Re: deck collection sale
To: [tarot correspondent]
I've got ballpark pricing based on my mom's records of what she originally
paid for decks, mostly via Amazon a few years ago. The decks were basically
miniature art galleries for her, she didn't really do readings, so they're
all in mint condition. Full disclosure, from her list, I have
tarot of the ages 22
northern shadows 16
sacred sites 23
karma 22
reflections 23
shapeshifter 30
aleph/cathar/gnostique 30
metamorphosis 23
new/hurley 10
which tots up to around $200. But the idea here is to get them to good
homes, so I'll certainly entertain offers!
Here's the thing, though: I just brought all the decks up to my home near
Boston, and it's all still packed tightly as it was for transit. I am
probably going to have to go back *down* to FL for another while soon, as
mom's likely going to need to move to a different "assisted" living situation
and will need my help. So I won't really be in a position to pull decks out
and ship them for a while, like until I get back and have more leisure.
Sorry, life in elder-care is kind of crazy. But we can certainly chat in
the meantime.
Hopefully you're not in a hurry? The stock isn't vanishing any time soon..
_H*
##
Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2022 11:37:25 +0000
From: [tarot correspondent]
Subject: RE: [EXT] Re: deck collection sale
Dear H,
I would be thrilled to buy this lot of decks for $200
But my concience would bother me if I didn't tell you that you might be
under charging for some of the decks on your list.
These days some out of print (OOP) tarot decks sell for quite a bit.
Of course it varies, some decks on the list are stll in print and so
aren't worth much (not even worth the original price), and other even OOP
decks aren't sought after so aren't worth much either.
But certain OOP decks are highly sought after and sell for aly. For example:
here is my ebay search for Bohemian Gothic Tarot:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=3DR40&_trksid=3Dp2510209.m570.l13 ...
As you can see, they're asking between $275-800
Too rich for my blood (Its going to be reprinted in a year or so, and I
might get it then)
But it also depend on the condition of the deck, which edition it is,
etc -- it can be complicated.
Maybe you don't want to be bothered with all that, but you might want to
do more research and put the most rare/sought after decks on ebay auction.
Like I said, my conscience would bother me if I didn't mention it.
I hope you're mom is doing ok, and lands in a good place in Fla.
And thanks for looking after all this for her.
She is a wonderful artist and writer, and I love using her tarot deck.
Thanks,
##
## This is about when I learned that my Mom was back in the hospital,
## condition unknown, and I was waiting for word on when I could head down
## and actually do something constructive. That's getting into the time
## of Florida trip #3, which has many more sections in the index. In this
## wait state, I tried to usefully continue the conversation and possibly
## settle this particular interaction before I left town again.
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2022 09:46:24 -0500
To: [tarot correspondent]
Thanks for the candor. I know I've got some rarities here, but have little
idea how to really research that other than poking Aeclectic, and searching
around on the forums I've joined. But I'm not looking for profiteering, as
I posted there ... honest offers will be happily entertained, etc, in the
process of getting the collection to new homes.
In the meantime, my mom's wrestling with something mysterious and is in the
hospital again ... I'm not heading down there yet, so I could possibly have
some time to try and unpack some of the decks and form up a shipment for you
before I have to be out of state for another month. Does your list stand as
is, or did you want to revise it, etc? That would help my location process,
as I more or less packed everything alphabetically.
_H*
##
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2022 10:24:17 -0500
To: [tarot correspondent]
Okay, I've dug into my packing-boxes and found all of what you last specified
[including Bohemian Gothic]. They're all small-format deck boxes, e.g. not
the big-box kits with book and deck, although Shapeshifter does seem to have a
220-page or so companion book that's separate. [See attached pic!] Totting
up all my mom's indicated original purchase prices still arrives at about the
same figure and I'm more than willing to offer substantial discounts.
So here's the wacky life-is-crazy thing: because of Mom's condition, I may
very well be traveling south sometime in the next couple of weeks. When is
still unknown because the medics are taking it "one day at a time", they say.
But my route takes me through NJ [where, in fact, I grew up]. So whereabouts
in NJ would you be staying, e.g. I'm wondering if direct in-person delivery
would be feasible? I come down 287 and have the options of heading out I-78
through PA or down the turnpike toward the rest of 95. I'm driving electric,
but all that adds is a little more planning as to where the charger sites are.
Note that I have no idea on timing, as it's up to the medics and/or the living
facility in FL when someone finally says "get yer ass down here".
I'm very new to paypal, so I'm not sure how invoicing someone works. I can
look into that. If delivery isn't feasible, it would probably be around $20
for shipping, maybe a touch more... given our prior discussion, what would seem
to you like a reasonable number all told, in either scenario?
Just as a fun sidenote, I'll probably be up toward your way or east of it
sometime in 2024, when the next eclipse happens. I was a half-mile from
centerline in the "great American eclipse" in '17, up some backwoods fire
road in SC, and it was awesome.
_H*
##
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2022 20:41:08 +0000
From: [tarot correspondent]
Thanks for getting back to me.
$200 (+/- $20 for shipping if needed) sounds very reasonable for the decks.
For paypal, if you have an account, I think there is a button on your
account with "request a payment" or something similar, and you send the
request to my email.
An alternative is for me to just send you a payment (I think they charge
you a small fee), but I need to know what email is associated with your
account. Then the money is in your paypal account and you have to transfer
it to your bank (or use it to buy something through paypal).
As for NJ, I'm fine if it works out to bring me the decks.
Might be easier to just mail them, but either way is fine with me.
If you decide to mail, my address is: ...
We'll have to meet for coffee if we get a chance when you're up here.
Thanks,
##
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2022 19:03:21 -0500
To: [tarot correspondent]
Hmm, Jersey Shore? That's a little out of the way, but it looks like your
mom is right next to the turnpike! I could ship and maybe ultimately it's
the right answer, but then the box would sit at home the whole time you're
gone? I guess with a pobox, that matters a little less than with a streetside
mailbox...
I've found a suitable box and packing for either shipping or direct delivery.
If things going on in FL time out right, I could be on the road within your
first time window and just pop in, and continue down I-95 ... which I haven't
actually done for a while, I usually go around by I-81 to head down south.
Every trip with the EV is its own kind of adventure...
I've dug my Paypal browser setup out of storage and restored it to operation,
and will play with the "invoice" bit. It still feels weird to just *bill*
somebody... but given prior conversations I'll go with $200 flat and not
worry about shipping if it works out that way and you're cool with it. My
address for paypal is specific, just to avoid confusion...
_H*
##
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 06:26:50 -0500
Subject: Re: FW: [EXT] You paid for invoice 22074
To: [tarot correspondent]
...Aaaaaand using the "invoice" apparently triggered Paypal put the funds on
hold, because now they think I'm a business, and want taxpayer info from me.
Aah well, no biggie, I'll just let that "action required" time out and see
what they do about it. I've always mistrusted paypal but I thought they were
getting a little better these days ... so went ahead and set myself up with
them for the sake of the tarot sales, really. Whatever! Not your problem.
Anyway ... waiting to hear various things from medics today, which is going
to push my travel schedule one way or the other. It would be kind of elegant
to deliver to someplace so close to a travel route ... but either way, I'll
finish packing the box as though it was going to be mailed anyway and that
way I can snap-decide when the time comes. Even if you aren't at your mom's
yet, would it be okay to drop the package off with her if I'm passing thru?
Thanks, by the way, it was nice to see some vacancies developing in the tight
pack of deck storage and know that parts of it are going to good places.
_H*
##
Subject: Well, here it comes!
To: [tarot correspondent]
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 10:16:29 -0500
Sorry for all the ambiguous and unclear planning here, but the hammer finally
dropped and I need to get my ass to Florida! So this morning I went to the
postoffice and did my mail-hold, and shipped the decks. The tracking number
is 00xyz, I think you can view that at usps.com someplace. Expected delivery
is Monday, so I guess you'll just miss it ... but I basically have to go
tomorrow morning, it was easier to get this bit done first. Glad I took the
time to pull stuff out for you, though, and there's plenty more left. I
updated the online index.
Enjoy! Let me know if there are any problems.
_H*