Why do tarot readers have so many decks?
Are you waiting for your latest deck of tarot cards to arrive and wondering if you have too many?
Or maybe you have just seen a post from another tarot reader showing all their decks of cards and you are looking at your single deck wondering if you have enough?
Why do I have so many tarot cards is a question I get asked a lot so today I thought I would answer with a video and a blog.
Hi tarot readers.
Are you waiting for your latest deck of tarot cards to arrive and wondering if you have too many? Or maybe you have just seen a post from another tarot reader showing all their decks of cards and you are looking at your single deck wondering if you have enough?
Why do I have so many tarot cards is a question I get asked a lot so today I thought I would answer with a video and a blog.
I admit, I have over 100 decks of tarot cards and for some people that may be way too many, for others it may be just a fraction of their own collection.
(I know tarot readers with far more decks than I have.)
I can’t speak for other tarot readers, but here are the reasons I have so many decks.
Don’t fancy reading any more? Take a look at my video instead.
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I use the cards a lot.
As a tarot coach, teacher and reader I can easy have a deck of cards in my hands for ten hours a day. Using the same deck for so many hours a day and so many days can be a little repetitive.
Don’t get me wrong, I normally use my good old faithful Rider Waite tarot, (my go to deck is the Radiant Rider Waite because I love the strong colours.) I can give tons of readings with that deck without getting bored of seeing the same images. However, I love a little bit of spice and pulling out another deck from my collection can shake things up.
I have four main ways I read the tarot and this will explain a little better at why I like to use other decks.
My basic meanings
My basic meanings are the meanings and keywords I have for each card. It is also a feeling and an emotion I connect to every card.
When I give a reading the first thing I look for in the cards are the basic meanings.
Artist inspiration
The artist inspiration is the second thing I look for in my cards. I like it when the artist inspiration and my basic meanings flow together. This is the main reason I have so many decks. My basic meanings are known and common to me. Some of my meanings are also common to other tarot readers. Many are basic meanings that those who study the Waite system at some point would know.
However, that doesn’t mean that other artist have the same basic meaning as myself.
No matter how pretty the pictures, if they are totally different from my basic meaning it can distract me.
When the image flows or I can make it fit with my basic meanings it can also open my intuition.
Intuition
My intuition plays a role in my readings. I can get my intuition from anywhere but the artist opening the door through the images is a direct way to open my intuition.
My intuition will tell me all the extras that my basic meanings wont tell me in a reading.
You don’t need intuition to read tarot. many tarot readers learn the meanings of the cards only and that works fine for them, others don’t have intuition but they are able to allow the artist to inspire them, and that works fine also. I am able to use all three ways.
Medium
The other way I work is by using my communication with spirit in a reading. This is not guaranteed and will always depend if spirit come through. Not many tarot readers are mediums and not many mediums are tarot readers. You do NOT need to be a medium to read the cards. But I am a medium and I do use this combination in some of my readings.
If I don’t connect with the art in a deck then this may stop my artist inspiration and my intuition.
Sometimes I can connect with some cards in a deck, but not all of them and this can be a little hard to work with.
Most of the time I can connect to a deck and I love to pimp up my readings by letting the artist inspiration take me to new grounds and still keep within my basic meanings.
But on occasion I do not click with a deck to read with it. I may love it for the art or for the work the artist has done but it just doesn’t work for me, at least at the time. So, I pop the deck on the shelf and the collection grows. Some decks I have grown to work with over the years (like the pagan tarot) other decks I still find very hard to work with (like the atlantis tarot.)
Let’s say I pull 6 of swords
My basic meaning is the journey card. It is a journey of the mind and of body. It is an escape, it is leaving behind the problems that have weighed us down. Often a sense of fleeing in the night to start a new life.
This card is often shown as someone taking a journey. The artist can do this in many ways but the general idea of a journey is often recognizable in a deck.
If an artist did the card without the journey in the art, I may still be able to work perfect with the card as I know the meaning of the 6 of swords.
However, if the artist was to draw a man crying with his head in his hands, or a man fighting or a couple kissing. This may distract me instead of inspire me.
Of course, an artist isn’t going to create a deck based on MY meanings, so I have to try and work around the image, sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.
There are many reason I may not connect with a deck.
If the artist doesn’t know anything about tarot and instead is just drawing 78 random images, this can really show and can be hard to work with, unless the artist is working with a tarot reader. When an artist works with a reader that can often create a perfect balance and a deck with great input from the reader and fine art from the artist. With other decks the artist may not work with a reader but have studied the tarot to some point, or at least taken the time to understand the cards. Maybe beautiful decks have been produced by not tarot readers who have an understanding of tarot.
Then there are artists who are tarot readers and produce their own deck. This type of vibe can often create incredible decks.
But even still, if I don’t like the art much it can still distract me.
Also there are tons of themed decks, you name it and there is probably a deck created based on that theme. If I am not interested or do not understand the theme behind the cards then I may have the option of reading the book (if one comes with the deck) or investigating the theme on my own. Often I don’t have the time or the incling to do this, so the deck can often not click right with me because I was unable to study the theme behind it.
If it is a deck based on Cinema or TV and I am not fond of the film or series or if I haven’t seen it then it may put me off working with the deck.
Yet even the decks that distract me in my readings or I can’t quite figure out, I still love and respect and that’s why I have over 100 decks.
Use them well
I do enjoy using other decks and If a deck works for me I will call on it often, well actually I allow it to call on me.
What I will often do before a reading is look at my deck collection and ask if there is a deck that would work well for my next client. Often it will be my Waite, but sometimes I will be pulled to a deck and use that one. I love working this way and it really keeps me excited in my readings.
Do you need more decks?
I know tarot readers who work perfectly with only a single deck of cards. I know people who have tons more decks than I do and yet don’t read for others.
It is totally a personal choice. If you see a deck you buy a deck, or if you are gifted a deck, try it out. If it doesn’t inspire you then maybe it isn’t the time for that deck, maybe in the future it will work better with you. If you have your eye on tons of decks you want to buy as and when, then go for it, enjoy.
There is no number of decks that is the right number, just go with your flow.
All tastes are different. Some of my much loved decks are not liked that much by my tarot friends.
I also believe we have to work with a deck first to see how we truly feel about it.
The deviant moon tarot wasn’t one I was drawn to at first and yet it did an amazing job of inspiring me.
The Light Seer’s tarot was a hit from the go with such an incredible deck that gave me so much depth into spiritual matters.
The Everyday Witch tarot I wasn’t so convinced at first sight but after working with the deck I was blown away by the artist inspiration.
The ancestral path tarot has always been a deck that just spoke to me and I have used that deck thousands of times.
Thank you, love Gaynor.
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