Le Fanu said:
I totally agree with what you´re saying, sravana. When I joined AT, I was quite surprised at how often people qualified their decks (" Im not a collector"), and negating any implication of accumulation. I sensed a certain ambivalence towards the notion of, not exactly "collecting" (as I see this as quite a self-conscious activity) but of accumulating. A horror of accumulating. I guess it´s to do with the current trend for "decluttering" your life. But I don´t get guilt pangs over this...
My decks sit easily with the idea of accumulation and that -yes -I love reading and I have my principal reading decks. Not a huge number, but some might think so. I have, at arm´s length of my sofa, 20 or so decks which I regularly reach out and shuffle and fondle and read with. But when I want a proper reading, I have maybe three or four.
Then there are all the others. On "the other side" of the bookshelf, I have the rest (80 or more). Decks I love, but which I don´t read with. Ive said here before that I don´t have problems accumulating beautiful things. Im proud of my collection. I feel I don´t have any decks which I would consider "gaffs". They are all different, but in a way, all have a certain aesthetic unity. Am I making sense?
I use them for meditation, even pendulum work. Some I just appreciate the artwork every now and then. They are like books. Tarot of course IS a book. I never feel guilty that they sit on the shelf and are not used exclusively for divination...
DeCluttering, indeed! I'm actively doing that these days anyway - and trading/selling decks is part of that process. It is a huge issue for me, because Clutter may well be my middle name.
I have loads of books, yarn, decks, art supplies, sheet music - the list goes on and on - and I'm organizationally challenged.
But your point is well taken - accumulating beautiful things. I require beauty in my life, and tarot is a small part of it. Of course, there is no beauty when the clutter is overwhelming. Thanks for your thoughts.
SarahRose said:
My collection is small in terms of collecting, but "large" in terms of my relative newness and what I see others I know have (even though they're not "serious" readers, so to speak). I was thinking about the collection thing too lately, where I fall.
I think by nature I am a hoarder, a collector, someone who favors quantity. That's not to say I don't appreciate/like/require quality as well, though. Even though I do read, am getting better and read with many of the decks I own, I do consider myself a bit of a collector, if I had to separate myself into categories. I like to collect and own them, own more, own the ones I want, want a lot, etc. It's hard to explain! Do you know what I mean?::snip deck list::
The designation of "hoarder" is very interesting to me - I hadn't considered thinking about all my stuff in that sense. I do know that sometimes I look at some of my books and think that I could let them go - but then I think "I'll probably want to read/study that again someday." I've gotten rid of books that I later needed to buy again, and I guess I'd rather hold on to the ones I have than find myself wanting to buy them again.
Another way to consider quantity vs. quality would be to buy second copies of certain decks.
Nina* said:
I've never felt even the slightest guilt about my collection.. why on earth should I? I buy my decks, I don't steal them.
ROFL!
Nina* said:
Once in a while I take out some of them and look them through... fall in love all over again and I can just sit there for hours... just like I would with a photo album.
I have considered framing some of them and put them on the wall, but I finally decided against it, because I'm afraid it would ruin it as a deck (and it's decks I like, not just pictures... if that makes sense).
I like your idea about making your own Maat. I have laminated cards myself and it works great.
I so identify with what you are saying above. It does have the sense of a photo album, or perhaps one of those coffee-table travel picture books.
I'm still considering the framing idea... but I'm not sure which decks I would frame. Probably the Meneghello Soprafino, or the Vachetta.
When you did your laminating, did you have it professionally done, or did you buy a laminator and do it yourself?
Logiatrix said:
Guilt perhaps manifests based on one's family background or cultural attitude about belongings, such as being raised to believe that having an abundance of something is ostentatious. I think it's also something that seems to crop up between partners. Online friends have told me of the guff they get from their Significant Other about their masses of decks.*shrug*
There is definitely something cultural about attitudes towards massive collections - though it does seem to change when someone gets into the "Gregory" numbers. It's those of use with 60-120 decks that have some explaining to do, I'd guess.
Logiatrix said:
I think I had a pang of guilt a couple of times when I collected, because I realized that I'd purchased a deck I already had, toward the end. I had decks I hadn't even opened! That's when I realized that my collecting had become more of a frenzied hunt than a fun hobby, which is why it was easy for me to finally stop amassing decks.
OMG no kidding. I've gone through various online deck lists, and figured out which ones I've bought and sold/traded before, and it did keep me from repurchasing several decks that I'd found wanting before. What was really interesting was finding a deck list from around 1998 - and seeing which decks I loved then, which I no longer care for.
Logiatrix said:
I slowly gave up more of my collection each time I moved (three times in two years). I gradually made some personal rules for me regarding my stuff. All the changes I made by the time I moved this last time (4 years ago) continue to make sense for me, which also means that having a tarot deck collection still isn't a priority. For example, I keep a limit to how many decks I accumulate, because I just like having less stuff to deal with right now.
Moving is definitely a catalyst for de-cluttering. I had a similar reaction to my last 2 moves, when I got rid of scads of stuff.
Logiatrix said:
That could all change, like if I ever had a bigger home and then "more" didn't seem like a lot, so I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with collecting.
I just noticed this question of yours, sravana...
One idea I've kept in mind, if I ever decide to nurture a big collection again, is to keep a theme. Like, all Marseille or just generally (pre-1900s) historical decks...or all RWS and its close variations. Something like that.
My tastes change fairly often, though, so I dunno. Right now, I have about ten decks that are not thematically related to each other, except that they are all dear to me for being gifts or favorite former reading decks.
I'd have to go through and see if there are any themes. Let's see - there is a Goddess-y/feminist/paleolithic/shamanic/nature/animal theme (but not Wiccan/Pagan), so there is a bit of a theme happening. It's easier for me to say what themes I'm *not* interested - excessively esoteric (though I do own Thoth/Liber T - I'm waiting for Scion's book for that last one!), fairy/faery/little people (except for the Wild Spirit, which is really an investment), no kabbalah, no dark decks (unless Ironwing qualifies...), etc. So, yes, I do have a theme. Thanks for that suggestion - you've helped me figure out what exactly I'm working with here, and now I'm thinking that I probably should not sell the Animal Speak deck, as it fits in quite well.
WolfSpirit said:
Deck that is always in my work bag (although I don’t use them often)
Switch between: Albano Waite Mini, White Cats mini
Decks that get a lot of use at the moment (moment = plm. last six months):
Steele Wizard, Druidcraft, Tarot of the Spirit
Decks that I have used a lot previously but not so much now (nothing wrong with the decks, I just don’t switch much between decks now, but I still love them):
Halloween, Herbal, Baroque Bohemian Cats, Timeless Truth, Vision Quest, Tarot of Prague, White Cats.
Decks that are used for specific purposes:
Animal Wise (animal energies)
Chakra Arcana (chakra readings)
Tarot of Transformation (meditation)
Songs for the Journey Home (meditation)
Tarot for Cats
Decks for future studies:
Hallowquest (Arthurian)
Minchiate
Marseille
Hermetic
Servants of the Light
Tarot of the Sephiroth
Swedish Witch
Alchemical
Buddha
Margarete Petersen
Decks for artwork:
Maat
Starlight Arcana
Golden
Garden Path
Almost everything else in my collection:
for storytelling, brainstorming, intuitive readings when I want to use a deck that is not very familiar, meditation, or they may move to further study/further reading decks one day.
A lot of decks don’t get much use at the moment, but that is because I stay with the same bunch a lot at the moment. If I feel they are of no use to me I will trade them or give away, but I think most will be used one day – maybe when I’m retired, lol.
That's very interesting, WolfSpirit. Do you think there's a reason why you don't read with Maat or Golden? I'm also intersted in your experiences with Tarot of the Spirit - I can't read with the damned thing (!) at all, but I *love* the artwork. It would be great to have that deck in a larger card size!
