this deck, or that deck..question

hi...i was wondering how and if it matters when reading what deck you use. say if you are reading on one question. would it matter what deck is used? do you have to use different decks to get a different version of the answer? like the bohemian gothic, maybe would show a darker side to something. say, using the RW just a good standard deck, type answer. i hope everyone can understand me. lol. like, one deck gives you a lighter answer, one darker, one reads more intuitively, etc. any of you that have a good collection of decks i would love to hear from y'all...any insight on this! thanx

ladyofhearts said:

hi...i was wondering how and if it matters when reading what deck you use. say if you are reading on one question. would it matter what deck is used? do you have to use different decks to get a different version of the answer? like the bohemian gothic, maybe would show a darker side to something. say, using the RW just a good standard deck, type answer. i hope everyone can understand me. lol. like, one deck gives you a lighter answer, one darker, one reads more intuitively, etc. any of you that have a good collection of decks i would love to hear from y'all...any insight on this! thanx

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Full disclosure: At the moment I only own and use two decks (soon to be three. YAY!). However, about 15-20 decks have passed through my hands with varying speed, and I'm very particular about which deck I use for what, or whether I use a given deck at all.

What I have learned is that for me personally, the notion that "a good reader can read with any deck" is simply not true. It's not enough for me to like the art (or want to like the art), or like the structure, or like the theme. I have to feel some connection to the cards. I can't describe what that feels like exactly, but it's nothing external or psychic... to me, it's like trying on a new jacket and just *knowing* that it fits you so perfectly that you'll wear it to shreds. If I don't get that knowing/comfortable/aha feeling, I can't work with a deck at all... without that feeling, it's just pictures.

When I do get that feeling, it's pretty easy to tell which deck will do a good job answering what; it's kind of instinctual from that point forward. Some decks just feel different from others... my Druidcraft feels very open to anything, so I use it for mundane stuff, other people and deeper stuff. My Celtic Wisdom deck feels better for spiritual or emotional matters - "meaning of life" questions as it were - and as yet, I keep that for myself. I have a feeling that the new deck coming to me will be good for "casual" readings... quick pulls, light stuff, people I don't know very well. I may be wrong, though... once I have it in my hands, it may turn out to have a completely different "personality," or it might not work for me at all.

Sometimes it's a matter of which deck feels best in the moment.

I don't ask the same question to two different decks. It only muddles things further in my mind, and makes it easier for me to "see what I want to see", instead of what I need to see.

On occasion, if I'm really stumped on a reading for myself, I'll do a reading from one deck and then go through and pull the *corresponding* cards from the other, to see if I can get a different perspective from the same cards.

So, for me, it matters. How did I find out? Handled a lot of different decks until I found some that blew my mind and realized what it was *supposed* to feel like. And how do I know which? I just do.

That's my two cents though... I know people who can read with anything, and do so far better than I can.

thank you very much for an answer to my question. it was a very insightful, interesting read. it helped me alot. i understand how you feel as far as a deck, 'feeling right." maybe i have used my RW for so long, i am just use to it. i have the jane austen, which i have read on. it gives me good readings, but different from the RW. i find it much more, blunt, so to speak. lol. i have found with the jane austen, there is not much guess work that needs to be done. one thing i can say about that deck, it is honest and doesn't seem to mince words. i think i read here at AT one time, someone else had a similar experience with the jane austen deck. great input, i enjoyed reading what you wrote. anyone else out there, feel free to give me your insight on this! just want to learn other's experiences, to learn.

ladyofhearts said:

thank you very much for an answer to my question. it was a very insightful, interesting read. it helped me alot. i understand how you feel as far as a deck, 'feeling right." maybe i have used my RW for so long, i am just use to it. i have the jane austen, which i have read on. it gives me good readings, but different from the RW. i find it much more, blunt, so to speak. lol. i have found with the jane austen, there is not much guess work that needs to be done. one thing i can say about that deck, it is honest and doesn't seem to mince words. i think i read here at AT one time, someone else had a similar experience with the jane austen deck. great input, i enjoyed reading what you wrote. anyone else out there, feel free to give me your insight on this! just want to learn other's experiences, to learn.

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Glad to have helped! The Jane Austen deck sounds like an interesting one, I've heard that it's honest from many different people now. I had a lot of trouble with the RWS, but I think I may find a clone that I like to study one of these days.

I think that different art filters the underlying tarot meanings into letting us see different aspects of the cards. Like the discussions in Using Tarot Cards of a single card, different posters bring out shades of meaning, their experiences with that card and so on. Deck artists do that as well and if it resonates with our personalities, then it brings different layers of meanings into readings.

Doing the Intuitive Reading Circles exercises can help with this.

Alta

Decks definitely have different voices and different ways of approaching questions. My Pearls of Wisdom, for example, will always give me the 'glass half-full' answer. My Bohemian Gothic will be sly and poke fun at me. Legacy will be very serious, humorless and a bit blunt. Vanessa will just gossip and harangue me until I'm chattered into submission. Sweet Twilight will... well, I'm not quite sure how to describe that deck. Distinctive, certainly. Honest and accurate but gentle, definitely.

I certainly approach the same question from the pov of different decks: if I'm serious about an issue or question in my life, I won't just ask one friend, I'll check with a whole bunch. Their different opinions and perspectives will make sure that I approach a situation with as broad a view as possible. Same with tarot.

Timely, this thread. This morning I tried an experiment: I did a four card daily draw (as usual) but instead of doing one deck/four cards, I did four decks/one card. The outcome was interesting, and as thorough a reading as ever I've done. The cards responded and answered each other. It was exactly like sitting amongst a group of friends and listening to them have a discussion about something effecting you. (FWIW, the Pearls of Wisdom and Sweet Twilight got on very well; Boho Goth couldn't take Legacy seriously and ended up starting a bit of an argument. It was all good stuff as far as I was concerned, though!)

I blogged about it, because it was such an interesting exercise. I'll certainly do it again. And it's made me realise how necessary it is that there is a range of decks, all unique and all with their own personalities and characteristics.

very interesting perspectives from everyone! it all helps me to learn what others have experienced with different decks. i have learned quite a bit reading through this thread. about how the artwork can affect reading, different layers in decks, all of it. keep it coming, guys! great insight! would love to hear more input on all of this!

depends on how you read, but since I read 90-95 % by analysing the card images, any change in the image will lead my down a different path and lead to a different answer. Usually there is a lot of variety in the same card in each of my decks. In fact I choose my decks that way. I won't get two that are similar. So yes I get VERY different answers from the same card in different decks. They could even give me opposite answers. There's no way to know what they will say in advance.

And even the identical card in the same deck rarely says the same thing to me. I focus on different aspects in the image each time....the ones that feel important in each reading...so even the same card can say very different things from one time to the next.

Babs

I like all the answers here.

the short answer is no.
You don't have to use anything but a single deck to get an answer.
If you are comfortable with the deck on hand, it so doesn't matter what the question is.
My Hanson Roberts is my go-to tarot and will answer anything I put to it.

On the other hand...

I like getting second opinions sometimes. Just as DaisyDragonfly put it... It's like my friends...(and I also think of my decks as friends!) they all come from different backgrounds and they will have different opinions about a given subject. Some friends are very upbeat and empathic, and others are serious and realistic.

Decks are like that too. The artists and creators all come from different places, and I believe have imbued their creations with parts of their personality.
and so one deck can give you a totally positive version of the facts, while another will give it to straight, and be maybe less than hopeful about the same matter.