Deck Monogamy-Monotony?

I have been reading the which decks did you use the most in 2010 thread.

I saw quite a few that were about people trying certain decks only to come back to one or two decks.

So, if we love certain decks so much as to always return, what do other decks give us? Is it like we think another deck will give us more than our decks that are already our favorites?

I have tried quite a few decks over the last 10 months, only to trade, gift or sell most of them to concentrate on just those I really like. But sooner or later, something shiny and new comes along and....

So, TarotFolk, is it like being happily married, but flirting with others when we chase after the newest deck, just to come back home where we're happiest with a few? Or do many just need lots of variety?

Thoughts?

GD

We do many things with tarot. We read, we mediate, we coo, we collect, we merely shuffle. It makes sense to me that when it comes to reading, we like to read with the one which we feel reads easiest for us. Especially if we are reading for someone else. Especially if that someone else is going to pay us. The professional musician is going to want to perform in public with the instrument they know best, rather than run the risk with a less familiar one.

We want the reading/performance/recital that we give our public to be the best we possibly can, so we should have the tool which is most familiar close by.

Those less familiar ones might one day become reading decks but for the most part, the less familiar decks are probably being used as meditational/journalling decks. The familiar favourites are the ones we feel most comfortable revving up with! I speak for myself.

It is also fun to have decks at the ready which we have never read with before. It is liberating to pick a deck down off the shelf, totally unfamiliar, strange, impenetrable images which bear no resemblence to any system we know, break open seal, shuffle, improvise and see what comes out. It breaks us out of our stale, formulaic reading habits! One of these days I shall take down the Mona Lisa or the Tarot of the Origins and just see what madness spills out of them when I lay the cards down!

I keep meaning to start a thread on why it is that we sometimes read better with the decks we have never used before. An antithesis to the IDS movement! Think about it; how many times have you got crystal clear readings from a deck you know nothing about, shuffled for the first time, where months of journalling might have led to paralysis!

We're all different. I could no more have only one deck than I could only have one friend, or one dog, or one paint brush. But I know lots of people who have one favorite hobby, one favorite friend, one favorite job for their entire lives ... different strokes for different folks.

I might go years without paying any attention to a particular deck, then one day I peek at it and am interested again. Call me fickle if you like, but I'm that way with art forms, houses, cars, and many other things. My loyalty is to concepts and to people I love. I never stop loving someone. For instance I'm still good friends with my ex-husband. Our love has changed to one of "just" friendship, but the caring is still there. Same with my decks. If I love it enough to buy it, there's probably something about it that sings for me. I do make mistakes. Go on a buying spree without enough research and end up with some duds. But in general, if I love a deck now, I'm likely to love it again later, even if its in the corner somewhere gathering dust at a particular moment. Ditto with my art forms. I might paint for a year, then start making art quilts. I might go for years before I paint again, but the paints are still important to me, and it comforts me to know they're waiting for me to regain my interest.

ding!ding!ding! Le Fanu!

Exactly. I got out of the box readings with the Anna.K and then there are other decks I've done a journal, tried to read intuitively, checked other sources and...zip.

I do get some variety, it's nice to have some decks for different moods and things. I wonder sometimes why those who aren't collectors (so please, Le Fanu, what I am about to say has nothing to do with you or other collectors!) jump from deck to deck to deck, often losing interest before getting yet four or five more in the mail. Is it that readers haven't found a deck that reads well for them, that it's easier to jump from deck to deck without ever giving ones they have a try or do many just think the next one will be THE one for them? I am not immune to getting excited about certain decks and I'm sure I'll find some decks of interest in 2011 (the Wildwood for instance . But I think I'm fairly loyal to certain decks I already have.

It seems sometimes like some readers would just prefer to serial date than commit to any decks, but maybe that's not true. Maybe some are still looking for their true love deck....

GD

Just read your post, GryffinSong

That makes sense to me. I can see why it's comforting to know certain decks are there waiting for you to come back to. I guess I'm just not one to have a lot of "stuff" around. I cull my books and try to not keep too much in the way of, well, anything. I know some people like things around and are comforted by them, I get that. I'm a bit of the opposite, where others see comfort, I see clutter when it comes to my own space. If I'm not using something, or think I will want to use something in the relatively near future, I tend to send it along to someone who will. I like to see things used, not sitting. Just my own particular thing.

GD

greatdane said:

That makes sense to me. I can see why it's comforting to know certain decks are there waiting for you to come back to. I guess I'm just not one to have a lot of "stuff" around. I cull my books and try to not keep too much in the way of, well, anything. I know some people like things around and are comforted by them, I get that. I'm a bit of the opposite, where others see comfort, I see clutter when it comes to my own space. If I'm not using something, or think I will want to use something in the relatively near future, I tend to send it along to someone who will. I like to see things used, not sitting. Just my own particular thing.

GD

Click to expand...

Yeah, well, I probably do too much of it. I'm surrounded by clutter and go through several major clearings each year to keep it under control. I recently purged a number of decks, but I think I brought in more than I got rid of!!! LOL

I no longer delude myself..there is no way I can ever learn and give all the decks I have attention.
Heck I even forget what other decks I have.
I have about 10 tarot decks I use all the time.
And the Playing Card Oracle, and Lenormand.
I sometimes take out, and blow the dust off of something else, but it usually falls flat for one or a number of reasons depending on the deck, and after a day or two it goes back on the shelf.
Also because I read for others as a profession I feel I need to bring my A game to the table, so I spend my time using and perfecting my knowledge with my favorite reading decks.
There is only so much time, and I'd rather spend it with a deck I really connect with than try and force a connection with a deck just because I feel guilty that I own it and it's just sitting there.
Hard lesson learned....
I buy few decks now...and wish I had been more choosy when I first started buying tarot.
This is just me...
I'm like this about most things.
Actually, I guess I feel much better now I've settled on this...it's brought me clarity and a refreshing feeling of lightness.

I like that, Lark!

Clarity and a refreshing feeling of lightness!

I enjoy at least looking through my decks, even if I'm not doing a reading. It's easy to do that when one only has a handful or two . You read professionally, so I can get you would want more than a couple, but sounds like you kind of stay within a certain number anyway. I like what you said about getting to know the decks you have and reading with those you connect to. I feel the same way.

I have flittering attention. There are times where I read and study tarot daily; other times I don't touch em for weeks or months at a time...I always do go back though. I like looking through decks online, finding ones that call to me, and yes, now and then indulging in a new one. I like having a variety to choose from for reading or study. I try to give all some attention, though I admit to being more partial to some than others for readings. Dunno, I kind of feeling like varying, working off different imagery, helps me gain a deeper perspective into the tarot?

I guess, really, the reason I keep buying new decks, even though i don't need to, even though I'd be perfectly fine off with the ones I already have, is because they make me happy. And very few things in life do. So I allow myself this one this indulgence.

I like to have options available for different moods, seasons, etc., and to study with. Pushing the limits of my comfort zone is one way to ensure growth, and the more I shovel into my brain, the more that has a chance to be forgotten only to pop out when it's needed.

At the same time, I usually find myself reading with the same deck for months (or in one case, six years) at a time. Not during IDS, though; the self-imposed limitation makes reading with only one deck a hardship instead of a comfort. Something to discuss with my therapist, I suppose...