When a new deck is ready for rotation debut

Weird, I know, but I just want to see if anyone else does this, if they do it differently, if they don't do it at all, etc.!


I will start the entire thing off saying that I'm a serial monogamist when it comes to my decks. I like having long love affairs with each and every one for one main purpose: I want to be able to know my deck as much as possible and feel absolutely comfortable with it at any point in the future. Depending on the deck, that "monogamous relationship" might last 6 months, or in the case of the Bohemian Gothic, over two years! (love that deck!)

Either way, right now I'm in the process of starting a working relationship with one of my newest acquisitions, the Golden Tarot of Klimt, which I'm still sort of treading lightly with. Most of my readings have come out properly, but I still feel there's growth to be done for me to really GET IT.


I guess when it comes down to it, at what point do you like to debut a new deck you're working with?

I couldn't help but wonder this afternoon as I'm packing up to do a reading for a new client-- I don't feel comfortable enough with Golden Klimt, but I feel like I'm "cheating" by pulling out my Bohemian Gothic to just slam dunk this reading XD! Obviously, I want to give the client the best possible reading-- but am I stunting my growth with the new deck because I'm not using it yet out in the real world?

Of course I'm well aware that some people may just use whatever deck, whenever. But I'm curious about the ones who don't. When does a new deck become part of your rotation? Are you finding your "learning hump" shortened because you're really pushing it with more random readings that would happen with the general public? And finally, at what point do you know that deck is "ready" to make an appearance?

Eventually I plan to be able to pull the Golden Klimt for my readings for everyone-- just like I have all other decks I own. But who knows? It might take another month, might take six!

kisou said:

at what point do you like to debut a new deck you're working with?

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If you mean using the deck for clients, then just whenever. I look at the cards out of the box, and if I can read with it, I read with it straight off. I might shuffle it several times over the course of a day or so just to make it feel like one of mine.

A couple of years ago when I received the Kunati edition of the Quantum, I took it to work with me the following day to look at it in between clients. It was still sealed when I got there, and I had only just unsealed it when I had a client, a little ancient villager-woman from Peru. I had four or five decks on display on the deck, and having unsealed the Quantum I put it aside but on the same table. I asked her to pick the deck she liked best, and instead of going for a Marseilles or a Visconti (which I had thought would be her direction), she went straight to teh Quantum. I demurred, telling her I had only jsut received it and I didn't know if it read well yet, but she insisted. And, you know, without any reference to the booklet, it gave her a cracking reading, just what she wanted to know.

And I hadn't even looked through all the images yet, let alone handled it at all.

I tend to debut a new deck (and this is not the voice of a monogomist) by giving it a spin with someone I know and say "I've been studying this one a bit recently, mind being a guinea pig?" It kind of eases the tension a bit and makes me feel less anxious about how the reading is going to pan out.

But I would say that after a week of oohing and ahhing over a deck, you're ready to at least start the learning process via reading.

I guess I would call myself a serial monogamist as well with my decks. I started out learning the Tarot with PP's Dragon Tarot, and stuck with it for a couple of years, then went over to RWS. I've been using the Tarot of the Elves for over a year now and feel very in tune with it - enough so that I've developed an itch over the past couple of weeks for trying out a Marseille. I ordered the Hadar Marseilles and hope to get it within the next week or so.

So in answer to your question, I seem to get the itch for a new love affair once I feel very comfortable with my current deck. Once I get comfortable, I tend to get bored.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

nisaba said:

I asked her to pick the deck she liked best, and instead of going for a Marseilles or a Visconti (which I had thought would be her direction), she went straight to the Quantum. I demurred, telling her I had only just received it and I didn't know if it read well yet, but she insisted. And, you know, without any reference to the booklet, it gave her a cracking reading, just what she wanted to know.

And I hadn't even looked through all the images yet, let alone handled it at all.

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See, I don't think I would have been able to handle that! I think my uncertainty would be obvious in the reading and in the end, skew the responses in a blah way. You're way braver than I at being able to just do it right off the bat like that!

Lokasenna said:

I seem to get the itch for a new love affair once I feel very comfortable with my current deck. Once I get comfortable, I tend to get bored.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

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Haha- that made me laugh because I feel the exact same way. As soon as I start getting comfortable with it, it's no longer that challenge I love... and then I start browsing the Tarot Garden for something new.


I guess pulling out a deck I'm uncomfortable using for the masses as early out as possible may be more of a challenge than doing it the way I do now. I think I'll probably try both techniques sometime and see how that works out.

i am so not a monogomist. longest i've worked with only one deck for was maybe 2-3 months and that was my very favorite. generally, i start working with a deck when it feels right, stop when it feels right to move onto another. some decks really do need study (like the Thoth, or Alchemical) but most i just whip out and start working with. sometimes i don't even bother with the book, particularly if its a deck that only came with a lwb. granted though, i rarely read for others face to face and never for paying clients. if i was taking money for readings, i'd probably stick with the decks i'm most confident with for the paid clients because i'd like to know they're getting what they expect/paid for

I have to echo what Cassandra says, I'm also not one to spend super-long periods with decks. I did study the Alchemical on it's own for about 6 months or more but ironically never really used it much for readings.

When I do read for paying clients, which isn't often, I tend to default to a deck I know I can read well with. However, like Nisaba, I have given readings with decks I've never seen that have been amazing. At my local tarot meet-up we swapped decks and used ones we were not familiar with in order to rely on our intuition for reading. Because it was for 'fun' there was no pressure and the results were amazing. I guess my point in sharing this is that if you do decide to debut the Klimt deck then just be confident that you'll be able to pull it off, have fun with it, and the readings will probably be amazing.

I am a monogamist, too. I think that like with people, the longer you stay in a relationship with a deck, the better it gets. One night stands with other decks can be nice and even thrilling, but then I come home to my love, and it's always waiting for me

However, that doesn't mean I don't go to the occasional (metaphorical) strip club now and again. You could say my two main decks are the Morgan-Greer and the Thoth. I am completely head over heals in my honeymoon with the Thoth, but the Morgan-Greer does make for an easier read, and sometimes when I read for others, I need that ease and the flow it gives me, so I use that. It's also a "nicer" deck than the Thoth, which can be kind of brutal.

sapienza said:

When I do read for paying clients, which isn't often, I tend to default to a deck I know I can read well with.

...

I guess my point in sharing this is that if you do decide to debut the Klimt deck then just be confident that you'll be able to pull it off, have fun with it, and the readings will probably be amazing.

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Thanks so much for the advice. I think just forgoing the feelings of "AH! YOU DON'T KNOW THIS DECK ENOUGH" and actually just doing it will probably be the best crash course in getting it done.

At the same time, I do get really drawn into the ritual of a Daily Draw where each card is meditated, thought about, and discussed one at a time :/

kisou said:

Originally Posted by nisaba
I demurred, telling her I had only just received it and I didn't know if it read well yet, but she insisted. And, you know, without any reference to the booklet, it gave her a cracking reading, just what she wanted to know.

And I hadn't even looked through all the images yet, let alone handled it at all.

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See, I don't think I would have been able to handle that! I think my uncertainty would be obvious in the reading and in the end, skew the responses in a blah way. You're way braver than I at being able to just do it right off the bat like that!

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<grin> It was easy. All I did was put my brain in Park, my voice in Forward and looked at the images.