Unique decks, anyone?

I have a very unique deck. I've had it for months now, but I didn't buy it, nor did I take the road less traveled and make it from scratch.

I took a large set of index cards, and found images of the Rider-Waite deck on the internet. I printed them out, wrote out their titles, and pasted them to the cards. On the lined side I wrote down all the different meanings of the card and the symbolism behind the image. It took me three weeks to get through all of this.

Now, as you can imagine, this deck is very rough around the edges, and some may even call it (dare I say?) crude. However, I've grown quite attached to it, and through it I've learned all the basics of Tarot (as well as through the Fool's Journey on this site). It has a very distinct personality: worn, but comfortable. A mentor that doesn't mind appearances, that always patiently steers the user onto the right track with a kind smile and a disbelieving shake of the head.

While I would enjoy getting a new deck as a Christmas gift, this deck is very important to me, and I predict it'll stay that way for a long time.

In short, do you have a unique deck of your own? Do you think a deck like mine is ineffective or silly? I'd love to hear some opinions on this.

Why would anyone think it is silly? To each their own!

When I began with the tarot, in ernest, I kept a small book - each page had a different card and I wrote down all my meanings and the symbols combos etc.... I rewrote it so that I would have 2 books - one was left at work and the other at home and I would refer to it often.... I still look at it at times when a certain combo comes up and I think I may have written something unique about it....

I always and still do learn by doing or writing... If I write it I will remember it...

SO you wrote the meanings on the backs of the cards.... same thing.... BUT now the cool thing will be for you to get a deck (not the RWS but possibly something based on it) and read it intuitively.... read it by looking at the pictures only and seeing what you see. Trust you intuition and see what you see. Buy an expressive deck... like the druidcraft or Victorian romantic....whatever floats your boat and look at the pics and see what pops into your head.

But I don't think your deck is ineffective in the least... There is actually a deck like yours with the meansings on the cards... can't remember what it is called but it seems like it would be very close to what you made.

Very enterprising!

f

Great idea and very cost effective, and no doubt would give just as good reading as one of the $1000.00's of dollars worth of decks some of our members possess
I would suggest a corner rounder to make it more shuffleable?

Welcome to AT!

Not what I'd want to do, but I think your idea is not ineffective or silly at all! It's a good idea, cheap, and efficient. I'd even venture to say you could have even forgotten about the image print outs, and just put the title of the card and some keywords on the card. I've a feeling the "deck" would have still worked fine. It's probably even possible to make one's own little "oracle cards" on index cards.

I remember reading about someone who copied some Taboo: Sixth Sense (old Nintendo 8-bit Tarot cartridge) onto index cards and used them. I forgot where, but I think I found that out through a search here! So whatever works.

franniee said:

There is actually a deck like yours with the meanings on the cards... can't remember what it is called but it seems like it would be very close to what you made.

Click to expand...

First off, thank you for your comments! I too learn from writing things down, and it has indeed helped me.

As for the deck you mentioned, I think I ran across that deck here on AT. The Do It Yourself Tarot, I believe it was called.

Thank you ALL for your comments and approval so far!

(By the way AJ...what's a corner rounder? )

Lots of us trim decks down, either because the borders are distracting, ugly, or because the deck is too big to use comfortably.

Antique cards all had square corners and it is the first place the deck will get damage because of them, so some publisher with a bright idea began producing cards with rounded corners. And readers and players looked upon it and pronounced it good

Thus most of us round corners...with a small punch tool that can be found in craft stores and scrapbooking stores.
They are about $4.00. You slide your card into the little V slot, punch, and you have a rounded corner. Not fast but a good way to review your cards from 4 different angles.

Or don't... there is no right way or wrong way, only your way and my way.