Do tarot card decks have personalities?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Jan 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

divinerguy	07 Jan 2002
So, I'm talking with this guy, and he tells me he's bummed because his favorite deck is lost. He just can't seem to get going with another deck. Now, I've always used different decks. I rotate them, never using a deck for more than a couple of consecutive readings. No big deal if I have a different one. I adjust. Is his reliance on one deck an indication of a lack of skill, or do tarot decks develop a personality?

truthsayer	07 Jan 2002
i think it's the personality of the reader. some ppl just like things to stay the same. they don't like change--change is threatening. i'd bet this guy is a neat freak and likes "a place for everything and everything for a place". my husband is like that. if he loses something then nothing will work but what he lost. a change in his daily routine throws him in a absolute tailspin!!!!! LOL ;D then there are those of us(like me) who are flexible and enjoy change. some of us simply adjust differently to life situations. to us changes are simply a new challenge to be met. imho to give a tarot deck a personality is anthropomorphism--giving something nonhuman, human qualities. decks are just paper w/ art and words on them. the power to imbue them w/ divinatory energy comes from w/in the reader. w/o us to imbue meaning into them, they would have no meaning or personality.

amyel	07 Jan 2002
Okay, I have to step in here with my two cents worth ('cept *my* 2 cents are in Cdn currency, so its only worth about -59 cents USD!) I feel that different decks do have different personalities, and I think that some people respond better to some decks then others! For example, I perfer the Mythic tarot, but I have also responded to others, too, although I don't have a large collection. I loved the artwork of the Celtic tarot, but could not actually use them in a reading - so I gave them to a friend, who loves them. She went and tried my fav deck (Mythic) but they just did not speak to her. My sister tried the Mythic and could not relate to them, bought & tried a number of others and finally settled on the MotherPeace deck. I don't think it demonstrates a lack of skill - just a comfortable preference, like your favorite jeans or bum-around-clothes. As for decks developing a personality???? I think they come with a personality already. I feel bad about your friend's lost deck...it might take awhile for him to find another deck that speaks to him (or find his fav).

jmd	07 Jan 2002
I tend to agree with amyel (and my AUS 2 cents is probably worth even less than its Canadian equivalent!) It is also interesting that the word 'personality' is an extension of the word 'person', which refers to a mask worn by actors, through which the voice 'sounded through'. In that sense, it is definitely the case that various decks are as different masks through which voices become differently shaded.

Lilliana	07 Jan 2002
while I agree with truthsayer about how humans do tend to anthropomorphise inanimate objects, I also think that the artists' unique style does give a tarot deck a "character". I don't think that this guys reliance on one deck is a lack of skill. Some decks I find easier to use than others- like the thoth deck for example. For some reason the images just resonate with me. On the other hand, I cannot get a decent reading from my friends haindl deck (which is thoth based). I think that getting used to any deck takes time, and it might be months before you can get a good reading from a new deck. Lilli

faunabay	07 Jan 2002
Ok here's my question....Why doesn't your friend just go out and buy a new copy of his deck??? Granted it wouldn't be the same worn in "old jeans" one, but it'd be the same deck. ?????

lilmystic	07 Jan 2002
I'm intrigued now..what deck IS he using? As someone who's constantly looking for The Deck, this sounds interesting...

divinerguy	07 Jan 2002
Its a secret deck, and my friend Jack made me promise not to tell. He traded the family cow for it, and boy, was his mother angry. ... ... ... Sigh. That's really not true. He's just a whiney guy who posted his lament on a bulletin board. I don't know what type of deck it was. Gary

jmd	07 Jan 2002
Oww go on... Spill the beans! Talk!

lilmystic	08 Jan 2002
The family cow eh? You can't go and tell us that and not tell us! : ) Okay, how about you spell the deck name in an anagram? cheers!

Songmage	09 Jan 2002
I think it's also a preference when you stick with a deck. As days go by, you get used to just 'connecting' with this one deck. And even the a copy would work, it just wouldn't be same as the real thing.

arizonagirl	09 Jan 2002
I most usually use the Robin Wood tarot. I find the readings to be especially relevant. As a Wiccan, the cards appeal to me. So I supposed I have a special connection to this deck. But. . .my first deck was Susan Hudes tarot. The pictures aren't as expressive as some others, so it forced me to learn the meanings. Her Death card is my absolute favorite Death from any deck. I still use this deck when the question is very, very, very serious. I find the best deck for mixed company is my Hanson Roberts deck. There is nothing offensive in any of the pictures, and the readings I have done have been accurate. Tarot of the Cloisters seems to give me the best readings when the questions involves spirituality. Nexy Jo once pointed out in another thread some time ago, that the 356 degrees of the Tarot of the Cloister cards added a special dimension to the cards - far more than just right-side-up or reversed.

Kiama	09 Jan 2002
I don't think that reding with just one deck is a lack of skill. I only read with my Robin Wood, (unless someon I am reading for asks for one of my other 35 decks!) but can ead with other decks, just sometimes not as well on certaincards. The reason I only use my Robin Wood is not cuz I lack skill, its just that this deckhas been everywhere with me! Every time I use it it brings back memories of certain place and the great times I had there. It brings back the faces of all the peple I read for in the past, and believe me, there are some stunning scenes replayed in my mind when I use this deck! The rtwork is also the type I enjoy and can look at and see properly: I don't get on well with watercolour decks, or deck like the Hainldl, where the images aren't clear. I am also Pagan, and the Robin Wood caters for my religious beliefs. Anyway, I sometimes have a really hard time adapting to a deck. Its usually cuz there are some cards that I just don't get. I'll look at them and think 'That has no meaning for me', and I won't really understand what the artist is getting at. However, I can read with nearly all my decks if need be. Kiama

glamourbug	10 Jan 2002
I dont think its a case of decks having different personalities, its just that readers normally find that one deck they click with more than any other and like to stick with it. Its like having the pen you always use in the office or when you use someone elses computer their keyboard doesnt feel as familliar as yours. Of course if my favourite deck was to disappear i would just buy the same deck again and spend time with it until it felt like mine and not a new deck. Lisa

Jewel	10 Jan 2002
Shoot my favorite deck accidentally ended up in storage where I could not get to it for a year so I went and got another copy of it. Now I have both, love them both, use them both ... and you know what is funny? I don't think I could trade one of them *LOL*. Perhaps it is not that decks have personalities ... it is that we as humans form emotional attachments to them, that is how I feel about my decks .... Love & Light,

The Do tarot card decks have personalities? thread was originally posted on 07 Jan 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.