Mixing Tarot decks

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

lawguy51	12 Oct 2002
When responding to Demonese's question on what deck's don't you like, I started wondering whether there had ever been (and I'm sure there has been) a discussion on mixing decks, i.e. plucking your favourite cards from two or more decks and creating a hybrid deck. My gut says probably a bad idea but I'd be interested in some reaction.

Liliana	12 Oct 2002
Only a couple things make it a bad idea 1. card sizes vary so itd be impossible to use say a card from Rohrig with a card from spiral, itd be impossible to shuffle 2. backs would be all different, that would bother me But otherwise i see no reason not to, especially if it helps you read better :THP

RedWood	12 Oct 2002
The only problem i would see is that the card size would be different.. Backs of cards dont bother me...Other then that..I say go for it..may be the best deck you ever had..

WolfSpirit	12 Oct 2002
I tried to do this once. I love the high priestess on the Merlin deck but I hate the minors, so I wanted to replace them by cards from another deck. Well the greenwood and one of the arthurian decks are the same size but the deck just did not look conistent. If you use cards that are even just a little different in size it becomes impossible to shuffle them. Maybe I will just import the high priestess in another deck (that will just be replacing one card). For me it would only work with decks that have the same style. But there is nothing wrong in itself with mixing decks, I agree with my fellow aeclecticians in this ;)

lawguy51	12 Oct 2002
Doh!! Didn't even think about size when I posted. And yes, like Wolfspirit, it might come down to one card for me, if I ever considered trying it.

Pollux	12 Oct 2002
I dont strictly "mix" decks - and the thought of it does not annoy me if only there were standard-sized cards, and we didn't have such great teases as Rohrig or Spiral or Gill... hat I do though is reading with alternate cards - comparate readings, I think it is called. I used to do it with Aquarian - some majors are gross - withthe Gill. Now I almost do it with every two or three decks i have handy and feel like using, and whose look I prefer for a certain card showing up. The High Priestess and Lovers from Aquarian will NEVER be replaced though... ;) :P

Demonesse	12 Oct 2002
Well, there's one very practical reason - actually a few, for NOT doing this. Firstly, there'd be no element of revelation- you'd be able to see which card back was different from the others, even if the shape and size was the same! Secondly, your decks would get all mixed up and it's so tedious putting 'em all in order. Third, the imagery might be extremely out of sync with the rest of the deck - spoiling the 'ordered energy' of it, so to speak. I suggest you scan your fave cards, resize & print them and add them to the desired deck, if you're desperate.

sparrowspirit	12 Oct 2002
I have just been exploring my decks by putting corresponding cards next to each other. I started to realize that I really like the majors of some decks, and the minors of others. I was thinking of doing a spread that uses the majors for an overall feeling for the reading, and then a longer part of the spread using the minors from another deck to expand. I haven't done much reading on spreads so I don't know if there is a special way to do this. Does anyone here do this? Sparrow

jesse marr	12 Oct 2002
i am so glad that you brought up this subject. i thought i was the only one that was thinking of mixing a deck to create a hybrid deck. my favorite deck is the universal waite deck and what i would like to add to the deck is two cards, the truth card and the intuition card, from the restored tarot deck. can anyone tell me if there is a way to get the two cards re-printed with the back of the universal waite deck? i would love to do a readings with the hybrid deck.

Zhritza	12 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Pollux comparate readings, I think it is called. I used to do it with Aquarian - some majors are gross - with the Gill. All right, this is off topic, but I can't help it: What on earth is gross in the Aquarian? This is the gentlest deck I own. Is is the Devil card? I think the deck-mixing idea is totally sexy. If one has a really big collection, one could do it with a bunch of Lo Scarabeo decks, or a bunch of the popular U. S. Games decks; the sizes are uniform in both cases. For the purpose of a thoroughly blended deck the backs wouldn't be too much of a problem. I can't recognize the backs of more than a few of my "normal"-sized decks, personally...

Pollux	13 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Qolus All right, this is off topic, but I can't help it: What on earth is gross in the Aquarian? This is the gentlest deck I own. Is is the Devil card? An off-topic reply then... (today I am posting too much off-topic! *LOL*) First off, I looooooooooooove my Aquarian decks! :D The Normal is my main spur-of-the-moment reading deck, and I find the artystic variation on RW so charming and stylish, appealing to my taste more than the muddy fuzzy R-W. Aquarian is NEAT - and you can find evidence of my love for it almost everywhere on these boards... ;) *LOL* What I meant to say is that some majors are gross, and they ARE. *LOL* The worst cases are the dismayed espression of the Magician (really TOO dismayed, despite the cold feeling of the whole style), the yucky yucky Strength and Justice Cards. The Wheel (ouch!) and Temperance, that is the best definition of an eye-sore. The Moon is a bit sucky too. As for the other Majors, I LOVE THEM TO BITS, especially High Priestess, Empress, Hieropahnt, LOVERS!!! (how to forget of my ever favourite card?), Death and Tower. The Devil is a very good rendition as well, with the pseudo-phallic thing floating in the background, the beast-head, the half-beasts characters tied together and facing outward. The Minors are pretty and very readable - maybe the courts could have been worked better though. Therefore, at times when I fancied it, I used to pick up also Gill, and get deeper - especially when I got the accused cards above, or some courts, Gill's courts are a world unto themselves, only comparable to Spiral's. P.S. Who would have thought one day Qolus (:* I am so happy you are back :*) would have doubted of my love for the Aquarian? :confused: *LOL*

Zhritza	14 Oct 2002
oh no, no, honey, I am not questioning your love for the Aquarian. ""What is gross in the Aquarian?" meant "Which cards are gross in the Aquarian?", that's all... The Magician isn't dismayed, he's just tranquil and confident! You big weirdo :* I guess I see where some of the patterns Palladini puts right next to each other might be jarring, though. Oddly (considering that I don't do any drugs), I enjoy tarot trippiness so much that I didn't notice it until now... I also didn't notice the phallicness of the Devil. I'm gonna have nightmares of The Skull-Penis From Hell now, thanks to you :P *rofl*

Ravenswing	24 Oct 2002
a solution to the deck problem... if you've got a scanner and photoshop, you can scan in the cards and place them all on the same size canvas. granted, there will be non-uniform borders on the card, but you get a uniform size. then print them out on card stock, cut and voila-- a custom made mixed up deck... confused enough at times with ONE deck ravenswing

Indigo	24 Oct 2002
I had to replace a few cards of my Robin Wood deck that had been lost (stolen?), so I took them from my Witches' Tarot. (I really don't care much for the Witche's Tarot... I know, I know ;) ) Fortunately, they fit perfectly. I read with the Robin Wood deck for several years after that, and I kinda liked the fact that I had "personalized" it.

Cerulean	31 Oct 2002
Thanks for the idea of the Greenwood and Merlin. The Hallowquest one (King Arthur/Arthurian Tarot) by the Matthews is the same size. I checked the small books for the Merlin and Greenwood and found the wheel of the year in both are similar. The Matthews' King Arthur Tarot also is derived or influenced by the Merlin Tarot in terms of it's wheel of the year/calendar assignments of pips and courts...seem similar. Of course the Merlin's Majors are all its own system. For comparative readings, it's kind of fun to draw a major in the Merlin and then a more primal art take from the Greenwood. I didn't notice it before, but the Merlin has more movement and seems more lively than the King Arthur one. Not really a hybrid deck yet, more a comparative one---but I'm thinking of mixing readings. Mari H.

Melvis	31 Oct 2002
Hi, all! I just realized that you could use Alexander's Wise Tarot program to create a hybrid deck. He explains near the end of the thread I've linked to above how you can add a new deck that you've scanned into your computer to his program. You can add cards from any decks that you choose as long as you put them all in one directory and use Alexander's file names for them. Does this make any sense? I guess it only applies to those who have access to a scanner, but it's one way to make up a hybrid deck. I'll probably try this at some point myself, as I have the Majors from a few of my decks scanned into my computer. Now I just need to do the Minors...yikes! Peace, Melvis :TSTRE

paradoxx	25 Nov 2002
These two decks work perfectly together. the artist of both decks carries the energy from one to the other, and even though Ms. Knights presence is missing from the c.dragon deck, the two intertwine their messages in strands of magic and power. One of hte best ways of using two decks is to use a zodiac spread. one deck can represent the zodiac according to your sun sign, the second (or third?) deck(s) can represent your lunar and/or rising sign. you may want to write down the order in which the signs appear, it can get very confusing after while.

paradoxx	08 May 2003
first of all i wonder if this thread should go to "using tarot decks" second of all this is a facinating thread and should return to page 1 during this mercury retrograde and to have that info of that computer program be made aware again. I belive that the Universal Tarot, an early Rider-Waite impersonation in some cases but in others totally original in its interpretation of pre 20th century Tarot, and the Rider-Waite would be THE tarot deck to have. Thats my two dollars.

The Mixing Tarot decks thread was originally posted on 12 Oct 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.