Different Decks.... Same Card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

FlashFighter	09 Jan 2005
Well just out of curiosity..... do you beleive that the cards hold different meanings if they come from different decks? Or is An Ace of Cups and Ace of Cups, no matter what deck it came from?

RedMaple	09 Jan 2005
Welcome to AT. Your question is a good one, and one that's been asked before. The answer is, Well, yes, and no. The Ace of Cups is an Ace of Cups, but......the particular image is important, too. There have been a lot of threads on the interaction, some call it a "marriage" between you and the cards. In other words, as you get to know a particular deck, certain images will resonate with you in a particular way. For example, the 5 Pentacles in the Morgan Greer deck, besides its usual meanings, for me has the distinct feeling of enabling, or co-dependency. It's the particular image of a woman helping a wounded man that apparently triggered that for me. However, I have to say that in every reading, the meaning of the card will be different, depending on the question, the spread I'm using, and what feels right, or "clicks" as I'm reading. There's a whole technique of reading called "Comparative Tarot" that developed specifically from the kind of question you are asking. You might consider doing a search for discussions of that here on AT. Also, there is a web-site at www.comparativetarot.com.

The Different Decks.... Same Card thread was originally posted on 09 Jan 2005 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.