Not understanding your deck.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

snowy25	16 Feb 2005
I'm curiouse to know if there are more tarot readers who don't understand much about one of their deck(s) or don't get along with it. I often see posts about how wonderfull a deck is. Most of them are very much so. But do any of you have one deck or more that doesnt speak to you as a reader? The Egyptian tarot/ Lo Scarabeo is very blur to me. Later on it turned out it was because I can't read hieroglyphs. Snowy25

Annabelle	16 Feb 2005
The only deck I own that I really don't get along with is the Connolly. I bought it on clearance, not realizing it was a Christian-themed deck. After opening it and looking through the cards, I immediately regretted having wasted three dollars on it. I find it completely unusable...eventually I'll get around to trying to trade it. Aside from that, though, I do have other decks that I like but don't yet understand. For example, the Elemental tarot...I love the art, but as I'm not familiar with a lot of the symbology on the cards, I'm not very comfortable reading with this deck yet. Also, the Marseille...fascinating deck, but I haven't yet taken the time to study the meanings and interpretations of the pips yet, so I don't do readings with it...not yet, anyway.

souljourney	16 Feb 2005
Most of my decks I have a connection with or I wouldn't keep them. I do have one deck that is probably going to be given to a friend. But...Gothic Tarot of Vampires is the deck that I have the most trouble with. At some point I know I'll get it and understand it. I feel like right now there are others I would rather give my attention too. I was hoping a study group would help, but it seems to be rather slow starting...well stalled actually. SJ

Moonbow*	16 Feb 2005
The thing to do in these instances, in my opinion, is to put the deck away for a while. somewhen along your Tarot journey you will get the deck out again and it will be clearer to you. This has happened to me many times. I never give away a deck, or sell/trade one until I have looked at it a second or third time with different eyes and more understanding. Of course there are those decks that it's possible to take an instant dislike to, but generally, if you were attracted to it in the first place, then it's worth a second chance. I have trouble with the Egyptian deck that I have. I've come back to it twice now and it's still not clicking. But I don't feel ready to get rid of it quite yet. There is still something to learn from it, or learn from the research I do in connection with it. Learning hieroglyphs is a whole new ball game and will take years. Maybe a little hieroglyph knowledge will help but your intuition with the deck will go a long way too, that and research into Eygyption myths, legends and stories. Of course this is all my opinion.

Indigo Rose	16 Feb 2005
I am not a big Tarot collector because I have to be able to read with my decks, and have found that more isn't better for me. I have had a few decks that I could not connect with and ended up selling them. Rohrig Tarot is one of them, along with Tarot of the Ages, the Egyptian Tarot, Quest Tarot and Sacred Circle Tarot; I sold all of these. However, I bought another Quest Tarot thinking I would give it another try. Thus far I haven't really used it much, but I will keep it hoping maybe to connect with it in the future. For me it is a matter of connecting with the images, as well as understanding the symbols.

Stregaverde	16 Feb 2005
Ancestral Path Tarot. I'm trying, I really am. I even bought the companion book, which helped. People rave about this deck, say that they could never part with it...I like it, I do! But I can't get a clear reading from it. Just when I'm feeling like a moron, I pick up one of my other decks--BBC, Hanson-Roberts, Crystal, any one, and things 'click' again. I'm putting it away. Maybe some time later I can work with it. :(

snowy25	17 Feb 2005
I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with a deck. I cept it on a shelve for years now. Only once did I try conecting with it and somehow only the Majors connect more then the Minors. I once gave the deck away but got it back because my friend told me I should keep such a wonderfull deck. I'm thinking about the comment on this by Moonbow*. Maybe looking in to it and taking the time to study it once more. I have some books on the old Egypt and maybe they will give hints. And well... Maybe I'll never learn:-( The Mermaids wasn't easy eather. But we connected after a long, long way of studying. I thank all of you for the replies.

The Not understanding your deck. thread was originally posted on 16 Feb 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.