How do you regulate study?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Little Baron	09 Aug 2003
Like a lot of you, I own (quite) a few decks; not as many as some but 'enough'. Recently, I have been drawing a card from the Phantasmagoric each day and with the help of other PT readers have been summerising our thoughts and ideas in the General section. As well as this, I have been working on the Rohrig; unfortunately, not as much as I would have intitially liked. The Phantasmagoric daily draws have been really useful and we have pulled some great stories together as we have got to know it's characters. Tonight, I pulled out my Thoth deck. I have never worked or studied with it. I would like to also spend some time with this one as well. Other decks I have, love and have not had time to spend with are Tarot of the Ages, The Light and Shadow Tarot, The Buckland Romani and the Pagan 2000. My question is, how many decks do you study at one time? Do you save a deck until you have time to solely work with that one? How long do you spend with it? Do you have a couple of months studying together and then move onto the next with the intention of coming back to it or do you finish your studying when you have mastered it? I was thinking of continuing my PT daily draws (of course) and then using the daily draw card from maybe a couple of those decks to give a little more insight. Would this be useful or would it complicate matters further. Very interested to find out how you all work. Best wishes Yaboot

oceanpoetry	09 Aug 2003
My approach is very right-brained, non-linear. I pull out the deck to use that suits my mood, rather than engaging in a deliberate study of deck. I go through phases, where I enjoy working with one or deck more. I have six decks, five of which are RW-clones, so the more I learn about RW, the more I can apply to the deck. I also have the Voyager Deck, in a class by itself with the accompanying book I have read through. And I highly recommend '78-Degrees of Wisdom', which has been an invaluable resource.

Mimers	09 Aug 2003
Hi Yaboot, I didn't start looking at other decks until I felt I had really learned the basics of the cards. I had meditated and gone into all of the majors of the RWS and wrote my notes in my journal. This took about 6 months. Since then, I have started exploring other decks. Having learned the basics makes it very easy to pick up and read just about any deck. I have recently purchased the Thoth deck and have been spending a lot of time exploring these cards one by one. They are quite different than the RWS and deserve their own attention. I recommend you stick with one deck at a time. That is what works for me.

jmd	10 Aug 2003
Another way to approach study is to take out the same card from numerous decks, examine them, probe with them, carve or re-draw them... and also read the words many authors have written on the card in question... Then, another week, take another and repeat the process.

Little Baron	10 Aug 2003
Thanks for your responses. I think that I have learnt a lot of the basics from the RWS so I might try and use your method of pulling the same card from different packs for a week, Jmd. Thanks again. Yaboot

Kiama	10 Aug 2003
I usually do what JMD suggested: Take the same card from many different decks, compare them all, write notes, study them all in relation to each other, look for common symbols, etc... Look at the differences in meaning too, which is always very interesting. I do this when I have alot of time to spare though, as doing it with 136 decks takes alot of space and time! It's worth it though! So, in effect I don't really study a deck, I study the cards. Kiama

Macavity	10 Aug 2003
In all honesty, I go through the cards from my decks in isolation, but I often do try (very hard!) to recall the image (mentally) from other decks. Heat induced sloth? (Ah, Excuses!) But this idea is discussed more extensively e.g. on the Comparative Tarot Website "... after contemplating and working with so many different decks, over time, something amazing occurs: when you plunk down the Seven of Swords from the Rider-Waite, you'll also "see" the Seven of Swords from the Alchemical deck, and the Morgan-Greer, or the Thoth, and the Gill, or the Tarot of Marseilles." Hey, I'd go with (or aspire to) that! I believe too there is an underlying "generic" meaning, which is important (to me anyway). There's also an associated Yahoo group of the same name. But, one shouldn't really divert your full attention from this group :P Macavity

WolfSpirit	10 Aug 2003
When I started learning, I just used the rider-waite as I did not find anything else :P Now I have many different decks, and many of them with their own special twist to a meaning. When I feel like using a deck, I just do so, the meaning I come up with for a card I think is a mixture of what I see in front of me and the combination of possible meanings I have in my head. I haven't compared one card from different decks with each other, but I sometimes lay out a reading with a different deck to see if that makes it clearer. So no, I do not study one deck at a time, when I feel like using a deck I just do so. I have learnt a lot this way, but maybe I would have learnt even more if I had studied one (or just a few) decks more in-depth...I just like using many different decks, and it works for me.

Kiama	10 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Macavity "... after contemplating and working with so many different decks, over time, something amazing occurs: when you plunk down the Seven of Swords from the Rider-Waite, you'll also "see" the Seven of Swords from the Alchemical deck, and the Morgan-Greer, or the Thoth, and the Gill, or the Tarot of Marseilles." This is what happens with me during readings, with the decks I am most familiar with. Mainly, I use the Robin Wood, but the decks that jump into my head are the Thoth, Rider Waite, Hanson-Roberts, Wheel of Change, Hermetic, Ancestral Path, Merryday, Glastonbury, and every now and then some decks that I don't know so well. I find it most helpful when on Aeclectic writing about the cards, because I don't need to go to my drawers and get out the decks. (I'm very lazy in this heat!) About Tarot study though: I often find aswell that my 'Tarot study' comes in waves. I go through a period of a month every now and then, when I'll post on Aeclectic and read things on here, but won't do much else to do with Tarot. But then I'll go through a period of, say 3 months, where every single day is a Tarot day! During these days, especially if it's during non-school time (Which it is now! :D) I study the Tarot every day, whenver I feel like it. Kiama

Wildchild	10 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Yaboot001 ...I was thinking of continuing my PT daily draws (of course) and then using the daily draw card from maybe a couple of those decks to give a little more insight. Would this be useful or would it complicate matters further... Yaboot, I just started doing the card comparison and found it really insightful. I was the same as you...too many decks on the go. I limited myself to my favourite top four decks to cut down on the amount of cards.

jmd	11 Aug 2003
Limiting decks to especially some of the major variations I too would recommend, with others thrown in when and if possible. With regards to 'seeing' cards from decks which are not there, I agree that this happens... hence my comments in the 'Blank deck' thread. I suppose it is also this thread which motivated me to begin the thread on Tarot's Internal Structure(s), for the cards need to also be considered, simultaneously with the above, in the myriad ways they relate to one another, and not only sequentially.

Little Baron	11 Aug 2003
Good ideas. I have been mainly working with the Buckland Romani, Phantasmagoric and Rohrig in the last couple of months but thought that maybe I will change the list around for a bit with relevance to what you have all advised. The four would be - Phantasmagoric - this is a deck on its own and the study group we have formed is doing so well at getting to know it. Universal Waite - have learnt so much from this one so want to continue. Thoth - know nothing about this deck and think it is about time I did. I want to cotrast with the UW. The Light and Shadow seems to have elements of the Thoth and RWS so this is why I have chosen it as the 4th. What do you think about this grouping of decks? Yaboot

all78degrees	12 Aug 2003
I need structure. I can't seem to force myself into doing anything about it, I always feel that I'm leaving something esle out. I do the pic a deck any deck method of study. It depends on how I feel at the time. I've been studying for five years I've sort of let my studies be an organic substance. I am looking into teaching tarot soon so I'm trying to make a structure to make into a lesson plan. I'll do it. I just hate leaving stuff out. Then again I don't want to overload them cause tarot is soo simple. Its just us that are complicated. Going back to the topic a little more. I've got Vision Quest, Dante, Shining Tribe, Origins, Fradella Advenurte, on my desk at the moment that I'm learning from. I want to have a few more on my desk but theres no more spacewith the mac and the books! gav.

Cocobird55	17 Aug 2003
I have tried a few ways of learning. My current way is to pick a deck that currently appeals to, that comes with a book, and work on the majors only. I do about three cards a day that way, so it takes me about a week to get through each deck. Once I'm done with this (which at my current pace will take a very long time), if it works well I may go back and do the minors one suit at a time. Sue

Emily	18 Aug 2003
I originally started studying with the Rider Waite (and clone decks), then the Universal Waite, still the deck I seemed to use most, and the Thoth. I wanted the Thoth deck to be my main reading deck and hoped that I would be able to move onto it from my study of the Universal Waite - it hasn't quite worked out like that lol - I still read better with the Universal Waite and its a struggle to use the Thoth although the two decks do seem to compliment each other - I compare the decks as I study them. These last few weeks though have seen a little bit of a change around, the Ancient Italian and the Classical decks have been my main reading and study decks, using both Rider Waite and Thoth inspired books, These decks are very uncluttered in the minors department and it gives the mind time to take the meanings and position of the cards in, they are also very beautiful. I seem to be having alot of success with these decks so I think I will still study the Universal Waite along side of them and keep the Thoth until I think I'm ready to hear what it wants to say to me. :) Edited to say:- I take cards from the Universal and Ancient Italian, 2 or 3 cards a day, write down in my journal my first feelings on these cards. Then i do a 1 or 2 cards for the day from either of these decks, it has been the A Italian for the last couple of weeks and do a big spread about once a week.

moonlitpath	01 Sep 2003
I tend to study one deck at a time. I've tried working with more than one, but I noticed that I don't retain as much when I've got so much going on. I've had the Handl and the major and minor books to go with it for some time now, but haven't gotten to it yet cuz I'm still into my Hermetic deck. Hmmmmm, maybe I should MAKE time. ;-)

The How do you regulate study? thread was originally posted on 09 Aug 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.