What does your "mental" tarot deck like?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 08 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rusty Neon	08 Feb 2004
'Fess up! In my case, my mental tarot deck is an eclectic mixture of - meanings consistent with the illustrations in the Rider-Wate deck, - Thoth deck keywords and synonyms/word associations arising from those keywords, and - card meanings given in the Order of the Golden Dawn's tarot manuscript _Book T_ - card meanings in Waite's _Pictorial Key to the Tarot_. This will change as I work more with Marseilles decks.

miss_apples	08 Feb 2004
my mental tarot cards would be like a "Tarot for Dummies" deck. No long winded, complicated explanations and descriptions. Just nice and clear cut. What can I say...Im a "get to the point" kind of reader. :)

Logiatrix	08 Feb 2004
The deck in my head is a mish-mash of every deck I've ever worked with for any length of time, and the right image usually comes to mind when I need it. The "default" deck imagery floating around up there is basically RWS with a little Thoth thrown in; most likely because those are the two decks I studied in depth when I started into tarot. That's one of the coolest things about tarot for me: I will always have it with me, because of the deck in my head! :)

Kiama	08 Feb 2004
Yep, same as Tauni. Alot of the time the Robin Wood pops into my head, unless it's the Hierophant card, then it is either the Gill Tarot, Wheel of Change, or Thoth. But recently, due to me and my housemate creating our own deck, those images have been popping into my head... :D Also, sometimes it won't even be a Tarot deck: sometimes it will be images or scenes that somehow relate to that card, but come from other places like art, real life, etc. Blessings, Kiama

Macavity	08 Feb 2004
(In brief!) Barrett's AE, Losche's Cosmic, the Thoth... and a pinch of RWS? ;) Macavity

Aoife	08 Feb 2004
With desperate determination, I'm fighting to rid myself of those darn RWS mental pictures. :)

Macavity	08 Feb 2004
In truth there are few things that (really) cause me to "LOL", Aoife. But that reply was one of those few! LOL - Amen to that? :laugh: Macavity

Agathe	08 Feb 2004
DeAngelis Tarot. I guess everything about it right now. Images and meanings.

Lady Eclipse	08 Feb 2004
For me, it's always one or more of my own decks. It doesn't matter if the deck is created already or not but there it is clear as day. Joy to you, Maralee

Ruby7	08 Feb 2004
My "mental" deck involves: Rider-Waite/ Hanson-Roberts/Thoth illustrations even if I am looking at a completely different deck. Keywords from a laminated card that I was given at a tarot workshop. Number descriptions (e.g. #3 is synthesis, joy, or a knight is change (adolescent) Gemstones from The Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals (not all the time 'cause I don't know them all yet :)) Ruby7

Dark_angel	08 Feb 2004
I tend to let my mind go blank when I read, and just do as much as possible by stream-of-consciousness. But I must confess that it's impossible to escape the Morgan-Greer images imprinted on my subconcsious. I don't own the deck, and I don't think I ever will, because it would never be the same as the worn, dusty, old deck I picked up off my boyfriend's shelves.

lunakasha	10 Feb 2004
Hmmmm.... I don't think I have a "mental" tarot deck yet... Now I'm thinking: how will I know when I get there? How much time and/or experience with tarot does it take before the mental images really start flowing??? I think for me it may take longer because I have difficulty with visualization (in general) to begin with...but I'm working on it! :) Luna

lark	10 Feb 2004
I have a terrible habit of making tarot decks in my head out of tv shows, childrens books, food, ect. I have an Andy Griffith Tarot, Northern Exposure Tarot (my all time favorite show), Winnie the Pooh Tarot, Breakfast Cereal Tarot. In my head. Anything that grabs my attention gets turned into tarot. I was talking to my daughter the other day about it as I turned the movie Independence Day into a tarot deck. She said it was like that when she was learning Spanish. She started to sometimes think in Spanish instead of English. And her teacher told her she was assimilating the language, absorbing it, untill it became a part of herself. So I guess this is my quirky way of making tarot a part of me. But RWS and Robin Wood imagery is what I base my mental tarot decks on.

The What does your "mental" tarot deck like? thread was originally posted on 08 Feb 2004 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.