Experiences with a New Deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

WalesWoman	16 May 2004
This thread seems to go several ways after I re-read it, this new deck is really make me do a whole lot of things I hadn't imagined. The Legends: Authurian Tarot got here Wednesday. I went through the cards, several times trying to clear my mind of everything I knew and just get impressions. Did not read the Keeper of Words once it got to the card meanings, because I just wanted to see what I could learn from the pictures and well, that's like trying not to think about pink elephants. From reading what Anne Marie Furgeson had to say I knew this deck was based on RWS meanings but some of these cards totally stumped me. 9 of Shields is a good example. I just couldn't get it until I read the story for the picture, then it made perfect sense. Anyway, I took the deck and the book with me this weekend on a trip to some friends house, got it out after supper and started shuffling the cards, while she was off taking a plate of food next door to an old guy. This deck has some sort of protective, almost plastic coating on them that make them seem like they won't mind coffee stains or sloppy accidents and shuffle wonderfully. They slide but aren't slippery or sticky. Have a great sound and feel to them and just feel divine in my hands. My friend didn't know I read Tarot and was immediately interested (so I'm coming out of the closet!!!), related her experiences, being a child and shooed out of the room when her aunt did Tarot readings for her mom, etc. So I let her shuffle and we did a general reading with them. I still hadn't looked at the book and some of these cards put me at a real loss. I felt like a total idiot actually, groping around, saying...Well in my other deck (Radiant) this card would mean such and such, but let's look at the picture and see if this rings any bells, etc. The other thing was every spread I've ever used completely left my brain, so I was just making it up as we went along and then wracking our brains to remember what each position meant later. ARGH! I didn't bring my handy dandy notebook, so I didn't write it down either. Double ARGH! Next time I'll remember to do all of this, so I'll have my cache of spreads to use and be able to record this for later, plus be able to have something for the querant to keep and look back at. But it actually turned into a good experience. We talked about each card as we turned one over and laid it down, then went to the next one, until we decided it was time for a final outcome, so it ended up a WW version of CC. (or a wild and wacky WalesWoman version) Then we decided to look at the book, even reading the stories that went along with the meanings and portrayed on each of the cards. That was when it got really good, because my meanings were pretty much right on, but digging into the book added so much more dimension to the reading, actually was trippy how some wording of the stories themselves played a real part in her world right now. This was also my first "live" reading for anyone besides members of AT or online Tarot buddies, so I was nervous, but it turned into a real learning/teaching experience as well. I think I'm going to find her a deck so she can learn. I sort of lost what my point of inquiry was... How hard is it to get used to a new deck without "falling back into" using your previous or favorite Tarot deck meanings? What are good suggestions?

Cerulean	16 May 2004
You did the exactly right thing with a new deck in a friendly envioronment...you weren't afraid to stumble, you dove in with your friend and somehow both your friendship and friendly conversation became deeper and richer. I often did this at first with my sister and also a good friend in an out of town visit. This weekend for the first time I did a few on the spot readings and short readings with decks I normally don't read with---but after six to eight years of funny experiments, it seems I built some mental meanings that resonate with others. But I've recently also had some fiction classes, so I'm in storytelling mode. It's a beautiful choice and I hope the book and deck resonates with you and your friend. Oddly, I've given this deck and book set away three times in my life and kept my original Arthurian (Matthews) and Hallowquest book. Regards, Cerulean

Sulis	17 May 2004
Well done you. I've never read for anyone in person and I've been using cards for a couple of years now. Sounds like you did the right thing though and it's obviously boosted your confidence. good on you :) Love Sulis xx

yve	17 May 2004
To be able to do live readings is the ultimate! (so I believe anyway.) It's wonderful to be able to openly be confident about something you've been passionate for so long!

WalesWoman	17 May 2004
Well, I don't know about the "openly confident" part, but finally reading for someone I know face to face was a real revelation. I know I sure want to know my deck better before I do it again, but it was a great way to "break" us both in. We did another horseshoe spread for a meeting that was going to happen the next day and I totally misread that one. I couldn't figure it out until last night, and then realized the cards were right on, we just were reading them the way we wanted to see it, not the way it really was. I haven't had a chance to tell her what we saw differently than what really happened, so I don't think she thinks a whole lot of my ability or the accuracy.

Phoenix Rising	17 May 2004
I didn't realise that other people also prefer to do online readings too...I guess it's with doing it in person, we can't take our time, and we miss other small details because we're in a rush. but getting back to the question. I found that I was referring back to my first learning deck (RWS) when I got my "Quest deck" But now that I have Robin Wood. I just look at the image, and it doesn't even relate to the traditional meaning sometimes.

The Experiences with a New Deck thread was originally posted on 16 May 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.