Does your knowledge increase with every deck that you use?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jul 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kittaine	25 Jul 2004
This may be another way to justify deck collecting! Hehehe! But seriously, when you study a new deck, do you find yourself going, "Ah-ha. I never knew that about tarot. I'm glad I studied this deck." It doesn't have to be a "heavy" deck like the Tarot of the Saints or the Haindl Tarot; it can be decks like the Tarot of the Animal Lords and the Enchanted Tarot. Does your knowledge seriously increase with every deck?

Eco74	25 Jul 2004
But then I only have 4 decks sofar, waiting for delivery on two more.. I'm hoping that the trend will keep up when I have more decks aswell though since I like the thought of both learning and learning from a new deck.

inanna_tarot	25 Jul 2004
hmm Good question Kittaine! I dont think i gain more 'knowledge' as such, but i do gain a better relationship with my subconcious and all the levels tarot works. Its like learning a language, you can know all the words but putting it into use in different situations etc, and tarot is like that, you know the meanings and symbols, but with other decks you can relate them in different ways and exercise that old 3rd eye :P Tarot are like your different friends, who are all there to teach you skills and lessons for your life and lifetime. And its also a good reason to collect pretty cards. I'd have to say my appreciation for art has grown with my collecting. I have to really like the artwork, not what the deck means or relates to for me to have it. Thats probably why i havent got a ToM deck yet ;) Blessings, Sezo x

Emily	25 Jul 2004
I think that your learn something new with each deck you use too - if you connect with the system and symbolism of that deck but sometimes even if you don't connect some aspect of the deck will stick. When I used the Original Rider Waite I noticed it has very limited colours, but it was a good study deck - My next deck was the Spiral - with this deck and book I learnt that I have a love of mythic legends. I moved away from the deck but still love to read mythic/celtic legends. The Robin Wood was the same but I found that the Pagan/Wiccan aspect of the deck was too strong for me, the Ancient Egyptian tarot, the deck is a Rider Waite clone but very interesting. I have found that with decks I usually take something away with me even if the deck doesn't become a favourite, it's a learning experience. With the Morgan Greer I found that the colours on the cards do matter and now I take that into account - The Golden tarot has made me realise that I like Renaissance artwork, something that I had never really noticed before. I could probably write about each deck I have and what I took away with me but it would probably take too long lol - I think that the decks I have in my collection are a mixed variety and each adds something of value. :) (Although I'm not too sure what I'm getting from the Liber T just yet, maybe when I can actually look into the card without getting lost in the artwork :D )

ros	25 Jul 2004
I don't know about my knowledge being increased but my understanding has.

Rhiannon	25 Jul 2004
I believe it does. And here's an example: I had the Ancestral Path tarot deck and book set, and as I was reading through the book the definition of the Chariot card stopped me dead in my tracks. It was the first time I had read about that card being described as the "archetypal hero". That just made so much sense to me and made that card so clear. It gave a whole new depth of meaning to the card and to my readings in which the card appeared. There have been other cards and decks where that has happened as well, but that is the first time and the one I remember most. And yes, it is a great way to justify buying more decks! :D

Rusty Neon	25 Jul 2004
Some RWS-inspired decks incrrease my variety vocabulary within the RWS card meanings. However, not all such decks do this. Some of the artists who do tarot decks have limited knowledge of tarot and are merely varying the RWS images without adding any real insights. In effect, the features they add can be confusing or at best, decorative detai. Oftentimes, what results is a 'different' artistic rendering of the RWS image but with no new insights given. Their images end up illustraing a much narrower subset of RWS meanings than the intentionally ambiguous RWS images. In rare cases, the decorative detail can accidentally give me new insights into a card. Oftentimes, a good tarot book can give more new insights into the RWS images and meanings than a bunch of such new decks. Then there are the theme decks. The author/creator may know about tarot; however, much of one's energy and concentration can be spent on learning the body of knowledge about the theme without many real added insights into tarot being acquired to warrant the energy and concentration.

Sillanza	25 Jul 2004
I think each deck adds another layer of understanding and depth to the readings. I only have 5 decks, and though some of the imagery is similar, I purposely collected decks whose artwork was evocative to me, and was sufficiently dissimilar to others I already had (especially in the pip cards) for just this reason. It makes comparitive reading the spice of tarot!

Umbrae	25 Jul 2004
Depends on the person. Quote: Originally posted by Kittaine Does your knowledge seriously increase with every deck? Perhaps, but then again perhaps not. It depends on the person, and the course of study. In some cases - no. Some, would do well to study one and only one deck for many years. A better justification for deck collecting would be…”I like it/them”

Alta	25 Jul 2004
I agree with you in a general way umbrae. But I have had many an 'aha' moment with a new deck. And yes, 'because I like them' is a perfectly fine reason as well.

Aun	25 Jul 2004
In my opinion, a begginer should stick with one deck till the point where he/she feels very confortable with the cards, etc. Up to this point, the inclusion of a totally diffent deck, could be a little overwhelming. This happened to me. I started studying the Thoth before I was acquainted enough with the RWS, and I felt very confused. So I decided to put the Thoth on the back burner until I was confortable with the RWS, and it worked out very well. When you have a strong foundation, every additional knowledge becomes usefull....

Le_Corsair	25 Jul 2004
Does my knowledge increase? Great gods, NO! My bank account decreases, though! Bob :THERM

anjocoxo	25 Jul 2004
I don't know if my knowledge actually increases, but the truth is, with some cards in some decks you get that "a-ah" feeling. I'll give you an example: the tower, in Fey Tarot is one of the best examples of the Tower that I've ever seen, because the tower is being destroyed from the bottom, and not from the top... that got me thinking that the tower relates to bad situations, but those situations happened because the situation was bad from the beggining - and maybe we tried to ignore it for a while, but in the end we saw the writing on the wall... or the writing on the tower, to be more precise :P Anyway, I don't know if what I said has made any sense (too tired now to think too much...). The Bosch deck has inspired me a lot and give me some new prespectives on tarot. We get diferent ideas and new ways of seeing tarot with every deck we buy, in my opinion. anjo

Eco74	25 Jul 2004
Another great take on the tower! Thankyou for sharing that anjocoxo. :o)

Phantom Goddess	25 Jul 2004
I recently moved from the Sacred Circle Deck to the Vargo Gothic Deck and I've learned more from Vargo than I had from the year I used Sacred Circle. I think it's all about the feeling and the emotions that radiate from the cards that influences what people learn from them.

Kath	25 Jul 2004
I would say ‘yes’, my knowledge, and understanding, have increased with different decks. For example, my Victoria Regina tarot has helped me understand court cards better, because they align with a person. When I get stuck in a reading, I just think back to who was on the VR card, and what their story was.

Ivy Rhiannon	26 Jul 2004
I have only had one deck so far. And until recently its been great. I am starting to have trouble with it, and figured i'd give a new deck a try. Have you guys ever felt it's one decks just not right for you anymore, or do decks like to "rest" so to speak? I love the tarot deck I have now I just would like some advice...

Bosorka	26 Jul 2004
When I got new deck - Trumps painted by one Czech autor, I suddenly underestood the mood of Moon. And the mood of Fool. Since that time I´m going through as much pictures of tarot, as I can. Sometimes, pictures would tell you more than bunch of words in book.

WolfSpirit	26 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Ivy Rhiannon I have only had one deck so far. And until recently its been great. I am starting to have trouble with it, and figured i'd give a new deck a try. Have you guys ever felt it's one decks just not right for you anymore, or do decks like to "rest" so to speak? I love the tarot deck I have now I just would like some advice... Getting another deck will give you a fresh look at the cards. If there is another deck you would like, I would go for it ! You can always go back to your first deck...with a fresh look on it. You certainly don't need as many decks as some of us have ;) but I am sure it would be nice to try another deck. To come back to the original question: I don't think I am now learning a lot with every new deck - I get them because they are nice decks and I want them. Some learn me new things, some don't. From the Vikings tarot, I learnt about the Viking gods - but I could have learnt that from just a book as well. It was just a nice deck to have - don't need any excuses really.

Emily	26 Jul 2004
Hi Ivy Rhiannon, I had that trouble with the Spiral - I'm still not sure whether it was just a case of me being ready to move on but I found that I wasn't getting the same kinds of readings, and it was more like a mental block thing, until finally when I looked at the cards I got nothing. I still can't read with the deck and I love the artwork but whatever connection i had with it is gone. It might be that you just need a change or just do daily readings and not full spreads for a couple of weeks. If its a deck you really like then keep trying - maybe get another deck to have a different style of artwork. I use the Morgan Greer and the Golden now and I think that if I start having the same problems with these that I had with the Spiral I won't be giving up so easily, even if it means treating these decks like study decks again.

diane drizzy	26 Jul 2004
I'd say yes, that when I do get a new deck or even revisit some of my others I do find a different slant on things. Suddenly the mood of one card will capture the essence of the meaning of that particular card. Even if I later find that I couldn't connect with that particular deck, I still take something away from it.

Satori	28 Jul 2004
If I'm out walking and I see a really lovely rose bush I tend to stop and admire it. I look at the way it is growing, and how the bush fits into it's surroundings. And if I can get close enough to it I will inhale it's fragrance and let it surround me with it's color, it's beauty and perfume. Didn't Goethe say something like what you want wants you? Perhaps the attraction we have to our decks is something like the scent of a rose. It is a seduction of the senses and that very first moment when your passion is aroused is always the best, the place where the lesson is really defined.

Ivy Rhiannon	02 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Emily I found that I wasn't getting the same kinds of readings, and it was more like a mental block thing, until finally when I looked at the cards I got nothing. I still can't read with the deck and I love the artwork but whatever connection i had with it is gone. Yes, its like a mental block! :rolleyes: I haven't gotten to the point that I get nothing but I really doubt myself when I say anything. Nothing comes and then I see something, and say it, and when something happens I see what the cards were saying...but I couldn't get it at the time...I don't know. Thank you too wolf spirit. I will get another deck... I have been looking at these two decks... the miracle tarot- http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/miracle the celtic tarot- http://www.isisbooks.com/tarot/t031224181X.asp Do you all have any thoughts or experence on these decks? Please let me know your thoughts!

linabeet	02 Aug 2004
I feel a new deck often does increase your understanding. When a deck is done well it brings another dimension or texture to your knowledge. For example I just gor the Whimsical. I don't think I'll use it a lot, but when I'm stuck on a meaning or want a different angle on a card I can look up the fairy tale it refers to for a different angle. I see it as weaving multiple strands of myth around a common core of Tarot. Even when the deck is poorly done, you learn how your knowledge has expanded enough to realize this, hopefully.

Satori	02 Aug 2004
This is a kind of chicken or egg question. Is it that your knowledge increased because of the deck or your life experience is such that you understand different things about yourself and the Tarot as a whole. Did you grow and therefor become ready for a new experience/deck or did you get the deck and grow. I think the two are so closely woven as to be indistinguishable. If you are asking about symbol sets and understanding a deck creators symbol set, then if your learning/absorption of another person's symbol set = growth then only you can answer that question, seems to me.

Livia	02 Aug 2004
You know I tried to study at first using only one deck, and I found I wasn't understanding things, then I thought I would buy a deck that seemed to have opposing qualities to the deck I owned so I bought the Gothic by Vargo, all of the sudden things clicked. I used two decks and set the cards up in grids next to each other, and wrote intuitive meanings on a grid (one for each deck). All of the sudden I was remembering corelations, and meanings. Now when I buy a new deck I reaserch it makeing sure others think it is a useful deck (I don't generally buy collecters' decks, Ijust buy reading decks) before I use it I lay it out, I believe it is called the Golden Dawn Tableu and look for corrolations. It leads to great insights, like I noticed with Vargo that I-VI of the major arcena have figures inclosed with archetecture meaning to me a formal setting.... So, yes, new deck equals new insights and learning, especially as a beginner, I just wonder if it will keep that way as I advance.

tao51	02 Aug 2004
I do feel that some cards pull and give more than others. I found the some decks are pretty but have little to offer. I do know that my favorite decks have given me great amount of learning from the art and symbols. --Tao

WolfSpirit	03 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by elf This is a kind of chicken or egg question. Is it that your knowledge increased because of the deck or your life experience is such that you understand different things about yourself and the Tarot as a whole. Good point, elf. As we can use all life experiences to increase our knowledge, it is not always easy to say where our knowledge comes from. We can learn from a new deck, but also from a new book (even if it is not about tarot). If we come back to an "old" deck with newly gained insights, we may see different things in the cards.

Little Baron	03 Aug 2004
Interesting question, and I am not sure that I have a very good answer; just one that goes with my own experience. Through my tarot study, I have aquired more decks in time, but rather than their enhancing my study, I think that for me, they hindered it somewhat. Whenever a deck didn't completely connect or I hit some kind of natural exaustion period with it, I moved on to another - not really giving the one before much of a chance. It was that easy. I do agree that some decks I have just don't have enough in them to take study very far, so these days, I am trying to concentrate on just the one or two; trying to learn as much as I can and experience as much as I can with them. My personality has always been one that flits between things and doesn't settle easily, but I am trying to discipline myself now. Does that make any sense? Yaboot

WolfSpirit	03 Aug 2004
Makes perfect sense to me, Yaboot. It is a trap every taroholic falls into sooner or later :D I have more decks than I can read with, but some I just have because I liked the artwork and it is cheaper (and more practical) than buying a painting - although some are potential study/working decks at the same time - and other decks I have for really using, that I want to get to know more in depth. I still keep learning from decks that I have had for years. Too much switching between decks does not work for me either.

Little Baron	03 Aug 2004
I think that for quite a long time, I kidded myself. I would make excuses as to why I needed this or that; 'this one would be easier on the eye than the Rider Waite', 'this one would ease me into the Thoth gently', 'this one would be a gem to read for others with', 'this one is limited and may be worth something one day'. I would pass these comments off to my parents, as a lot of the time, they funded it, but I also use to convince myself that I needed certain decks for necessary reasons. I have nothing against the collecting of tarot but I don't see myself as a collector. I think that through each deck, I was trying to capture something that was missing in the last. It could be that I have found the few perfect decks for me now, but I think that it is more to do with that I am cutting out the options and am settling with which I feel is adequate enough to provoke all of the tarot that is 'inside of me'. I am sure I will buy another deck but I think that if I do, it will be tailored to what I have learnt is suited to me. The other decks I own are dramatically different, and I needed to experience them to get to this point (someone else mentioned something like that - that through learning, you can determine which is a good deck and which isn't - good point). I adore my Rohrig (it was my first and has a special place in this journey - I am very fond of many of the others), but right now, it is the Marseille kind of decks that are pushing the buttons, as for many years, it was the Rider Waite styled packs that did it for me. I enjoy the non-scenic pips and I imagine that should I buy another deck, it would be along those lines and a variant of that type of deck. Having said all of that, if I hadn't have been gifted with the Marseilles, then I would not have known. So maybe I should take back all my words and say yes, being given that deck and buying the ones that led up to and provoked it, did increase my knowledge. More confused than ever now about this question, lol. Yaboot

ferrous	11 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by anjocoxo I don't know if my knowledge actually increases, but the truth is, with some cards in some decks you get that "a-ah" feeling. I'll give you an example: the tower, in Fey Tarot is one of the best examples of the Tower that I've ever seen, because the tower is being destroyed from the bottom, and not from the top... that got me thinking that the tower relates to bad situations, but those situations happened because the situation was bad from the beggining - and maybe we tried to ignore it for a while, but in the end we saw the writing on the wall... or the writing on the tower, to be more precise :P Anyway, I don't know if what I said has made any sense (too tired now to think too much...). The Bosch deck has inspired me a lot and give me some new prespectives on tarot. Wow, that was very insightful, anjo. I'm skipping ahead (I haven't read the rest of the thread yet) & I'm late on this one, but I wanted to say what a great insight that was. I'm going to remember that one. :)

The Does your knowledge increase with every deck that you use? thread was originally posted on 25 Jul 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.