Connecting with your deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Shadowlynx	27 Aug 2004
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CreativeFire	27 Aug 2004
Hi Shadowlynx I am not personally familiar with the deck you are talking about but here are some thoughts anyway. :) Of course everyone is different in how their first 'connect' with a deck. However if you don't feel that connection right off and you feel there is a blank for you, IMHO it may well be not the deck for you at the moment. ;) Doesn't mean however that it will always remain so, you could try putting it aside for a while and then try again at a future time. Another thought, is to maybe trying doing a daily card draw with the deck for a week or so and just see if you can connect any of the cards individually to get you started. :) If it works great, sometimes a deck 'grows' on you - however if it doesn't work, don't feel too bad, that is why there are so many different decks out there - lots of different people connect to decks in different ways. - Good luck! :) CreativeFire

Tarot Sparrow	27 Aug 2004
I'd say try meditation and just to give it time. If you still don't feel any connection after awhile, there's always the Trading Forum :D And don't worry, hardly anyone takes offense here.

Cerulean	27 Aug 2004
I've always enjoyed the www.facade.com free reading and chose the William Blake Tarot and the Twisting Path spread for fun takes on ideas...and the uplifting messages were just great. In person, the deck is great to feel and the book is also wonderful...it's as if I had a deck of engravings geared toward divination. May this will take time to settle into your soul. However I have to pull the deck out every few months, check the cards, see if its time to enjoy it...and after a few readings, I put it away. I'll never give it away, but its not a primary deck for me right now. It's a gentle, quirky and friendly deck with a nice feeling to revist now and again. In contrast, once I received a deck where the art was just fascinating but too much was unfamiliar--the keywords on the cards, new to me style of numbering and unfamiliar art--all three in one. But from the first online scans I saw to handling the cards, the large, textured cardstock just inspired me to look and keep looking at the cards. After about a year and a half, I use it still for meditative card pulls and story concepts...I am still bad at reading Italian, but it's easier for me to catch some of the aspects of the keywords and mini book that comes in the set now. It's the De Vecchi edition of an Egyptian set with detailed text by Laura Tuan. Recently the De Vecchi edition of an Egyptian Tarot seems more open and readable and I've been pleased that my imagination works with it. I did put it in a separate zipper bag and in odd moments, look at the book and cards and translate a bit, one card per day. I am thinking of threads that I've read recently where people just are entranced by the art and so the deck becomes a journey of discovery...this one is for me. I hope the William Blake is a good journey for you! Regards, Cerulean

Shadowlynx	28 Aug 2004
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Ace	29 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Shadowlynx I think I may indeed be jumping the gun here, as I've only had it for a month. Got it in one, Shadowlynx! Some decks grow on you (like fungus, I guess :) ) some decks never connect: I can't use a Marsailles tarot to save my life, but others love it! So to each their own, but like a good book, give it a fair chance. Just don't assume it is YOU that is the problem.

lionette	29 Aug 2004
Hey there, Shadowlynx. Understand what you are talking about although not with that deck in particular. What I did was make a decision to fully connect with the deck and use it for daily spreads. In a very short time I've been able to read this deck with lots more understanding. From what I understand the Blake deck is different from other decks and maybe it would be helpful to have a look at his poetry along with a daily reading? Some freebies are at: gutenberg.net Hope it helps!

Cerulean	29 Aug 2004
I recently found a beloved childhood book that became a rediscovery of why I really connected with certain styles of illustrations and characters in certain tarot decks. If William Blake right now isn't a connecting link to an art style that you want to learn from or an artist that appeals to you, maybe a look back at some artists that you really like is what you want now. Analyzing your art likes and the elements of designs that appeal to you might help you to check out decks that give you that "aha" delight connection. Best wishes! Cerulean

Apollonia	29 Aug 2004
This is just me, but from my own experience, if I don't connect with a deck right away, it's never going to happen for me. I feel life's too short and the list of decks I could love far too long to mess about with trying to get along with one that clearly isn't my thing. When I don't click with a deck I have purchased, I figure it's meant for someone else to enjoy, and somewhere down the line I always seem to find the person it was intended for all along.

Centaur	29 Aug 2004
Sleep with it. However, remember to use a condom (a tarot-bag). Safe decks, as opposed to safe sex.

Eco74	29 Aug 2004
What I do is just keep it around so it can absob my energy. A bit "unclear" perhaps but still quite effecient. Look at the images every now and then, preferrably when there is little or no disturbance. Have it around, close by a place where you spend a lot of time or where you do things you love. If you have an art-corner, or enjoy cooking, or in a window overlooking the garden in case you spend a lot of time and love on it, or indeed by the bed so you keep it close enough to "touch" with your subconcious during the night. For me, just having it around and studying it on and off does plenty, though does not work on every deck. I've been loosing touch with my Swedish Witch deck over the last few months (as I started discovering other styles I like) and am not sure yet wether this will turn out to be a reversible state.. I have the deck in the window to the bedroom along with a glassbox containing crystals and other bits of colored glass (intend to find a good window to hang them in some day) and sofar it's just been sitting there. Given time I'll start rediscovering the images again and hopefully rekindle the connection.

The Connecting with your deck thread was originally posted on 27 Aug 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.