Has anyone here only ever had ONE deck???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

IDN	11 Dec 2004
And if so..... Which deck is it? (Sorry: 2 or 3 decks don't count- Only if you have had just ONE!. But if you have had to replace the deck with the SAME one, because it was worn out, that counts!) Take care, Regards, Ian EDITED TO CLARIFY: In this thread I am really interested in the people who:- 1) First got into tarot- and hence bought a deck 2) Have only ever had THAT particular deck (or an identical replacement) EVER since 3) Have not bought ANY other different decks at all! Anyone??!

contradiction	11 Dec 2004
me, me me, me,me. actually one deck has alway had me. when buying a new deck i let the deck choose me. and have always ended up with the universal-waite. contradiction

jmd	11 Dec 2004
I have had just one... At one time, I only had a Marseille, at another, I only had the standard game of tarot version... but this has fortunately been healed many years ago :D

Anna	11 Dec 2004
Before I had tarot cards, I used to read with a pack of ordinary playing cards... My sister and I made up a system for reading playing cards when we were kids, and I read that way in the years before I got my first deck at 14 (which was an 1JJ Swiss). It takes me right back to my childhood reading with playing cards! I will probablly introduce my own children (if I have any) to Tarot that way :) Does that count?

closrapexa	11 Dec 2004
I had one. I've been reading for quite a while now, but as for collecting, well, thats new. Right now I have four. But for over ten years I had only one, the Morgan-Greer

Fulgour	11 Dec 2004
Yes, I have only ever had one deck, with some fava beans, and a nice Chianti. :P

Moonbow*	11 Dec 2004
I had only one deck once... for 3 months! :D I knew it wouldn't last, but I challenge anyone to have done better than that! I had so much stamina in those days! :)

jmd	11 Dec 2004
With that alteration you made, IDN, most of our posts so far do not seem to be useful. There is of course a sense in which I personally consider that all my Tarot decks are but expressions of Tarot - and hence, in some ways, but flowerings from the same tarot-bush. Some perhaps with vivid and near perfect petals, others that appear to have suffered at the avarice of affids.

Imagemaker	11 Dec 2004
I bought the Hoi Polloi deck (which I never knew the name of until I joined AT) back in the 70s out of curiosity. Started reading and thought it was all too complicated. Essentially, I then put tarot aside for 25+ years. I was doing yoga and meditation, passed through other studies of divination, runes, the I Ching, and then got re-interested in tarot (my intuition awareness had gone from 0 to 100 in that time). Bought the RWS and took a class (and promptly bought 2 more decks, Osho Zen and Light & Shadow). And as I reported here, I cleaned out a closet last winter and was amazed to find that original Hoi Polloi in its box. So I owned only one deck for decades! Tarot was always waiting for me to come home . . .

Suriel	11 Dec 2004
I actually have two decks....ehehe But well I've had the first deck for over two years without buying another deck that I've just got in August this year. And the reason I get another deck is becaue my first deck has only major arcanas!:) Ehehe, two years with only one deck that has only 22 majors! Sounds crazy , isn't it?...lol Suriel

Umbrae	11 Dec 2004
I had one and read with only one deck for 29+ years. RWS

tmgrl2	11 Dec 2004
Umbrae wrote: I had one and read with only one deck for 29+ years. RWS Is it still usable? Is it worn-out? I hope you still have it. terri

MeeWah	11 Dec 2004
I had one--The Rider Tarot Deck for many, many years. Even after finding first the Aeclectic Tarot Deck Directory & subsequently, its one forum then of Talking Tarot. Not now, of course.

Cerulean	11 Dec 2004
I'm always eager to hear from the minimalists, as I'm clearing things... Regards Cerulean

emillkim	11 Dec 2004
Until I joined this forum, I didn't realize that people usually had more than one deck at a time! I thought it was like guys with their underwear. Keep'em until they are barely hanging on by a thread... Emill

CloeCat	12 Dec 2004
I started with only a Rider-Waite and hated it. I had been told that RW its what you learn with, but in one month or less I gave it to a friend who really wanted a deck but couldn't get one. Then I found the Witches Tarot by Ellen Cannon Read, it was what I learn with and read for 4yrs. Manny Purrrs, Cloecat

Alta	12 Dec 2004
I read with the RWS and only that from 1971 to 2000 when I discovered Robin Wood. And, um, a couple more after that.

Cocobird55	12 Dec 2004
I had one deck, the 1JJ Swiss, all by itself, for over thirty years. My interest in tarot came and went. The last time it came back, I joined Aeclectic, and now I have lots of decks. Sue

Ivy Rhiannon	15 Dec 2004
emillkim wrote: Until I joined this forum, I didn't realize that people usually had more than one deck at a time! I thought it was like guys with their underwear. Keep'em until they are barely hanging on by a thread... LOL! Me too! I was surfing through here and I kept hearing about oh this deck that, that deck this...and was confused. I have had only one deck The Goddess Tarot for five years now. But since I joined AT I have been looking for another...and just can't find one to suit me. Besides it was just out of curiousity, I love my deck. But 29+ years Umbrae? That is impressive!!! Fulgour wrote: Yes, I have only ever had one deck, with some fava beans, and a nice Chianti. I laughed so hard Fulgour when I saw your post! That's HALAROUS!!!! :D

Cerridwen	15 Dec 2004
I only have one deck which is The Gilded Tarot, I have looked at others as thought it might be good to have more than one but, never really seen any that I liked as much, unless anyone has any recommendations for me :D

huredriel	15 Dec 2004
I only have one deck - Tarot of the Old Path (Cerridwen you might want to have a look, AT has a review with some of the card images) - but what can I say, I've only had them 3 weeks (well nearly) and I am starting to add ideas to my wishlist. I do have some willpower so will have to see how long I hold out!

Adjustment	17 Dec 2004
I had one deck for about 5 years untill i joined this forum i got encourage to read with different decks.

Ambyr_rain	19 Dec 2004
I currently only have one deck. It is the Spiral Tarot. It has been wonderfully good to me. I got it a couple of years ago. Three of my friends also got cards at the same time and bought the Goddess Tarot (I believe) all three bought the same deck. I liked the look of the Goddess Tarot, but I wanted something different. I never really liked the look of the Raider Waite Tarot, and it seemed as if there were a lot like them. Then one day I found the Spiral Tarot. I picked them up, put them down, picked them up, put them down, until I had to buy them. I am currently thinking of getting another deck, but the Spiral with always be my first choice....

Cerulean	19 Dec 2004
I gave my Spiral away in anticipation of the Celestial by the same artist. It may be awhile before the Celestial arrives. Regards, Cerulean

Vita-morte	19 Dec 2004
I have only been reading tarot cards for about two years. I have purchased two decks. The first was my beloved Spiral deck. The second was for a close friend. I have looked longingly at some other decks, but none has just grabbed my attention and made me buy.

Maelin	19 Dec 2004
I bought my first deck - the trusty RWS deck in 197... ( do I have to admit how long ago that was - and it wasn't even the LATE 70's!). The second, third, fourth and fifth came in 2004 - after joining this forum - you guys are a bad influence!(not really)

TemperanceAngel	19 Dec 2004
I had my RWS for about 10+ years and that's it...then I got interested in looking at other decks and then joined AT, I rest my case :D

contrascarpe	19 Dec 2004
I received my first deck in the late sixties/early seventies (can't remember which, it's all a blur) and of course it was the RWS. I had that deck until the early nineties and somehow it got lost in all my moves. In the mid-nineties I bought a replacement, but by then the colors were starting to wash out of the standard US Games RWS. In 1997, I picked up a second deck, the Grimaud (note: at that point in my life I still thought there was only one deck style - I was in Paris with the idea that I would buy a French language version of the RWS, but my big bro talked me into the Grimaud). So, one style deck for over 25 years, and then two decks until last October - since then I joined the forums (deck size increased to over eighty), and met Gardener (joined deck collection WELL over a hundred). Dan

Clau	20 Dec 2004
The first deck I had was the Tarot of Marseilles, I started learning with this one, and for many years I didn't know there were any ohter decks.... Then, I took tarot classes and the teacher wanted all to have Rider White, but I couldn't buy it so I stuck with the Marseilles Then..I found Amazon, and then.....I singed up on AT....I have to agree: you're all such a bad influence!!!! Love, Clau

gollog	21 Dec 2004
I have had just one deck for about 8 years. It was the tarot of the witches. I like it very much but could never read with it very well because the minors are to bare. I used it once in a while, not very often, with a book next to it. After 8 years I just happened to find my second deck, without looking for it, and about a year after that I found aeclectic and then I was hooked. I have 7 decks now and I think that should be enough for me for a while (I hope).

blue_fusion	21 Dec 2004
i did waay before. the RWS one. cuz decks here are quite expensive, and are quite harder to come by.

DarkElectric	21 Dec 2004
The only time I ever had only one deck was when I first started out. I bought a Connolly deck, didn't understand it for beans, because I was sooooooo new to tarot, bought a Universal Waite the very next week, and promptly became a tarotholic. Oh well...

Majecot	21 Dec 2004
Once I had only one deck...and that was a case of down to one... but then I joined here and that was all she wrote ;)

northsea	21 Dec 2004
For a long time, I had zero decks. Then I had one deck for awhile. I eventually got a few more.

ihcoyc	21 Dec 2004
I learned with one deck: the Swiss 1JJ. Then sometime after that, I got the RWS, mostly because all the books were written for RWS. Eventually, the RWS began to rub me the wrong way, but it taught me as well. I went back to reading the Swiss with RWS meanings. When the Swiss was starting to show signs of obvious wear --- I'd have had it more than fifteen years at this point --- I got the Angel Tarot (a Japanese Marseillish deck with Spanish style pips.) It's been that kind of deck from then on out.

Chenny	22 Dec 2004
I only have one deck and only plan on having the one. It takes a long time to meditate on each and every card, one by one. You can call me lazy but I simply do not have the time and plus I'm taking up the rune stones. If you really want to learn more about the cards themselves then its good to have multiple decks but if you want what they can give to you then one is just fine.

Celtic Star	23 Dec 2004
One & only one....Hanson-Roberts. :)

diane drizzy	23 Dec 2004
For many years it was just the Aquarian Tarot.

Mesara	24 Dec 2004
I had only the Magickal Tarot for my first five years of reading tarot cards. Then I went crazy when confronted with the dazzle of the assortment of tarot decks out there, and ate them up like candy. Ever eat so much candy that you get a stomach ache? Thats how I feel now, and I have relinquished all decks save my darling Russian St. Pete's, which for now and forevermore shall remain my one and only. Of course, it's easy to say that while the mary-el is still in production. :)

The Has anyone here only ever had ONE deck??? thread was originally posted on 11 Dec 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.