If I could turn back time ...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Little Baron	06 Dec 2004
Was talking to a newer member a few days ago and wegot onto the subject of how I might approach my tarot studies differently if I could turn back time and start over with the knowledge I had gained. Personally, I found the fact that I bought many decks and chopped and changed between them to be one of the biggest hinderances - I never learnt the system of one properly and am always envious of those members that learnt with and stuck with just the one and know it inside out all of those years later. If I could turn back time, I would do just that. Also, even though I tried many times, I didn't journal at all at the start. I have no record of the last eight years studying tarot- only the threads here and what is in my mind. I think I could learn so much more from going back over those first readings and feelings about the cards - feelings that are very vague and I don't remember now. I would love to remember what my first impression of the 'Hanged Man' was, for example. If I could turn back time, I would make notes; record everything. Just wondering if anyone has similar or different thoughts on this. Yabs

Astraea	06 Dec 2004
Yaboot, I do know what you mean, but take heart -- there are so many different learning styles, and while some might appear preferable to others, in the end each is an expression of the student's personality and it's impossible to force oneself into another mode. I, too, went deck-to-deck from the very beginning of my tarot journey -- it didn't seem like a good idea to me, even then, but I couldn't help myself. Eventually, I made the happy discovery that the information was still sinking in and developing a solid body, as a function of my intense desire to learn and visceral, visual responses to the decks. Regarding the keeping of a journal -- it is not too late to start! But a lot of people do not have the patience for journaling, and they, too, seem to do quite well according to their own learning styles. From what I have observed on this forum, you are a quite insightful reader.

HearthCricket	06 Dec 2004
I think if I could turn back time I would teach myself not to settle with just any deck, but realize there are so many out there, and to search for one that really speaks to me and learn on that one, even if I did end up collecting more, later. I think really clicking with a deck, from the beginning, has a lot to do with staying devoted to tarot. It took me three decks to get to that point, and it made a huge difference. And now I have found the Gilded and a few other treasures, I am realizing what a difference it makes when you find a favourite deck to work with, and how treasured your time with tarot becomes.

Kiama	06 Dec 2004
Well, I guess I did many things 'wrong' at the start... I didn't begin journalling til about 7 years into my Tarot journey, and I'm still bad at it. I bought so many decks that I never stuck with one for long (except for the Robin Wood.) I didn't structure my learning at all. At first, I bought all the myths and superstition. At one point, I thought I knew it all. At 16 I threw myself in head first when I wasn't quite ready and began reading in pubs for strangers. But I wouldn't turn back time and change anything. My actions and choices back then have, whether for good or ill, made me the Tarot reader (and person) I am today, and to be honest I'm quite pleased with how I've done. So what, I had no structure and threw myself in head first. I spent around 6 years wandering, lost in the labyrinth of all the confusing Tarot knowledge I had picked up willy-nilly, until it finally all 'clicked' into place and I understood it coherently. But it did click. And until that click occurred I had read so much and done so much that I had been exposed to many and various approaches and thoughts on Tarot, and probably had a better understanding than if I had structured my learning, or slowed down. Nope, I wouldn't change anything. Blessings, Kiama

firemaiden	06 Dec 2004
hahah... if I could turn back time? I can't know -- I've only been into tarot for three years. I'll let you know what I think I shoulda-woulda-coulda differently in twenty years. But to be honest, I am sure that I will say that I wouldn't change a thing.

ambermoon	06 Dec 2004
The only thing I regret is taking so long between encounters with decks that didn't suit me. Structure is fine for structured minds, which I do not have. My tarot discovery is the fool's journey in all it's spontaneity and whim. I do know what you mean about picking one system and getting to know it. I'm glad to have settled on RWS derivatives, which have enough thematic variations to hold my visual interest and deepen my knowledge through different visual nuances of each designer. One thing is for sure, finding AT was a very good thing for me.

Gardener	06 Dec 2004
Sorry, Yabs, you get no sympathy from me. Some of us are not designed for deck-monogamy, and since we have to live with that character flaw, I say, celebrate it! Imagine, if you will, the alternate-universe Yaboot who knows only one deck. Inside out and with admirable depth, but just that one. Which will it be? Rohrig? Thoth? Robin Wood? What if you'd settled, in adolescent delight, on Tarot of the Cat People (apologies to all lovers of this deck)? That would be the ONLY deck you had worked with for the LAST EIGHT YEARS!!!!! Honestly, boyo, does that sound good? Imagine not having flirted with all these other delightful and beauitful artists, these wacky minds and impossible to imagine alternative dream-systems. One deck is all some people need, but you, Yaboot, would not be true to yourself if you didn't dive into so many. And, as Astrea says, you're a great reader as is, so why muck with a winning system?

Moongold	06 Dec 2004
Hi Yaboot ~ I only have 25 or so decks. I learned on the Morgan Greer but have now gone back to the Rider Waite Smith and am enjoying reading with this very much. But I am concentrating on the Ancient Egyptian at the moment. Doing this through meditation and study of the Major Arcana. I do my journalling on a blog. Somehow it makes it easier that way. I am more careful with what I write and say. I don't think anyone ever reads the blog so I feel quite safe LOL. Having the larger than life computer image of the car also makes it easier for me to see. One day I want to do face to face readings and I thought it would help to get to know a couple of decks really well. When I *know* my stuff the intuition seems to fly as well. Getting to know a deck is about feeling comfortable with the symbols and loving the art work and the way the story is told, the colours and so on. It is also about much practice with the cards. Practice, practice, practice ... until it becomes your second voice and you begin to think in images. Kate

WhiteRaven	06 Dec 2004
I mostly regret not journaling when I was younger and first touched the Tarot. Because there was such a big lapse I would be curious to know what I thought and came up with 16 years ago and compare it to today. I have only started to journal so I can't really see too much as of yet. I don't have many decks so that's not an issue with me. Two of them RWS and Hanson-Roberts are basically the same except the images are softer in the HR deck. Then I threw myself into a completely different type of Tarot (Daughters of the Moon), which is quite controversial so that's got me going a tad right now. I'm getting really comfy with my RWS though, which is a good thing considering my past experience with it being what took me away from Tarot for 15 years. I'm starting to get very curious about other decks and some are on my Yule/Xmas list...so we'll see what "Santa" brings ;) But my "old faithful" and reliable is and probably always will be RWS. I'd have to say that if I could turn back time I would have journaled and I would NOT have gotton rid of my first RWS.

Cerulean	06 Dec 2004
Believe it or not, I've come to realize many worthwhile learnings will come back to you...in drawing for instance, if you haven't drawn in awhile, you're at a skill level that says 'out of practice' for a bit...yes, it does takes time to regain your stride sometimes...but it comes back. Riding my bicycle, drawing fast portraits, color attunement, poetry....these were not talents, they were learned skills that took time to recapture, but they came back and were also bettered... I think going away from something for a month or two--a style of tarot learning or study, say, such as creating your own spreads or reading for others--is healthy, because when one pulls back, the mind rewires their pathways to learn something new...and when you go back to the older study, or augment that old learning, there's not only the richness of what you already did to revisit, there's an easier time of relearning the old and then building upon it. Journal-writing is nice to put an experience in a framework, but words can change, the way you look at rules can change, your feelings and thoughts from six years to six seconds ago might have evaporated...or been consistently the same. I tend to shred and recycle journals every few months and very few poems, thoughts or sketches are saved, because what I've worked out can come back...even my three-ring binders that save these few scraps are gone through periodically. Still, I've two shelves full of stuff and that is all I need in terms of self-saving. This is just me, though... Sometimes, though, I'll pencil notes in beloved books and those notes jog my memory--a form of journal. Recipe books, etc., are a form of journaling and I really try to keep this addictive habit of saving down to a minimum...got about of 30 years of writing addiction through these funny fingers... Good writing wishes to those who love letting their fingers do the talking... Regards, Cerulean

emillkim	07 Dec 2004
Until I read this thread and accompanying posts I didn't even realize there was a big difference between the rider-waite deck and other decks. I thought the readings done with other decks was exactly the same and the differences were cosmetic or nuances at best. So thanks for the education. Emill

Shade	07 Dec 2004
Every once in a while I think that I'm going to lock up all of my other decks and just use the Rider Waite (and by this I don't mean to suggest it's a basic or beginner deck, I just think of it as the source of most of the decks I've used over the years)... and only use celtic crosses and three card spreads. It just sounds so freeing.

souljourney	07 Dec 2004
Yaboot mentioned in another thread that he thought that moving from deck to deck too quickly decreased his learning. At least he thought so. I can see in the beginning wanting to get to know one deck before adding another. That is actually what I'm chosing to do. Got my Gilded and I'm happy. I know that in a couple months I'll be ready to look at other things. These may be RW based or not. The thing that gets me into a deck is the images and pictures. I am sure Yaboot would not have stuck with one deck for YEARS. I can't imagine that either. It's all I can do to not go buy another one tomorrow. But I feel like my learning the tarot, and through it about me, I'll will be better off with one deck initially. It's sort of like reading one book at a time. Do you read several books at once or only one until it's finished? Just a thought. But that is the great thing... there are many ways to learn and read tarot, and just as many decks and systems.

SunChariot	15 Dec 2004
Yaboot wrote: Personally, I found the fact that I bought many decks and chopped and changed between them to be one of the biggest hinderances - I never learnt the system of one properly and am always envious of those members that learnt with and stuck with just the one and know it inside out all of those years later. If I could turn back time, I would do just that. Just wondering if anyone has similar or different thoughts on this. Yabs I don't think I would change much about the way I learnt Tarot, but I was thinking lately something very similar to what you said here. I only started in May of this year and have 4 decks now, and one in the mail. I love Tarot decks so much, I wish I could own every one ever made. I am sure a lot of people around here know what that feels like. :-) But I was thinking, I was starting to get too many too fast, and not giving myself enough time to really get to know each deck and its philosophy in enough detail. I had this revelation when I started to write down what I use each deck for. One that I had was good for dealing with the past, one with connecting to Nature... And I realized that the next one on my list (The Gaian Tarot) was also one I would use to connect with Nature. I.e. I was duplicating, gettings decks that would serve the same purpose just because I like the artwork on each. What I am thinking is that I will stop buying new ones for now, and take the time to do really really get to know the decks I have, years if it takes that long. Although there is just one more I want before I quit. The Tarot of Dreams that should be coming out in March. Bar

SunChariot	15 Dec 2004
emillkim wrote: Until I read this thread and accompanying posts I didn't even realize there was a big difference between the rider-waite deck and other decks. I thought the readings done with other decks was exactly the same and the differences were cosmetic or nuances at best. So thanks for the education. Emill Hi Emil, Just wanted to add in that I have four decks now: The Haindl Tarot The Ancestral Path Tarot The Wheel of Change Tarot and The Goddess Tarot and they are very very different. Each has quite a different philosophy to it, and they answers I get from one are quite different that what I would get from another. It is way more than cosmetic. Each deck embodies the personal philosophy of it's creator. Each deck has a different personality, much like people do, Bar

Rosanne	16 Dec 2004
I was in a bookstore some 16 years ago, and there was a poster of a fortune teller laying playing cards down. I was quite fascinated. I walked to a music store(another of my obsessions) and the store was playing music from a Cd called tarot for relaxing or something similiar. I arrived home and my brother had sent me a book callled Cartomancy. That was it. I went the next day to a "New age Store" and asked about cards. They said they had the two packs of Tarot Cards, Rider Waite and Thoth. As I was unable to look at them, and neither looked like the Italian deck in the book, I bought the RW. It was'nt for some ten years that I found out there were many different packs of Tarot Cards. BY then I was a little proficient at reading and I bought packs for the Artwork. As each year passes I set my eyes on yet another pack or eagerly await a printing, as at the moment "Mary- El Tarot". Now to the point of my post. I was raised in Tarot by RW and the Italian deck in the Book, but I use others by fancy. I see different things in each card but the general meaning stays. The Artists gives me insights which I can apply to my mother Tarot RW, but I have been using Spiral Tarot for several years for personal reading, as RW lets me be too partial to my own interpretations. I let other people choose from my collection for their readings. Its like wine, sometimes funky is good, sometimes classic is right etc etc. Regards Rosanne

The If I could turn back time ... thread was originally posted on 06 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.