My Tarot collection is shrinking: 5 down to 4!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

IDN	18 Apr 2005
Hi, As most people's collection grows, mine seems to get smaller! I have decided that the Cosmic is going too. Although it is a lovely, lovely deck, I do not like to think it will just lie there in it's tarot box and not be used. So tonight it's going on eBay.co.uk. That leaves me with: Original RWS Haindl Thoth (Standard & Large: Does this count as 1 "Tarot"?!) Hadar Marseille Each has their own very specific use: RWS: Reading for others Haindl: Nightly card / meditation- it's a very calming deck Thoth: Study deck- will be used for reading for others in the future Hadar- Something to look forward to in a few years time- happy to shuffle for now! I am now very happy with my small collection! Take care, Regards, Ian

Fairawen	18 Apr 2005
Ha! Lucky you. You have more then one deck. I'm trying very hard to get a deck other then my homemade one, because it's very much like a tarot deck with training wheels. I wrote phrases all over each card that gives away the meaning. I need at least one deck that I can practice with! Hey, kudos to you! You've got lots of decks! I'll probably end up doing the same as you someday. I hate seeing things lying around and not getting any use out of it. Good luck with the rest of your collection! ~Fairawen~

bladeraven	18 Apr 2005
Interesting you mention Haindl..I'm searching for a Shadow deck to use for my soul searching/meditation...I had given my deck to a student I was teaching...how have your experiences with Haindl been?? I may end up ordering that to replace the one I gave as a gift to my student. IDN wrote: Hi, As most people's collection grows, mine seems to get smaller! I have decided that the Cosmic is going too. Although it is a lovely, lovely deck, I do not like to think it will just lie there in it's tarot box and not be used. So tonight it's going on eBay.co.uk. That leaves me with: Original RWS Haindl Thoth (Standard & Large: Does this count as 1 "Tarot"?!) Hadar Marseille Each has their own very specific use: RWS: Reading for others Haindl: Nightly card / meditation- it's a very calming deck Thoth: Study deck- will be used for reading for others in the future Hadar- Something to look forward to in a few years time- happy to shuffle for now! I am now very happy with my small collection! Take care, Regards, Ian

Moonbow*	18 Apr 2005
Ian, steady on there! I am getting seriously concerned about you now. Are you sure you won't regret this in the future?

IDN	18 Apr 2005
Hi Bladeraven, I have only really just started with the Haindl. I bought it on 5 March, so have had it about a month now. I really love the deck. It is a deifnite keeper. It is just so peaceful, tranquil and relaxing. Even the death card has a "peaceful" air about it- not disturbing in the slightest. I think some have said that the Haindl is a dark deck- I can't see this myself. It's like a very wise, gentle old man. Full of wisdom that delivers the messages in a calm, serene manner. No sudden movements, no shocks, just deep messages. I would love to do readings with it eventually- but for the moment I am happy to just contemplate a card a night. Regards, Ian

Mesara	18 Apr 2005
Getting rid of excess decks can be quite liberating. As those decks go flying out the window so does the pressure to use them all, to study and master them out of respect of the person who gave them to you, to try really hard to find beauty in the ones that are rather quite distasteful. Ive also found that by deciding to stick by my tried and true decks (Im down to three), it's easier to resist the urge to buy every deck that strikes my fancy, which, for me, was a long, long, and very expensive list of decks.

Gwynne	18 Apr 2005
My deck collection fluctuates. When I've completed my most recent trades, I will be down to... let me see... Tarot of Northern Shadows - Primary reading deck Hanson-Roberts Tarot - Past Life readings Pagan Tarot (LS) - Not sure I'm keeping this one, however I'm Wiccan and it does have strong Wiccan themes, may have to work with it some more Thoth Tarot - This one is chopped, cut the borders off, I use it only for meditation and an Ancient Marseille that I'm getting in a trade Of course I've got several decks that I want, so I'll eventually get those, causing the collection to grow. Then I'll trade some more, buy some more... It just keeps going up and down.

IDN	18 Apr 2005
Mesara has summed it up wonderfully for me. I find it VERY liberating and feel that I need to do this in order to "really" start my Tarot Journey, proper. I want to spend my time learning and not be side tracked in the quest for "the one" all the time. Every time I bought a new deck, I felt I was starting from scratch again (I know I wasn;t really, it just felt like that) Take care, Regards, Ian

WolfSpirit	19 Apr 2005
Hi Ian, It will be interesting to see how your relationship with your decks evolves over time. Maybe the deck you have for meditation now will once be used for readings, and vice versa. Relationships with decks can go different than expected, is my experience. I have a lot more decks than you ;) but I only use a few of them intensively. The others are little art galleries in boxes, or meditative walks in boxes ready for me to use ;) and I don't feel any pressure to use them more. I am glad we are not all the same, haha. (what a boring world that would be)

IDN	19 Apr 2005
A quick update: I couldn't do it......... I couldn't sell the Cosmic.......... Straight after posting my previous reply on this thread, I got the Cosmic deck out, spread it out on a black silk cloth, got my digital camera out and switched on. All I had to do was take a photos or two, fire up Ebay.co.uk, hit "Sell Similar" and use the template from the last deck I sold; and that would have been it! But I couldn't do it........ The deck shuffles so nicely, it smells really nice (the newness went ages ago) The colours are lovely- the greens, pinks, etc. The images are wonderful. So...... It stays. It lives in a lovely wooden tarot box (the only tarot box I have). It will live in the background (to my other decks) for a long time. I will get it out now and again, for a quick shuffle! It's nice to think that in years to come, I can get it out and feel the excitement of working with (what will seem to me) a new tarot So that leaves me with 5 Tarots / 6 decks (large and standard Thoth) ........More than enough for me! Regards, Ian

Nina*	19 Apr 2005
I have got a lot of decks too and most of them I never use anymore (some of them I never used at all). Today I only use: Marseilles, DruidCraft and an oracle (Brian Frouds Faeries), BUT I would never get rid of the others... I love taking them out now and then, just to have a look at all the beautiful pictures :) xxx Nina

Emily	19 Apr 2005
A few times I've got decks out ready to trade on - and usually I can't do it. I'm ok until I get the deck out and shuffle to start re-ordering. But it doesn't take me long to begin thinking back about why I have that particular deck. Then before I know it I'm lost in the artwork and all notions of trading have gone straight out of my mind. :)

Moonbow*	19 Apr 2005
Ian I'm so glad... I like this deck and from a previous thread I gathered that you did too. Afterall 5 is such an important and spiritual number!.... and your collection is still small enough to really get to grips with. :D

IDN	19 Apr 2005
Thanks Moonbow! I can happily live with 5- 'can still count them on one hand (my original intention!) Now, if only those 2 new books on the Thoth would hurry up and arrive from Amazon, the large Thoth can start earning its' keep! Take care, Regards, Ian

The My Tarot collection is shrinking: 5 down to 4! thread was originally posted on 18 Apr 2005 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.