writing on tarot cards?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

earthdance	26 Aug 2004
I was thinking that writing the meaning of tarot on each card would help me remember and get tuned to them. I am thinking of using a fine line scripto, do you guys think this would interfere with their ability to read or won't this influence them at all? What are your opinions on this?

anubis	26 Aug 2004
y dun u buy a tarot which have meaning printed on, eg. Quest tarot

swampwitch	26 Aug 2004
Earthdance: You know, I did that with a Ryder-Waite deck, and eventually dispersed the cards to various acquaintances and friends as each card seemed congruent to them and/or their situations. It was unclear to me whether I was more trying to instruct myself or instruct them. For me, once I had written on a card, it had been demystified, contaminated, and no longer serviceable for spreads/readings. I had a friend who once called the Ryder Waite the "Bazooka Joe" deck, meaning that the images were cartoonish, flat and in poor taste (you know Bazooka Joe bubble gum where you live?) Anyway, that comment really wounded my ability to accept that deck, and thus I used it ever afterwards as an instructional "prop". In a strange way, I feel like making some sort of penance to the Ryder Waite, to apologize for my disrespect. Anyhow, this is all my story about how I ended up writing on one particular Tarot deck. You'll have to decide whether it is relevant to your situation. In the main, I'd advise against it, to avoid values conflicts such as I've had.

magpie9	27 Aug 2004
I sometimes pencil in, very small and lightly, a keyword or phrase someplace inconspicious on a card. Once I've got the card fixed in my brain, I can erase. This is especially useful when the keyword on the card is totally wrong for me, or 2 cards look a lot alike, or it's a pips minor card. I don't think it hurts anything, and it helps learning. I say, Have At It!!

Emily	27 Aug 2004
Hi Earthdance, If you decided against writing on your cards, then maybe a keyword sheet might work. Joan Bunnings' www.learntarot.com has keyword sheets for all the cards. I still find them useful as memory joggers even now. :) Edited to add:- She uses Rider Waite symbolism.

SweetIsTheTruth	27 Aug 2004
My first thought was, there is absolutely no way I would ever write on a deck. After thinking about it awhile though, I think you may be onto something here. Given 2 copies of the same deck, once could easily put to use as a learning aid.

Imagemaker	27 Aug 2004
I have a miniature Rider Waite deck that I wrote the Osho Zen keywords on. I can visualize the Osho card and use it as a deeper spiritual slant (or more lighthearded Zen slant, whichever I like) on the RW cards' message. It's a "for me" only deck, so that others don't get confused by the mix.

mercenary30	27 Aug 2004
In one of my books about the Court cards they have a card stock table that lists the different possible archtypes that were discussed in the book. You could make one for the other cards as well and print them off.....maybe one for majors, and one for minors or something along those lines....something that you can laminate, or put in a sheet protector and use dry erase markers or grease pencils on it you can make changes or whatever. But then you don't have to mark up your cards.....and use it for more than one deck..... Just an idea... :)

swampwitch	27 Aug 2004
mercenary30 and others threading here: Great idea to use a kind of separate table for meanings and correspondences, particularly the aspect of lamination and scribble-as-needed. In this whole discussion, there seem to be two intents for writing on the cards--personalizing their meaning so as to resonate with them, and really learning them in an academic sense. I've always struggled with where those two intents overlap. And there's often that surreal sense that cards take on fresh meanings given their context in any given spread. Like, it's a brand new, irreducible that's popped up and scales have dropped from my eyes (or something!). Have other folks had that "brand spanking new" experience? At the simplest, that's the power of the Tarot in a nutshell: it constantly reinvents itself. --swampwitch

dolphingirl	27 Aug 2004
I would have a hard time writting on the cards as I spent my whole life living with my mom who collected and sold postcards so writting on them was sooo not done lol. I also can't ever bring myself to write in the margins of a book. I would proably first look for a deck that I liked that was already printed with keywords on it that I liked. If I couldn't find one that I really liked I would get two coppies of the deck I wanted to use so that I had one with and one without my writting on them so that if I ever decided to try reading without my notes on the deck I wouldn't have to wory about the deck being OOP. If you feel the urge though to write on your deck go for it, what ever works for you is great. If there is one thing I have learned from hanging around here is that everyone learns tarot differently and all ways are right. :) Also I would pick inexpensive decks like the Tarot to Go kit that comes with a pocket Hanset Roberts. You can buy two of it for the price of one normal deck.

Maelin	27 Aug 2004
The most precious possession I own is a crossword dictionary that belonged to my mother. Every page has little "cheats" written in pencil in the margins, so I can still hear her teasing " what do you mean you don't know a four letter word for a truthseeker? Why are we paying for university anyway?" Write in the margins, add to the colours, and one day that deck, with all the extra youv'e added will be your - and then maybe someone else's, most prized memory of you. ( Even the things you wished you hadn't added!)

kerri28	28 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Maelin The most precious possession I own is a crossword dictionary that belonged to my mother. Every page has little "cheats" written in pencil in the margins, so I can still hear her teasing " what do you mean you don't know a four letter word for a truthseeker? Why are we paying for university anyway?" Write in the margins, add to the colours, and one day that deck, with all the extra youv'e added will be your - and then maybe someone else's, most prized memory of you. ( Even the things you wished you hadn't added!) I love your post. I have a deck which I've written on and I dont think I'd beable to part with it as it feels part of me. I've used this deck as a teaching aide and it works well.

morandia	28 Aug 2004
I don't think I could read for others with the deck well, but for learning, why not? How about writing on the back? Then when you do a spread, just turn them face up instead of face down, and "cheat' if you need to...

Red Emma	28 Aug 2004
The High Priestess from my Tarot of a Moon Garden came to me in a dream and promised to rain toads on me if I ever even tried!

Ace	29 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by morandia I don't think I could read for others with the deck well, but for learning, why not? How about writing on the back? Then when you do a spread, just turn them face up instead of face down, and "cheat' if you need to... That sounds like a good idea: sort of like tarot flash cards to use as you learn what they mean. I have an idea to suggest: type up a few lines for each card on a word processor and tape or paste them to the appropriate cards. I know a couple of readers that did that. On the other hand, I have a problem with using captioned cards for readings as opposed to just learning the cards: if THAT IS WHAT THE CARD MEANS (because that is the meaning attached to it) you may ignore NEW meanings that may come up as you read for others. It may not mean "what it is SUPPOSED to mean" every time, which means your intuition is really working. You don't want to block that.

earthdance	29 Aug 2004
Thanks for all replies, it seems like the majority is against writing on the cards, but I believe it's just a matter of choice. If you look closely at the rider waite deck there is a copyright writing on it that has NOTHING to do with the card meaning itself and it doesn't seem to cause any problem. Also, if there is people out there creating oracle decks and just drawing or writing on the cards anything from their creativity and imagination why can't I do this on my set of cards? There are no rules about what to do or not with a tarot deck. And from my own experience, the magick is not in the cards, it's within ourselves and the cards mean anything you want them to mean. When the meanings are already stored in your subconscious mind, your higher self will direct you to the meanings that you already know so that you can get the messages. That's how I believe they work and if I feel I will connect better with my cards if I write on them then I should probably go for it.

kerri28	29 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Red Emma The High Priestess from my Tarot of a Moon Garden came to me in a dream and promised to rain toads on me if I ever even tried! PMSL I guess you shouldn't then!

Cerulean	29 Aug 2004
The coated stock on some of the cards sometimes will 'smear' pen and ink. Colored pencil or a mechanical pencil if you can write lightly with the thin stem. I was thrilled to see in a book an old fashioned Italian deck where I could make out WB. Yeat's writing on the La Stelle, the Stars. However then, the cards didn't have the finish we have on our modern decks. The writing on the margin of the large cards was, "Hope". It was like seeing a writer's journal...one of my favorite magazines is the Paris Review, where you get to see writers' manuscripts with all the scratchy lines and margin notes. Card interacting by writing or coloring is a way of making the tarot your own journal...and it will make the deck very personal if you enjoy this. Have fun! Cerulean

full deck	29 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Cerulean I was thrilled to see in a book an old fashioned Italian deck where I could make out WB. Yeat's writing on the La Stelle, the Stars. However then, the cards didn't have the finish we have on our modern decks. The writing on the margin of the large cards was, "Hope". It was like seeing a writer's journal...one of my favorite magazines is the Paris Review, where you get to see writers' manuscripts with all the scratchy lines and margin notes. Card interacting by writing or coloring is a way of making the tarot your own journal...and it will make the deck very personal if you enjoy this. . . . Yeats treated words differently that most people. They were keys for him, keys to a means of expression. I always thought that when he wrote a particular poem (take the Crazy Jane poems), the idea picked a character wherein it found expression, like a composer hearing an idea played by a certain instrument and not another. Yeat's wife, Georgie, performed automatic writing, which did influence him greatly. Such makes me wonder if he would have really would have been contented to stick to generic meanings that he would pen on each card. I guess it's one way of learning but it's not a solution for reading (for me).

Kit	06 Sep 2004
Thought about this for a while before typing it so hope fully it makes more sense than some of my other posts! :joke: If I were to write on a deck, e.g. the Rider Waite, it would seem that the deck was no longer the Rider Waite but the Rider Waite with Scribblings by Raeven. I'm a bit of a neat freak with my decks (no one must eat anything greasy within a three foot radius of them) but I can appreciate the usefulness of making notes on a deck for learning purposes. A deck made of words and images is a nice idea. I'd like to create a deck like that but probably wont get around to it. If you feel good about writing on cards, why not? Raeven

Kit	06 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by full deck Such makes me wonder if he would have really would have been contented to stick to generic meanings that he would pen on each card. I guess it's one way of learning but it's not a solution for reading (for me). Same. I don't rely on generic meanings. They don't always fit and the reading can look really mechanical, like a computer is reading, not a person.

Trogon	06 Sep 2004
To me... well, if it were a deck I planned on keeping and using for readings for a long time. No, I wouldn't write on the cards themselves. If it were a deck which I was going to use primarily for study purposes, then I might write some brief keywords on them. However, I think I would put them on the backs of the cards so I could use them like old-fashioned flash-cards. But for a deck used for readings, especially for reading for other people... no I want them clean (so to speak) so my intuition comes more into play. Oddly enough though, I do decks with "keywords" printed on them (Röhrig Tarot, Haindl and Thoth Tarots). But I don't always use these keywords. I think that they actually become a part of the image for me, so sometimes the meaning which comes to mind might be based off what the keyword is about but other times it might have very little to do with the keyword. When I was starting out, I did have a single sheet of paper with a couple of keywords for each card printed on it. I kept it folded and stuck in the box with my cards. If I got stuck during a reading, (an all too common occurence), I would refer to that sheet. It actually worked pretty good for me. But basically, Earthdance, it comes down to this. They are your cards. Do what you want and need to do with them. If you outgrow the need for having notes on the cards themselves... get yourself a new deck. It's a good excuse to go Tarot shopping. ;)

Majecot	06 Sep 2004
I personally would not write on my cards.. but again, they are yours to do what you wish. If you want to write.. so write. I hate the keywords on a deck.. so I am actually leaning towards hacking away at some of mine... (leaning towords, mind you.. not gotten up the nerve yet ) :)

dolphingirl	06 Sep 2004
How about trying a test run with post it notes. They make really small ones that you could write on and stick to the cards. You may have to be extra careful when shuffling (depending on how you shuffle) but that would give you a test run on how you liked writting on the cards and still keep the cards writting free. They even make new small post its that you would n't have to cut down. :)

Cerulean	06 Sep 2004
"The Rider Waite with Scribblings by Raeven." I wonder if this is the next million-dollar-pop-up book idea? The only thing I ask is someone PLEASE reprint the 1971 Accurate Color Tone Deck with their scribblings.... Regards, Cerulean

Kit	07 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by dolphingirl How about trying a test run with post it notes. Doesn't work. They got all crumpled up no matter how I shuffled them and at one point, one snagged on a card (the Hermit) and I almost bent his card! Raeven

The writing on tarot cards? thread was originally posted on 26 Aug 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.