Which is the best tarot deck?Also, need some help!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Priya	21 Jun 2005
Which is the best professinal tarot deck to use?Is it good to have a zodiac bag to keep tarot cards? Also, How do i take any querent into trance.. ? I would be greatly obliged if you help me :)

jmd	21 Jun 2005
I suppose that when you ask 'which is the best deck to use', you are referring to one specific usage of Tarot, and presumably its divinatory aspect. For some of us, this part remains, though important, certainly not its only usage. For divinatory purposes, the 'best deck' may change over time, and at any one time may simply be the one that allows for the reader to feel at ease with narrating a reading. If part of the uses of Tarot is also its intrinsic study, and its historical representations, then I would suggest that at some stage a Marseille type be also obtained. As to whether to keep the cards in a bag with zodiacal symbols depicted thereon, I do not see why not! ...and I would not recomment even trying to 'take any querent into trance'!

deva	21 Jun 2005
jmd wrote: ...and I would not recomment even trying to 'take any querent into trance'! I totally agree - certainly not unless you're a qualified Hypnotherapist - which you can't be otherwise you'd know! :)

Alta	21 Jun 2005
Yes, please do not even attempt to put the querent into a trance! You could wind up in jail!!!! The 'best deck' for divinatory reading is the one which gives you the answers easily and quickly. that is usually because you know it well and relate easily to the imagery. As jmd commented, this can change for you over time as you change yourself.

Astra	21 Jun 2005
The best deck to start with is one that you can take a look at and hold in your hands, and decide whether you like it. So start with your local Border's, or metaphysical shop, and look at the decks there. Once you're comfortable, if you want to expand from one, then there are a lot of on-line offerings available, most of which you will be able to look at fairly completely. A deck can be kept in its original box, or with a rubberband around the cards to hold them (don't hit me, people - it can, though I don't recommend it), or in a simple cloth bag, or a zodiac bag, or a bag embroidered with your own symbols. I tend to keep mine in bags made of fairly heavy upholstery fabrics, simply because they provide more protection than lighter fabrics. As to putting the querent in a trance, not only should you not try to access that state, but if you notice it happening, you need to break off the reading and let them come out of it before continuing. If you want to work in a trance, that's up to you, though I don't particularly recommend it. Alert, focussed attention on both your parts is the optimum to strive for.

sagitarian	21 Jun 2005
The best, professional deck to use is the deck which you feel speaks the most information to you. From experience of working as a professional reader (and I KNOW i'm not the only one here either!) I used to pick out 2-3 of my favorite decks, and then let the querent choose which deck they prefer me to read with. More often then not, it was with my faerie oracle cards, which also happens to be the deck that speaks the most to me. As for regards of putting a querent in a trance, I can't help but to think you mean some type of hypnotisim...in which, if you live in the states, you do have to have hypnotist license in order to practice this work on a professional level. However, If you'd like to encorporate some meditation in the reading, then you can simply ask for you two to join hands, and guide a short, few minute meditation before the reading. Ex: (name) and I join hands today, and I pray that my angels/guides/faeries/God & Goddess/God (however you want to say this) will help guide us both in order to gain wisdom in the questions that (name) has come here to seek. so mote it be/namaste/amen (use your favorite prayer closing word here) now, lets keep our eyes closed, breathe deeply, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and let's picture a bubble around us, and white light piercing through filling this bubble for just a moment. (a few silent moments while this is going on). Open your eyes "shall we begin?" and gently let go of the hands. Or however you want to guide a quick 2-3 minute meditation is fine. You can do a search on "prayers", connotations, quotations to say before readings, and you can also look up meditations, to see what you feel would best fit you and your style of reading. I've seen this done, but I've never practiced it myself, however, some readers out there woudl never do a reading without doing this little prayer and meditation before hand. I hope this helps. Sagitarian

Priya	22 Jun 2005
Thank you all for ur wonderful support

raeanne	22 Jun 2005
Hi Priya, I think there have been some good suggestions for choosing a Tarot deck. The main thing is that you find a deck that you like well enough to spend the time looking at the cards and examining all of the little intricacies on each card. If you like a deck well enough to become good friends with it, it will work well for you. As far as putting someone in a trance, could you describe this better? Do you want to know how to hypnotize someone? Do you want to do a tandem vision quest? There are several different things that could be described as a trance. I will assume that the other person is a willing participant. (If you want to simply gain control over another person, I think you already know that this would not be a wise thing to do. It can be done but the consequences are very severe!) Anyway, if you want to know more about hypnosis, vision quests or other altered states, please clarify a bit more what you mean by “trance”. Welcome to the forums.

Thirteen	22 Jun 2005
Regarding the "Best deck": certainly the deck must works best for you--always. Which ever one seems to give you the clearest, strongest, most inspired readings most of the time. Consider also, however, what might be best for the querent, there on the other side (or as I like to do it, beside you) at the table. What deck do you think they would enjoy looking at? What deck might make them a part of the reading instead of making them feel nervous and uncomfortable--or outright scared? I, myself, do what's been suggested and have many decks--I pick the deck that I think best for the querent and the reading--one I'll enjoy using and they'll enjoy gazing at. Regarding Trances: I'm friends with a professional hypnotist and been hypnotized myself. It's a wonderful experience--but I wouldn't want anyone to do it to me who hadn't gone through the training. You not only have to put them "in" you have to bring them "out"! And if you don't take care while the person is "in" or you don't know how to bring them "out", you can do some real damage. A person in a trance is very vulnerable mentally and emotionally. So if this really interests you, it's worth taking classes so you can do it right and not harm the person.

Babylon_Jasmine	22 Jun 2005
Priya wrote: Which is the best professinal tarot deck to use?Is it good to have a zodiac bag to keep tarot cards? Also, How do i take any querent into trance.. ? I would be greatly obliged if you help me :) Which is the best deck, the one that gives you personally correct answers that you can understand. Experiment with a few decks and see which work for you. The Rider Waite deck and the Book of Thoth deck are both very popular because they work well for a lot of people, but that doesn't guarantee they will work for you. It is good to have a bag to keep your cards in, as to wether it should be a zodiac bag, I assume that is a bag with the zodiac symbols printed on it? depends on how you feel about astrology, it seems sort of impersonal and rigid to me, so I don't use a lot of astrological symbolism, of you like it, use it. It is recommended a tarot bag be made of silk, as that blocks vibrations, I don't use silk because I like to keep my cards in an environment where absorbing vibrations is a good thing. How do you take any querent into trance, well, there are really two options, hypnotism and drugs, drugs are illegal, dangerous, expensive and can have unintended side effects, hypnotism is difficult and will not always yield results. Why do you want to querent in trance?

wizzle	22 Jun 2005
When you say "take the querent into a trance" I interpret that to mean that you want to establish a close contact with your querent. The threads about reading professionaly might be of interest to you. Many readers put their clients at ease by offering tea or another beverage. Some have minor rituals. And I think it is always important to make the querant feel comfortable and at ease with you. That can be done as simply as asking a few basic questions....have you had a reading before?....what do you expect of this reading? etc. Offering a few cookies along with a beverage can't be wrong either!! And lighting incense is a nice touch. Bags are useful for decks simply because they protect the cards. I like bags that have a few stones or beads either embroidered onto the bag or hanging from threads. But there are as many good bags as there are tarot readers. And finally, I think you've gotten good advice about decks. First and foremost the deck must read for YOU. If you have several decks that you like, it would be nice if you allowed your querent to select which deck they like best. Just letting them choose will bring you closer together for your reading. Light and happiness wizzle

The Which is the best tarot deck?Also, need some help!! thread was originally posted on 21 Jun 2005 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.