Reviving the One Deck Wonder

I suppose I should take this resurrection of the ODW as a sign from the universe--I've basically been doing it myself with the Victorian Romantic, and consciously committing to the idea and participating with a group might be just the thing for me
thorhammer, how long were you thinking of doing it for? Funny part is, the moment I really think about it, it makes me nervous--isn't that silly? But I think I'll tentatively say I'm on board, for at least a few months.

Scion - I'd love to have a cheer squad! Thankyou And I admire your dedication to the Liber T - one day, after I get my teeth into the Thoth, I'll be looking that way myself. I'm looking forward to it. I wonder, since the WoC follows the Thoth structure (loosely, loosely, please no one chew my face off for the comparison ), will it help me on the road to understanding the Thoth at all? Hmm, interesting thought.

lilith_in_tree - I know what you mean about the being scared/nervous thing! I am too! Especially now I've made my intentions public . But I don't have a plan yet, either for a duration or for a number of decks (I was thinking of copping out a little and allowing myself an Oracle ) or definition of "working with". Am I still allowed to open decks that arrive to check they've got all the cards? Am I allowed to trim???? (Pearls of Wisdom and Druid Animal Oracle, I'm looking at you!)

\m/ Kat

This thread is really making me think about how much time and energy I have/haven't been putting in to studying the cards. I'm new at Tarot and already I have two decks and a set of oracle cards on the way. I really think I need to settle down with the deck that I feel most connected to (World Spirit) and focus.

thorhammer said:

lilith_in_tree - I know what you mean about the being scared/nervous thing! I am too! Especially now I've made my intentions public . But I don't have a plan yet, either for a duration or for a number of decks (I was thinking of copping out a little and allowing myself an Oracle ) or definition of "working with". Am I still allowed to open decks that arrive to check they've got all the cards? Am I allowed to trim???? (Pearls of Wisdom and Druid Animal Oracle, I'm looking at you!)

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All of these are things I've just thought about too. It's funny you should mention maybe including an oracle!! That's what I was JUST thinking of suggesting. LOL

And what about the trade trains? We could still do that couldn't we? And in doing so we'd HAVE to beable to open the decks we get.....just to check them out.

I think if I do this I'd consider only picking one tarot and one oracle. These would be the only decks I'd do readings with. But.....I could still play with, look through, trim , etc. with other decks just only do readings with my chosen two. Would that still count?

faunabay said:

All of these are things I've just thought about too. It's funny you should mention maybe including an oracle!! That's what I was JUST thinking of suggesting. LOL

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Good. And I think you and I will probably pick the same Oracle, no?

And what about the trade trains? We could still do that couldn't we? And in doing so we'd HAVE to beable to open the decks we get.....just to check them out.

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I don't think that'd threaten the integrity of the exercise.

I think if I do this I'd consider only picking one tarot and one oracle. These would be the only decks I'd do readings with. But.....I could still play with, look through, trim , etc. with other decks just only do readings with my chosen two. Would that still count?

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Yep, one and one for me, as well. As to the rest . . . play with? No, I think that's cheating. Look through? Only for the purposes of ensuring a new arrival is complete. I wouldn't even use another deck for the Hide and Seek thread. I did that already with the MerryDay - I swore I'd only use that for the H&S for however long it lasted. It was a while. But journalling, readings, discussions, meditations and general thinkings-about - including looking-through, for me - would all be ODW material.

How does that sound?

\m/ Kat

thorhammer said:

Scion - I'd love to have a cheer squad! Thankyou And I admire your dedication to the Liber T - one day, after I get my teeth into the Thoth, I'll be looking that way myself. I'm looking forward to it. I wonder, since the WoC follows the Thoth structure (loosely, loosely, please no one chew my face off for the comparison ), will it help me on the road to understanding the Thoth at all? Hmm, interesting thought.

lilith_in_tree - I know what you mean about the being scared/nervous thing! I am too! Especially now I've made my intentions public . But I don't have a plan yet, either for a duration or for a number of decks (I was thinking of copping out a little and allowing myself an Oracle ) or definition of "working with". Am I still allowed to open decks that arrive to check they've got all the cards? Am I allowed to trim???? (Pearls of Wisdom and Druid Animal Oracle, I'm looking at you!)

\m/ Kat

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Well in that case, I'll make it a rule right now, with your permission, that one is allowed to open new decks and look at them!--even though I've been using just the VR, I do take out my BG silver and look at the cards now and again, no harm in that I say
I think it's a wonderful thing to be doing. I love the deck I'm working with very much, and want to learn everything I can about it and really absorb it into myself, so to speak--it feels right for me, at this time, and I think I can make the commitment. Hopefully all these nice folks will help us along.

edited because I see you've hashed it out while I was replying

thorhammer said:

Rodney,

Thankyou for responding I, too, would be defining the word "study" rather loosely, and would rather use a more holistic term such as "experience" or "immerse". I would appreciate the support, too!

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Again, depending on what "experience" or "immerse" gets defined as, I may participate as time (and life!) permits. (I''ll be off the last two weeks of May and not going anywhere, so should definitely be able to put some time in then.)

thorhammer said:

Would you be interested in either of those? I note you don't have either of those decks, and I'd be happy to share if you want

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Thanks for that reminder. A more up-to-date list was in the 2008 Collection thread, but even that needed to be updated. I've now updated it in BOTH places. I do have the Wheel of Change now, but I don't have the Blue Moon, so would appreciate any info you can give me on that one.

Rodney

(Confidential to Marina, it's not that difficult. Of course my boxes are but offal compared to the prime cuts that blue_fusion makes. But I'm pretty happy with them. There are a couple of threads here in Talking Tarot that are related to the subject. You should check them out if you're interested.)

thorhammer said:

Good. And I think you and I will probably pick the same Oracle, no?

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Oh NO! I hadn't even thought about the faeries!!! I was just thinking of picking an oracle that would sort of "go with" which ever tarot deck I picked. (gasp) Now what do I do? The faeries don't actually count do they? I mean they're not an actual deck! They're alive - the cards are just their pictures!!!

thorhammer said:

Yep, one and one for me, as well. As to the rest . . . play with? No, I think that's cheating. Look through? Only for the purposes of ensuring a new arrival is complete. I wouldn't even use another deck for the Hide and Seek thread. I did that already with the MerryDay - I swore I'd only use that for the H&S for however long it lasted. It was a while. But journalling, readings, discussions, meditations and general thinkings-about - including looking-through, for me - would all be ODW material.

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Well truthfully I was just thinking of "playing with" as looking through now and again. I have some decks I never use in readings I just like to look at the pretty pictures now and again. That's what I meant as playing with. Although depending on how long I decide to give myself on a time limit I might beable to do away with even "looking through". If I know it won't be forever.


I'm thinking of using my new Goddess Tarot deck with maybe my Atlantis Oracle. These are the two I'm really working with now the most anyway. It's funny. The Goddess tarot never really appealed to me at all. I'd look at the pictures in the past and just kind of shrug. Didn't do a thing for me. But just recently I did a trade with Solitaire. She really wanted a deck I had so I decided to look at the Goddess one more time and all the sudden it spoke to me! It was very strange. But I sure like it now!

And I'm using my Atlantis Oracle in my spiritual work right now. It has been helping me immensely so I couldn't do without that one at this time. And then you have my beloved faeries. I'm sorry but I'm just going to have to grandfather them in for my one deck wonder. I may be cheating but I couldn't live without them. Seriously though. In my mind they don't count. LOL

thorhammer said:

But on the second Bullet Train, I had the good fortune (and sheer lightning speed required ) to snaffle the Wheel of Change deck from franniee. When I received it and began to go through it, I started to realise that it's a hell of a deck, and possibly has more to it than any of my other ones, even my favourites.

I haven't done a reading with it yet, despite owning it for *thinks* about 6 weeks now.

I want to read the companion book, cover to cover, before I try to read with it. And when I've finished the companion book, I'm seriously thinking about doing a One Deck Wonder with this deck.

\m/ Kat

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Same here Kat!! I got it months ago and it is a hell of a deck and book! When I first opened up the package and took the book out I was . It's huge. But what a fascinating, illuminating and glorious book! I just love how she writes. Like you I've been reading this book straight through. I adore it....this is one of those lifetime decks for me. The artwork and pips too are breathtaking. I really, really love this deck and the book. For me it's an intensely spiritual deck, I'm not sure I am ever going to read for others with it.

What a great idea to have this set as your ODW deck! It's perfect. I'm not sure I could ever do a ODW, but I wish you much luck and learning on your journey, I look forward to any insights and thoughts as you experience this deck exclusively.

The purpose of the ODW was to let your mind concentrate on just ONE tarot deck so you could get to know it inside out and sideways, as I think Scion said, and that being the case, if you're going to open and play with every other deck you can get your scheme-y, compulsive fingers on, then you're really defeating the purpose of the exercise. You'll just be confusing your mind and not letting it settle anywhere that it can get real sustenance.

Last year in April, I started out with some deck or other, toying with the idea of the ODW, and about that time, I got the Victorian Romantic. I didn't formally join up with the ODW, but I haven't used any other deck since. And for several months, I didn't really pay much attention to any of my other decks. They stayed put away till pretty recently. Now I do use other decks now and then, but the VR is my DECK, if ya know what I mean. I was made a gift of the Gold and that's the one I've been using all this time.

Since the VR hit me like a ton of bricks, that's why I guess looking at other decks here and there didn't phase me. But my advice to anyone else doing the exercise is----do one deck. If you have other decks coming in from orders and you must look through them, then do. I say that because your real ODW deck might be there like mine was. But otherwise, don't mess with other decks. Do all your readings with the chosen one and do all your studies with that chosen one. Don't allow yourself to read with or study about or read about anything except your chosen deck. If you allow yourself to fall off the ODW wagon, you'll defeat the purpose of the exercise.

I can tell you for sure that I've grown tremendously through having been a ODW for almost a full year. I recommend it to anyone. And just because you don't think you can succeed, don't let that stop you from doing your utmost! I may even join in with the BG.