Orgy of buying new decks

flipperjane

I would question why you feel the need to buy so many more decks at the moment (I've had a bit of a spree myself so this is advice as much to myself as you!)

I have noticed in the past that when I need to work on a writing project but haven't managed to get going on it, I go on stationery buying shopping sprees. I have drawers full of notebooks and pens in every conceivable variant. I also find the book buying goes up when I need to work on my novel, hence the shelves and shelves of unread fiction.
I recognise it as a symptom now and so can usually knock it on the head early enough, but it took a lot of years of, frankly, wasted money.

Perhaps you are buying tarot decks because you need to work on reading tarot?


Starla
xxx

A very good point - and yes I have just embarked on a rather longer spread that I am currently offering. :)
 

flipperjane

Quality over quantity! Agree with yourself that you need to get to know the decks you have very well, before you are 'allowed' to buy any new ones. How else can you know what you like, or what you're missing?

My house is like a full car park: one out, one in! (And it has to be something similar ;) )
:D

De-enabling threads don't work. Not for me anyway. It's all too improbable and light hearted and has never convinced me not to buy a deck I'm going to buy anyway.

Carrying them all around is a good idea. Preferably tied around your neck like an albatross.

In my experience nothing works. Not until you naturally come out of the tunnel at the other end having found the decks you love and work well with by trial and error. Maybe not having enough money to eat would work. Or having the electricity or water cut because you didn't pay the bill. I find that as long as I can buy and it doesn't have much impact on my finances, I just carry on.

At least it's not vintage cars or a compulsion for antique Cartier jewellery.
Good point - maybe this desperate post of mine actually indicates the light at the end of this buying tunnel

I'm a hoarder just like you. I buy decks and decks in the heat of the moment because they're awesome and just what I want right now! And then they sit languishing in the basket weeks later and I feel guilty. I learned to overcome that guilt when I acknowledged that I truly love Tarot and it'll always fascinate me. I'll keep coming back to it, and that becomes a passion I don't feel guilty about spending money on regularly.

And I feel that because of the huge varieties of decks, some Tarot users collect decks just so they'll have just the right one on hand for whatever mood they happen to be in. Sometimes your Old Faithfuls just aren't making the cut that day and you want to look at something else. I have my "theme" weeks or months where I see something interesting in life like, say, a documentary on ancient China, and then I become obssessed with reading and learning Chinese-themed decks for a while, and then something else overtakes my life and the Chinese decks are replaced by the new theme. While Tarot is a constant passion, I love learning about new things, and because my interests are so varied, so are my periods of focus, and so are my Tarot decks.

So I'd suggest to curb your spending habits, go back through your pile and pick one deck that really grabs you at that moment, and absorb yourself in it. Then when the feeling lapses over a few days or weeks, put it away and put a new deck in front of your eyes. Just make sure that you're constantly moving through your pile so eventually you'll explore them all to some degree. When you've gone through them all once each, for varying lengths of time, ask yourself if you can't rekindle interest in one of the first decks. Then when you see a new deck in store later, you'll have saved some money, and if you buy it and put it away, add it to the pile so it'll come around eventually.

Just keep your interests in flux, don't be ashamed to learn a bit of one thing to the neglect of others for a period of time, and eventually you'll find new decks might become Old Faithful.
Lovely, calm and measured - thank you.
I think I've been looking, looking , looking for a certain type of deck and not quite finding it which is why I've been disappointed. I like your approach of marrying up interests of the moment with different decks. i shall adopt this idea.
 

Water Lady

I don't have so many and just added 2 oracle decks but since I don't really need them, so question is valid. 2 thoughts, I have are, the next deck will speak to me better and then there is the thought that if I really like it and don't buy it, I might not be able to get it later.
like the Fantastic Menagerie Tarot.
 

gregory

I am not the best person to pontificate here - but I fear you MAY accidentally have realised, deep in your heart of hearts, that you are a True Collector.

Leffy can back me up here. If you are, the only way is to embrace it. I have only one deck I SORT OF regret buying, as it is truly vile - but even then I wouldn't get rid, as it is one that I would otherwise Not Have. But I have no other expensive tastes/hobbies, so I gave in to it all :D

And there is one tiny upside. When you ARE destitute, you can sell on. A VERY VERY few do appreciate in value, and NOT usually the ones you'd expect. When I bought my Greenwood off the shelf in a bookstore, it cost me 12 pounds....
 

flipperjane

I don't have so many and just added 2 oracle decks but since I don't really need them, so question is valid. 2 thoughts, I have are, the next deck will speak to me better and then there is the thought that if I really like it and don't buy it, I might not be able to get it later.
like the Fantastic Menagerie Tarot.
good point - i like that :)

I am not the best person to pontificate here - but I fear you MAY accidentally have realised, deep in your heart of hearts, that you are a True Collector.

Leffy can back me up here. If you are, the only way is to embrace it. I have only one deck I SORT OF regret buying, as it is truly vile - but even then I wouldn't get rid, as it is one that I would otherwise Not Have. But I have no other expensive tastes/hobbies, so I gave in to it all :D

And there is one tiny upside. When you ARE destitute, you can sell on. A VERY VERY few do appreciate in value, and NOT usually the ones you'd expect. When I bought my Greenwood off the shelf in a bookstore, it cost me 12 pounds....

eek - I am a bit of a collector - yes - maybe I will just embrace it. It won't leave me destitute so long as I don't try and buy a rarity like the Greenwood ;)

Thanks Gregory , <waltzes off with new spring in my stride >
 

Tarotphelia

We all know that everybody can get by with one tarot deck , just like you only really need one pair of shoes . But as long as you can afford it , tarot buying is not a bad addiction to have as long as it's not making you unhappy or causing trouble . Maybe take some time and figure out why you like each new deck , what it has to say to you . See how you are reflected in the artwork and meanings of the deck , why you were drawn to it . Perhaps you will be led down some previously unknown inner paths to self discovery .
 

Cocobird55

Since I retired, I slowed down buying decks. It is fun to collect them -- I have about 150.

Now I am more careful about what I buy -- I do more research, and I have a much better idea of what I will use for readings.
 

Kristyjnh

I'm still a beginner and have one deck that I use consistently, plus a few others, but I think I'm still looking for that "Say Yes to the Dress" moment with a deck. The one I use most is Crystal Visions, which is far from perfect but very readable. The art is a little simple, and the deck is a tad bit too feminine for me, so I'm still looking for the "right" one. That's why I keep buying decks (but I don't have much money, so I'm talking a couple decks a year, not including gifts).
 

donnalee

De-enabling threads don't work. Not for me anyway. It's all too improbable and light hearted and has never convinced me not to buy a deck I'm going to buy anyway.

Carrying them all around is a good idea. Preferably tied around your neck like an albatross.

In my experience nothing works. Not until you naturally come out of the tunnel at the other end having found the decks you love and work well with by trial and error. Maybe not having enough money to eat would work. Or having the electricity or water cut because you didn't pay the bill. I find that as long as I can buy and it doesn't have much impact on my finances, I just carry on.

At least it's not vintage cars or a compulsion for antique Cartier jewellery.

This is true for me: everything has its natural cycle, and I just bought eight or ten decks through the online annual llewellyn sale which arrived today, and some of them are already 'eh, not what I had wanted--boo', so I just see if they are good for reading for others, and now I feel no need to get more for now. Some decks that just arrived are more antique style and will require extra work for me to learn, so that is for the future, whereas some of the others have already been used for readings here for feedback today, or are in the bathroom to be scoped out at my leisure.

I just go through phases that either address a real need, or are an avoidance pattern that works for a while, like I used to eat a ton of ice cream every night before bed, but somehow outgrew that phase, so we have maybe ten brand new pints unopened in the freezer getting frostbitten (and in the interest of full disclosure, it's now smartpuffs that I eat at night). It's the wheel, I guess!
 

Placebo Scotsman

I consult with the decks I already have about buying new ones

It hasn't put a complete brake on my binge buying yet but I am sure sooner or later the practice will at least spare me the worst cases of buyers remorse