2 decks, 2 vastly different readings!

Pique Dame

I have 2 RWS decks in my collection and they clearly have extremely different "personalities," which is understandable. Sometimes, though, the readings they give me about the same topic are polar opposites. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I organized a happy hour for my guy friend's birthday. I asked deck #1 how he enjoyed the night in general and got 5 of Pentacles, i.e. a rather sad, dejected, and left-out-in-the-cold card. I thought maybe it meant I didn't pay enough attention to him or he felt out of his comfort zone among a bunch of people he didn't know very well (even though he seemed to have a good time and he's a social guy who gets along well with everyone). Well, just for S&G's, I asked deck #2 the same question a got 3 of Cups, a card of good times, happiness, and celebrations among friends. I'm more inclined to agree with that one because he appeared to have a very good time, and he even thanked me for putting it together and said he'd had fun.
I'm curious if anyone else has ever had 2 decks give such markedly different cards for the same reading. How exactly would you explain the discrepancy?

Also worth noting: I asked deck #1 this past weekend how this same person enjoyed a Christmas party I took him to and got the 5 of Pentacles. Again, he seemed to really enjoy our evening together. So, either this deck views 5/P as a positive and happy card, or my friend's really good at masking his true feelings.

Laurelle

Maybe you are interpreting the 5 of Pentacles incorrectly. It could just mean that he felt on the outside of your social group since they were mainly your friends and not his. That doesn't negate the fact that he probably had fun, so the 3 of Cups was reassuring you that he did have fun.

Pique Dame

Laurelle said:
Maybe you are interpreting the 5 of Pentacles incorrectly. It could just mean that he felt on the outside of your social group since they were mainly your friends and not his. That doesn't negate the fact that he probably had fun, so the 3 of Cups was reassuring you that he did have fun.

I did consider that, but it makes me wonder why this deck would choose to focus on the negative rather than the positive.

Oh, another example of conflicting readings I just remembered: I asked dec #1 what someone's feelings were about XYZ happening and got 6 of Swords, which made me think there are no feelings at all, he's moved past all of it and doesn't even pay it any mind anymore. I asked the same question of deck #2 and got 5 of Cups, which would indicate feelings of remorse, regret, loss, and possibly guilt. Not sure how you could misinterpret the 5 of Cups so unless I'm interpreting 6 of Swords incorrectly, these are vastly different answers.

Saskia

Pique Dame said:
I did consider that, but it makes me wonder why this deck would choose to focus on the negative rather than the positive.

Oh, another example of conflicting readings I just remembered: I asked dec #1 what someone's feelings were about XYZ happening and got 6 of Swords, which made me think there are no feelings at all, he's moved past all of it and doesn't even pay it any mind anymore. I asked the same question of deck #2 and got 5 of Cups, which would indicate feelings of remorse, regret, loss, and possibly guilt. Not sure how you could misinterpret the 5 of Cups so unless I'm interpreting 6 of Swords incorrectly, these are vastly different answers.

Hi Pique Dame, I don't see 5 Cups and 6 Swords mutually exclusive. 6 Swords is putting something behind but it doesn't mean no feelings IMO. It means deciding and being able to put the harrowing/negative feelings behind. They are "forgiven but not forgotten". 5 Cups as a disappointment card could still come up - after all, why would anyone need to put any positive or neutral thoughts behind them...?

In general, feelings are not "pure" something but a mixed back, such as remorse, guilt, disappointment, glimmer of hope for the future... I think your decks are giving different perspectives.

As for 5 Pents + happy cards. Is it possible your friend is currently going through something that's causing him to feel 5 Pents regardless of your actions? Maybe he's worried about his job, income, debt, health...? It could point to his "overall" or overriding mindset at the moment, and the next card told the specific feelings relating to a situation.

An example: I got 5 Cups for a female friend during our weekend gettogether, which was really surprising as I thought we're having a good time. I learned a couple of days later she was disappointed due to a potential love interest relocating and the prospects of any progress falling through. I hadn't even known of the said love interest before (just a crush, not a date). So it wasn't about our time together, it was her feelings about an external matter.

Laurelle

Pique Dame said:
I did consider that, but it makes me wonder why this deck would choose to focus on the negative rather than the positive.

Oh, another example of conflicting readings I just remembered: I asked dec #1 what someone's feelings were about XYZ happening and got 6 of Swords, which made me think there are no feelings at all, he's moved past all of it and doesn't even pay it any mind anymore. I asked the same question of deck #2 and got 5 of Cups, which would indicate feelings of remorse, regret, loss, and possibly guilt. Not sure how you could misinterpret the 5 of Cups so unless I'm interpreting 6 of Swords incorrectly, these are vastly different answers.

The 5 if cups and 6 of swords are similar. They both have figures wearing cloaks and staring down. The 6 of swords feels bad, so they are trying to go some were new to feel better. The 5 of cups also feels bad and is sad. There is a bridge in the distance, so he could travel over it. Hopefully to some where that makes him feel better.

Laurelle

And both the 5 of cups and 6 of swords can both be break up cards.

Pique Dame

Saskia said:
Hi Pique Dame, I don't see 5 Cups and 6 Swords mutually exclusive. 6 Swords is putting something behind but it doesn't mean no feelings IMO. It means deciding and being able to put the harrowing/negative feelings behind. They are "forgiven but not forgotten". 5 Cups as a disappointment card could still come up - after all, why would anyone need to put any positive or neutral thoughts behind them...?

In general, feelings are not "pure" something but a mixed back, such as remorse, guilt, disappointment, glimmer of hope for the future... I think your decks are giving different perspectives.

I agree on the different perspectives. I just never thought these 2 cards could be portraying the same message.

Saskia said:
As for 5 Pents + happy cards. Is it possible your friend is currently going through something that's causing him to feel 5 Pents regardless of your actions? Maybe he's worried about his job, income, debt, health...? It could point to his "overall" or overriding mindset at the moment, and the next card told the specific feelings relating to a situation.

This is true. I thought at first he was regretful about the amount of his bar tab or something, but he makes really good money so I doubt that was the issue. He was stressing about his job for a while but his contract just got extended through next spring, so he's been in a much better place lately. It puts me off, though, when I ask what his feelings were about the evening out specifically and the tarot basically tells me his feelings about something completely separate going on in his life. It's like, why can't you just answer the question I ask??

Saskia said:
An example: I got 5 Cups for a female friend during our weekend gettogether, which was really surprising as I thought we're having a good time. I learned a couple of days later she was disappointed due to a potential love interest relocating and the prospects of any progress falling through. I hadn't even known of the said love interest before (just a crush, not a date). So it wasn't about our time together, it was her feelings about an external matter.

Very interesting, but again irritates me that the tarot apparently goes off on its own tangent even when you have a specific question in mind.

Laurelle said:
The 5 if cups and 6 of swords are similar. They both have figures wearing cloaks and staring down. The 6 of swords feels bad, so they are trying to go some were new to feel better. The 5 of cups also feels bad and is sad. There is a bridge in the distance, so he could travel over it. Hopefully to some where that makes him feel better.

This is actually very true and something I never thought of before. The cloaked figures looking down! 6 of S feels bad and is trying to ease their own guilty conscience by going to a happier place, and 5 of C simply feels bad. You know what, though? Deck #1 never, as in NEVER, uses the 5 of Cups in a reading. I haven't pulled it once in the 3 years I've owned it. Deck #2 uses it all the time and I've only had it a few months. I guess 6/S is deck #1's version of 5/C as it seems to prefer to avoid it altogether.

Laurelle said:
And both the 5 of cups and 6 of swords can both be break up cards.

Well, the person in question is an ex, so...

Saskia

Hi Pique Dame, it can irritate as much as you like but tarot has a tendency to give extra info, it doesn't work well with "yes, sir"/"no, sir", approach and expectations - cards don't " like" being told or yelled what to do

You must know about stalker cards that pop up no matter what's the question? I think they are the strongest element or energy surrounding or inside the person and hence come up first. It's like having to turn off the fire alarm after a toast burns to hear what a person cooking the brekky has to say

Pique Dame

Saskia said:
Hi Pique Dame, it can irritate as much as you like but tarot has a tendency to give extra info, it doesn't work well with "yes, sir"/"no, sir", approach and expectations - cards don't " like" being told or yelled what to do

Well, that's why I asked *how* so-and-so feels rather than just asking "Did he enjoy the evening/does he feel guilty," etc. I prefer more direct answers than tarot usually gives. I know I need a pendulum for that but I have no idea how to use one effectively.

Saskia said:
You must know about stalker cards that pop up no matter what's the question? I think they are the strongest element or energy surrounding or inside the person and hence come up first. It's like having to turn off the fire alarm after a toast burns to hear what a person cooking the brekky has to say

Yeah, I've had a few stalker cards. What's interesting about deck #1, though, is that there are 3 cards it avoids altogether. Kind of the opposite of stalkers in that I never pull them no matter what the spread. I did an interview spread a few months back and asked why it avoids those cards and got answers like Ace of Cups, 2 of Cups, etc. Wasn't too sure on the message. My first impression was "I like to to focus on the positive" or something.

Saskia

Pique Dame said:
What's interesting about deck #1, though, is that there are 3 cards it avoids altogether. Kind of the opposite of stalkers in that I never pull them no matter what the spread. I did an interview spread a few months back and asked why it avoids those cards and got answers like Ace of Cups, 2 of Cups, etc. Wasn't too sure on the message. My first impression was "I like to to focus on the positive" or something.

That really is interesting. Your take about "focusing on positives" sounds fitting and it's probably a useful approach. I once used a deck that only focused on negatives (the written instructions were also extremely negative, so that gave an extra negative spin to the cards too) and it was very disheartening; I eventually dropped that deck after being hammered in every area of life. Not helpful.