Question About Finicky Decks!

I do have decks that are "difficult" with me at times. My Bohemian Gothic and The Wild Wood come to mind but there are a few others as well. When this happens, I just put them away and find one that "wants" to work with me. Some never, ever fail to sing while others are what I like to call "moody" or yes, finicky, like you refer to here. I usually assume it's a clashing of energetic levels between me and the whatever or something. I wait awhile and come back to them at a later time. Sometimes this works, other times they are silent as the grave no matter what.

I find deck storage to be very important. A few months back I got the Dark Angel Tarot and it was uncooperative to say the least. It then hits me - my other two decks are wrapped in a fabric quarter, and stored with a 20 sided die I use for cleansing. I find an appropriate bag, a fitting d20, and fitting fabric quarter and within a week the Dark Angels were being very forthcoming.


About a month ago, I got the Tarot of Dreams and thanks to my wife, I had a spare bag and quarter already to go. It has ended up being incredibly insightful from the onset.

I'm tickled pink cos my way of thinking is tarot is an extension of ourselves so if there's a problem I figure it must come from within or from the question posed or from our lack of reading skills but from the deck?? It's cardboard how can it have a personality? a pictorial style yes I can see that in a deck but I don't see decks as an entity in their own right, rather a tool to link into the collective unconscious until our psychic ability has developed to a point where we can tap in without cards. That said I know it's possible to link directly into an entity like a guide or someone in spirit through cards until we can hear, but it's not the cards we're hearing at the end of the day though I don't claim to be correct.

Very very well said, headincloud!!

Absolutely!!

headincloud said:

I'm tickled pink cos my way of thinking is tarot is an extension of ourselves so if there's a problem I figure it must come from within or from the question posed or from our lack of reading skills but from the deck?? It's cardboard how can it have a personality? a pictorial style yes I can see that in a deck but I don't see decks as an entity in their own right, rather a tool to link into the collective unconscious until our psychic ability has developed to a point where we can tap in without cards. That said I know it's possible to link directly into an entity like a guide or someone in spirit through cards until we can hear, but it's not the cards we're hearing at the end of the day though I don't claim to be correct.

Click to expand...

The cards = Tarot - and Oracles of any kind awaken, communicate with our intuitive, holistic, emotional brain, not so very much with the analytic, root learning goal fixated mind.
Now, in most humans the right and the left hemisphere of the brain are "prominent" in about 90 minute intervals. First one, you can concentrate great, get a lot of stuffff done - and then, you feel, you need a little break, a breather, come back to your project, see it in a new, more holistic light, see, what you could improve on to, to build on and so on.....
Now you try a tarot reading with a question about how to solve a problem =catering to your left brain - and use the straight forward RWS standard deck, you will get a great answer.
But ifff you use something like the Margarete Petersen, you would be fumoxed.
So leave the cards of that one (MP) on the table and look at them ~~ an hour or 3 1/2hours or so later, when your intuitive mind is running the show and you may get something.....
However, ifff you are in an intuitive "sensy/ feely" frame of mind and want to do a reading
about a relationship, you will get better results from a more intuitive deck a' la' the Dark Angels or the Greenwood...
So, go through your decks and check out, which decks work better when.

For example, when I have readings to do on functions, face to face, for 4 -6 hours, I need to switch decks out. Also, when I am presented with a rather analytical question by a sitter, I say:" This deck will help me better to answer that question than that one"

Now, that said, you can always meditate for ~~ 20 minutes to synchronize you brainwaves and then do a reading just after. That will give you the best results with any deck you are naturally drawn to.
However, if you just realllly never "jived with" the images of that deck, it will throw you right back into a critical analytical frame of mind! Iffff THAT happens, give the deck away, it is not for you.

My first true amour, the Thoth, has proven itself to me over and over again. Its accuracy basically goes unchallenged by me - and sometimes it can get downright unnerving.

But I've learned that my Thoth does not like being asked the same question again and again. It also does not like being tested, and only wants to answer questions that are personally very important to me. Despite these conditions, it was able to help me in so many ways. I might never be able to let it go.

I have plenty of finicky decks, including one that I had for 8+ years before I could read it! So I totally get the struggle.

For me, it's a matter of:

- cleansing/charging
- bonding exercises
- patience

I cleanse with sage and moonlight, and then charge with crystals and sunlight. I like to choose a crystal that corresponds to how I'd like to work with the deck, or what I feel I need from it (like, I need more kindness from it, or more insight, or more balance - essentially using the crystal correspondences to counteract any issues I'm having with the deck).

Bonding exercises includes meditating with the cards, really just gazing at each one for a long time, sleeping with the deck near me, a LOT of shuffling, and...this is weird but I talk to the cards. I introduce myself, I ask them questions, and I just ramble at them. I also like to carry a new deck with me for a week or so and have adventures together.

And patience...I bought my LS Tarot Art Nouveau in 2006. I couldn't actually read it until last year (2016). 10 years it sat in my bedroom at my parents' house, then the attic, then a storage room, then I found it again and started using it...and bam, it's now one of my favorites to read with.

But yeah, finicky decks can be hella frustrating, and the patience thing does suck pretty bad sometimes. But it can totally be worth it! And I've only had that "10 year delay" thing happen once; mostly it's within 6-12 months at most for me to get a deck to work for me.

~Jules

SilverFirePrime said:

I find deck storage to be very important. A few months back I got the Dark Angel Tarot and it was uncooperative to say the least. It then hits me - my other two decks are wrapped in a fabric quarter, and stored with a 20 sided die I use for cleansing. I find an appropriate bag, a fitting d20, and fitting fabric quarter and within a week the Dark Angels were being very forthcoming.

About a month ago, I got the Tarot of Dreams and thanks to my wife, I had a spare bag and quarter already to go. It has ended up being incredibly insightful from the onset.

Click to expand...

I am rather curious about how you are using the 20-sided die for cleansing? It sounds interesting!