Decks with personalities? Is this weird?

Quantum theory

The outcome of the event observed is influenced by the observer/observation. This seems to fit here, don'tcha think?

Spinner said:

The outcome of the event observed is influenced by the observer/observation. This seems to fit here, don'tcha think?

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More than just "influenced," I think. In the case of tarot animism it might just be created out of whole cloth, however creatively and intuitively. But that's an uncharitable assessment and I don't (not after so many decades of exposure) really believe it. Besides, I'd probably be kicked from the forum as an heretical infiltrator and one of "them what cause unrest."

Barleywine said:

... ultimately its just us projecting, and not the bits of printed paperboard going ambulatory on us.

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I agree. Projection has got to be a big part of it.

Forgetting tarot for a moment, there are times, maybe every few years or so, when I am in a conversation with someone and their reactions to me are so off-the-wall that I wonder if they are really talking to me. Once I turned around to see if anyone else was nearby. Some folks are so totally wrapped up in the 'baggage' that they carry that they honestly project that image onto others as if others were blank screens. I do not excuse myself. I'm sure I have blind spots that I project onto others.

Anyway, I feel sure that we are using plenty of projection when we read the cards. The great thing is that tarot is wonderful about helping us remove these blind spots.

Hmm. New thought, to me anyway. Maybe each deck's art is especially good at removing particular types of blind spots?

Barleywine said:

Aww, where's the poetry in that? Just teasing, of course. Certainly the feeling that the decks have different personalities is just us molding our perception to the different "vibrations" (nice old New Age hippie word, that) that reach us through our assimilation and internalization of the imagery on the cards. It doesn't fully explain why a deck that is beautiful and gentle on the surface can invoke such feelings of hostility and desolation in some readers, though. Must be a broken chromosome or bad DNA (well, maybe just bad mojo) in the bond (<tongue/cheek>), since I'm reasonably sure the creators didn't intend that reaction. On the other hand, visualizing a deck as having a certain personality or innate intelligence can be a powerful and evocative tool for getting the most out of it. As you implied, though, ultimately its just us projecting, and not the bits of printed paperboard going ambulatory on us.

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You don't know me at all, obviously !!! We'll fix that! Tarot sings poetry to me. It is all the lyrics of life to me, the voice of the Divine whispering in my ear (and shouting when need be) and has become both a deep part of my spiritual journey and my life's work, as well. I love tarot, even the ugly ones, and DO think it is magical. I think that I was just reminding myself that the magic is in me, with my words, and that like Dumbo and his feather, I always could fly, but holding the cards makes me believe. So when my Sun and Moon Tarot plays coy with me, that is an aspect of myself, a reading I wasn't able to handle blunt and straight to the heart. Something about those images promises and flirts, but never quite takes it all the way, and when I reach for that deck the deepest part of me realizes that I will get the message best that way. When the Deviant Moon smirks at me, that is my trickster funny side hamming it up for the crowd. When I dream Sidhe dreams they are there because that is how I needed to hear their message, too.

I didn't intend to take away the magic from anyone. I meant to make it more and deeper!

The human mind is an amazing thing! and so is tarot.

So far I haven't really noticed different personalities between my decks. But I have noticed that the messages they send me are often surprising and unpredicted. Many times my mind will be occupied with a problem or concern, I will go to the cards with a "send me a message" type request, and the cards will bring up something totally other than what had been consuming me all day. For example, I might be worrying about a project at work that I haven't even started and instead of commenting on this, the cards will nudge me towards spending time with my family and celebrating free time. It's like my subconscious is telling my conscious to stop obsessing about the one thing and give some attention to this other part of my life.
On the other hand, when the cards do comment on whatever I've been worrying about, they are always honest but encouraging at the same time. (At least they have been so far.) I can be in a state of hopeless despair, in tears because I can't seem to cope with whatever, and the cards will give me a firm but loving message that turns my mood completely around. On my own, I can't seem to pick myself up, but a brief 3 card reading somehow manages to break through my mental and emotional clouds to shine light and hope onto the situation. The situation hasn't changed, but my thoughts about the situation have changed and a weight is lifted off my shoulders. I suppose what I am trying to get at is that if the cards are reflecting projections from my subconsious or inner self, then I am surprised (but grateful) the projections are so much more intelligent and loving then what my conscious mind gives me (which is usually a load of dookie).
Wow, that was a lot of rambling. I hope some of it made sense.

turtlebite said:

They are art and art is meant to communicate something. So the particular personality of the the creator(s) comes through in the cards and interacts with our own personalities to give a particular feel to the reading.

I don't think it's so much the cards have personalities but the people who created them did, and our own histories influence how we perceive them.

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Precisely what I was going to say, but you've already said it so well!

turtlebite said:

They are art and art is meant to communicate something. So the particular personality of the the creator(s) comes through in the cards and interacts with our own personalities to give a particular feel to the reading.

I don't think it's so much the cards have personalities but the people who created them did, and our own histories influence how we perceive them.

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I was about to answer, but this post was exactly what I was going to say. So I will leave it at that. These are my views exactly.

Decks do read differently, which is why I have so many and I like to sense before a reading which will give the answer in the best way. But the reason they speak/read differently in my eyes is the above.

Babs

I don't think that it's that they have different personalities but that they bring out a different voice or different side of you. For example, when I read with the Marseille, it is usually very logical and straight forward, sometimes even a bit harsh. When I read with the Fantastic Menagerie, the voice it brings out is very gentle and soothing.

When I read for myself with any deck, they seem to have the same personality, but the way the message is communicated is different.

desertrat said:

I will go to the cards with a "send me a message" type request, and the cards will bring up something totally other than what had been consuming me all day.

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Because I follow the practice of having a querent silently meditate on the question while shuffling and cutting the deck, the reading will often strike much deeper than the nominal issue that led to the session, mainly because it is unfettered by any prior knowledge on my part. In short, I come to it cold and am not impelled to try coaxing slanted meanings from the spread to reinforce my preconceptions. The querent's affirmations or demurrals guide the direction of the narrative as it unfolds. Many times it peels back more layers of the original matter, other times it veers off into an underlying subconscious or unconscious question that was masked by the more immediate conscious concern. I have the most fun (and work the hardest!) when a querent begins in a state of mild puzzlement as we start and then it suddenly dawns on them as I work through the spread that they're getting far more (or far different but still on-target) than what they came for. I always caution them before we start that this might happen. I've aborted a few readings when a seeming false start didn't begin to crystallize into a meaningful answer, but not many. In my lengthy experience I've seen the tarot operate on several different intuitive levels, from purely mundane to purely psychological, in its own way and in its own time, but it almost always bears fruit; you just might get a pomegranate instead of a mango. In the end, though, they both make juice.

Mystic is cruel to you? Hm, for me it's a gentle and straightforward deck... and stubborn, very stubborn. But that's good I guess... A stubborn deck for a stubborn girl.

But no, I agree with you and I don't think it's weird. Stranger things are real, you know? I've gone past being phased by two different decks with two different personalities. Just one more thing deemed impossible by today's society that is actually possible.

Now, if I had, like... the fae and dragon in Strength pop up out of the cards and start communicating their message to me, I would not only think that would be weird, I would also call my therapist!

That does sound like something that would happen on a shroom trip though.
Note to self, keep away from Tarot decks if a magic mushroom is consumed... >_>'