coming full circle

[Le Fanu]

Ive been into tarot for years now. It kind of comes and goes, but over the last few years - mainly the last year - Ive been on a real shopping roll, but I suddenly find that now, after having gone beyond the 80 mark, I find that I return to the original decks from the past, from the begining, as trusty favourites. And I wonder how it took me so long to come full circle.

I love all my decks, don´t get me wrong. But it seems to be a "rite de passage", the compulsive buying, the next deck, the next deck, in search of THE deck and then, at the end of it all, reducing to a mere handful. I can honestly say that five really is enough. After all the wonderful decks I have, I find that I have created a kind of "sub-collection"; decks which don´t live with the others. I want them close at hand.

I think Im at that precise point when others would get rid of a load of decks. Im too much of a hoarder and so won´t be doing that. But it´s an odd sensation.

It all started when I missed having my decks at my boyfriend´s house and so took a few of the trusty faves and duplicates to leave there. Naturally I selected the special ones (and the ones with back ups), but Ive ended up needing for very little else. Just out of interest, my decks are these;

Minchiate Etruria Florentina
1JJ Swiss
Ancient Italian
"Original" RWS and Pocket Universal
Pocket Crowley

I didn´t mean for the selection to be "representative" in any way but looking at them now, it certainly looks that way. But in that list are basically the decks I started out with years ago, at the beginning of the journey. I knew something had changed when I ordered Druidcraft and Tarot of Prague and although Im looking forward to receiving them, Im not as excited as I used to be with decks in the post . These trusty old favourites are the ones I can´t stop playing with.

Anyone else have that sense of coming full circle, back to the beginning, sated from accumulating, back to the trusty old favourites? Is it all part of the process? And I also feel, simultaneously, a deepening of just what tarot means to me. And I don´t think it´s a coincidence.

 

[poivre]

Hi Le Fenu

Yes this has happened to me.
Years ago I bought a ton of different decks. Being the only one in my
group of friends that wanted to learn about life...I ditched the decks.
Gave some of them away and so on. But, I had to go back to the
information I was finding... it was exciting. Began buying more decks
and trading. After a while, I began to get picky about the decks I
was buying and trading.
Now, only buy or trade just a few decks and usually for the artwork
within the decks. Other decks give me different information or a
new outlook on my meanings.

After all these years I understand that I'm comfortable with my
Universal Waite...full circle!

ros

 

[celticnoodle]

Anyone else have that sense of coming full circle, back to the beginning, sated from accumulating, back to the trusty old favourites? Is it all part of the process? And I also feel, simultaneously, a deepening of just what tarot means to me. And I don´t think it´s a coincidence.

no, I think I've just reached that portion of the circle where I am ordering lots of decks! I find myself constantly going to websites to price decks I think I want, and when I find one that is at an irresistable price, I'll order it---then eagerly await for it to come in and every day I'm running to the mailbox and front step hoping that it came in already---eagerly opening the deck up and looking through each card & playing with them, and calling my sister and sharing my newest 'find'.

Now, that said, I am cheap--and I have my limits on what I'll pay for a deck--so I guess I don't buy quite as often as some do when they are in this particular part of the circle! I hope I soon get past this and come full circle though. I am running out of places to store all my decks and books!

 

[rwcarter]

Anyone else have that sense of coming full circle, back to the beginning, sated from accumulating, back to the trusty old favourites?

Not quite yet. For me, coming full circle would be back to the Mythic, the Witches and the Robin Wood as the first three decks I used in 1992 when I started on my tarot journey. Going into my 7th month of using and getting to know the Ancient Egyptian Tarot, I doubt that I would ever give it up completely in favor of the first three.

But with the advances I've made in my tarot knowledge and the approach I use for studying and getting to know a deck, the thought has crossed my mind to circle back to those first decks (and many others that I attempted to use with varying degrees of success over the years) and see how they fit now.

Is it all part of the process?

I think it's natural to want to go back and visit an old friend or two. See if the attraction is still there. See if it's as comfortable as an old pair of shoes or see if you've outgrown that specific pair. It sounds like you've found your old favorites that are your new favorites that will be your future favorites. Most of us aren't there. And I don't know if I'll ever be there (at least not with a static list).

The thrill of the next new deck (NND) isn't as strong as it was even earlier this year, but it's still there. Even if I didn't buy any more decks for the rest of my life (Yeah. Right. ), I would still be able to experience the NND thrill just by shopping my own collection. And there are lots of decks in my collection that are on my When I Have Time list. So, no, I don't see myself coming full circle in this lifetime. There's just so many decks and so little time! But I'm really happy you've reached that place in your tarot journey.

Rodney

ETA: RW in my tarot journal meant Robin Wood not Rider Waite....

 

[Rosanne]

Hi Le Fanu!
I guess for me I can divide my Tarot interests into boxes.
In Tarot History I never come full circle- I jump from one speculation to another and thus it takes different decks.
In collecting, the circle always gets wider and sometimes very interesting, when I look what is on offer.
But reading....well I am most comfortable with RWS, my first deck, and I hang around with those decks that work best for me. To get there back at the beginning I had to go full circle with different decks to see if I would discard them. I have a core of say 10 decks- but in reading really they come down to 5 and mostly that is right back at the beginning- RWS and that system, Visconti, a combination deck Medieval Scapini and a new one to see if it lasts the distance. So there are some decks that have moved into the collection or History box and 5 that never will.
~Rosanne

 

[lark]

Today I was at the book store and they had 3 shiny and new boxes of the Mystic Dreamer on the shelf.
Back in the day I would have jumped on that puppy like a monkey on a cupcake...but I looked at it and then put it back...big yawn.
I did help a girl pick out a deck... that was fun...she said she had a goddess deck 'ala Virtue' and wanted a real tarot deck, but didn't know which ones were tarot and which were oracles.
So we went through the selves and she ended up picking the Fenesta..a good beginner deck I think.

I hesitate to mention my full circle decks...because Le Fanu you have picked on my dear Robin Wood so many times.... but alas it is so...I spent 2 years sitting next to the heating vent in winter and on the porch swing in the summer learning and loving that deck....I knew no one and nothing... I had that deck and an original Rider Waite and that is what I learned on.
No computer...one book... we were so poor at the time I was lucky to have a few decks....so just a notebook and a few decks and me.
I had a Hanson Roberts too...that was actually the first deck I bought, but I didn't use it much after I found the Robin Wood.
Shuffling over and over, looking, writing, looking, writing...it was the best of times.
Oh, to be that innocent again.

So after buying and buyng and buying some more...I still find myself most comfortable and still in love with my Robin Wood, and my Rider Waite...in various forms usually the Illuminated and the Universal Waite.
And my Greenwood that touched a deep place in me the minute I saw it.
Come to think if it it was after I finally got a Greenwood that I kind of lost interest in buying...it felt like now I had everything I needed.
And I find myself going back to those three over and over.

I'm a simplicity junkie so I might dump a lot of decks one day...but for now I do enjoy rummaging around in my tarot closet...trying out different decks and oracles.
I'm content and sitting in the middle of my circle. and the two favorite decks in my lap are the two I started the circle with.

 

[faunabay]

lark, I'm like you. The Robin Wood was the first deck that I could really use. I had two others before it (New Palladini and Tarot of the Old Path), but the Robin Wood and I just clicked. I would never give it up!

 

[lark]

faunabay you are a treasure... thank you.

I also remember how after studying the Robin Wood for two years I finally was able to get her book on the deck...(didn't even know it exsisted until then) my god how I devoured it!!!!....it was so amazing to read her insights compared to mine.
Some amazingly were the same and others different....
How she chose each color and flower and oh.... just everything in the card to mean something....still love that book...even though its falling apart and held together with tons of tape.
Probably why I love my deck so much is even after all these years it still surprises me, shows me new things...it has been the best, dearest teacher I could of had.

 

[karenquilter]

My first deck was the Aquarian, way back in 1980, I think. My husband had the RWS. Then we gave them away when we got into other things. I rediscovered tarot about 10 years ago & started collecting decks, mostly for the artwork. I'm still collecting; I don't read with the cards.

Several months ago I acquired another copy of the Aquarian Tarot, when I was in a study group for it. It was good to reconnect with it, but I haven't settled down with a group of favorite decks yet.

At the moment, I'm looking at the Cosmic, Tarot of Reflections, and Archeon. A few months ago it was the Dante & Tarot of Dreams.

Maybe I'm still on the outward arc of the circle.

 

[Alta]

I love this thread! Le Fanu, don't think because you wound up back at the beginning though that is the end of your journey. In I Ching all paths spiral back to a point near the beginning and then spiral out again. Possibly not back to deck acquisition, but... don't dump those acquired decks just yet!

I started with the Rider deck but the Robin Wood is also what really opened my eyes to Tarot. All those lovingly crafted images in glowing colour just made the ideas come alive. Now I use various decks and hardly ever use the Robin Wood and for the Rider I now use the Illuminated. But I loved and love the other decks for their beauty but mostly for their insights and vision.

Alta