Robinsong said:
I started reading when I was 16 with a simple deck(I didn't even know the name of it just picked them up and started learning, got scared and put them down. Then a decade later picked it up again. I got crowley's thoth deck given to me so that is what I have been learning with for 3 months now. I am taking it easy by only doing upright facing and only 1 meaning per card but now i'm kinda stuck. Should I have started with a different one? It took me 6 hours to go through and assign each card to the deck. I am afraid because I always heard that you never move to a new deck until you know the old inside and out - would i carry my same meanings to a new deck. If not doesn't that get confusing? So confused can anyone shed some light? I do pretty darn good on the thoth but??????
Welcome to A.T., Robinsong! No, you have no worries about not being able to learn a different deck. It doesn't really matter which deck you begin with, it's only that some decks are easier then others. I do not own the Thoth deck myself, but from what I understand, they are a bit difficult to get use to. If you are feeling frustrated with them, go purchase another deck from the bookstore or new age store near you. Borders bookstores generally have some that you can open and look at, or they will have a book showing the pictures of the cards. you can see if they appeal to you before buying them.
I have some decks that I never could get use to, though I tried often. I moved right from them directly to other decks w/o any problems.
as far as carrying the meanings from one deck to the other-well that really depends on the decks. generally, the meaning for the number of the card and the suit of the card is the same, but if you read intuitively, you can't really carry the same meaning from deck to deck, and you don't need to!
the best system is to really look at the card you are reading, and look for anything that pops out at you-the colors, the overall picture or an obscure thing in the card. whatever seems to pop out at you generally is doing so for a reason, and you 'read' that. sounds difficult, but after you've tried this a few times and continue to practice, it gets much easier and becomes 2nd nature.
don't throw your Thoth away, nor get frustrated with them, and don't worry about going from Thoth to another deck. experiment and enjoy each deck you own. with each different deck, you will see a different message in each card. that is the beauty of tarot. no two decks give the same message!