How many is too many?

[gregory]

I like the answer someone gave here that said "when you run out of space". That said, it looks to me like Gregory probably has the most, though I wonder....however, as far as I know, she deserves the blue ribbon for having that many tarot decks!

Adam McLean has more than I do, and so does Jeannette. I THINK there is at least one other person here who does. But yes - I am a rather awful example. Then again, I have been at it since 1975.... and never disposed of one yet.

For me, "too much" isn't the way I view my collection. I wrote a huge meandering blog post about this recently, but basically what I settled on was that as long I purchase decks purposefully, with meaning, I can have as many as I want. The thing for me to avoid is acquisition for acquisitions sake, like getting too caught up in bargains, completitionism, or just the rush of buying something new!

Um oops. While I do not (no honestly !!) buy EVERY deck I see - I have nothing against completionism as long as you know what and why you are doing it. (please see Brotherhood of Light thread and send the needful; thank you all... )

This.

If you buy tarot decks for the art, there's no such thing as too many. But if you intend to use them all as working decks, then I think that you can have too many. Because in order to be able to read with a deck, I mean, to read with it really well, you have to spend time with it. And if you own a whole lotta decks, that spreads your time thin. You can never give any deck the attention it needs.

Every tarot is unique, created by a different artist and writer, and with a different vision. Every tarot deck has its own voice. But in order to get that pile of cards to speak to you with its voice you have to devote yourself to it, at least for a while. And you can't do that when you buy 40 decks a month. You never get a chance to get to know any of them.

OTOH, if I could afford it, I'd buy 'em anyway.

This. Not that I EVER bought 40 in one month. Just a sec.... Crumbs ! Over ALL that time it only seems to average out at about one a week. I feel better !

ANYWAY - yes, I don't read with all of them. But I do LOOK at them ALL from time to time; spend time with them all. And even the Power Animal gives me a strange pleasure...

 

[Dluv]

I had only 1 deck for many years and then I had about 20 decks, including oracle decks. Now I have gotten rid of all but one. The one I have I love and works very well for me. Its the Gilded Tarot. Im good with just the one... I am just not good with none. As I have tried it and it stinks!

 

[Bhavana]

The thing for me to avoid is acquisition for acquisitions sake, like getting too caught up in bargains, completitionism, or just the rush of buying something new!

great point....I did this early on, just grabbed up whatever came my way. Those decks wound up just taking up space. Once I realized how little enjoyment I got out of acquiring just for numbers, I stopped doing it. I haven't bought much in the past several months, and went on a little binge in the past 10 days or so - and am thrilled with everything I got....mostly all vintage decks.

 

[trzes]

I am also pretty much with vee, as "too much" is less about an absolute number, but rather about the way of aquiring new decks,

... like getting too caught up in bargains, completitionism, or just the rush of buying something new!

Or if I couldn't send my daughter to a good college because I spent all the money on tarot decks. Or if I would keep scanning ebay for bargains form my office at work all the time and risk to loose my job.

As of the pure mass of paper: The shelves in my small study are getting higher and higher to keep all the "junk" (not MY word of cource) I am collecting because the rest of the family doesn't want to stumble over it all the time. Fair enough, it is the kind of deal everyone can live with, so nothing wrong with that in principle. As I see it, stuff that is packed away in boxes doesn't bother me. And even though it isn't much use like that for the time being, there might come a time when I will be glad that it is still there and I can look at it and have fun. So I would never give away any part of my tarot collection unless I'd be forced by poverty.

 

[louiseb]

LOL im laughing as i always say you can compare them to shoes you can never have enough, but thats my tuppenth worth.

 

[vee]

Um oops. While I do not (no honestly !!) buy EVERY deck I see - I have nothing against completionism as long as you know what and why you are doing it. (please see Brotherhood of Light thread and send the needful; thank you all... )

I agree with you! It's just one of those areas that can be dangerous for some people. Definitely not hating on it. I need to set parameters for myself so it doesn't get out of control, so one of them is: no competionism for completionism's sake, there has to be a better reason than "I want all of the things."

 

[Alissa]

I'd say you have too many if you can't find your cat, or dog, anymore...

Or if you can't navigate to the bathroom because there are too many Tarot decks blocking the way in your home...

Or if your credit card is maxed but that doesn't stop you from borrowing more money to support your deck-collecting habit.

Otherwise? You're good. Many Tarot users are like art collectors, as you can tell from the responses here. We love, adore, covet and sometimes even use the decks we buy, but there is no right or wrong on how many to have.

 

[Yineth]

Holy crud, so many responses in so little time! o_o

For the most part I'm definitely thinking within the 5-10 range for max number of decks. 100 or 1000 definitely sounds like too much ;P

For those who said purchasing decks with meaning, I definitely do agree! I really regret buying my RWS, because it was just a purchase done on a whim and not much thinking.

But who can resist all those awesome artworks out there, right?

 

[Masa]

For the most part I'm definitely thinking within the 5-10 range for max number of decks. 100 or 1000 definitely sounds like too much ;P

This is exactly where my comfort zone is, too. Even imagining having more than that is no longer fun, and I just start feeling outrageously irresponsible. I don't have a lot of storage space, and I kind of hate spending money. XD

Obviously, this is for my money and my space. For other people's collections, whatever actively brings you joy is good, and whatever doesn't isn't. For a professional tarotist, variety seems like it could only help, and no number seems too high as long as one's finances support it.

 

[Miss Divine]

That's what I said a few years ago.... 5-10....