Not being able to read with a specific deck...

[carley124]

I'm new at this whole Tarot thing so I've been reading tons of different threads, just to learn more about the cards and the way readers react to them. Something I keep coming across is that readers have trouble connecting with a deck and, therefore, can not read with it. If you know the meanings of the cards in general, why wouldn't you be able to read with it? I have a RWS deck and, while I'm not crazy about it, I can still do a reading. Sorry if this is a very "beginner" question, but like I said, I'm a beginner.

 

[Muir Aingeal]

It could be art they can't connect to which could put a block on their reading. Some decks have imagery they may not like either etc Can't connect, can't bond. I'm sure they could read with decks such as these but why would they want to? hence the not connecting.

 

[Grizabella]

There are so many, many decks, some of them quite closely based on RWS and some of them really loosely based on it. Some are based on Thoth, like Haindl and I've heard maybe Vision Quest is, too. Then some have illustrated pips and some have non-illustrated. It's all so varied that it's just hard to mix them all up and read any deck, especially when you're new.

 

[Silver Crow]

I think the longer you read, the more decks you find unreadable. Yes, you know the general meanings of each card, and even those you've created yourself, but there's something else you look for, the thing that rings the intuition bell, the symbols, the colors or what not that jump out and say, "This is what I'm trying to make you see"! Then you may even get to the point when the general meanings just don't match with what you are feeling in that reading, and the meaning of the card speaks to you in it's own way entirely.

I guess what I'm saying is, if the images don't affect you, or the symbolism doesn't speak to you, the deck is unreadable beyond memorized meanings and many of us are looking for more than that.

 

[Nytebugg]

it's probably all in color and imagery of a deck. I know for me it is. what happens to me when i don't connect with a deck is I see the card and I grasp that that card is say the Knight of Wands but I get nothing more than that. for example, I don't get a gut feeling that says this is the sitter's desire to go on a grand adventure or this is the sitter's boyfriend who is a bit of a ladies man. without the intuitive kick I feel like I am shooting blind. I know it comes from me and not pieces of paper. Those pieces of paper are like puzzle pieces and you don't have a picture of the puzzle to work with. you could be putting together a picture of a horse or a building you don't really know. Finding a deck you like and works with your intuition more is like having the cover image of your puzzle. It makes it easier.

I don't know if I am making any sense....

 

[carley124]

Oh, I get it. So it's not that the reader doesn't know what the cards mean but that they can't get any meaning beyond the basic keyword. There's nothing intuitive about the deck. It's just a bunch of dictionary definitions, which isn't really reading. That makes sense then. Thanks!

 

[Aerin]

Oh, I get it. So it's not that the reader doesn't know what the cards mean but that they can't get any meaning beyond the basic keyword. There's nothing intuitive about the deck. It's just a bunch of dictionary definitions, which isn't really reading. That makes sense then. Thanks!

Yes, that would be it exactly as far as I'm concerned. Some decks give me the intuitive kick far more than others. Also I can get distracted by something in the images that I don't like with some decks - the same way that I can't think straight about someone's presentation when they have "lot's" (sic.) of misplaced apostrophes.

 

[bellathebrave123]

And the other interesting thing I find personally is that this feeling can vary from deck to deck from day to day. Whilst I have my special decks that I always seem to connect with, some days I find myself drawn to and connecting to a deck that I don't use often, but the very next day this same deck may do little to prompt my intuition. Is it just me, or are others like this too.

 

[dare2]

I am. My first deck is beautiful - the art is nice, the colors are pleasing - but I wouldn't use it much since it didn't speak to me every time I wanted to use it. Actually it didn't draw me very often at all.

I just purchased a new deck that I am so drawn to I don't want to put it down! But I am pretty sure once the newness wears off it will not be the only deck I use even if it is a primary.

I have a feeling I am going to end up with a bunch of decks that fit my different moods so I'll always have something to go to!

 

[SunChariot]

I'm new at this whole Tarot thing so I've been reading tons of different threads, just to learn more about the cards and the way readers react to them. Something I keep coming across is that readers have trouble connecting with a deck and, therefore, can not read with it. If you know the meanings of the cards in general, why wouldn't you be able to read with it? I have a RWS deck and, while I'm not crazy about it, I can still do a reading. Sorry if this is a very "beginner" question, but like I said, I'm a beginner.

Reading is ideally much much more than knowing meanings. Actually I find knowing too many set meanings for the cards, for me personally anyway, detracts from my readings.

At best set meanings are just part of the answer. There is a lot of intuition in reading. You have to FEEL the answer, as there are often two conflicting possible feelings for a card and you have to feel the answer.

I don't think you can really know THE meanings to a card, as meaning changes each time for each card to some extent at least depending on many many things: the question, spreads, adjacent cards....etc.

Meanings given for a card are at best just a suggestion, a possibility, but in reality there are almost an infinite number of meanings per card. That is why if you check in different books for the meaning of a card you will see different things. As for the books that come with decks, in my view, if the book is well written it will tell you straight up that the meanings in the book are only possible meanings but feel free to find your own.

And also, of course some people (myself included) get most of their meanings from the card image. The images do talk to us. Or at least some do. We relate more to some deck's images than to others, which in my experience is where some decks don't read well for some people, we are not in tune with the particular images of that deck.

Babs