Too many decks?

[Amary]

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable having too many decks?

I have quite a few (Well, not by comparison on this board, but compared to other readers I know in real life!), and if I get one that I just know I won't read with, I feel uneasy until it's out of my house. That happened with the Fantastic Menagerie, and also the Merlin Tarot, which I ended up taking to a used bookstore shortly after I got it because it made me antsy.

I do have decks I know I won't be working with for a while; I have a pocket Thoth I keep because I find it fascinating, and while I know I won't use it for a long time, I also know I might not be able to replace it, so it sticks around- and it's right on the edge of my tolerance.

Is it just me that can't keep a deck just for the sake of having it?

 

[Golden Moon]

I don't feel uncomfortable with my collection (sadly enough I only have more Oracle cards than I do Tarot )
But still, look at it as an Art Form, Think of it as having picture frames on you table, night stands, walls ect.



One is never enough

 

[DaisyDragonfly]

Not uncomfortable, mostly guilty. And not for having bought them, but for not being able to use them all at once

If I get a deck that I don't bond with straight away, I put it to one side. It's time will come.

 

[nisaba]

This question can't be answered or even contemplated until you define what "too many decks" is. for one of my friends, three decks is too many. For many others, one deck is too many. I have roughly sixty at the moment, and that's definitely not enough. More than one person here has over one and a half thousand, and they are still buying, and still know, love and use their decks.

By all means, if a deck makes you feel antsy, pass it on. If you feel something negative about a deck that really makes you uncomfortable, then get rid of it. But decks do not have an independent life: they're like books. I have aobut eight thousand books, so for every deck I have, I have more than a hundred books. Some of them I re-read regularly. Others I particularly enjoyed. Others have been a part of my journey, a part of the path through life that got me here and get kept for that reason alone. And others I have forgotten - and will one day re-read and rediscover. Literature has to be really appalling (Mills and Boone) for me to get rid of it.

Decks are the same: some you love, some you can work with, some you are nostalgic about because you loved them once, some were a mistake but stay with you for a few years until you find the right person that they are travelling towards, some taught you something, some are historically important, and some, like the books, are merely a part of your journey through life and should be retained and honoured because of that.

I suppose "Too many" decks, for me could be one of two things:

When I have so many I've forgotten substantial numbers of them (but then, I'd have too many books, and I don't); or when you have so many that you can't fit them all in your home. Either of those two cases would be excessive to me. Perhaps to others, they wouldn't. So no, I can't even think about the question yet, because I have never experienced "too many decks". I have, however, passed decks on. That;'s a different thing.

 

[photokat]

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable having too many decks?

Gregory will answer this question very soon ; )

 

[LotusSong]

I have three decks. To my mother, who could probably spend years with the single deck she has, this is far too many, buying a deck two months after getting my second was insane, I'm not spending enough time with the ones I have, etc.

To me, three is not enough. Nor is four, nor seven, nor ten. I'd use them all for different things. Some I'd study, while others are almost purely intuitive. I'm a collector at heart, so if a really "nice" deck that doesn't speak to me/I'm not ready for came my way I'd keep it. I'd find a use for it eventually.

I find it funny that nisaba would compare decks to books, for I was about to make the same analogy. However, she said it so much better than I could have. :3

 

[firefrost]

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable having too many decks?
I have quite a few (Well, not by comparison on this board, but compared to other readers I know in real life!), and if I get one that I just know I won't read with, I feel uneasy until it's out of my house.

I've never felt uneasy about having a deck out of the house that I no longer want but when I've had them for sale, they've been tucked out of my way because I no longer want to look at them.

I have three decks. To my mother, who could probably spend years with the single deck she has, this is far too many, buying a deck two months after getting my second was insane, I'm not spending enough time with the ones I have, etc.

I so envy and respect people like your mother! I just have a dozen or so decks now that I'm more than happy with, but I've always loved the thought of going to the bookshelf and getting the one-and-only deck there to read/study with!

What I like to do now is stick to one deck for as long as I can before moving onto my next favourite. And yes, some decks sit there hardly used, but I do like them, so I keep them.


On the subject of books - Must admit, I'd never had thought to compare the two. I have more tarot books than I care to think about (and that's after selling/giving away loads) that I never use, perhaps one day I'll have another sale...

The books I think about are my novels, totally unrelated to tarot, and can be many if you collect series' of them.

(Walks away, whistling innocently.... )

 

[moderndayruth]

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable having too many decks?

I have quite a few (Well, not by comparison on this board, but compared to other readers I know in real life!), and if I get one that I just know I won't read with, I feel uneasy until it's out of my house. That happened with the Fantastic Menagerie, and also the Merlin Tarot, which I ended up taking to a used bookstore shortly after I got it because it made me antsy.

I do have decks I know I won't be working with for a while; I have a pocket Thoth I keep because I find it fascinating, and while I know I won't use it for a long time, I also know I might not be able to replace it, so it sticks around- and it's right on the edge of my tolerance.

Is it just me that can't keep a deck just for the sake of having it?

Nope, its not just you
With me, its not that i feel uncomfortable - i simply don't want the decks i don't like (very much), that's all.
I am not sure how many decks i have right now, maybe 20 or 25 Tarot decks and probably around the same number of oracles, i am not setting limits, i would (and probably will with time lol) buy another hundred - IF i like them, to me personally its not about quantity, but about how much i like the deck.
(Also i have a problem of getting decks because of my location - Amazon often won't ship or the sellet won't accept Eastern European credit card etc., so it takes time and patience for me to get the decks i do want - its a limiting factor too. )

 

[Alta]

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable having too many decks?

No, not in the slightest, and that is odd because I am very much a de-clutter sort of person. But with decks, I never like parting with them and regret the few that I did sell (except some duplicates, those I am gradually sending out the door).

Alta

 

[gregory]

No, I don't. And if anyone has too many it would be me (well, not counting Adam.)

I am - at worst - supporting artists by buying their work. I read with a lot of them. I visit them all frequently. They have a whole room in my house for their very own....

Why should I feel guilty ? Why is it worse than playing golf and spending money on the gym - or smoking. Now THOSE waste money, IMHO, or at very least give you nothing real. My decks give me pleasure, as they do everyone who visits them. What more can one ask ?

ETA reading Alta - I have never disposed of a deck other than a duplicate - one received as a gift (I kept the gift and sold the other !) and a couple I have bought in used bookstores where no-one who would want them would see them - and sold them here for what I paid, so that they would be with people who loved them.

I couldn't. They are FAMILY