How do You See Your Tarot Deck?

Do Tarot Decks have their own energy?

  • Not at all - they are just paper and ink.

    Votes: 27 30.3%
  • They carry their own mystical energy and need to be cleansed often.

    Votes: 5 5.6%
  • They have some inherent energy imparted by the artist and yourself.

    Votes: 41 46.1%
  • They are inherintly EVIL and I'm now off to the nearest fundamentalist chruch!

    Votes: 4 4.5%
  • Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are all correct.

    Votes: 16 18.0%

  • Total voters
    89

stclair

Had to go with #5, because I veer between these options almost daily.
The cards are paper and ink at the purest face value, and this option is handy to bring up to folks who are nervous/suspicious of them.
But there is so much happening under that surface of cardstock when you bring in the alchemy of deck creator, querent, and reader. The wealth of possibility, information, knowledge that happens when you combine these is nothing short of a phenomenon. Even on those days when your deck flounces at you or won't talk - or you don't understand.
And each deck has a particular personality to me. Some require more reverence than others, but they are all treated with respect. So, I keep them wrapped with chunks of raw, lovely crystals and incense around them at home, but take them out in the big messy world too.
There's a beautiful thread that runs through everything and tarot is a singular expression of it.
 

EmpyreanKnight

So l have not voted but did like the 4th option, nobody will vote on that as they have probably already run to the hills :laugh:

I felt like I wasted my chance on that one, Thoughtful. :p
 

EvaSegovia

I appreciate the depth of the responses here.. A real pleasure to read
 

Ace

I am beginning to change my mind about how I voted. I said, they are just pen and ink but I am beginning to think that MAYBE "They have some inherent energy imparted by the artist and yourself. " I remember looking at Thoth decks and realizing how I could not deal with the energy of it. Maybe there IS some energy in the decks themselves.

barb
 

EvaSegovia

I think I'm going to have to start reading quantum physics/mechanics to get a little light for myself here.... 'The Dancing Wu Li Masters' and 'The Tao of Physics' seem simplistic enough... Because I think it's ALL about energy here. Are we connecting to an energy collective of Tarot minds? Is Tarot its own energy body? Goodness! This stuff boggles the mind!!!
 

EvaSegovia

Either that, or I could just go with Padma:
"I am not at all sure how the cards function, but I do enjoy playing with them!"

Yup. Think I'll go with Padma...
 

SunChariot

A bit of a tricky question for me. But I put that in and of themselves the cards have no energy.

But they do become "imbued" with energy during a reading, the way I see it. I see Divination literally as a communication with the Divine. I believe it is my angels who send me the answers through the cards (send the right cards and send the correct energy for me to understand the answer as intended through the cards).

In a sense I think of the cards like a telephone in a sense. You pick up the phone (cards), dial (tune in) and then ask your questions and they can be answered. There is energy running through the telephone wires during the "conversation" but once it is done and you hang up, there is no more energy running through the phone as you have "disconnected it", hung up.

The energy is not IN the machine (cards) themselves for me, but it shows up when in use. it streams through via the "lines" of communication when they are open. The cards/phone is a tool, a vehicle that the energy can traverse through for a time. But that once you hang up, no more energy in the cards.

Babs
 

EvaSegovia

IMHO, that is an EXCELLENT take Babs. Mind if I adopt it?
Eva
 

theFeeLion

@Nemia - Have you been rummaging around in my head?? Lol! I feel he same way as you about everything you said!

@Padma and @MizGrace - Yes to the keys and door opening! :D

Here's my take on it all...

I believe that at a base level they are just paper and ink. Tools that we can imprint with a little of ourselves after much use. Much like a mirror is a tool. I believe that all objects retain a little of us after we have owned them for a while. However, they are also more than that. They are the sum of their parts.

They are the paper and ink - plant matter and chemicals - that make up the physical representation of what is on the cards.

They are the artwork. The ideas and symbols; these are a snapshot into the artist's mind and thought processes, and tap into the collective unconscious. The energy/effort the artist has put into each image: much like the deck as a whole, each image is the sum of its parts - each symbol ties into the next creating a landscape/thoughtscape through which to draw meaning from, a photo if you will. The intention set into each image (and ultimately the deck) - there will be meaning behind each element of each image whether or not the artist realises this.

As the artist dips into the pool, that is the collective unconscious, to pull out a symbol to use in/on their cards, the symbol trails a filament or thread back to the pool, connecting it to what was left behind. Thus creating a silvery web of thoughts and ideas that make up the true heart of the deck. Touch one thread and the others will vibrate. Everything is connected whether we are aware of it or not. (Lol I think my Spider guide was helping out with that paragraph!)

They are the reader and querant. We have our own thought processes and our own way of interpreting each symbol depending on our specific experiences. For example, I think pitbulls can be wonderful dogs. They are sweet, goofy, loyal, loving protective animals. But if I had been bitten or had a bad experience with one I would likely feel uncomfortable around them and see them as vicious dogs not fit to be human companions. The dogs themselves haven't changes, simply the way they are seen due to my experiences with them.

The cards/art are a connection to the artist's thought processes, and through that connection we are able to go as deep as we like into our own.

They are the intentions of all three people. The intentions of the artist in creating the deck. The intentions of the reader/querent; what do they feel, according to their experiences, is the best use/interpretations/personality of the cards. I believe this can be the most important part.

Sometimes we have difficulty connecting to the artists intentions for the deck, and because of this are unable to fully connect to it. Other times we feel as though the artist is speaking the same visual language as us, and as such we are able to fully connect to the deck and can explore the landscape they have provided us with.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that while I believe we can imprint the cards, the true energy of them is in the visual language and intentions that the artist, reader and querent put into that language.

Woops sorry for the novel lol!
:love: Fee