When I hosted my first Tarot Reading Practice group event for my Tarot students and other Tarot Friends, I informed invitees they could bring any deck they wanted to read with. One of the invitees stated that, she owned 50 decks, but not to worry, she only planned to bring 12 of them. I laughed with both glee and validation, for I too am a hoarder, oops I mean collector, of Tarot decks.
I currently possess a stash of about 60 decks, and am most certainly headed north of there. Only fellow Tarot deck collectors, will understand this compulsion, where as my husband and daughter do not. They throw shade asking, “Why on Earth do you need so many decks?” Okay, it’s not a need, but Its definitely a want.
I love, dare I say cherish?, each of my Tarot decks. My comeback, when my Tarot deck collecting comes under attack is, “Don’t most people own more than one piece of jewelry, or artwork?” Of course they do. I’ve also heard other deck collectors confess to owning 150+ decks, so don’t judge me.
It may sound surprising, but I’m fairly picky about each deck I acquire. There are 3 main classic systems of Tarot decks, the Marseille, the Toth, and the Rider-Waite-Smith. The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) is the system I cut my Tarot baby teeth on, and the only type of deck I purchase and read.
Once I trained extensively to read the classic RWS deck, I realized that I could read any of the beautiful, and far more interesting, modern RWS based decks, which are the majority of modern Tarot decks available. Upon this realization, it was like the Heavens opened, with a choir of Angels! I’m not exaggerating, not even a little.
Tarot decks can be readily found on Amazon.com, local bookstores and New Age shops, and on Etsy.com and deck authors’ personal websites if they’ve self-published.
When I come across a deck I don’t already own, before I purchase, it has to pass tough scrutiny that it is indeed RWS based, and the figures depicted on the cards, although they differ widely among decks, are doing similar actions as the figures depicted on the RWS Deck’s cards.
Additionally, for me, each card of each Minor Arcana suit needs to depict the number of the suit’s symbols on them, as the number of the suit card it represents, eg., the 8 of Wands must show 8 Wands flying through the air on the card.
I grant a deck’s artist poetic license in their visual interpretation of the card, as long as they don’t veer from the above two requirements. I have these requirements because, as a professional Tarot reader, I need to be able to recognize a card, at a glance, by sight.
This is due to the fact that I often have two or three Tarot readings laid out at a time, each using a different deck. For my email readings, I like to view and take an entire reading in at once, and let it sink in. Then walk away and come back to it, a time, or two.
But Why Do We Collect Decks?
Although, specific motivations of Tarot deck collectors may vary, a few motivations are common among collectors:
- The artwork is compelling among different decks.
- A deck’s energy makes it best suited to a specific type of reading.
- Various decks depict the same card differently.
The artwork is compelling among different decks – Some decks are exquisitely beautiful, some are delightfully whimsical, and others are just stinkin’ cute. Among the modern RWS style decks, are decks depicting such beings as fairies, dragons, angels, witches, mermaids, crows, insects, panda bears, etc., as well as characters from works of fiction.
I especially love the RWS style, Tarot in Wonderland Deck (Llewellyn Publications). The characters are from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking glass stories, and they make me, not just smile, but laugh out loud.
Another favorite RWS style deck of mine is, the Everyday Witch Tarot Deck (Llewellyn Publications). I don’t consider myself Wiccan, but I absolutely adore this deck’s kitschy young Witches, with their pointed hats, brooms and black cats.
I use both of these colorful and whimsical decks consistently to read for myself and for professional clients, for all types of reading topics. I find them to deliver uncannily accurate insights, in a gentler manner than some more serious themed decks.
Other RWS style whimsical decks I own and love are, the Wizards Tarot, Disney Villains Tarot, Mermaids Tarot, Mystical Manga Tarot, Mystic Faerie Tarot, Tarot of the Divine, and Halloween Tarot. I also love my Chinese Tarot, Shadowscapes Tarot, Tarot Illuminati, Witches Tarot, and Pagan Tarot decks for their considerable beauty, and I love my Joie de Vivre Tarot and Panda Tarot decks for their stinkin’ cuteness.
A deck’s energy makes it best suited to a specific type of reading – Although any deck can be used for any type of reading, some decks lend themselves more to specific types of readings.
I find the Osho Zen Tarot Deck to exude Spiritual energy, making it well suited for readings related to the Querent’s (reading requester’s) life’s purrpose, Spiritual path, special gifts, etc., as well as a variety of relationship situations. I don’t currently own one, but there are also specifically romantic relationship style Tarot decks available.
The serious no-nonsense energy of the classic RWS Tarot, the Connolly Tarot, the Witch’s Tarot, and the Pagan Tarot decks make them more suitable for career, life’s work, special projects, and necessary life lesson type of readings. These decks are good for showing a Querent that they need to get over their “stuff,” and get on with it, already, in a tough-love kind of message.
Then there are darker energy decks, that are more suited for unveiling negative, or occult forces at work, affecting the Querent’s situation. Some of these are the Dark Fairytale Tarot, Dark Wood Tarot, Deviant Moon Tarot, Haunted House Tarot, and Tarot de la Nuit, to name but a few.
I’ve tried, but have yet to commit to one of these dark energy decks, unless you count my Halloween Tarot deck, which is more fun than dark. I mean, how dark can a substitution of Pumpkins for Pentacles, Red Imps (devils) for Wands, Bats for Swords, and Ghosts for Cups be?
Various decks depict the same card differently – Probably the most important difference in various modern RWS style decks is that they differ in how they depict some of the cards. This difference can affect a reading, profoundly.
The traditional meaning of each Tarot card contains several keywords. The artist of one deck may choose to depict a different keyword meaning than another deck’s artist has chosen, for the same card.
My method of reading is a fusion of the traditional meaning and whatever intuitive insights the artwork on the card ignites for me. Therefore, it’s quite possible my reading of a Querent’s question will vary depending on which deck I choose to read with.
Additionally, I may prefer one deck’s depiction of specific cards to another deck’s depiction of those same cards.
For example, the below three cards are the 3 of Pentacles as depicted by 3 different Tarot decks; the Everyday Witch deck, the traditional RWS deck, and the Tarot in Wonderland deck. Some of the traditional keyword meanings of the 3 of Pentacles, are apprenticeship, mentoring, and collaboration.
It’s interesting to see how the 3 artists have emphasized a different keyword, mentoring with the card on the left, apprenticeship with the center card, and collaboration with the card on the right. I rest my case!
If you are a fellow Tarot deck collector, I hope you’ve received some validation here, knowing that you aren’t alone in your collecting compulsion.
If you aren’t currently a collector, but have become even slightly bored reading with just one Tarot deck, I suggest you check out the various modern RWS decks. Let your curiosity guide you to try a few of them.
You may find, like me, after reading with a few of these beautiful, interesting, and varied modern decks that you find it hard to go back to reading with a single deck again. To be sure, variety is not only the spice of life, but the spice of Tarot, as well!
Leave a Reply