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What deck(s) do you use and why?
Do you think individual decks (instances of the same design) have their own personalities - like, do you expect your copy of Rider-Waite to behave differently from my copy of Rider-Waite?
Do you use different decks for different readings?
Do you put the Crowley and Waite decks together and shake the jar to see if they'll fight? (Don't laugh, I've heard of people doing it.)
Does a deck work better if you receive it as a gift than if you buy it? Is it necessary, or unthinkable, to steal your deck? (All positions I've heard people advocate seriously.)
These days I mostly use the Manara Erotic tarot. Probably an unusual choice - I think that deck was primarily designed as an "art" deck rather than for serious divinatory use - but I've found that it seems to work well for me, even for the non-sex-related reading I usually do. There are a lot of things in the design of that deck that I think could either be very clever, insightful choices on the part of the designer, or else just random stuff he did for artistic reasons on which I'm imposing my own tarot-related assumptions. For instance, I like how the Knights are all female; that nicely solves the imbalance a lot of people object to in the court cards (three men and one woman per suit, in traditional decks) in a way that I think is definitely right for this particular deck. I also like the skinny Empress - it's a clever way to update the card image to the modern setting.
I also have a Rider-Waite deck I use when I do readings in public. It's familiar and non-scary to most people, and it's cheap and easy to replace so it doesn't really matter if it gets dirty or ruined in the places I take it.
I rarely use my copy of the Crowley Thoth deck. It doesn't seem to speak to me as well as some of the others. I feel like it speaks in the voice of its designer (metaphorically - I don't believe in tarot working by a "channeling" mechanism to any spiritual being other than my own unconscious mind) and most of the time I don't need to hear what Crowley has to say on any given subject. Smug bastard. I do really like the book he wrote about it, though, partly because of its random and uneven nature. He'll write ten pages about one card, then half a paragraph about another, and then oh look it's five pages of drug visions, and then back to the list of individual cards...
I have a whole bunch of other decks, most of which seldom see much use.
Do you think individual decks (instances of the same design) have their own personalities - like, do you expect your copy of Rider-Waite to behave differently from my copy of Rider-Waite?
Do you use different decks for different readings?
Do you put the Crowley and Waite decks together and shake the jar to see if they'll fight? (Don't laugh, I've heard of people doing it.)
Does a deck work better if you receive it as a gift than if you buy it? Is it necessary, or unthinkable, to steal your deck? (All positions I've heard people advocate seriously.)
These days I mostly use the Manara Erotic tarot. Probably an unusual choice - I think that deck was primarily designed as an "art" deck rather than for serious divinatory use - but I've found that it seems to work well for me, even for the non-sex-related reading I usually do. There are a lot of things in the design of that deck that I think could either be very clever, insightful choices on the part of the designer, or else just random stuff he did for artistic reasons on which I'm imposing my own tarot-related assumptions. For instance, I like how the Knights are all female; that nicely solves the imbalance a lot of people object to in the court cards (three men and one woman per suit, in traditional decks) in a way that I think is definitely right for this particular deck. I also like the skinny Empress - it's a clever way to update the card image to the modern setting.
I also have a Rider-Waite deck I use when I do readings in public. It's familiar and non-scary to most people, and it's cheap and easy to replace so it doesn't really matter if it gets dirty or ruined in the places I take it.
I rarely use my copy of the Crowley Thoth deck. It doesn't seem to speak to me as well as some of the others. I feel like it speaks in the voice of its designer (metaphorically - I don't believe in tarot working by a "channeling" mechanism to any spiritual being other than my own unconscious mind) and most of the time I don't need to hear what Crowley has to say on any given subject. Smug bastard. I do really like the book he wrote about it, though, partly because of its random and uneven nature. He'll write ten pages about one card, then half a paragraph about another, and then oh look it's five pages of drug visions, and then back to the list of individual cards...
I have a whole bunch of other decks, most of which seldom see much use.
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My primary deck is the Universal Waite, because I used it to work through 78 Degrees of Wisdom and now get pretty good readings from it. I also use the Shakespeare Oracle and the Old English Tarot; I have my eye on the Faeries Oracle and the Motherpeace Tarot, but I don't own those decks yet.
Do you think individual decks (instances of the same design) have their own personalities - like, do you expect your copy of Rider-Waite to behave differently from my copy of Rider-Waite?
Yes, to a certain extent. I think all decks of a type have a certain nature to them -- all copies of Rider-Waite will behave in generally the same way -- with variations that come from the reader.
Do you use different decks for different readings?
Sometimes. It depends on what I'm asking and how I'll need to hear the answer. If I need a more metaphorical answer, or an answer that isn't steeped in Tarot symbolism (which I need to look up, as often as not), I use the Shakespeare Oracle. If I need to access that Tarot symbolism and other readers' experiences, I use the Universal Waite.
Do you put the Crowley and Waite decks together and shake the jar to see if they'll fight? (Don't laugh, I've heard of people doing it.)
No, but now I want to know exactly what kind of "fight" those people would expect to see! And whether they saw it!
Does a deck work better if you receive it as a gift than if you buy it? Is it necessary, or unthinkable, to steal your deck? (All positions I've heard people advocate seriously.)
I think that how you come by your deck will always, on some level, be associated with that deck. So just calling it "a gift" leaves out the circumstances of that gift: A basic deck received from a favorite aunt on your 18th birthday will have different associations from a deeply symbolic or challenging deck that your recently deceased grandmother left you. "This is the deck I wanted for months and bought with my own money" will be different from "This is the deck I wanted for months and stole from a friend of a friend who never used it". And so on.
The best way -- and I say this in an ideal sense; it's nice if you can do this, but by no means necessary -- is think of qualities you want in a deck. Elaborate fantasy artwork? Traditional card names? Not a true Tarot at all, but an oracle deck? Or simply, the right deck for you? And just kind of put it out there, to the Universe, that you need this deck. (Best if you have an actual need, not just "Ooh, pretty.") Then keep your eyes open. Someone might say "Here, I know you like Tarot and I never use this deck, do you want it?" Or you might come upon just the right deck in a store when you have exactly enough money to buy it. I think it's fabulous when a deck comes to you in that way. In my brief experience, those decks are the easiest for me to read from, and the ones that I just go out and buy are more diffcult.
Everyone's experience is different, and some people get fabulous readings with decks they've carefully researched and bought specifically. I just like to have stories to go along with mine. ;)
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