How many decks do you read with and how do you use

[Papageno]

them in spreads?

Perhaps you rotate different decks on a monthly or yearly basis, or just according to your mood?

Do you concentrate on a single or couple of decks to become intimately in tune with them?

Are there specific decks that you reserve for certain spreads?

As a matter of disclosure, I'm currently using the Urban Tarot by Robin Scott and using a simple 3 card spread.
I'm loving the way she used infused both Thoth and RWS influences into her deck and in hindsight, the 3 card reading I did for myself with that deck was extremely revealing on many levels.

I only read (infrequently) for myself and not for others.....anymore.

Bearing that in mind, are there decks you reserve only for yourself as opposed to reading for others?

[Libra]

I've got about 5 decks that I actually use regularly, and I'm thinking of paring down my collection as there are quite a few others that sit on a shelf, and have done so for years now.

I really don't use spreads for myself at all, and I'll work with a single card pull for days, weeks or months before pulling another card, and then those pulls get layered on each other. I don't feel like my life has so much volatility that I need a daily draw or anything like that! Right now, I'm kinda steeping in my Year Card (calculated back in October), which is The Lovers, a couple of cards that have come through in the "Inner Voice" pulls that I've been doing (Inner Voice being a course offered by Lindsay Mack) - those being the Queen of Wands and the 7 of Pentacles, and finally, Judgement which has been following me around for months. I feel like I get a natural sense of when one of those cards is ready to fall off the roster and be replaced by another, which in and of itself will naturally tell me it's ready for its in depth session in my life.

I only have two decks that I work with only for myself - the Mary-El tarot has given me extreme discomfort any time I've used it for anyone else, and my original copy of Shadowscapes just clams right up. Funnily enough, I have a Czech edition of that deck that is very "outgoing" and chatty for external querents and clients.

[Belenus]

Papageno,

I am strictly a traditional tarot deck user (traditional = anything prior to 1800's - that is before the French esotericists and the Golden Dawn started, imPpo, mangling the tarot ) Thus I mainly only use the Tarot de Marseille (though occasionally an Italian Soprafino.) I do have several versions of the TdM e.g., Noblet, Conver, Burdel (my favorite TdM), Madenie, etc. that I will switch between, mainly based upon my mood.

I use primarily either a French Cross or a Line Spread (3, 5 or 7 cards placed linearly with no positions defined.)

Belenus

[Papageno]

I really don't use spreads for myself at all, and I'll work with a single card pull for days, weeks or months before pulling another card, and then those pulls get layered on each other.

That's a fascinating and unique system. I understand the premise of the methodology, and I'm so impressed by the individualism that your approach reveals. It's one of the things I enjoy, learning about and through other people's perspectives.
My feeling is that even if you never fully adopt or agree 100% with what is presented, there's usually a facet that's compelling enough to be cherry-picked and stored away for future consideration.

I only have two decks that I work with only for myself - the Mary-El tarot has given me extreme discomfort any time I've used it for anyone else, and my original copy of Shadowscapes just clams right up. Funnily enough, I have a Czech edition of that deck that is very "outgoing" and chatty for external querents and clients.

I envy you, your ability to connect with the Mary-El, that's a very complex deck.
I remember when Marie White first introduced her concept art on the old Aeclectic board and we collectively dropped our jaws at the sheer beauty of her artwork. Unfortunately, for me, I can't connect with it at all, I just don't get it.
I don't know if it's because her system is too idiosyncratic for me to recognize or what.

Having said that, I initially had the same problem with the Deviant Moon Tarot, that is until I saw pictures of the Trionfi della Luna Paradoxical.
Instant connection, It was the way in which the images are presented almost like photographic negatives.
It's this quality that really brought me around, it was like that "photo-negative" imagery triggered something in my brain, and now I recognize the genius of Patrick's art.
Strange how the brain works huh? but then again, I'm just nuts so don't mind me

The Shadowscapes hmmmm, exquisite artwork although I must admit that for the moment I've only chosen to relate to it on a very superficial level and don't anticipate reading with it anytime soon, but one never knows.
I really wish Stephanie had insisted on an oversized deck to better show off the details of her art.

[Papageno]

I am strictly a traditional tarot deck user (traditional = anything prior to 1800's - that is before the French esotericists and the Golden Dawn started, imPpo, mangling the tarot ) Thus I mainly only use the Tarot de Marseille (though occasionally an Italian Soprafino.)

I'm evolving in that direction myself, at least philosophically if not in actual practice, although I admit that I did pick up a copy of the Lo Scarabeo, Radiant Wise Spirit Tarot.......so stone me to death.

Interestingly enough I'm co-evolving if such a term exists. Thoth is creeping its way insidiously into my perspective and as I mentioned before, I like the way The Urban Tarot weaves the two systems together. In a sense, I'm functioning within an RWS/Thoth hybrid and Marseilles dichotomy.
There's a mind-bender for you, but it works.....for now, it's fun at any rate.

I do have several versions of the TdM e.g., Noblet, Conver, Burdel (my favorite TdM), Madenie, etc. that I will switch between, mainly based upon my mood.

I use primarily either a French Cross or a Line Spread (3, 5 or 7 cards placed linearly with no positions defined.)

Belenus

just looked up the French Cross spread, thanks.
I need to develop more familiarity and competency with spreads.
In the early days when first starting out, like most people I was messing around with the Celtic Cross which was a disaster.
I could navigate the center positions and then hit a wall like a car wreck when I got to the final row of cards.

That's got to be the worst F*****G spread to start people out with.
.....well, that's what happens when you take those LWB's seriously.

[stronglove]

hiya! thanks for asking! good to review the different ways i use my decks.
i only read for myself and incidentally for friends, when i feel they are open to receiving the cards’ messages.
i have 400 decks now, both tarot and oracle, and try to use them all, which is quite a task,because if i work with a different deck every day i would need more than a year to rotate them
i have used my decks in different ways over the years, sometimes i use a deck for a month every day, when i really want to make a strong connection with it, these are usually decks that give a different twist on the traditional systems, or have a strong esoteric content. last year i worked this way with the navigators of the mystic sea, the brady tarot, the tarot of the holy light, the hidden waters tarot and the journey to egypt tarot. right now i do weekly three card spreads with the tarot of the spirit, which is my oldest deck (had it for more than 20 years) i always draw at least three cards, sometimes more. i create my own spreads, depending on what i want/need to know that day or week
i also do full moon and new moon readings using crystals and different crystal oracle decks, year readings with 24 cards from the vertigo tarot and my personalized runestones, monthly readings in combination with the i ching cards and 4 seasonal readings with the greenwood.
i rotate my oracle decks weekly, mostly draw (altar)cards from at least 4 different decks, often combining them with a three card tarot spread, using the tarot to support the oracle card, for example, one of my most recent oracle cards challenges me to surrender denial, i then draw three cards from a tarot deck to tell me what i need to know/embrace/release to actually be able to to that.
incidentally i do themed readings when i have questions about my art/ being an artist, when i want to connect with my ancestors or a loved one who died, and i really like to try out benebell wen’s spreads from her ‘sightsee the tarot’ youtube playlist.

[Papageno]

i have 400 decks now, both tarot and oracle, and try to use them all, which is quite a task,

yes, I imagine that would be quite daunting.

I love the artistry of The Brady Tarot which is an undisputedly splendid masterpiece but her body of work also illustrates, literally and figuratively, the essence of shared commonalities and of roots, origins, and growth in both the physical and spiritual sense.

Jumping between different decks based on the 3 established schools, RWS, Marseilles, Thoth is like a calisthenic mental exercise, almost like an athlete that cross-trains in different disciplines such as strength/weight training, martial arts/Tai Chi, etc., Yoga.
If you think about it, they actually complement each other and they share important commonalities.

I suspect that is how Robin Scott so successfully incorporated both RWS and Thoth elements into her Urban Tarot.

As an artist, I'm sure you can appreciate that some artists devote their efforts to illustration, painting, sculpting, and fabrication.

[BlueStar]

I have a few different decks on my shelf but two that I feel really connected with and that work well for me in readings. These ones I found I was able to read with fairly quickly after buying them, they just resonate with me.

I tend to chose the deck according the reading I'm about to do. I pick the one that feels right, or that I think has the imagery which will best provide insights for the particular topic at hand. Usually it's a feeling that I've learnt to trust. I don't reserve decks for myself or others.

Some of my decks are less well used because I connect less well to the imagery, they are more challenging for me to use. I'm currently in the process of trying to get back to working with some of them.

I have a couple of decks that I just don't use at all. I bought them when I first started getting back into tarot, before I had a better understanding of the type of decks that suit me, so they were kind of mistakes to buy. Maybe they'll be useful sometime in the future. For now, they'll just rest on the shelf:)

[Papageno]

I have a couple of decks that I just don't use at all. I bought them when I first started getting back into tarot, before I had a better understanding of the type of decks that suit me, so they were kind of mistakes to buy. Maybe they'll be useful sometime in the future. For now, they'll just rest on the shelf:)

if you let them sit on the sidelines long enough, there may come a day when you discover that the mistake turns into a revelation, and then they become very useful and valued.

[Merrick]

I have five decks (five and a half if you count the triumphs-only Noblet set). Of those, two are Marseille (Noblet and CBD), one is a Minchiate, one is the RWS Centennial and the other is Thoth. I don’t read with Thoth, I just don’t gel with it (for now anyway). Of the decks I do use, the Minchiate has seen the least use despite me liking it a lot, I just find it a bit more inscrutable than the rest. RWS I use to keep conversant with it, but the majority of my readings are with the two TdM decks.

The majority of reading I do is three card spreads. Three cards already can be read so many ways that I find it to be very versatile. Sometimes I’ll expand a three card reading to five cards if I want greater context (not the same as clarifying cards IMO, more context is broadening the perspective of the whole reading, not clarifying the message of one of the already drawn cards). Sometimes I’ll start with a five card spread because I feel like it. I also like the French Cross and lately I’ve just been laying out the cards in ways that feel right and seeing how those layouts work.

A key for me is I rarely ever do a “this card in this position means X”, for me it’s always about the way the cards are interacting with each other. Otherwise I might as well just pull a single card for each question.

I also only read with one deck at a time, but once I get more fluent in Lenormand I may try to use the two decks in complementary fashion.

[Nemia]

I don't read much with my decks, sometimes for friends, and then most often, my dear old Thoth. Tabula Mundi, Silhouettes, now also Ostara, are decks that read consistently well for me.

But my use is mostly rotation on my tarot calendar. In the course of one year, I see at least four cards from all my decks, and that's great. Three minors and one major. And the year after that, I rotate all the decks again. I'm going through this now for the fourth time, so I know I'll touch all my decks at least ONCE a year.

I always keep a deck in my work bag even though I don't read outside very often. But it's nice to have a compact little friend with me. It's mostly the pocket Tabula Mundi or Rosetta nowadays, or my old Thoth. That's a kind of use, too.

I still keep up my old habit of taking decks out just to shuffle and sort. I love sorting my decks, and I love shuffling them.

I wish I could just sit somewhere and read for people but in the deep province where I live, I don't know whether anyone would be interested....