The feel of reading

[prudencesee]

Before doing reading for myself, I was always curious whenever I read the review of decks. Some decks can be sharp or loving or curious. I couldn't understand these even now, but I think I get it these days. In Labyrinthos app that I'm using, there's 4 decks to use. I love seventh sphere the most, but I felt that the reading isn't as /right/ compared to the time I use Golden Thread decks. Is it just my feeling or is it valid thing to feel?

[Joan Marie]

Is it just my feeling or is it valid thing to feel?

Hi, Thanks for joining us!

And it's absolutely valid. And this is half the fun of reading Tarot these days with so many options. Different decks for different moods, for different questions, for a lot of things.

Deck creators put everything into creating an experience for the reader and those decks have different ways of speaking. Just like you might go to one friend, relative or acquaintance for business advice and another to discuss relationships and another to talk about kids, parents, work, etc. Each deck is like that different friend who you know you can trust about a certain topic or with certain feelings. Sometimes you even sit next to a complete stranger on a bus or a plane and they turn out to offer some surprising insight!

Being able to sense these differences in decks is part of your development as a reader I think.

[archimedes]

Oh definitely. I have a small collection by some standards, but varied. The artwork and choice of symbolism makes a huge difference to the reading experience. Sometimes the physical feel of the cards, too - I have a huge Rohrig deck, and the Universe Cards are few but large, and that changes how it feels to handle them.

My favorite deck is my well-worn Spiral deck, my old friend, so battered and worn. The edges have started to delaminate ever-so-slightly so it feels soft in the hands. The cards are very 'painterly' - handpainted, realistic but expressive, and the artist (Kay Steventon) is quite skilled, so I find her work pleasing to look at. This deck always gets right to the heart of things and sometimes it's really funny because I'll be like 'ugh, I really don't want to work today. What does the Tarot say' and I'll pull the 8 of Pents. Lol yes thanks for that buddy. Or when I pull a second card because I didn't like the first one and it's like I TOLD YOU THE FIRST TIME.

I also have a Housewives deck, which has really funny vintage advert art, which appeals to me as I love retro stuff and find the corny idealism of that era really amusing. I tend to need to read with the book, but the authors are *brilliant* and it's so funny and sharp, but also really deep. It usually nails the issue. I imagine my nan in her apron at the kitchen sink telling me like it is.

It's interesting that you say you love a certain deck but it doesn't feel 'right'. I have that with a couple of my decks. There's a couple of Pagan, Celtic and Norse themed decks that I just don't click with. I love them, I love the themes and the symbolism and the artwork, but they are hard to read and just don't seem to connect with my life in any way. So you know, with those sometimes I just look through them and appreciate the art but I basically don't try to read with them anymore.

Sometimes I'll do a reading with one deck, and pull out the corresponding cards from a different deck, to see how the message reads in different imagery.