Reviving the One Deck Wonder

WolfSpirit

thorhammer said:
I was thinking of a "really-official-type thread" a few days before the actual start. I don't want to start it too early, as this thread's helping us all thrash out the details nicely. That way everyone could do the AA-style, "Hi, my name is ___ and I commit to ___" :D. Yes, I could maintain a list at the top of that thread, easily.

Oh dear, are you serious ?
I know the AA style thing is a bit tongue in cheek, but it still makes it sound like having many decks and enjoying them is a bad thing, like drinking too much.
And the relationship between me and my deck is a personal thing, not something I need to commit to the rest of the world...I am just shifting my focus for a while, not changing my lifestyle ;)

If you all want to do this then you should go ahead, of course.
It's just my own opinion.
I think a list of people and what deck they are using is a good idea, btw.

My idea is people give their name + deck for a member list and a note if they do something different from the general rules (like longer or shorter period, oracle instead of tarot deck, or whatever)
 

sapienza

thorhammer said:
Of course not! cronesayer and I have both spoken of this exact conundrum earlier in the thread, and it's something that does bear thinking about (actually, I'm doing it right now ;)). I reckon it's got something to do with "quality as opposed to quantity", hasn't it? I hope you join us :)

Thanks Kat. I think I'm going to really struggle. My earlier idea of going away for the week and taking no tarot stuff has already been broken. My husband said he wouldn't be able to live with me for a whole week without any of my decks so I figured I'd take one, then I thought I should take two, now I have about 5 and some books and can't decide. I'm in real trouble. I seriously need help :D I think I'm going to try cronesayers idea of letting the universe decide what I should take. As for the Intensive study....I'll get back to you on that:) I'll see how I go for a week with only one.
 

thorhammer

WolfSpirit said:
My idea is people give their name + deck for a member list and a note if they do something different from the general rules (like longer or shorter period, oracle instead of tarot deck, or whatever)
That's a good compromise. I see what you're saying about the AA-style thing - I didn't mean to link alcoholism with having too many decks, btw! - and I have to say I agree. The idea came from someone (the thread's too long to figure out who, and I've got too many PMs about this to go through!) and I would prefer to have it all condensed, or the thread will be unwieldy right out of the gate! And I don't want people to feel like they're being rehabilitated or anything!

I'll start the thread in a day or two - but first I'll get a list together of people taking part and the decks they're choosing. This discussion thread has become long and I'm pretty confused about who's in and who's out and who's sort-of-in and what decks are or aren't being used *big breath* so feel free to PM me if you want to clear anything up. Same goes if I make any mistakes with the new thread :D as I undoubtedly will!

*sigh* I have to go do some readings . . .

\m/ Kat
 

sapienza

thorhammer said:
That's a good compromise. I see what you're saying about the AA-style thing - I didn't mean to link alcoholism with having too many decks, btw! - and I have to say I agree.

I often FEEL like an alcholic with the internet. Maybe that's an idea for a new thread.....internet-aholics.

Hi I'm ............. and I have an internet addiction....

Sorry, just going off on my own tangent here! I'm going to come back from my week away with no Internet access as a new woman! I hope :D
 

Yurikome

Oh, oh! If you're making a list already I better de-lurk!

I'm totally in for this :) With my Gothic Tarot of Vampires. Tried with another deck before, packed everything else away and the result was - no readings done whatsoever for three months, all because I was missing my vampires so much. Despite its illustrations straying far from RWS versions, it being all modern and violent, I'm sure this is the one I want to focus on. Not that I use any other of my decks, but this will at least motivate me to actually do something :)

Can't wait!
 

Madame Squee

sapienza said:
<snip>Hi Cronesayer, I love this idea. I think I'd drive myself mad trying to make a decision and this sounds like a fabulous idea. If I make a selection of the decks I really love and then let the universe decide the rest.

I've realised that my biggest problem as far as what keeps me from spending quality time with tarot is actually my internet ADDICTION :D Between this forum and ebay I spend all my time thinking about decks, doing reasearch, chatting about tarot, shopping for decks......all of which are great things (well, maybe not the shopping bit), but I realise I spend very little time actually working WITH my decks.

I'm away for a week from tomorrow with no internet access. I am even going to go away with NO tarot decks and NO tarot books. (I start to shake and feel ill even as I type that.....maybe I should change my mind :(). I think it will be a good opportunity for me to reevaluate what I want from tarot and hopefully I'll come back with a fresh perspective and be ready to commit to something.<snip>
Hi sapienza! Thank you for sharing your story, it really helped me to hear it. I'm certainly no stranger to the effects of addiction and doing what it takes to beat it, so I'm right there with you. :thumbsup:

However, I expect to notice really quickly that I have more time to read with my one deck, in spite of internet access, because I'm severely curtailing involvement around anything to do with acquiring more decks. I'm avoiding even knowing about new decks (or "collectible" decks) right now.

Hopefully, I'll get to the point in IDS where new deck talk won't matter, one way or the other, just like I don't mind not smoking when other people do. I remember it was tough at first, but after a couple of years (years!), it didn't matter any more, because smoking simply wasn't something I wanted to do. I even went through a phase where I couldn't be around it, couldn't stand the smell, etc., but that abated, too. Now I just tell my sister to roll down the window and blow her smoke out, and I keep on trucking down the road! It's DH who complains when he gets in my car, "Your sister has been smoking in here!" Well, she's my sister, and she's not (all that) heavy! :laugh:

Sign me,
Trying to Get Out Of My Own Way!
:heart:
c.s.

PS: Hey, everybody, please don't be offended by me comparing acquiring new decks to smoking cigarettes! That's just how it feels to me and has nothing to do with how anyone else feels or functions. I don't judge people who smoke, and I sure as heck don't judge people who buy, sell and trade Tarot decks. I can only judge what's working or not working for me, and I really, really appreciate all the support I get here at AT and in this thread! For awhile, I was considering quitting AT in order to quell my dysfunctional behavior, but I decided that would be crazy, because this forum comprises the best friends and support I could ask for during this tough time! You guys are great, and I can't thank you enough!!! :love:
 

SolSionnach

cronesayer said:
Hi sapienza! Thank you for sharing your story, it really helped me to hear it. I'm certainly no stranger to the effects of addiction and doing what it takes to beat it, so I'm right there with you. :thumbsup:

However, I expect to notice really quickly that I have more time to read with my one deck, in spite of internet access, because I'm severely curtailing involvement around anything to do with acquiring more decks. I'm avoiding even knowing about new decks (or "collectible" decks) right now.

Hopefully, I'll get to the point in IDS where new deck talk won't matter, one way or the other, just like I don't mind not smoking when other people do. I remember it was tough at first, but after a couple of years (years!), it didn't matter any more, because smoking simply wasn't something I wanted to do. I even went through a phase where I couldn't be around it, couldn't stand the smell, etc., but that abated, too. Now I just tell my sister to roll down the window and blow her smoke out, and I keep on trucking down the road! It's DH who complains when he gets in my car, "Your sister has been smoking in here!" Well, she's my sister, and she's not (all that) heavy! :laugh:

Sign me,
Trying to Get Out Of My Own Way!:heart:
c.s.

PS: Hey, everybody, please don't be offended by me comparing acquiring new decks to smoking cigarettes! That's just how it feels to me and has nothing to do with how anyone else feels or functions. I don't judge people who smoke, and I sure as heck don't judge people who buy, sell and trade Tarot decks. I can only judge what's working or not working for me, and I really, really appreciate all the support I get here at AT and in this thread! For awhile, I was considering quitting AT in order to quell my dysfunctional behavior, but I decided that would be crazy, because this forum comprises the best friends and support I could ask for during this tough time! You guys are great, and I can't thank you enough!!! :love:

Hiya Cronesayer - no apologies needed here. I've worked with enough alcoholics as an acupuncturist to know that we all have issues, and sometimes we use things (drinks, decks, internet, tv, exercise, food, shopping etc) to avoid what we're feeling - and sometimes the internet, decks, tv, exercise, food, shopping, drinks - is just that. Something we enjoy and can turn away from easily (congrats on turning away from smoking - that's a HUGE one!)

I also enjoyed Sapienza's story. :) I joined AT about a year ago with the intention of offloading my unwanted decks. I did that, mostly - but I imagine it was a net loss in the $$ department, because I ended up buying:
1) decks others were recommending. Big disappointment - Gilded, Archeon, Tarot of Animal Lords, China Tarot, Secret forest, etc, etc, etc
2) wonderful, unusual, one-of-a-kind decks that cost lots of $$ - Maat, Ironwing, Tarocchi Celtici - thank goddess I already owned the greenwood!!!
Part of the joy of AT is getting to know like-minded folks - in my case, I don't know one person in RL who is into tarot. That being said, the time I spend here is time taken away from anything I would do in RL - walking the dog, studying whatever I need to study (tarot, the flute, auriculotherapy, toyohari acupuncture, you name it, I'm not doing it!), not to mention cleaning the house. lol Or getting out and meeting a MAN!

I'm very comfortable with the idea of the IDS as it's developed, and ready to charge in (as soon as I figure out which deck to use!). I also like the idea of a special post where we state who we are and what we are going to do. And I'm not unhappy with the 12-step comparison, either, because there's a sense in those groups of banding together to accomplish a difficult thing. There's also a sense of dedication/initiation that I think could be a good thing here (for me, at least). If I've determined that this is a *good* thing, then being publicly accountable to my fellow-travelers (!) is a way to keep me on track. We have the opportunity to create an IDS sub-group of AT - which could become a place to make stronger friendships (I see something like that happening on the de-enabling thread!).

Okay, I'm going to shut up now. :) :p
 

sapienza

cronesayer said:
Hi sapienza! Thank you for sharing your story, it really helped me to hear it. I'm certainly no stranger to the effects of addiction and doing what it takes to beat it, so I'm right there with you. :thumbsup:

Thanks, I appreciate that.

cronesayer said:
I can only judge what's working or not working for me, and I really, really appreciate all the support I get here at AT and in this thread! For awhile, I was considering quitting AT in order to quell my dysfunctional behavior, but I decided that would be crazy, because this forum comprises the best friends and support I could ask for during this tough time! You guys are great, and I can't thank you enough!!![/i][/color] :love:

I'm really pleased that you shared this with me too :) I've been really thinking lately of just forbidding myself to come to this forum because I end up obsessing about new decks. Your comments have helped me to see that perhaps I just need to change my behaviour while I'm here. I've decided when I go away this week I'm taking ONE deck only and will see how I go with a week with just one deck and no internet access.
 

rwcarter

My process for choosing a deck for the IDS (VERY LONG post)

(I'm writing this post as I do the actions below, so it's a multi-hour task.) Reader's Digest version of the post - I'll be using the Ancient Egyptian Tarot for the IDS.

Back in post 137, I described how I went through and pulled out all the decks I would consider using for the IDS. They numbered 34 in no particular order: (I don't see an easy way to do multiple columns of text, so I'll have to improvise)

Maat..................................Steele Wizard.......................World Spirit
Mystic Faerie.......................Tarot of the Elves.................Wheel of Change
Sol Invictus: The God Tarot....Servants of the Light............Magickal Tarot
Shapeshifter........................The Grail Tarot.....................Waking the Wild Spirit
Necronomicon.......................Intuitive Tarot.....................Lo Scarabeo
Bohemian Gothic (reg)............Bohemian Gothic (Silver)........Tarot de Marsella (Arg vers)
Revelations..........................Ancient Egyptian..................Pearls of Wisdom
T of Ceremonial Magick...........Dante Tarot........................Golden Dawn Tarot
Golden Dawn Magical Tarot.....Pictorial Key........................Tarot of Love
MerryDay............................T of the Sephiroth.................de T in de Herstelde Orde
Liber T................................Sheridan Douglas..................T of the Spirit
Templar Tarot

I tended to initially select decks that either come with companion materials or that have easily accessible companion materials with them.

I intended to do a head-to-head competition with the decks to let them tell me which one most wants to be used. But 34 is way too many decks to start with. Plus I need a number that's divisible by 8 so all my match-ups are between 2 decks. So I need to get down to either 16 or 32 decks to start with.

So then I looked through each of the decks with a critical eye towards immediately removing either 2 or 18 of the decks. Well, that wasn't of much help. Only two decks immediately went into the Not Right Now pile - Tarot of the Spirit and Merryday Tarot. 9 decks went into the Maybe pile - Wheel of Change, Mystic Faerie, Servants of the Light, Magickal, Pearls of Wisdom, Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn Magical, Dante and Sheridan Douglas.

So that means I'll start with 32 decks. I have a calculator with a three digit random number generator on it. For each match-up, I'll keep generating random numbers until I get one whose first two digits are between 01 and 78. Then I'll pull that card from each of the decks and compare them. (Some of the decks have more than 78 cards, so that means that those extra cards won't be used in the head-to-head. Oh well.) Also, not all of the decks are ordered in the same manner, so in some cases I'll be looking at the same card between decks and in some I'll be looking at two different cards.

So, how to choose the match-ups? I'll pull the random number function in again. I'll assign each of the decks a number from 1-32, basically in the order in which they're currently laying on my desk. Since the random numbers go from 0.000 to 0.999, I'll actually assign each deck 3 numbers. For example, the deck numbered 1 will also get numbers 33 and 65. That way I'll be able to utilize numbers 0.01x - 0.96x from the random number function.

Results from first round of match-ups (winners in bold):
Tarot of Love vs Waking the Wild Spirit
Pearls of Wisdom vs Wheel of Change
Tarot of the Elves vs Ancient Egyptian
Lo Scarabeo vs de T in der Herstelde Orde
Liber T vs Necronomicon
Sheridan Douglas vs Shapeshifter
Templar vs Pictorial Key
Intuitive vs Steele Wizard
Golden Dawn vs Grail
Golden Dawn Magical vs Bohemian Gothic (Sil)
Magickal vs Dante
Servants of the Light vs World Spirit (VERY close contest)
Sol Invictus vs Mystic Faerie
Maat vs Bohemian Gothic (Reg)
T of Ceremonial Magick vs T de Marsella
T of the Sephiroth vs Revelations

The most surprising 1st round winners were Tarot of Love, Lo Scarabeo and Necronomicon.

For the second round, I've reassigned numbers to the winners and given each one 6 numbers for the random generator. Winners are chosen in the same way as the first round. Results from the 2nd round (winners again in bold):
Grail vs Lo Scarabeo
Shapeshifter vs Dante
Templar vs Pearls of Wisdom
T of the Sephiroth vs T of Ceremonial Magick
Bohemian Gothic (Sil) vs Necronomicon
Steele Wizard vs Bohemian Gothic (Reg)
Tarot of Love vs World Spirit
Ancient Egyptian vs Sol Invictus

Biggest shock here was that the Steele Wizard won over the reg Bohemian Gothic, but it was another one of those creepy kids in the BG deck....

Just like with any contest, things are going to get tougher now. No more random number generator. Pairing the round 2 winners in the order in which they won, I'm now going to randomly deal each deck into 6 piles (cause most of them are still in their original order), shuffle each deck 7x, cut into three piles and then pick the top card off the middle pile to answer the question "Why should I pick you to move on to the next round? My decision will be based on what the accompanying materials have to say about the card I picked.

Results from round 3:
Grail (4 Swords) vs Dante (Direction)
Templar (Fool) vs T of the Sephiroth (Ace Disks)
Bohemian Gothic (Sil) (9 Wands) vs Steele Wizard (Materialism)
World Spirit (Sage Pentacles) vs Ancient Egyptian (Star)

So, that's an interesting final four. I expected at least one of the Bohemian Gothics to make it this far. (I actually wouldn't have been surprised if it had come down to a final battle between the two versions.) All four decks have different focuses and temperaments and they all bring something different to the table.

The cards are still shuffled from round 3, so I will shuffle each deck 7 times, cut into two piles and pull the top card from each pile to answer the question, "What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses as a deck I would use for the IDS?" I'm going to employ the random number generator again to determine the match-ups. Looking at the first number after the decimal point, I'll assign 1 and 5 to the Grail, 2 and 6 to the T of the Sephiroth, 3 and 7 to the Bohemian Gothic and 4 and 8 to the Ancient Egyptian.

Results from Round 4:
Bohemian Gothic (Sil) (Judgement, Death) vs Grail (10 Vessels, Grail Seeker)
T of the Sephiroth (4 Swords, Sun) vs Ancient Egyptian (9 Wands, 6 Swords)

For the final challenge, I'm going to ask both decks a Yes/No question using reversals. I'll shuffle each deck 3 times, then cut into 3 piles, reverse the center pile, place that on top of the right pile which I'll then place on top of the left pile. Repeat 2 times. Shuffle the deck one last time, cut into 3 piles and turn over the top card of each pile. Upright cards are Yes, Reversed cards are No, center card counts as 2. (I don't normally do Yes/No questions and I don't normally read reversals.) The answer to each question will need to be Yes. If both decks give the same answer, then I'll ask another question until one deck gives a Yes and the other deck doesn't.

Will I be able to use you for the entire three months of the IDS?
BGS - Hermit, 4 Pentacles, Knight Wands : resounding YES
AET - 5 Wands, Princess Cups, 4 Cups : resounding YES

Will I enjoy using you for the entire three months of the IDS?
BGS - Empress, Justice (R), 7 Wands: Maybe
AET - Princess Cups, 6 Cups, Queen Cups: Resounding YES

I can honestly say that I'm shocked at the outcome, but I'll be using the Ancient Egyptian Tarot for the IDS.

Huh?
You say I'm anal-retentive like it's a bad thing.... ;) :D

Kat, you wanted a followup on my decision-making process. Next time I bet you'll remember that old adage of "Be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it.":laugh: But it was incredibly useful to me cause I got to go through decks with a critical eye (as opposed to when I look them over when I first get them). A number of the decks have definitely sparked an interest in them that I'll have to wait until at least June 22nd to revisit (and by that time I may have completely forgotten about that interest).

And although I haven't started the IDS yet, two new decks arrived in the mail today. I put them on the dining room table without even opening the boxes, cause I didn't want to get distracted from this selection process I underwent today.

I'm off to do a reading in another thread with my IDS deck....

Rodney
 

thorhammer

rwcarter said:
Huh?
You say I'm anal-retentive like it's a bad thing.... ;) :D
I've never seen anything like it. *sits down heavily, gasping for breath*
rwcarter said:
Kat, you wanted a followup on my decision-making process. Next time I bet you'll remember that old adage of "Be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it.":laugh: But it was incredibly useful to me cause I got to go through decks with a critical eye (as opposed to when I look them over when I first get them).
Nevertheless, I'm glad you posted your process and the final result. I don't understand the vast majority of your process, but that is totally immaterial. The exercise was important to you.

Do you feel *good* about the final result? I guess I mean, do you have closure, or is there a niggling . . . regret? . . . that one or other of the other finalists didn't make it? You expressed surprise, and from your comments I take it you were choosing between the two match-ups in each round, but it sounds to me like you made very considered decisions, and I hope that it's a result you're happy with.

\m/ Kat