How do you find the "voice" of a tarot/oracle deck?

How do you find the "voice" of a tarot deck?

So far, I feel like I haven't explored all the decks I own enough to really know the "voice" of each deck. I've been reading some threads and comments in this forum and many people mention how particular tarot decks have a "voice" or a particular "attitude" that is distinct from the other decks. E.g. "This deck is straightforward, cuts the crap, and lets me know what I need to know" or "This deck has a gentle sense of humour."

So I'm just wondering how do you find the "voice" of a tarot deck? Is this something you come to know intuitively after doing several readings with it? Is it the images/artwork? I'm super curious. I do most of my readings with Dreaming Way Tarot and I find the "story" flows through the cards in the spread easily. I used the Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell a few times, and the feeling was kind of different but I haven't done enough readings with that deck to really know yet.

I think it's the kind of readings they get you doing. I know I'm gentler on my clients with one deck than I am with most others, I'm more likely to use shock-tactics with another deck ... that sort of thing. It's not actually the deck - it's how *you* are when you use the deck.

nisaba said:

I think it's the kind of readings they get you doing. I know I'm gentler on my clients with one deck than I am with most others, I'm more likely to use shock-tactics with another deck ... that sort of thing. It's not actually the deck - it's how *you* are when you use the deck.

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Ah, that makes sense. I've been using Dreaming Way Tarot but now I'm gradually shifting towards Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore. I find Dreaming Way Tarot helps me connect the dots, but Steampunk Tarot offers me so much more "story". I might just stick with Steampunk Tarot for now...

The first thing I do with a new deck is shuffle it and sometimes I journal. I always write my tarot readings for myself down (I primarily read tarot just for me), but sometimes I will journal with a deck, card by card, just writing impressions of how I feel about that card. It's interesting to wait a year or so and do it again and see if anything has changed!

But that is how I get to know a deck, or as you put it, find it's "voice".

greatdane said:

The first thing I do with a new deck is shuffle it and sometimes I journal. I always write my tarot readings for myself down (I primarily read tarot just for me), but sometimes I will journal with a deck, card by card, just writing impressions of how I feel about that card. It's interesting to wait a year or so and do it again and see if anything has changed!

But that is how I get to know a deck, or as you put it, find it's "voice".

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I only note down the readings I do for others...because I feel like doing tarot readings for myself it's more like a self-reflective process, and it's hard to stay "objective" and treat it like an actual reading.

kimtsan said:

Ah, that makes sense. I've been using Dreaming Way Tarot but now I'm gradually shifting towards Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore. I find Dreaming Way Tarot helps me connect the dots, but Steampunk Tarot offers me so much more "story". I might just stick with Steampunk Tarot for now...

Click to expand...

I find the Steampunk deck pulls no punches when I'm reading for myself. It won't hesitate to point out if I'm being a drama queen (or someone else is), if I need to channel a certain energy more in my life (often Swords, Pentacles, but it'll push the nurturing side of the Empress at me too), and it frequently reminds me to count my blessings. It's often very literal with me as well--the 10 of Swords for a backache, the Sun for what I'm missing from my life on a day when it's been raining for weeks. (And yes, both those cards have other meanings that related as well, but the Steampunk deck has a literal streak that it's demonstrated quite frequently.)

Shadowscapes, on the other hand, gives me subtler clues and harder to read nuances. It's hard to describe, but if I feel I need to be hit over the head, it's not the deck I'm going to turn to. If I want advice on creative goals, that's the deck I'll turn to first.

If Shadowscapes says "All will be well," I think it's being optimistic and reassuring. If Steampunk says "All will be well," it's probably right.

When both pull the same or similar cards on my daily draw, it's a REALLY big clue that I need that message, because typically they'll give me something very unique to their "voices". Case in point: Today's draws--Steampunk gave me the KoP to remind me of the need to channel my energies towards the Mundane World of house, finance, and legal doings. Shadowscapes gave me the Fool--which for me, in that deck, symbolizes nothing that relates to my day at all right now, and will probably relate in a much lesser way to my day. The day they both gave me KoS, I knew was going to be a chaotic day that was going to take all my mental & communication skills to cut through cleanly and get to the end intact. And it was, almost scarily so.

As far as how to figure out a deck's voice, just play with it. A lot. The more time you spend working with it, the more distinct that deck's tone will become for you.

Try out this interview: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=213997

Ultimately I find that it's how I interpret the deck based on the images I'm seeing and what feelings it evokes when I use it versus the deck having a "voice".

Maybe I'm too literal. I think of decks as inanimate objects that are used as tools to understand various options and not some entity that has a personality. Along the lines of what nisaba said, the only "voice" my decks have is the one in my head that I give it.

You may want to try grabbing a few of your decks that are distinctly different and writing down what general first impressions the images on the cards bring to mind. The interview spread etherealtarot suggested is a good one and I've used it to get an initial feel for how I might read with the deck. Note I said "how I might read with the deck" and not "how the deck reads for me" since the deck isn't doing anything but laying there looking pretty while I fuss around with it.

I find some decks work better for certain readings than others because they evoke certain emotions and thoughts. For example - when I'm in a creative rut I like to use the Zombie tarot, Intùiti (really abstract) or recently Deviant Moon as I find the images in each of the decks help spark creativity for me. When I am doing a self-reading on an in depth complicated issue I like to stir up my brain cells with the Hermetic or even Medieval Scapini as both have lots of details to think about that help me connect to my subconscious.

You mention that you only jot down readings for others. It may be useful to start writing down your own self-reflective readings. Don't get too caught up trying to stay objective for self readings as they can be very valuable in getting a feel for your decks.

You might wish to do some comparative studies, in addition to regular readings and journaling. Regular readings will make the interaction you have with a deck more distinct over time when you recognize cards and their meanings become more layered. Journaling will help you recognize to which deck you turn with which kind of questions.

And for a comparative study, take out one card from all your decks. I used the deck of 1000 spreads for such an exercise.

http://www.1000spreads.com/2014/01/nemias-discoveries-getting-to-know-card_12.html

But of course you can do it without the help and clue of that deck.

I sometimes repeat a reading that I had with one deck with another. I simply cover the cards that showed up with their equivalents from another deck. And then I feel the difference very clearly. The new deck nearly always emphasizes a different aspect or discovers something I didn't see before or makes it clearer.

It's a completely different atmosphere although it's the same cards. It should feel the same but it doesn't.

Sometimes it's hard to put it into words because it's the visual language that makes the difference - clear lines or no lines, deep or muted colours, open or crowded compositions, and the symbols used, and facial expressions. That's the first thing the eyes notice - the visual language of each individual card.

And then of course, there's the whole background and foundation of a deck - its system, its relationship to astrology, psychology, kabbalah, religion or literature...

Each deck has its personality, and IMO by comparison, these personalities become clearer.

I like when the cards talk to me so in an abstract way, yes they have a voice.