Professional/public readings: do you use your personal decks?

I have taken to shuffling the cards myself, fanning them and asking them to choose the seven/four/ten needed for the spread. It means I have no deck anxiety and they are involved in the process.

Thank you for all the ideas and insights, everyone! And the support for my first time out there, too

I hadn't even thought of card damage from rough shuffling or (shudder) drink spilling. I'll make sure no one puts their food/drink on the table nearby. (I believe I'll have my own table but not sure.)

I'm still not sure if I plan to do all the shuffling, part of it, or let the querents do it all themselves. I'm not great at riffle-shuffling myself. Maybe do a few full riffles between querents and then have them do it hand-over-hand. I realize that's another question, though!

Go easy on yourself, please. Using a deck that you are well familiar with will comfort you in that new and unfamiliar situation. I don't think you will be "biased" other than being enabled to draw from your personal associations with the cards which I see as a good thing.

While I use the same deck (mostly the Thoth) when reading for myself as well as for others, I do have a different copy especially dedicated to the latter - that I don't mind to let others touch even though they are holding that sandwich in their other hand.

I do the shuffling and sometimes even the choosing

Depends on who I am readinf for and the situation but I have decks I use only for open spaces and gatherings and use more exclusive ones for one on one private clients

Congratulations Tarot Orat! Keep fingers crossed for you

I'm reading cards online so I don't have problems with rough shuffling or anyone touching my decks. But I happened to be more open with my readings and I take cards with me to the university. Definitely, it's a public reading. Not everyone was happy to see that students are meddling with the "weird" stuff (yeah, students of the university shouldn't take part in this). It was so amusing for me and my friend. We were laughing. Anyway, I had a problem with taking one of my decks 'cause what if something happen and it'll be damaged? That's why I plan to buy second copies of Morgan-Greer and RWS. I adore Morgan-Greer so I'd like to have a copy to carry with myself. Similar with RWS. These decks are so easy-going so you'll be able to read anytime. Of course, your deck of choice can be different. But pick something familiar. I've read in a stress with deck with which I haven't worked much... I needed to change it.

For good or ill, the general public has some preconceived notions of what a tarot reading from a professional reader should be like. When you're trying to make money as an ethical reader, you have to strike a balance between delivering an "experience" and being true to the work of divination and the tools we use. To that end, I kept about 5 decks in rotation for face to face readings with clients. I found that with a Rider-Waite (which I later switched out to a Universal Waite), a Connolly, a Robin Wood, a Cosmic Tarot, and strangely enough, a Wonderland (the one with suits of oysters, flamingos, peppermills, and hats), I could read for almost anyone who showed up to my table.

I will confess that there was that one time when a particularly obnoxious 16-year-old goth landed at my table by process of elimination (nobody else would read for her), I may have ruined her experience by pulling out my Wonderland deck

I guess the bottom line is read with decks you are comfortable with, but remember you won't be the only one looking at whatever deck you use.

Without reading the entire thread ....

If you have the 'average Joe' who will probably nick or bend the cards ("these cards are so big!") while shuffling then you should not be bringing your prize Pam A or B out to do a public reading; think about reading for the lowest common denominator Querent - have decks you can easily replace and have no sentimental value if you plan to do 'public' readings such as psychic faires where everyone and anyone can show up and you have to do multiple readings in a compressed amount of time. They will not appreciate a costly deck; "cards is cards". Do not cast your pearls before swine.

In a private practice where you sit down with clients you may have met before - if you want to bring out a 'special deck from your collection' with someone you trust - that is another matter entirely.

I do have my regular reading decks for public readings - like Druidcraft, Grenwood, SW Sacred Tribe and Medicine Cards. On occasion I use a deck, that is new to me and see, how i do with it by pulling a few extra cards for the sitter, telling them, that this is a new deck and so I am giving them a "little extra". Then, if I feel Ok with that deck I use it for short, and then longer readings.
However, I have my hand coloured Ironwing deck, that I only use for personal readings.

I use my regular deck and take a selection of Tarot and Oracle - and the client can choose the deck if they like.

Darkmage said:

It depends on the deck. I have some that I use just for myself. I also have others that never leave the house because they're OOP and/or rare.

My go to deck, even after all these years, is the regulation RWS. I use it for public readings, too, as that deck is what people associate with tarot above all others. I'll use other mass-market decks like the Aquarian, Morgan-Greer, Hanson-Roberts, etc. for public as well as private readings too. If someone spills a drink on them, they're easy to replace and I just tack the cost onto their fee. No biggie.

If you've only got one deck, then you'll be using it for both public and private readings by default. If you have multiple decks, do what you feel is best! There are no right or wrong answers here.

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I use whatever deck I'm using for myself at that time. I have the Waking the Wild Spirit that I use for myself, mostly. Not because I'd mind having someone else touch it but because it's proven to be one that speaks in a special way to me but hasn't been very fruitful as a deck to read for others for some reason. That particular deck has been absolutely amazing in readings for myself. At one time I had two copies, one of them given to me by Poppy herself for a sober anniversary gift, but that one was lost in storage. That just broke my heart.

I'm using Wickwillow at present and I'm going to get an extra deck of that one when I can because I love it so much and read with it so much. If a client over-handed it that would be perfectly fine with me.

celticnoodle said:

I go to a cartomancer for personal readings and she does ask her customers to not only bring their own deck of playing cards along with them for the reading, BUT she also asks you to carry said deck on you for awhile (the longer the better) to pick up your energies. She also warns you against allowing others to handle said deck as she picks up on the energy from the cards when she reads. So, its a combination of a card reading, psychic and medium and an empathic reading in one. However, if you do not have a deck of a cards, she has a few in her reading room to lend out to you--and she will also do a phone reading using her own cards while you participate on the other end using your own cards.

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This is interesting. It gave me an idea.