One Deck Wonder Resurrected

AmberFox

Oh dear,

I have been looking at different decks to buy and look at the art work and stuff but am not reading them so I think your all right LOL.....
 

Disa

D'oh! I briefly cheated. I looked at a thread about the Mary-el Queen of Swords, saw that the card had some ravens on it, and Little Miss Ornithology had to chime in. It was mostly about ravens, I swear. But I guess that does count as sort-of-kind-of using another deck.

Consider my wrist self-swatted.

I may have cheated, too. Someone asked for the size of the Hanson Roberts deck in another thread so I pulled mine out of my purse and measured it. I put it right back in I swear :) AND I pre-ordered the "So Below" deck because I needed free supersaver shipping to go with a book I was getting to help with my paper and I hadn't realized it was avail for pre-order. It's not arriving anytime soon so I think it's ok? Don't you love how we rationalize our transgressions to ourselves (and possibly to each other :) ) Oh and I did buy a trimmed DruidCraft today but that's my ODW Deck so it's ok right:)
 

Tarot Orat

I may have cheated, too. Someone asked for the size of the Hanson Roberts deck in another thread so I pulled mine out of my purse and measured it. I put it right back in I swear :) AND I pre-ordered the "So Below" deck because I needed free supersaver shipping to go with a book I was getting to help with my paper and I hadn't realized it was avail for pre-order. It's not arriving anytime soon so I think it's ok? Don't you love how we rationalize our transgressions to ourselves (and possibly to each other :) ) Oh and I did buy a trimmed DruidCraft today but that's my ODW Deck so it's ok right:)

I think we're all fessing up quickly and it'll get easier as we go on :) And saving money on shipping? No-brainer!

There's apparently going to be a smaller, borderless version of the Dark Carnival coming out this spring...I'm trying to decide if I can get it or not. Can you cheat on your deck with itself? (Even if I buy that one, I think I'll mainly use the original, the artwork is so detailed at the larger size.)
 

Disa

Clearly I vote "No" you can't cheat on your deck with itself- cause that's what I did haha.
 

Chiriku

I've given further consideration to doing a ODW and I might be joining soon.

The exchange above between two of you about choosing a deck that is mass-market and/or easily obtainable made me realize that some of the decks I am fondest of are either hard-to-find, expensive, or self-published and likely to become HTF not too far off. If the decks I feel fondest or and/or have the most experience with are such decks, doesn't that put me in a precarious position?

Yet, on the other hand, all decks except possibly the RWS and the Thoth will one day be out of print, hard to find, and accordingly inflated in price. It's inevitable given the fact that thousands of decks are created to serve a relatively small market of buyers.

But there's another factor to consider and that is that several of the decks that appear on my "refuse to be without" list are ones that I have never and likely will never use to read for other people. It's too much to go into the criteria they have in common, but suffice it to say that none are RWS-heavies or stripped-down decks good for exoteric readings. It's true I have a long history with an RWS-heavy deck that was very good for reading for the public (Robin Wood) but that was back in the 90s and my tastes have changed. Perhaps it's time to spend a lot of time with a deck that is similarly very suited to reading for others.

Of course, I can't pick a totally stripped-down deck with little intellectual "meat"--after all, these days I read for myself much more than for the public and *I* need to find it of interest. (And nothing sends me running more than a stripped-down deck that patterns itself on RWS without adding much of its own to the mix).

I have two "happy mediums" in mind, decks that are already on my Top 10 list and which have intellectual meat/accompanying literature on the one hand without, on the other hand, losing their suitability to read for others, at least in one-on-one readings (I wouldn't use them for fairs and the like). Truly, they have enough "in" them to allow for a very academic in-depth study but I'm sort of inclined towards the vibe here of "getting to know a deck" in a more colloquial fashion.

But before I sign up, I need to consider my commitment-phobe needs. If I feel I need to go beyond the standard reservation of a right to use a different deck for public readings, special occasions, etc. and that I'd still want to use another deck or decks for some other purpose(s), I wonder if I should create a new thread/group, one that is explicitly intended for a rotation of a small number of decks (say, 3).

I will think about it a little more.

If you have opinions, feel free to share them.
 

Penthasilia

But before I sign up, I need to consider my commitment-phobe needs. If I feel I need to go beyond the standard reservation of a right to use a different deck for public readings, special occasions, etc. and that I'd still want to use another deck or decks for some other purpose(s), I wonder if I should create a new thread/group, one that is explicitly intended for a rotation of a small number of decks (say, 3).

I will think about it a little more.

If you have opinions, feel free to share them.

I too have bounced back and forth on whether to join. The issue for me is that each of my altars has a specific deck associated with it- so when I am working with that altar/deities/ancestors- I use that deck for discussion with those particular entities. If that could be held as outside the boundaries, then I probably would be able to do one deck just for personal readings, as well as reading for others, for a period of time. But... don't know if that falls outside the rules- or if it can be incorporated into them...
 

Chiriku

I too have bounced back and forth on whether to join. The issue for me is that each of my altars has a specific deck associated with it- so when I am working with that altar/deities/ancestors- I use that deck for discussion with those particular entities. If that could be held as outside the boundaries, then I probably would be able to do one deck just for personal readings, as well as reading for others, for a period of time. But... don't know if that falls outside the rules- or if it can be incorporated into them...

Maybe it wouldn't matter but how often do you find you rotate among the different altars?
 

Tarot Orat

I have two "happy mediums" in mind, decks that are already on my Top 10 list and which have intellectual meat/accompanying literature on the one hand without, on the other hand, losing their suitability to read for others, at least in one-on-one readings (I wouldn't use them for fairs and the like). Truly, they have enough "in" them to allow for a very academic in-depth study but I'm sort of inclined towards the vibe here of "getting to know a deck" in a more colloquial fashion.

Some of us are already doing a "two-deck wonder" - the rules are that it's an illustrated and unillustrated pip deck, but I'm not sure those have to be EVERYONE's rules if you have two illustrated decks that you feel you can devote equal amounts of energy to. I'm personally enjoying the interplay between my two decks, and it feels fresh every day but also very cohesive over longer periods of time.
 

Penthasilia

Maybe it wouldn't matter but how often do you find you rotate among the different altars?

Typically on the full and new moons, as well as major days... I use all of them, choosing one card from each.

Some of us are already doing a "two-deck wonder" - the rules are that it's an illustrated and unillustrated pip deck, but I'm not sure those have to be EVERYONE's rules if you have two illustrated decks that you feel you can devote equal amounts of energy to. I'm personally enjoying the interplay between my two decks, and it feels fresh every day but also very cohesive over longer periods of time.

I may end up just doing my own version- limiting my personal readings (outside of the altars) to just 2 decks, one scenic and one not.
 

Chiriku

Tarot Oat, I actually don't need to choose between the two in mind (I've pretty much decided on the Hallowquest); it's more of what mental "out" will I give myself to ensure I can enjoy working with that deck mostly exclusively (with exceptions for special occasions like birthday or Halloween)? If I don't give myself an out, I feel contrained and drift away from the project (which is what happened with my first IDS). I was able to successfully havigate an "out" with my most recent IDS because I separated my tarot life into "formal study and exercises" and "casual/weeky/off-the-cuff personal readings," with the former for the IDS deck and the latter for Deck of the Week (a different deck every week).

But I am hoping to go a less structured route this time, with an eye towards nothing more than "making buddies" with a deck. So I wouldn't have that "study deck versus weekly decks" justification.

Penthasilia, if you are only using the other decks a few times a month and for ceremonial purposes to boot, in my opinion that is a clear enough division of your tarot life that it wouldn't detract from your ODW.

But as Alamaris and aurarcana were the impetus behind this ODW revival, I do not want to contribute to a gradual drift away from the spirit of what they intended---a truly "one" deck wonder (with allowance for one scenic/one pips deck; in a way that's still "one"). So as to avoid this "drift," I'm sure we can find people who want to commit to a small group of decks to join in on a new group. I can set up the thread if there is interest.