on the bottom shelf i noticed... merged with How did you get started?

I don't remember when I first heard of tarot...

I remember in grade school a Halloween carnival where I went into a tent and a gypsy fortune teller used her crystal ball to tell my future. She scared me, I think it was effect for Halloween.

I remember in junior high seeing a soap opera with a tarot reading by some crazy old lady predicting someone's death.

Then in high school a friend of mine went to Italy and came back with a deck of playing cards. Not tarot, it was a 40 card deck, pips 1-7, no queens and no majors. We used them to tell fortunes for each other with made up meanings. Also in high school another friend had gotten a tarot reading from a friend's aunt and wanted to buy a deck. She called around to different bookstores and was told they carried one tarot deck, no tarot decks, 4 different decks, and finally a store that had around 100 decks. She asked me to ride the bus with her to that store. They had display decks out-the whole deck punched with a ring through it so you could look at every card. We spent a long time and she finally picked her deck. I really wanted to get one too, but I felt that it was her thing and I was there to support her, not get a deck of my own. Some time later she gave me a reading. I was unimpressed with the reading--it didn't tell me the lies I wanted to hear. But I was still fascinated with the cards.

In college, the first friend (who was now one of my roommates) went to Italy again and brought me back my own copy of the 40 card playing deck. It stirred that tarot desire in me, and I went back to the theosophical bookstore where I bought my own deck, Tarot of the Spirit. I thought, this will be a good one to learn with since it has the meanings right on the card, plus the book was really thick so it must go into detail. I didn't buy the second deck (Connolly) until a year or two later, but the next few came fairly quickly after that. Once I had about half a dozen decks, I decided to make my own collage deck. I honestly thought I was the first person to ever come up with that idea.

Soon after that I found Amazon and eBay, Michele's Tarot Page, and then Aeclectic and the forum (before it was purple!)

Wow-- there was a time before it was purple?

Thanks for the great story. Glad you found your tarot-way, despite some twists in the road.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=938602&postcount=22

from thread ~ The first silver that crossed your palm:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=69108&page=1&pp=10

I first got interested in tarot about 15 years ago -- I remember being extremely disillusioned by a happening at the church I went to with my (ex) mother-in-law, and quitting going to church. Somehow I went from that to investigating paganism, and from there to tarot. After all, I *knew* there was something to there being an afterlife, because I grew up in a haunted house. So in spite of my disillusion I felt there was something, and I should try to know about it.

I don't remember exactly how, though, because that was all overshadowed by my ex discovering I was evil and had tools of the devil IN HIS HOUSE. It wasn't a pretty scene, and that's what I remember when I think of my first attempt at other spiritualism and through that, tarot. My first deck was a RW deck, it was burnt in the fireplace.

Flash forward ~15 yrs, I managed to leave the marriage in one piece and am now in school. I found myself inexplicably depressed though -- throughout the abusive marriage I always managed to keep hope and a positive outlook, because I just knew I would be able to escape some day and I had HOPE. But now, all I had was what I'd created out of that hope, life was being damned hard, and where did I turn from here??

My boyfriend told me of going to see a tarot reader, and it was like radar, my senses honing in on the word TAROT.... I remembered my past foray into paganism and tarot, and a little light came on..this was how I needed to move my life into something more meaningful.

I used the internet as my research medium, joined this forum(for the tarot side), ordered a deck (it would be great to be able to walk into a shop and just buy a deck, but I live in the sticks and it's not.) and am happily learning both about my spirituality, and about how tarot and my Spirit Guide can help guide me...

On the tarot end, I think these forums are the most important part of my learning journey. I can't wait to be able to afford a subscription!

I'm still not comfortable admitting I'm studying tarot to people I know, but maybe that'll come in time...

~Yira

What a great post. [/i]How did I miss this?!?[/i]

Anyway, here's mine (story taken from my blog):

I have always been curious about the world of Tarot since I was a young girl. My mother had a deck and I remember wanting to touch them, but she said that it was bad luck due to the possible transfer of energies that can occur to the cards. Of course, many think this is a myth. Either way, that is one element that has always aroused my interest in wanting to learn more about the mysterious history about the art of Tarot.

It has been a rainy weekend here in New Jersey. I had friends over for the early part of it. We stumbled upon a unique new age store with books and items of on various paranormal topics of interest. I had read about the store in a local weekly paper, but had never gone inside. My boyfriend bought two books and I gravitated toward the Tarot card area.

I’ll be candid here–although I have always been interested, I never did any research. That means no trips to the library (yes, us book lovers still do that!) and no random keyword searches online. I had never been given a book or a set of cards. And no, I never touched my mom’s cards…

There were several books on the shelf, a few sets of cards and some velvet bags in various colors. I browsed through many of the books, but felt a bit overwhelmed and wasn’t sure exactly what to buy. I decided that it was best to leave it to a professional so-to-speak and asked store owner for a book recommendation. I had no intention of buying cards and just wanted to get her opinion on what a beginner should do. She gave me the pros and cons of each book and suggested The New Complete Book of Tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke. Then, she asked if I needed cards to go with it. I muttered an unsure “sure” and she suggested a deck called Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini. She also said that she had more decks in the back room if I was interested in looking at others, but my friends were waiting outside and I thought the deck looked beautiful by the look of the image on the box.

I decided to purchase both the book and deck and proceeded towards the register. Then, my boyfriend stepped in and said that he would buy them for me. The owner caught the exchange between us and made an interesting comment: one’s first deck should be a gift as opposed to purchased by oneself. <~ Myth #1.

My boyfriend bought me these gifts and commented on my interest of wanting to explore this. Positive encouragement–always a good thing!

When we arrived at home, I wanted to open the box and discover the contents. I was greeted by a plastic wrapping around the cards–which of course kept the cards clean (possibly in in more ways than one). I opened them and flipped through the cards casually. I knew nothing about them–whether or not there is a specific order or if they need to be kept that way–or anything else for that matter. I read the introduction to the book, and decided to come up with a game plan for this new learning process.

I was going to need a place to write down notes, thoughts and collected discoveries such as links and other items. I wanted to go the old-fashioned route and keep a journal and immediately had visions of a Moleskine notebook that I could keep handy to jot everything down in. But, let’s be realistic–we live in the digital age–everything is online. Plus, I am a social media tech junky to boot. Like many others, I figured that the best way to begin this journey was by using a blog.

--

My mother’s first deck was the Hoi Polloi Tarot deck (1972). She used it for personal readings as well as readings with a querent. Although she has not used it many years, it has always held a special place in her heart as well as a close physical place in her home.

She passed the deck on to me along with the booklet. The cards have seen several years of use and have yellowed with age, but have also received years of positive energy from her.

I am sure many people wouldn’t understand the significance of this event, but those are probably the same people who frown upon esoteric thoughts and themes.

I will treasure this deck always. I could tell in the tone of my mother’s voice that it was hard for her to let it go, but that giving it to me meant even more to her than all of the experiences that she had with it.

Pugwinkle said:

I really enjoyed reading about your start with tarot. I have been wondering about the Oracle as well. Can you tell me more about when you got involved with the Oracle? What decks you started with? What differences you found between the Tarot and the Oracle decks?

I, like you, will probably not find anyone locally that uses the cards as I live in the country outside of a very small town. I would love very much to have a reading buddy as well.

Click to expand...

Hi Pug, sorry for being 3 weeks late with my answer, I only just caught up with the thread.

My love of oracles was just as accidental as finding tarot. I ordered my first deck, and not knowing there was difference between tarot and oracle, I actually got an oracle, the Druid Animal Oracle. $5.00, Ebay
It is a stunning deck and even though I soon knew there was a difference I worked with the DAO for many months, before I decided to find a tarot deck too. Oracles make you work for your information and I love that challenge.

I first "discovered" tarot when I was in middle school. But my mom was even more superstitious back then than she is now, so I knew I couldn't get an actual deck without her unleashing her Mom Rage on me. So I went to the library and checked out Tarot for Dummies (still one of the most important tarot books for me!) and learned what I could about it. But it was sort of boring and uninteresting without a deck, so I sort of "discontinued" my search for tarot knowledge.

Then, just this year, one of my friends showed a budding interest in tarot and soon showed up to school with her own deck. I decided that now, since I was older (and now allowed to buy things online!) that I would get my own deck like I wanted to when I was younger. I'm very glad I did :>

Have had a brilliant time reading everyone else's replies, what lovely stories some of them, and some so profound...

My Tarot journey started around 5 years ago. I was aware there was this "thing" called Tarot from movies and TV, and I had an affinity for symbology. However, at 19 I'd only recently abandoned Christianity, and all its hypocrisies that I hated still haunted me, so I was reluctant to explore the magic I was drawn to.

The day it happened I was being taken to the Off License by the Alcoholic bf who wanted me to use my student loan to buy him beer. Near the end of the street I looked down and saw a Tarot card on the pavement (sidewalk). I stopped, stooped and picked it up. All I could remember for years was it was dignified by Cauldrons, had a greenish back, and appeared on the road Reversed to the direction I was walking. My bf made me drop the card, impatient for me to fuel his addiction, and when we returned the card had vanished.

I knew a friend of said bf knew something about Tarot (later discovered his mother is a Psychic and reads Tarot for a living), so I got in touch. He told me that cauldrons were not a "normal" suit, but his general advice was to not "mix" things that shouldn't go together. Through curiousity I bore this in mind as a "test" but didn't take it too seriously...

Low and behold, Alcoholic bf cheated on me a short time later, and suggested making a threesome. This ended in loads of jealousy, and in me cheating on Evil bf with a guy my friend liked, causing much turbulence in my social circles for months.

Convinced this "Tarot thing" had something to it, I bought my first deck, a hideous, girly thing from a cheap bookshop in Camden which I quickly got rid of. I began Googling, and found Aeclectic Tarot. The then recommendations for beginners decks featured the Tarot of Prague, and having had a magical first ever trip abroad in Prague I bought the deck. I still have the receipt from Amazon! It was, and is, so precious to me.

However, I had no idea how to use the deck, and trying to finish my degree while retaining my sanity meant that Tarot took a back seat, until in January 2009 when I joined the London Psychic School, determined to give Tarot the time it deserved, and I've taken off from there. Shortly after breaking up with my second bf in February, I realised I'd made the mistake of losing all my friends while wrapped up in the relationship, so I returned to AT, and found the London Tarot Study Group which is now my sanctuary!

Incidently, at the LTSG I met someone who collects decks and mentioned the Cauldron card that started off my journey. He (re-?)introducted me to the Tarot of the Old Path, which I bought a short time ago. It was weird finding THE card that started it all, amusingly the 7 of Cauldrons, all about the temptation!!!