Studying your deck

amayura

I currently have 16 decks and one more on its way. When I get my hands on a new deck, I love going in depth to "get to know" them, to understand their themes etc.
However, in my excitement, I have purchased too many decks at once and now, I face the problem of deciding which one to study first

I will definitely figure my way out of that, but what I really want to know is: How long does it take to study a deck?
And also, how do you know if you've studied "everything"?

* "Everything" <-- I put quotation marks because we all know that it's not possible to really know everything, down to the artist's feelings or the writer's thoughts etc.
Just that feeling of having x-rayed / explored the deck from top to bottom and into every corner of each card
 

Trogon

Hmmm ... yeah, the decision of which new deck to peruse first is a difficult one. Good luck with that. :D

Really though, I'm not sure there's any simple way to answer that. For me, I just kind of let my gut feeling decide. Though, if you use a pendulum at all, that could be a good way to choose which deck to work with next.

I have quite a few decks that I've had for a while and not used very often. I also have 3 new ones. I'm working my way through them on the Deck of the Week threads (the link is to the current one). It's a good way to get some incentive to work with a single deck for a week (or more) so that you get a good feel for it. Then you can move on to the other one. This also kind of lets you say to yourself; "yes, I'll work with this one right now, but I will definitely work with this other one next." It's also fun because you get to learn about what other people are working with - you get to add those to your wish-list! ;)
 

Grizabella

Nothing is set in stone with Tarot. Just do what works for you. :) Everyone learns differently so nobody can tell you how much time or how much hard work learning Tarot will present for you.
 

lantana

The length of time really depends on the deck. Some you "get" almost instantly, some take years of going back to and you still don't feel like you "know" the deck completely. In my experience, about a month or a half of working with it and you'll know what kind of study it'll require.

Anyway, I'd say go with what deck excites you the most and then switch out from there. The DOTW thread Trogan mentioned above is great for getting acquainted with a whole bunch of new decks over a short period of time.
 

EmpyreanKnight

Most decks, follow either the RWS, Thoth, or Marseille systems to varying degrees, and if you're great at the three learning new decks won't be so difficult. Other decks like the Crysalis, Didactic, and Mary-El are their very own systems, so they take longer to learn than usual.

In my case, if I'm not so busy at work I can take at the very least two weeks to at most three months to becone competent in using a specific deck.
 

amayura

*Breathes in deeply* I've decided... start from my older decks!
They deserve so much more attention, which I haven't been able to give since I took a long break from tarot.
I'm considering putting together notes for each of my decks, seeing how some only have a LWB. And also because I'm now in between beginner-intermediate-and-forgetful

DOTW sounds good too, thanks all, Trogon & lantana, for that. I think following DOTW will be helpful in deciding which deck to further study as well. It seems a good way to introduce myself to my decks too

But EmpyreanKnight made me realize something very important...
Never mind Crysalis, Didactic, and Mary-El. How do I study decks that have no guide / LWB??? (O_O)
My Lunatic Tarot, which has no guide / LWB, will definitely be a big block moving forward... I just hope some deep digging into the forum will give me some clues
 

greatdane

I am not a deck collector, or really even want many decks, so can't say I have that exact issue, but....

I like to do a QUICK run through, card by card, just jotting whatever comes to mind with that card without thinking about more than a few seconds. I can go through a deck fast. NOW, is that enough? No, but my first impressions matter, so not only am I doing that, without dwelling, but can do it fast to give me a head start with the deck.

Then later, usually after months, sometimes years, have gone by, I can go back and go a little more slowly, card by card, and then compare my thoughts NOW from my initial impressions THEN.

It isn't that difficult when you don't have a ton of tarot decks :). I can imagine it would be more daunting if you're getting a deck or more a day, or even weekly. But you asked about a starting point, I would say just grab the deck you're most interested in at the moment, grab paper and pen, or just do at your computer, and start going quickly thru each card and writing your thoughts. I can do a whole deck in under an hour this way.
 

Trogon

*Breathes in deeply* I've decided... start from my older decks!
They deserve so much more attention, which I haven't been able to give since I took a long break from tarot.
I'm considering putting together notes for each of my decks, seeing how some only have a LWB. And also because I'm now in between beginner-intermediate-and-forgetful

DOTW sounds good too, thanks all, Trogon & lantana, for that. I think following DOTW will be helpful in deciding which deck to further study as well. It seems a good way to introduce myself to my decks too

Just in case you hadn't found it yet, here is the Deck of the Week #308 which is just starting up.

But EmpyreanKnight made me realize something very important...
Never mind Crysalis, Didactic, and Mary-El. How do I study decks that have no guide / LWB??? (O_O)
My Lunatic Tarot, which has no guide / LWB, will definitely be a big block moving forward... I just hope some deep digging into the forum will give me some clues

Yeah, that's going to possibly be a little difficult. I looked at a few images in the list of decks here on A.T., it's an interesting deck, that's for sure. The short description says it has pictures on the backs of the cards which show the equivalent RWS card? But maybe that's just the very large size art deck? But it does sound like it is RWS based, so that at least gives you a starting point.
 

Carojulie

Hello Amayura,

For getting to know a deck in depth, I strongly recommand the Exercises in Alison Cross book Tarot Kaizen. The whole point of the book is to get to know a deck really well, to dig deep. Plus, the exercises are fun, and it does not take a long time each day.

For choosing wich deck to start with, I suggest doing the first two exercises of the book with all of your decks. It can take you about 15 mn for each deck, and it will really help you consider wich deck you want to dig in right now, and wich deck will be better if you let it simmer a while longer before getting into it.

The fact that some decks have no LWB is usually not a problem for me, since I mostly do not use LWB nor companion books, exept when the companion book brings something really new (like the Tarot of Prague companion book wich bring a lot of additional information about the city of Prague for example). Or when a card derives so strongly from traditional interpretation, that I have difficulty making out what it tells me and need to read what the artist intended, to fully understand the card (that is the case for a few cards from the Chrysalis tarot, for example. I suppose it would be the case with the Mary-El tarot also, though this deck is so fully different than a traditional deck, that you could also read it like an oracle, without LWB, just trusting your intuition)

By the way, the Tarot Kaizen book will help you a lot with understanding the meaning of the cards from any deck, with or without LWB. The Tarot Kaizen workbook is really great in helping to fully understand a deck.

Also, what is super interesting to do when you have several decks at your disposal, is to compare the same card from different decks. For me, this has really deepens my understanding of cards. So that also can help you, especially if there is a deck that is a little more difficult to understand and you dont have the relevant LWB. Compare the card with the same cards from other decks, eventually read some general book knowledge about the card in question (from both RWS and Thoth points of view), and you will gain a lot of useful information and understanding.

I hope you are having a blast with your 16 decks ! Enjoy !
 

Nemia

Yes, I can second the Tarot Kaizen recommendation. Knowles' Tarot Playbook is also very good for creative and fun ways of working with tarot - you get to know your deck better automatically.

I always keep a deck on my desk and one in my hand bag. I switch them quite often because I also feel that I'm always touching the same couple of decks - and others are neglected.

Now I do a tarot calendar where over the course of a year, I'll involve all my decks. I put on a magnetic board the cards that are associated with the astrological sign (rigth now, Cancer) and the decan (2 Cups). So I have right next to me a board full of Chariots and 2 Cups from different decks.

I notice that it helps me "bond" with a deck when it has accompanied me through a whole month even if I used only four cards from it.

someone here on the forum mentioned mini easels so I ordered some from Book Depository but didn't use them yet - to put up visibly cards that mean something at a certain time, for meditation or to remind me of a reading etc. I'll do that later, hopefully with cards from decks that still feel a bit alien...