One Deck Wonder

Ruby7, I know that we're not *supposed* to use our books for this exercise, but I think it depends on the deck. If I were going to study the Celestial Tarot, I certainly wouldn't get half as much out of it if I didn't read the book because I don't know very much about Astrology. And for me, the whole purpose of this exercise is develop a deep relationship with my deck and get to know it backwards and forwards.

When I thought I was going to use the Victorian Romantic Tarot, I decided that I would study the card without the book first, get as much as I could out of the card by myself, then add to it later with the companion booklet. That way I would be able to appreciate the art as well as the tarot images. Of course, I think I've decided to use the Universal Fantasy Tarot, and there is only a LWB, and not a very good one at that. So that takes care of that for me.

Now, I'm not the one that developed this exercise, but I decided that for me I'm going to do whatever I think will help me develop a relationship with my deck. (Of course, as I've gotten older, I've started resisting rules. ) I thought I would try to join in as many "Using Tarot" threads that I can, using my one deck, of course. I also want to go through the exercises in The Complete Tarot Reader and things like that, to help me get to know this deck.

EarthAngel2911 said:

Ruby7, I know that we're not *supposed* to use our books for this exercise, but I think it depends on the deck. If I were going to study the Celestial Tarot, I certainly wouldn't get half as much out of it if I didn't read the book because I don't know very much about Astrology. And for me, the whole purpose of this exercise is develop a deep relationship with my deck and get to know it backwards and forwards.
.

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I guess I was thinking about how this deep relationship is developed and that maybe the Celestial is too complicated a deck to use for this exercise. I suppose I could work with the book at first and then go bookless. I think that is what I might do. I'll decide by tomorrow.

I agree with you that the whole purpose of this exercise is to develop a deep relationship with one deck and how we go about this might be different for everyone.

All the best,
Ruby7

Is anyone posting there progress on-line? because i'd love to know how others are going

LittleBuddha said:

They dont.

But as I said before, many of the people that are coming to this study are doing so because they have not wanted to slot into either collecting or just appreciating a deck's beauty. They have wanted to read with the vast amount and it has not been possible. And with each, disappointment has set in.

This thread has nothing to do with owning for the mear pleasure of flipping through on the odd occasion. It is about reading. And reading with just one, to help focus and understand patterns and recurrent detail.

LB

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Please count me in for six months!!! I am exhausted from collecting Tarot decks -- all I've ever wanted to do is read Tarot, but instead I've spent all of my spare time for the last five years collecting Tarot -- searching (in vain!) for The One. Collecting is no longer fun; it has become a curse, a burden, a chore. Worse, I can't even enjoy reading the decks I have, because my head is full of a jumble of images for each and every card I pull. I just want peace and quiet. I feel like the "one-deck wonder experiment" will work for me, because I'll have company and support, and I'm soooo ready!!!

My choice of deck is the Tarot of the Old Path. I've only had it for a week, but I've already read the book. So, I'll tuck the book away, along with 150+ decks and dozens of other books. (Oh yes, I'll be packing them all up and stashing them in a place where I can't hear them whispering, calling to me. It'll be a safe, dry location, not too warm, not too cool...not too close, but not too far away... egads, see what I mean, no peace at all!)

Thank you, LittleBudhha, for starting this thread! I think it may save my sanity.

mme.

due to an going illness in the family, I have taken a break from reading for others for a while which might make this a little easier to consider - the only person I would be reading for would be myself.

I have taken out a few decks over the last few days and have a peruse, but the one deck I would use in this instance is the Osho Zen. I think this is because it is the most thought provoking for me (and I am in that frame of mind for now) but also the accompanying books do make good reading.

I wonder if there is just one posting we can have put up (not sure how) which just lists the decks people have chosen, so we can see at a glance which are in the running?

Davina

Firstly, there are no rules. Well, just the one. That you stick with the one deck. If you have to look into a book and think it will help, then do so. Madame Finestra's post is right where I 'am at', and I think that could be said for many of us. She needs to focus on the one, like we all do. And how deep and what resources you choose, is up to you.

In terms of picking, just pick one! If I hadn't have picked the VR, I would have been inclined to pick one I didn't like - just to find out if I could like it in the end. And give it a chance. Look beyond the artwork, to some extent.

And thanks for the 'thanks'. But I am just a reserector. It was Umbrae and Elf who initially had this idea.

Hope we are all doing well. I dropped out of this pretty quickly the first time round, but I intend to stick with it this time.

LB

LittleBuddha said:

Firstly, there are no rules. Well, just the one. That you stick with the one deck. If you have to look into a book and think it will help, then do so.
LB

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Thanks for the clarification of the "rules", Little Buddha! I'm glad that we can use a book along the way, because I like to understand the symbols I'm looking at, and the deck I've chosen is laden with them (Tarot of the Old Path). However, I have grown weary of leafing through books to find card meanings, so I am swearing off doing that. Instead, I'd like to refer to whatever resources (books, online) I need to help me recognize the significance of symbols in my cards. Currently, I have the "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects", so I'll use it, but I don't know it well enough to be able to recommend it to anyone else. If anyone has one they really like, I'd like to hear about it (no, I'm not going to start collecting books on symbols

Also, as part of the bonding process with The One, I annointed my TotOP with my favorite perfumed hand lotion. I read about this procedure several years ago. You just wash your hands, rub them with your hand lotion and then handle and shuffle your cards. Of course, your cards smell like you from then on. I've done this with other decks, and they still smell beautiful! (That's what I use: Estee Lauder's Beautiful.) I was worried at first about staining the cards, but I've only done it with coated decks produced in Europe, and it hasn't stained them at all. However, it might depend on the type of lotion you use, and I wouldn't dare do it with a rare or expensive deck. Anyway, it really does mark a deck as your own, and, in the past, my daughter has even noticed that my deck smells like me! Of course, I'm also sleeping with my deck under my pillow and carrying it with me all day (even at work). I performed a 3-card reading this morning (Morning, Noon & Night) and recorded it in my journal, which is a 3-ring binder. I intend to follow up with observations tonight before bed. Of course, I'll take my cards out to handle and shuffle whenever I can.

So... I'm off & running! Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you all, because I know I'm going to be needing your support -- I've never gone more than 7 days with one deck, and this is Day One of a brand new day, and the Fool skittered out this morning

Take care!

mme.

I have shelved my Victorian Romantic book. I have read it already and even though I think that in some cases, books may be a help, I don't want mine to be a crutch or essential to my learning.

If we were in a house on a hill and there was not a person, shop or library for miles and our internet connection was cut, would we wrap our deck up and not use it? Of course not, we would just get on with it. This what people did before there were books by Bunning, Greer and online sources. And that is what makes them all individual readers, each with their own connection to their chosen images.

I can see why some will want to know what the symbols mean. But generally, think of the cards as people. They do not come with instruction manuals. You meet them and they affect everyone in different ways. The fun is in finding out, not being told. And I think that is an important part of this study. We are working with the 'one' to get to know it; not to get to know the way in which somebody else does.

LB

That was very nicely put LB. I really like the comparison to people that you meet. I feel in many ways that I do have an advantage as far as avoiding book meanings. There are very few english books on TdM and the Ancient Italian/Soprafino isn't a TdM. It has imagery that I can't find in earlier decks. Of course I have a limited number of TdM decks and I don't intend to spend the next month weeding thru online sites comparing cards. So its just me and my notebook. I spent last night with my first 3 card spread for the day that just past going 'WtF'. Love it. Complete blank. I could find meanings for those pip cards and the courts, I just had no idea what they had to do with my day!

Jen

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