What influenced you to delve into the tarot?

It was family for me. My mother's been reading cards since as long as I can remember, so naturally I wanted my own cards! And that was about it really. She gave me one of her decks she didn't like. XD It wasn't until I picked out my own that I really started making progress with the cards. Before I had my own deck, I'd watch her lay out cards and sometimes I'd ask for a reading for me.

It's so nice to read the different origins of people's interest in the Tarot ... reading this thread alone already has given me insight on how different people from different cultures and families can just in one forum have some unique beginnings that result to similar passions. it also helps me appreciate the diversity of family and cultural roots.

I hope others contribute, too.

Honestly, I don't know why. I bought my first deck RW about 15 years ago. I could not fathom the LWB and the deck dissapperard. I have always been interested in the psychic and have had readings over the years. I kept being told I had a "gift" and that I have psychic abilities, phah I said to myself. I bought my second deck, again RW, about 5 years ago when I was going through difficulties in my relationship. I made a little headway this time, but again, put the cards away. But this time they did not get lost and over the years I have "played" with them a little. I even got a second deck as I was still having problems with the RW. Ahhhh, then we started to connect. Then one day (2 months ago)......... I stumbled upon this forum and there has been no looking back. I now own yet another deck, have 2 more on order and am loving every minute of this whole new world that has opened up to me. I have finally found a way to open up my psychic channels, or perhaps it is that this medium has helped me be conscious of these "insights". Anyway, this is only the beginning, my first wee baby steps. But I embrace this and will continue to explore, learn..... and collect decks
And a HUGE BIG thank you to all of you here. Without you I would not be where I am now.

Growing up in the 70s, this TV series had the spookiest opening titles, which I simply adored. Every Sunday night I waited for the opening titles, never really watched the series (but my parents did). What were those mysterious cards?

As a child I was fascinated by playing cards and then later anything supernatural. Inevitably the two would meet...

Plus round about this time my favourite (punk) rock star featured in a magazine having a tarot reading with the 1JJ Swiss and that was it. Totally validated tarot for me! There was a picture of cards from the 1JJ Swiss, le Pendu, la Morte, le Diable etc. I look back and think what a curious thing it was to feature in a music magazine.

ooh, who was having the reading? Was it Siouxsie Sioux?

looking back, I just stumbled upon a deck - the Rider Waite- and had my eye on it for sometime before I had the cash to buy it. I knew I wanted a deck of tarot, but I couldn't tell you why..it just seemed the 'right' kind of accessory for me- to go with my penchant for incense, eye of horus makeup (I know, I know!) and fascination with ghost stories & magic.

I was always the little girl wrapping herself in old curtains and pretending to be a witch, making 'potions' and more intrigued with books and art than dolls and playgrounds. My family indulged me - they were all as bad! We lived in a big old haunted house & told one another spooky anecdotes and interpreted each other's dreams.

I was the first with a Tarot deck (I was 17 in 1981) and the first person I read for was my mother. And then the neighbours.

For me, it's a long road but I'll make it short.

I guess I've always been into mysticism. Plus I loved playing cards too very much when I was a child.

The evolution towards today started from music - as a pre-teenager I was very much into Madonna and got interested in Catholism.. then, almost 20 years ago, came another strong woman figure with her music; Tori Amos. Now Tori is very much into symbolism, mysticism, mythology and such. By her music and interviews I learned about Carl Jung, but didn't bother to find out more until about six years ago.

And boom! A whole new world opened to me... From Jung's archetypes I went to study Joseph Campbell, started seeing the universal pattern in different philosophies and religious systems.

That lead me to Tarot very naturally. The major Arcana can be seen as a collection of archetypes of the mankind and whole universe, so to me it's a very big deal, very big.

Mine isn't what you'd call exciting, but I've had some real pleasure and excitement from my involvement with things here on AT!

I've always loved cards. Shuffling, playing versions of solitaire like the Pyramid and the Clock. I grew up in a home where the spiritual was always recognized even though most activities like psychism, readings, etc were taught as misguided or wicked. But, this was balanced by strong encouragement that my heart & mind were things to be trusted.

Playing cards will always be my First Love, but I am also crazy about Systems. There were authors & teachers who said that tarot was a completely different system which should not be equated. Of course, I had to try to see what, why, how, where with statements like that.

parents were catholic though not super religious or anything. from the youngest age i always found church to be a big old bore and didnt pay any attention at all. around age 11 or 12 i decided to actually try listening and realized i disagreed with/didnt believe in anything church/priest was saying. so i decided to find a religion that would work better for me. after some research online and in the library i settled on wicca. up until age 14 i did a bunch of reading and related stuff with that.

one of the books mentioned tarot and i got intruiged enough to get myself a universal waite deck. parents didnt really care about any of this. age 14/15 realized nice as it all was, i just wasnt capable of any real religious belief and settled comfortably into my atheism. the card reading though, stuck. i lost interest sometimes for months of even a whole year at a time, but always came back to it. since becoming an full fledged adult with jobs and credit cards for online shopping....the collecting aspect has really grown shall we say, lol.

Deck by deck, slowly I turned...

Adored art decks with different motifs and Ukiyoe Tarot was my first English
language deck. The art gently wafted as a breeze and if it wanted to tell a tale. and

The exploring is still a merry breeze that entices me. More Westerly over the years, but I can still hear echoes where cards, especially playing cards were converted to Eastern games from 1600.
My first love was the attractive art. And how it entices the hands to play, the mind to wander over hither and yon.

The rest, is history.

Come to think of it, I honestly can't remember why or how. I do remember where, when and what deck I started with - Toronto, about 1999-2000, Dragon Tarot. No Tarot readers in the family, no readers among my friends, no exposure to esoterica, Wicca or other "ahs" (that I know of) at the time.

I'm still at it twelve years later.