Would making your own deck...

CelestialHorse

...work better than ones that you would get from a store? I wonder that sometimes :) In a way I think it would probably because as you create it you're putting your own energy into the cards and what not ya know?

I always think about making my own deck like a fav. cartoon inspired tarot deck! :) I just would need to make an layout of 78 cards and what not XD

(I want to make one based on on the 90s cartoon the Angry Beavers and use it privately and for my own personal use-meaning I won't make copies or anything but I will want to show it to others because I'm like that XD)
 

Chronata

Yes...and No.


Making your own deck doesn't necessarily work better than a deck you buy. Store bought decks can still be absolutely amazing and accurate tools...


But making your own deck makes the tarot a wonderfully intimate and very personal experience. It becomes the very best way to learn, because YOU decide what symbols embrace each archetype...and you decide what is most important for each card to relay the meaning in the best possible way.

I have made quite a few decks now...and each one reads as differently for me as every other deck in my collection. Yes, each does have a bit of my own energy, and that's awesome, and sometimes very helpful...but they all have a kind of life of their own too...

it's really very cool.


My advice is always...make your own! Even if you never finish more than a few cards...it is absolutely worth it!
 

Psychic_kate

How would you go about making them.. I wanted to do my own deck for yrs
 

CelestialHorse

Yes...and No.


Making your own deck doesn't necessarily work better than a deck you buy. Store bought decks can still be absolutely amazing and accurate tools...


But making your own deck makes the tarot a wonderfully intimate and very personal experience. It becomes the very best way to learn, because YOU decide what symbols embrace each archetype...and you decide what is most important for each card to relay the meaning in the best possible way.

I have made quite a few decks now...and each one reads as differently for me as every other deck in my collection. Yes, each does have a bit of my own energy, and that's awesome, and sometimes very helpful...but they all have a kind of life of their own too...

it's really very cool.


My advice is always...make your own! Even if you never finish more than a few cards...it is absolutely worth it!
Good points :) I think there will probably always be a doubt in each of us if we did it right but eh I guess we'll have to find out when we shuffle. Like ask what each day will be like that coming week :) Yeah it's pretty neat how decks have their own personalities and what not. Hard to say what my deck's personalities are lol.
 

CelestialHorse

How would you go about making them.. I wanted to do my own deck for yrs

Well for me, I would take screen shots of my fav. show that represents each tarot card and put it on 4x6 index cards, now i just have to figure out how big to make my screen shot XD;

Then I'd write the description on the card or I can just cheat and look up on websites with meanings.

I would just have to think hard about what episode/screen shot would best work with the card :)
 

Zyfe

I don't have any personal experience to back this up, but my suspicion is that self-made deck would likely work less well for reading with. Ever since I started taking a serious interest in Tarot, I recognised the main thing I was hoping get out of it - advice from an 'outside' perspective. I've never formed strong opinions on whether "what the cards say" is all provided by my subconscious, or whether I'm being guided by some greater power - what's important is that it comes from something that's not my deliberate, aware, conscious train of thought.

Creating my own deck would strip away one important aspect of that. When I read a deck created by someone else, I get their perspective on each card. This is why I really like having several different decks! - because that perspective is just a little bit (or sometimes a big bit) different with each one. Even those that are generally classed as 'clones' in the same tradition (e.g. RWS, Marseilles, Thoth) will have a slight shift in focus - even if the very lineart is identical, the shading can change the way the card feels. (Case in point, I posted just the other day my feelings on the Radiant RWS I bought to replace the original-style RWS I first owned).

When I use the cards, it feels like looking through a window and seeing something outside of myself (quite literally: that's one of the reasons I don't care much for borderless decks - the border to me is the 'window frame'). With a deck I'd created myself, it would be more like looking at a mirror, seeing only aspects of myself reflected back at me.

(...And yes, maybe that says more about my limitations and lack of imagination than anything.) I do wonder, how many people who've created their own decks find they use them primarily/exclusively over any other decks they own?

That said, I do think that creating a deck would be a really valuable thing to do, as an exercise in learning more about the cards, and potentially as a tool for discussing your interpretations with other people. And while I probably wouldn't use my hypothetical self-made deck for primary readings, I might well use it as a 'reference', for clarifying readings I've otherwise struggled to interpret (similar to how I sometimes use my RWS, as mentioned in the aforelinked post).

Regardless of whether I used it, or how well it worked, I admit I'd love to own a self-made deck: shame I have no artistic ability whatsoever. :(
 

dancing_moon

I think that depends on quite a few things. Even if the art is not an issue (as you're going to borrow from your favorite show), it's still a question of symbols, because, like you said, you can never be sure that the symbols/scenes you've personally picked are actually the best ones that would work for you. Even if, being a set of images created by someone else (the show artists), they do represent the necessary degree of outside perspective, which is something I agree about with Zyfe.

Personally, I've only managed to finish a testing prototype of one deck so far. As of now, it's one of my primary reading decks, but only for personal readings. I did try it once to do a dozen readings for others, and it did work very well, though.

I love this deck because, due to - or despite - the fact that I actually didn't consciously pick its symbolism, it reads very well both intuitively and within the structure I've defined for it. :) However, I can't imagine anyone else reading with it, as the symbolism is highly personal. :D That, in fact, probably makes it a level below the 'store' decks, because they have something my deck lacks - being universally understood.

Having said all that, I can't agree more with Chronata: it's so much fun creating your own deck that even if it never gets finished, the time you spend playing with it and picking images is well worth it.

Good luck with your creative endeavor, and have fun! ;)
 

Richard

If I ever wanted to stop learning about tarot, I would incorporate what I know into my own deck and just use that. However, after 45 years of Rider-Waite, and, more recently, Tarot de Marseille and Thoth, I have a well of symbolism and mystery which will never run dry. I use tarot mostly for self development, not as a fortune telling tool.
 

blue_fusion

Yes...and No.


Making your own deck doesn't necessarily work better than a deck you buy. Store bought decks can still be absolutely amazing and accurate tools...


But making your own deck makes the tarot a wonderfully intimate and very personal experience. It becomes the very best way to learn, because YOU decide what symbols embrace each archetype...and you decide what is most important for each card to relay the meaning in the best possible way.

I have made quite a few decks now...and each one reads as differently for me as every other deck in my collection. Yes, each does have a bit of my own energy, and that's awesome, and sometimes very helpful...but they all have a kind of life of their own too...

it's really very cool.


My advice is always...make your own! Even if you never finish more than a few cards...it is absolutely worth it!

I second this. It's such a rewarding experience to have completed something that takes a while to do (even a majors-only deck requires 22 different artworks!) and even more rewarding once you hear other people appreciate your work and how it works for them in readings. :)

And it's a very good way to learn tarot too (like what Chronata said). You discover other ways at looking at the meanings of the cards when you meditate on what to put in each card's image.
 

frejasphere

I second this. It's such a rewarding experience to have completed something that takes a while to do (even a majors-only deck requires 22 different artworks!) and even more rewarding once you hear other people appreciate your work and how it works for them in readings. :)

And it's a very good way to learn tarot too (like what Chronata said). You discover other ways at looking at the meanings of the cards when you meditate on what to put in each card's image.

Oh yes, me too :)

I learnt more about the Tarot during the 3 years I was creating the artwork for my first deck, compared to the 20 something years leading up to making the deck :) If I go on to make another one, I can only learn more...