Collecting decks by non-readers - is it OK ?

Mabuse said:

Who says that "reading" is the ONLY purpose of a tarot deck?

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Not me, that's for sure...... Even though I have started now....

I am more of a collector than a reader, although I do read for myself and find it immensely helpful.

I only have 105 decks, but I enjoy them a great deal. I love looking at the art work, the imagery, and just playing with them. I have bought a few that I wound up not liking, and I've either given or traded them away. Right now I'm waiting for the Marie-Claude Purro tarot, which I first learned about here, before it was even a deck.

This place is wonderful for collectors, even small ones. Without it I never would have learned about all of the small press/privately published decks that are my favorites.

I don't think it's inherently wrong - as with all things, though, one should be honest about ones motivations. I wonder how many people have put-off learning to read the cards by distracting themselves with finding the 'perfect' deck...
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Skysteel said:

I don't think it's inherently wrong - as with all things, though, one should be honest about ones motivations. I wonder how many people have put-off learning to read the cards by distracting themselves with finding the 'perfect' deck...
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I humbly raise my hand. This is true. It started with the desire to find the perfect deck and turned into finding decks that fit different moods if you will. Fact is I should have stuck with one deck until I had a really good base.

But I do stick to just a select few now for reading and the rest are for either pure enjoyment or historical purposes.

Mimi

Mimers said:

I humbly raise my hand. This is true. It started with the desire to find the perfect deck and turned into finding decks that fit different moods if you will. Fact is I should have stuck with one deck until I had a really good base.

But I do stick to just a select few now for reading and the rest are for either pure enjoyment or historical purposes.

Mimi

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In my case it went the other way around- I was fascinated enough to collect and got led into reading later. And now I am being forced by our group leaders (!) here to use different decks, and that is making me look at some I have had for years and enjoyed with new eyes. So it can cut every which way - and that has to be good too.

WolfSpirit said:

Fairyhedgehog, don't know exactly what kind of use you are thinking of, but this is a good thread I bookmarked about meditations with tarot:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=20558&page=1&pp=10&highlight=meditation

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Thanks WolfSpirit

I do sometimes meditate with a card but never intentionally. Well, I do intend to do it at the time but I mean that I haven't planned it My attention gets caught by a particular card in a spread, and I end up spending time with it.

I do read the cards, but mainly for myself. And instead of divination, I use the cards more to get advice. Problem is though, I find it so very hard to take advice but when I use the cards in meditation, it helps me understand why these cards are dealt to me, so to speak.

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I read for myself too. But I see it more as a way of looking at possiblitities. The spread just gives me one out of a number of different ways of looking at the situation. So it is more a reflection than asking for advice.

But mostly I play with the cards. "Play" being any non-purposeful activity carried out solely for enjoment! I use the spreads to tell stories, I get my son involved in telling stories from the cards (he's good at it!) or I just enjoy looking through them.

There are 78 little art prints in every deck, each one chock full of symbols and interest. Is it any wonder we all want to collect them?

Gregory, I have over 100 decks (I think about 130, possibly more with the bunch I'm currently expecting). I usually read with only 2 of them, and I read only for myself and not regularly.

Do I feel bad? No. Hubby collects military surplus and memorabilia. Do I rag on him for not using that WWI bayonet or WWII officer's pistol? Does he feel bad for not dragging them out after work every evening and firing them off? Of course not!

I feel fine now, thank you, QoP, in spite of my growing collection. I didn't quite when I started this thread way back when.....!

Then again, I do read now, too. But I still feel collecting is OK !

I do both collecting and reading, so maybe half of my decks are for collecting because of the artwork, and the rest are used for reading. It is fun to collect and look at the various artists way of expressing a certain card. I love that there are so many decks out there. And I love the way I connect to decks when I read or study from them, so there is good in both. I do think it is quite normal for collectors of anything to collect for the mere sake of having more or a variety of something (books, pens, pictures, figurines, cards, boxes, baskets, etc.) and not necessarily use them or even look at them every single day-if that make sense. I think it is just the nature of collecting, in general. Plus, it is loads of fun!

I haven't read this whole thread, just your initial post (somehow missed this thread).

I can't think of any reason why collecting decks by non-readers would not be o.k.? What harm are you doing by enjoying collecting decks and enjoying having your collection? How on earth does your collecting decks affect anyone else on this planet?

I'll have to read the rest of this thread to see if I am missing some major reason why a non-reader should not collect decks but it seems like a non-issue to me. I hope you continue to enjoy your collection!


All the best,
Ruby7