Help with my first deck: Celtic Dragon Tarot

[peanutsoncelery]

I just bought my first deck two weeks ago. I had been looking for one for awhile but was never impressed enough with the options I was given. Then I finally saw the Celtic Dragon Tarot arrive and it was the first one to really call to me so I ended up buying it. I've had a lot of luck so far, I'm new to Tarot but I found that the readings I do for other people seem to be on the right track although I'm not at the place where I can read for myself yet. Is this normal for a newbie?

I have a couple of questions, and I know they have been discussed in other threads but they never seemed to answer my question. In the book that came with the cards there were two things that concerned me a bit: that they aren't meant to be read with reverses and that the air and fire elements of the swords and wands are switched. Both of these are not really new things but even if the cards were meant to be read a certain way does that mean I have to? I'm still kind of new to this and I have good 'people' intuition but I haven't been able to distinguish if my cards should be read with reversals or not (although I would like to because I feel like it gives better detail.)

The reversals isn't my biggest problem though, I have a hard time getting my mind around the element switch. I want to keep the swords with air and the wands with fire but the artwork of the cards say otherwise and I feel as though it isn't 'right.' This normally wouldn't be a huge issue but the other day I did a realtionship reading and ALL ten cards i picked were either wands or cups, which is quite significant. I knew what a high frequency of cups meant but I wasn't sure how to analyze a high frequency of wands because I wasn't sure what I should associate the wands with. Thus, I feel like I missed out on analyzing a very important part of the reading. This element switch wasn't an issue the first two weeks but now that I'm understanding the cards better I want to be able to look at the cards as a group and further analyze. Like....how does an air wand differ than a fire wand in meaning? Is there a difference? I'm so confused!

So my question isn't 'how' to wrap my mind around this switch (like other threads ask) its whether I would be breaking a bunch of tarot rules if I were to view my cards as they weren't intended and by completely neglecting the artwork shown on some of the cards due to the element switch. Since I'm a beginner I want to adopt a method that is more common to other decks.

I asked this to a friend and he suggested I buy a new deck if I feel uncomfortable. But I'm poor, and I have had a lot of luck with my deck so far. If I must though I would buy another one. Thanks for your help!

 

[rwcarter]

If you want to use the deck with reversals, you're welcome to. But as the author didn't intend the deck to be used that way, there aren't reversed interpretations provided. So you'll need to figure out what a reversed card means to you in general - blocked, opposite of the upright meaning, delay, etc. Then you'll need to apply that when you come upon a reversed card.

There are no tarot police and therefore no rules that must be obeyed. If you wish to ignore the elemental switch in the deck, do so. Do a number of readings each way and see which way resonates more with you.

If one of your worries is applying what you learn with this deck to the next deck you use, then I'd probably go ahead and switch the elements since Wand=Fire and Swords=Air is more standard.

HTH,
Rodney

 

[karen0205]

Where have you looked for decks? If you are looking in your local stores you are going
to be very limited. There are places to look at decks online and then order. You might
have more luck finding a deck you like that way.

 

[PathWalker]

POLITELY SNIPPED

and by completely neglecting the artwork shown on some of the cards due to the element switch.

As rwcarter says, there are no tarot police, you do what feels best for you. But I would be wary of reading cards whilst "completely neglecting the artwork". Because what are you then reading? If you're just reading book meanings, you could as well be using blank pieces of paper.

I really would try looking at the illustrations you've got on the cards, and using that in your interpretations, before I decided not to bother with the artwork, even though I understand your frustration at the switch of elements

But you do as seems best, that was just my personal opinion

Enjoy
Pathwalker

 

[kduphily]

I have this deck and know your pain..I still cant read with this deck but one way that helped me understand the meenings was to lay out my RW deck side by side and it helped. I so wanted to be able to use this deck because the artwork is amazing, but sometimes it happens. Hope this helps

Kris

 

[peanutsoncelery]

Thank you everyone for your advice and input. Fortunately I found a book that mentions the switching of the elements and its been helpful at getting my mind around this problem. I'm glad I was able to figure something out because I really didn't want to part with the deck, it's really spoken to my so far despite my moment of confusion last week.

 

[jolie_amethyst]

Thank you everyone for your advice and input. Fortunately I found a book that mentions the switching of the elements and its been helpful at getting my mind around this problem. I'm glad I was able to figure something out because I really didn't want to part with the deck, it's really spoken to my so far despite my moment of confusion last week.

If you don't mind my asking, what book? I love the look of this deck, but the elements switch does put me off a bit.