Do tarot card decks have personalities?

[divinerguy]

So, I'm talking with this guy, and he tells me he's bummed because his favorite deck is lost. He just can't seem to get going with another deck.

Now, I've always used different decks. I rotate them, never using a deck for more than a couple of consecutive readings. No big deal if I have a different one. I adjust.

Is his reliance on one deck an indication of a lack of skill, or do tarot decks develop a personality?

 

[truthsayer]

i think it's the personality of the reader. some ppl just like things to stay the same. they don't like change--change is threatening. i'd bet this guy is a neat freak and likes "a place for everything and everything for a place". my husband is like that. if he loses something then nothing will work but what he lost. a change in his daily routine throws him in a absolute tailspin!!!!! LOL ;D

then there are those of us(like me) who are flexible and enjoy change. some of us simply adjust differently to life situations. to us changes are simply a new challenge to be met.

imho to give a tarot deck a personality is anthropomorphism--giving something nonhuman, human qualities. decks are just paper w/ art and words on them. the power to imbue them w/ divinatory energy comes from w/in the reader. w/o us to imbue meaning into them, they would have no meaning or personality.

 

[amyel]

Okay, I have to step in here with my two cents worth ('cept *my* 2 cents are in Cdn currency, so its only worth about -59 cents USD!)

I feel that different decks do have different personalities, and I think that some people respond better to some decks then others! For example, I perfer the Mythic tarot, but I have also responded to others, too, although I don't have a large collection. I loved the artwork of the Celtic tarot, but could not actually use them in a reading - so I gave them to a friend, who loves them. She went and tried my fav deck (Mythic) but they just did not speak to her. My sister tried the Mythic and could not relate to them, bought & tried a number of others and finally settled on the MotherPeace deck.

I don't think it demonstrates a lack of skill - just a comfortable preference, like your favorite jeans or bum-around-clothes. As for decks developing a personality???? I think they come with a personality already.

I feel bad about your friend's lost deck...it might take awhile for him to find another deck that speaks to him (or find his fav).

 

[jmd]

I tend to agree with amyel (and my AUS 2 cents is probably worth even less than its Canadian equivalent!)

It is also interesting that the word 'personality' is an extension of the word 'person', which refers to a mask worn by actors, through which the voice 'sounded through'. In that sense, it is definitely the case that various decks are as different masks through which voices become differently shaded.

 

[Lilliana]

while I agree with truthsayer about how humans do tend to anthropomorphise inanimate objects, I also think that the artists' unique style does give a tarot deck a "character".

I don't think that this guys reliance on one deck is a lack of skill.
Some decks I find easier to use than others- like the thoth deck for example. For some reason the images just resonate with me. On the other hand, I cannot get a decent reading from my friends haindl deck (which is thoth based).
I think that getting used to any deck takes time, and it might be months before you can get a good reading from a new deck.

Lilli

 

[faunabay]

Ok here's my question....Why doesn't your friend just go out and buy a new copy of his deck???
Granted it wouldn't be the same worn in "old jeans" one, but it'd be the same deck. ?????

 

[lilmystic]

I'm intrigued now..what deck IS he using?

As someone who's constantly looking for The Deck, this sounds interesting...

 

[divinerguy]

Its a secret deck, and my friend Jack made me promise not to tell. He traded the family cow for it, and boy, was his mother angry.
...
...
...
Sigh. That's really not true. He's just a whiney guy who posted his lament on a bulletin board. I don't know what type of deck it was.

Gary

 

[jmd]

Oww go on...

Spill the beans! Talk!

 

[lilmystic]

The family cow eh?

You can't go and tell us that and not tell us! : ) Okay, how about you spell the deck name in an anagram?

cheers!