Few questions about Tarot

Divination, Dreamwork & Prophecy
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So, I’ve decided to purchase my first Tarot deck. Even though I have been studying Tarot on my own for the past 2 years and daily using an online Tarot “draw a card” website I feel it’s not enough. This being said even though I am strongly pulled towards Tarot I am simultaneously uneasy about it. I’ve heard couple of stories, about people who experienced severe misfortunes when trying to get rid of their decks for this or that reason (not the people I know personally). Before I take the final leap and buy a deck I need some reassurances.

  1. Should I get myself 2 decks if I intend to use one of them only for Reading for myself, so as not to mix the energies? Or is getting one deck for everything and everyone better?

  2. Is Lenormand a good addition to Tarot? By saying addition I mean a way to further develop my intuition and receive messages that will augment my Tarot Readings. Or do you recommend some other system/oracle?

  3. How to handle my cards? I saw it written somewhere on this forum that some people advice to keep them stored in a special type of box made of metal as that prevents them from unwittingly acting as a portal, can my cards attract any spirits if I don’t intend them to?

  4. Are Tarot cards spiritual in themselves? To clarify: I have met with both “spiritual” Tarot readers who claim to get their answers from a vaguely defined “spirit” and treat their cards with excessive reverence bordering on worship and “practical” Readers who treat Tarot cards as mere pieces of paper. What is your take on this?

Thank you in advance. I genuinely appreciate any suggestions you may have.

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Speaking for myself, I bought my first deck 0 years ago and never needed another. I aquired several other tarot, oracles and cards over the years, but my first deck is like an old friend, over time I got used to it and it to me, and we vibe.

I ended up decluttering unused decks at one point, including the famous Rider Waite as I just wasn’t “feeling it” with them.

So for 1, if money isn’t an issue why not get two and see how you feel. I was drawn to my first deck, I wasn’t shopping for it, it found me. You might want to try a few decks as they all have slightly different vibes and I think if you’re like me, you’ll get on better with some than others, and it might take time to find what you want, especially if you’re buying online not in person.

2… I heard of Lenormand here on BALG but it’s never piqued my interest. I am enjoying the Quareia Deck, which is very different and more like an oracle deck, and I would never part with my “Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards”, which are just beautiful people.

3, no portals over here, mine are still in the fault tattered old box they came in. I actually have them out permanently but if I put them away, it’s wrapped in black silk. I’ve looked for a pretty box for them but the right one never came up, which I take as a sign they didn’t want that.

I only put things in metal where I really don’t want the energies getting out, like from war water and bound vessels/links. I don’t need my cards warded and it’s in my interests to have their energetic field overlapping mine… I want them exposed to me and Vice versa as part of a subtle ongoing “conversation” over time.

4, Yes, as a panentheistic animist, which is basically a shamanistic view, I see the spirit in everything, and it always important.
I think you can find a happy medium between going overboard on the pandering and being aetheistic about it. Neither worship nor usury, it’s possible to treat the cards as simply your friend. Not all people have human bodies. :slight_smile:

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Wow thank you for actually sharing so much with me. It will never cease to amaze me how helpful people here are as compared with many other forums I’ve used in the past. Or maybe that’s simply my pessimistic nature speaking, I somehow tend not to trust in people being nice to each other but simultaneously that makes me so naively happy when I am proven wrong. Btw. do you actually mean 0 years ago, or is it a typo?

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If you really want to learn deeply, I would recommend picking up the Rider-Waite-Smith deck for learning purposes as the symbolism in the art is pretty core to the Tarot and most any good deck will have the essence of this symbolism. If I recall correctly, the RWS was actually the first deck to have artwork for all the Minor Arcana, whereas before only the Major Arcana had real artwork (and so the symbolism that comes with it), which is a big deal. I learned with the book 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack.

I don’t personally use RWS for readings as I enjoy my deck’s artwork more, but for learning purposes RWS gives you all the good stuff. I’ve never studied Crowley’s Thoth although many recommend that.

I would say the cards are portals to the spirit of each card. This is, presumably, exactly what you want and what gives the cards the amount of divinatory power they have. You can do divination with a pile of rocks and strong intuition, but the Tarot brings so much to the table because it is a living, breathing spirit that has been around for centuries. There’s no need for worship, but I wouldn’t say the cards are just paper.

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Oh, yes that’s a typo… 30. I’m old lol

Glad it was helpful :slight_smile:

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Thank you for the suggestion, in fact some people have already recommended this book to me, seems it’s no coincidence then!!!

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My favorite one, which was my first deck, is easily 25 years old lol… So I am there with you! :heart: