Dealing with a New Deck

Since I had to start using another deck after the theft of my favorite, I decided to try something different. I do have a second copy of my favorite, but it just felt like making a change was the right thing to do. Learning to work with a new deck would stretch me, challenge me.

It is true that if you know how to read tarot, with a strong grounding in the basics of the methodology, that you can read with any deck. Of course, each artist that designs their own deck adds some touches that may offer new insights and new possibilities for interpretation. Some tarot art is simply a refinement of the familiar images, with perhaps more finely drawn pictures, perhaps more crudely drawn images, more intense coloring, more pastel coloring, so in other words, different pictures, but still very familiar imagery and patterns.

Then there are some changes in the art that are philosophical, such as changing the magician from a juggler or slight of hand trickster to a ritual magician or a shaman. Or changing the Pope to the Heirophant, or a Buddha, or a character who looks like a monk or priest. With such changes there are not only changes in art, there are changes in interpretations and meanings.

So I always find that it expands my abilities and opens my mind to new possibilities when I use different decks.

There is also another factor that seems important to mention. The deck that was stolen from me I had been using for more than 10 years. Opening a fresh pack of the same deck just isn't the same as shuffling the deck that has been used in thousands of readings before.

That feeling of connection to your tools or other frequently used items is a tangible one. In the case of an heirloom, there is that sense of connection with the person who gave it to you. In the case of a tool which is very familiar, there is that feeling of familiarity with that tool and how it works. It is the energetic connection between a person and the things they use frequently.

When things like this happen, we just have to recognize the change and move on. The new deck worked well and customers commented on how beautiful it is and how much they enjoyed getting their reading with it.

Although I still feel like I lost an old friend with the disappearance of my old deck I do feel that I was both pleased with and challenged by the new deck. After a long weekend of handling it, I began to feel like this would be a good new tool for me to work with. It is one of those growing experiences that we are all dealt from time to time, whether we want it or not.