Welcome to Gaia! ::

This is a weird one. I have several decks, and I've taken to collecting (um, you know, when I'm not flat broke, lol). The deck that I've used for the longest, which is the one my mother used (it is not HER deck, I bought a deck of them), is the Tarot of a Moon Garden. Although I ENJOY using it, it's never been anything special to me, despite the fact I'd like it to be.

I bought several months ago a deck called the Trance Tarot... oh man, that one blows me out of the water! I have no idea why, because when I opened the packaging and took them out to look, I couldn't believe the wonky imagery. I have some photos from an lj post I might be able to pull up. But it's colourful, super phallic and sexually explicit (well, it's symbolic, but it's not really terribly hidden either), and has kind of an African vibe. It is my baby now. I have no clue why this one does it for me. I wonder if the artist of a deck places a certain energy on a deck, no matter where it goes or when it is remade and replaced and so forth. The feel is very unique, and although complimentary to me, not of *me* per se.

Another deck that worked really well for me was the Sacred Rose Tarot. I gifted it to someone several years ago and have yet to replace it, but I mean to.

Tarot of the Cat People was gifted to me, although it is the second time I've owned it (coincedentally, the first time I owned it it was gifted me as well, but I was a kid and it got scattered and lost). It's the only deck that's ever been gifted me. While the Trance Tarot has an odd sense of humor, this deck really doesn't have much of one. It's very serious, and very accurate and not to gentle. It works well for me. Others that I like, but don't love, are the Medieval Scampini, and the Herbal Tarot.

The Gothic Vargo drives me up the freaking wall. It's basically a sort of a novelty, and I don't know if it's just my personal negative feelings or what, but I can't read with it for crap.

I used an oracle once, it was the Unicorn oracle, I think. Again, I was a kid, so they got lost. I didn't care for it much, but it was SOO beautiful. Good for spells, I suppose.

Like I said, I have no clue why what works for me does, it just does. Maybe there is a reason, but I do not know what it is (lol). I just roll with it.

The Tarot has experienced a resurgence in the past two decades and has become especially popular recently, with newly minted modern Tarot decks coming out frequently. There are now dozens of decks from which to choose, representing themes from Egyptian and Celtic to Native American and Feminist.

Over time, the Tarot cards have had their ups and downs, falling from popular interest only to be once more resurrected by those in search of the deeper meanings behind their complex symbolism. As the saying goes, "Truth will always out."

The earliest known "book" of Tarot cards still in existence are those from 1840-42, of which seventeen remain. The first entire deck still in existence was painted by the Italian Bonifacio Bembo for the Duke of Milan.

Many theories exist about the origins of the Tarot. During different periods of history, occult (the word means "hidden") studies were either freely available to all or deeply secret, depending upon the prevailing authorities of the culture's attitude toward occult knowledge.

One theory is that in the great library of Alexandria in Egypt, whose female librarian Hypatia was world-renowned for her wisdom and learning, there existed scrolls (which was how books were made in those days) containing all of the wisdom of the ancient world.

One of these "books" was supposedly based on the legendary Book of Thoth, derived from the mystery schools of Egypt. The allegorical illustrations on the Tarot cards are said to contain these secret teachings, which in the Major Arcana represent a course in personal development. The esoteric teachings were hidden in the seemingly innocent pictures.

Gypsies are said to have carried the cards to Europe and "gypsy" is considered a corrupt form of "Egyptian." Considered by the Church to be "the devil's picture book", the cards were quickly condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. Just to possess them was a dangerous act.

There seems no doubt that the cards were a means for preservation of ancient knowledge that the Church considered dangerous, or heretical, at a time when it was literally a danger to your life to believe anything other than the established Church dogma.

Though we can only speculate on its origins, the Tarot images are inextricably linked to ancient beliefs, mythologies, and religious systems such as the Hebrew Cabala. Others, notably Pythagoras, believed that letters and numbers are in themselves divine beings possessing extraordinary powers; the Greek neo-Pythagorean school taught these ideas.

No matter the origin of the Tarot, it is clear that its motifs refer directly to fundamental human psychological and spiritual experiences. The more one studies them and practices their use, the deeper one's understanding becomes, and the more they resonate to the inner life, as well as to events in the outer life. They are primarily meant to be used for enlightenment, for discovery of the authentic Self.

Number cards are believed to have been added at a later date, around the time of the first known deck in the fourteenth century. This theory suggests that they derive from an Italian card game known as tarrochi.

Though we will never know their true history, that needn't prevent us from using their wisdom, for the Tarot cards do indeed tell a powerful story: the story of the development of human life. It is an adventure story, like the hero's journey, filled with challenges, obstacles to be overcome, lessons to be learned, reconciliations to be achieved, honor to be protected, goals to be formulated and reached. In this universal story, each of us undertakes his or her own Way, following whatever symbolism speaks to us at the moment of a reading. It is this amazing flexibility that has allowed the Tarot and its marvelous symbols to endure through long and tumultuous centuries in order to come down to us today.
The Soul of the World

In the view of the alchemists and mystics, the universal significance of such symbols as the Tarot presents and preserves was thought to spring from the anima mundi, or soul of the world, which was seen as a vast repository of knowledge, like a universal library, that was filled with the memories and wisdom of the entire human race-past, present, and future. Sometimes called the "Akashic records", this source of knowledge could be accessed by anyone willing to make the effort of deep contemplation.

Within this collective pool are all the basic figures found in religions, myths, legends, and fairy tales. Taken together, these figures encapsulate a magical storehouse of profound esoteric knowledge. For example, The Empress symbolizes the essence of femininity as represented by the great mother Goddess of the world's most ancient religion. She can be seen as the representative of what Goethe called "the eternal feminine", in both myth and psychology.

Thus does each figure of the Tarot call forth from the individual's unconscious a deep resonance. Contact with these images in a conscious, intentional way allows their hidden counterparts -- denizens of the deepest layer of human collectivity -- to surface and become integrated into a person's life.

Properly conducted, a reading is a story -- the images on the cards meld into a meaningful pattern that can clarify the issues confronting the person for whom the reading is held. In a profound sense, if taken rightly, a reading can act like a vivid, enlightening dream or a moment of the flash of inspiration-the "Ah-ha" experience. "So, that's how it goes!"

Tarot cards are wonderful for meditation, as well as for divination, or the answering of questions. They act to stimulate the intuition, which is the key to the gateway of the unconscious. They act to illuminate the hidden factors in a person's life that bear on the situation at hand. Often, the person him- or herself may be unaware of these inner issues that are secretly shaping the course of his or her life. The Tarot, by contacting what is inside the person, reveals them.

I hope this isn't to old to renew interest in, but I love tarot cards. I too collect them.

I was interested in PregoHouseWitch's comment about the Sacred Rose Deck. I gave up using the deck because it um let's just say prompted me to be brutally honest when using it. I quit using it, but I had friends that would ask me to get that deck out and use it. I have moved since then, so I just never mentioned the deck to new friends.

It seems like she will be busy, but I'd like to more about her experiences with the deck.
Anybody else have decks that are just a little too harsh?

Right now I am using the Robin Wood deck a lot.

I got the transparent deck. Its a trip. It really is a plastic clear deck and you can read several cards stacked. Its more difficult for me, even though I typically interrelate the cards as I read anyway.

I haven't been reading for very long (mostly because i'm 16 and my mom is against it) but the first deck was Shapeshifter Tarot, and those are still the cards I use. They work very well for me and I hope to still have them and grow in the Wiccan religion as i get older.

My favorite deck is a a deck made for me by a friend,
i love the spontaneity of it,
its not all that precice and a headache to use if i'm preoccuped,
but i feel its softer and more meaningful than any of my other decks.

I use the Tarot of the Old Path deck. I feel a deep connection to the past, almost a longing to go back. I can use this deck for anything, but, my spirit guide speaks through my deck and we're especially talented in career readings. I'd like to get another deck with animal spirits but not Native American in theme or spirituality. I've had no luck finding one. There are a few animal gods oracle decks and several native decks, but none of them seem to resonate with me. I'm also keeping an eye out for a good gypsy deck.

I just got the Shadowscapes Tarot and I have to say, its one of the most beautiful decks I have seen in a long time. It's done in watercolors and its very flowy. I just love it. I can't wait to read with it.