They can certainly accumulate.  I'm in the process of giving away three tarot books, one Lenormand deck and 7 more Tarot decks.  There is a shop near to my home that sells lots of divination materials, and they are quite happy to get these decks and books (which are in pristine condition) to sell on.

With the exception of 5 'research decks' I keep on hand ...a Sola Busca, a  Wirth, a Marseilles and two Wegmuller decks, all the decks I keep are ones I actually use.  If they don't get used, they don't get kept.  I still have around 30 decks (some are duplicates ...mini versions, modified versions) and once in a very blue moon I see a deck that attracts me and I buy it.  But I'm not really a collector, and have no decks on my wish list just now.

I do understand the impulse to collect them, though.  So many are gorgeous and inventive!   Resist, resist!

I'm glad I chose to limit my collection to 70-ish decks and institute the 1-in-1-out rule to keep it there.

After a year+ in a big house I'm returning to my tiny house.

I will have to get creative to store this larger collection in the tiny house [it grew in the big house] but I have some creative space-efficient ideas.

My other rule is no decks get packed away.

I put them all on display where I can see them and use them. I feel strongly if I can't see and enjoy a deck ... no point to have it.

Yes! I have them all on display, too. The moment I am packing a deck away for longer than for a move or to redo a room etc I am not likely to use it again, and why have a deck I don't use...

I am a collector and after a deck buying hiatus I have purchased a good number in the past 2 months. I love all the different artwork and styles.  It's good to have options, authority there are a few favorite decks I keep going back to again and again.  I keep them in armoire and there's still more room.

I'm new to Oracle decks so I'm getting started with collecting then too. I am limiting those to cards I potentially want to read with. 

I also like playing card decks and plan to keep them separate.  Again it's the artwork, I can play cards games with them. I have lost the desire to amass playing card decks. There's just s free that I really want to add to my collection. 

It's hard for me to enjoy my collection as many are wrapped in clothes or are in tarot bags. 

Sometime I look at decks I bought ten years ago and ask, why did I ever buy these?  Many of them have not been read with and were never intended for that purpose.  I'm sure if I become crunched for space I can sell my least favorites off but I'm keeping them all for now. I have several Dark Decks, I won't read with those--but there was something  about them that made me add them to my collection.

I really must develop a better storage system so that I can readily find the decks I'd like to look at. It's hard for me to max out my pleasure with having to dig through ours and open bags. Maybe labels or tags.

I have all the decks I have written down so if I'm shopping I won't buy a duplicate.  Some may not have made it to the list (I found a few of them).

Lol.

Some people literally have whole libraries (rooms) full or decks. 

I suspect @gregory's whole house is a Tarot collection 🙃. Maybe her mattress is made out of them? 😀

I keep my collection at around the 80 mark. 

They're split into 5 boxes;  one under the stairs containing usual or unusual things that I'll never read with but occasionally look through for the novelty. One in the closet that has the bulk of my Oracle & Lenormand & OOP decks that I'm keeping.

One on top of a shelf with decks that are beautiful to look at - but difficult to read with, and a small one of Tarot mini's at the bottom.

And my favourites in a corner of the bookshelf by my bed.  

They all have printed lists of what's in them - though these need updating now since some have moved around and there are new ones.

I also have a small bag of OOP decks that I will sell... at some point...

Any readable decks - are "recorded" in my visual folder.  I colour copy the fool (in mini size) and paste it in, so if I'd like to use a 

readable deck, but can't decide (&/or remember) what I have - I can look in the visual folder and pick one by sight without having to rummage through deck by deck.

This year I bought two decks - one which I though was OOP and always wanted a copy of (re-released), and one which I'd always dreamed would be made... and discovered it had been in the last couple of years.

So... I'm not counting those additions Lol.

Then 2 more.

It will take me a long while to familiarise myself with these now, which I am really enjoying - so that'll be me for a few more years.

Apologies - I've mistakenly doubled my post whilst doing an edit... and I don't know how to remove it now. 🤦‍♀️

Removed one for you @Tanga 😀

2 hours ago, Tanga said:

Lol.

Some people literally have whole libraries (rooms) full or decks. 

I suspect @gregory's whole house is a Tarot collection 🙃. Maybe her mattress is made out of them? 😀

I do have a lot, yes. I am not mad enough to SLEEP on them, but I do have a room full and some (increasing) spill over - and I am unashamed. I do actually look at them, frequently. I don't think it's any more reprehensible than collecting shoes, glass animals, handbags. People collect stuff that makes them happy. Tarot is my one acquisitive vice. I know where they all are. I have a lovingly curated database, I don't buy duplicates (well, I do have a few dupes in my other home so that I have some with me there.) I am happy with having (just a sec) about 2,950. - I have two to enter and then I was going to update that list.

What is meant here by "need" ? Some people "need" the gym, alcohol, bingo, cigarettes. I suppose if I had to give them all away in one fell swoop, I could - but I would be very considerably less happy - and my collection harms no-one (unless you count the guy on AT who said I was harming people who wanted those decks and would USE them properly, whatever that means) and has in its way helped a few artists. I stand proud of the collection. I did once suggest it might be smart to stop, as I am getting older - but the daughter who will have to deal after I die said not to, as it makes me happy collecting them.

2 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

Removed one for you @Tanga 😀

Thank you.

1 hour ago, gregory said:

 

I do have a lot, yes. I am not mad enough to SLEEP on them, but I do have a room full and some (increasing) spill over - and I am unashamed...

On no I wasn't commenting in any negative fashion @gregory.  If we had 2 extra rooms in this house...    Nay - 3.  Then I could have a Tarot library and a Spellwork/meditation room 😍... and a home gym.  Woohaaah!   Dream on.

I had a teacher who recommended sleeping on (put under pillow) anything that one was trying to learn - so that one might absorb by osmosis the information at night 🙂.  I rather liked that idea.  But I wouldn't want to squash any of my decks.

Oh I know YOU weren't, but I do get a fair bit of stick  And they DO make me happy, so....

19 hours ago, gregory said:

... I do have a room full and some (increasing) spill over - and I am unashamed. I do actually look at them, frequently.... I am happy with having (just a sec) about 2,950 ...

I think space is always a deciding factor for me. If I felt settled in a large house where I could have a "tarot library" perhaps I would. Walls with shelves and every deck on display so it could be seen and appreciated ... Even when my collection expanded to fill a new wealth of built-in sheves ... I knew I might not stay in this house ...

I'm doing a whole death cleaning thing and shedding LOADS of stuff ... but my tarot collection? No. That stays. I will find creative ways to display it back in the small house. I'm sacrificing other things so I DO have room for the card collection.

@gregory <<What is meant here by "need" ? ...>>

This raises an interesting point about WHY we collect.

1. Some people collect only decks they actually read with.
2. Some people collect decks as art.
3. Some people collect for research / reference / study.

I collect for all 3 categories ... #1 is my focus and prolly why it's easy to limit my collection ... but I also enjoy decks for #2 and #3.

20 hours ago, gregory said:

 

I do have a lot, yes. I am not mad enough to SLEEP on them, but I do have a room full and some (increasing) spill over - and I am unashamed. I do actually look at them, frequently. I don't think it's any more reprehensible than collecting shoes, glass animals, handbags. People collect stuff that makes them happy. Tarot is my one acquisitive vice. I know where they all are. I have a lovingly curated database, I don't buy duplicates (well, I do have a few dupes in my other home so that I have some with me there.) I am happy with having (just a sec) about 2,950. - I have two to enter and then I was going to update that list.

 

What is meant here by "need" ? Some people "need" the gym, alcohol, bingo, cigarettes. I suppose if I had to give them all away in one fell swoop, I could - but I would be very considerably less happy - and my collection harms no-one (unless you count the guy on AT who said I was harming people who wanted those decks and would USE them properly, whatever that means) and has in its way helped a few artists. I stand proud of the collection. I did once suggest it might be smart to stop, as I am getting older - but the daughter who will have to deal after I die said not to, as it makes me happy collecting them.

What has impressed me about your collection, @gregory, is how well you know it, and how knowledgeable you are.  Nearly always when somebody asks about a particular deck, you have it and are familiar with it.  I'd say you are more of a card archivist than 'collector.'  And certainly not an accumulator.  

I have by now a nice collection of decks, and all of them appear in the course of one year on my tarot calendar. Some of them are study decks, other reading decks, and I have let some go in exchange for others. 

I can't really call myself a serious collector (not enough money) but I have the room for them and since I switched to e-books, I hardly buy books any more and I have to collect SOMETHING, don't I? 

My tarot collection is sorted in baskets and displayed on open shelves, most of them in self-made bags with stickers. Each of them speaks to me on some level, and I'll continue to buy them. Do I really need them? Some weeks ago, I had to make choices for the case of an evacuation (which might still happen), and I knew that I couldn't evacuate myself without at least one big bag with the decks close to my heart. I'd leave a lot behind but not my decks. 

As a long-time book collector who doesn't throw away books even those I won't read again - I can't part from my decks. I totally get why mindless consumerism, FOMO purchases and impulse purchases are not the right way to treat spiritual tools, and I try to avoid them. But each deck is a work of art and throws a new light on aspects of the card I might otherwise have missed. 

My collection won't grow much anymore but I can't restrict myself to "useful" decks. Some simply-nice-to-have decks are very welcome here. I'm a Taurus, need I say more...? 

On 11/29/2023 at 11:13 PM, Nemia said:

... I totally get why mindless consumerism, FOMO purchases and impulse purchases are not the right way to treat spiritual tools, and I try to avoid them. But each deck is a work of art and throws a new light on aspects of the card I might otherwise have missed.

This is an interesting point.

Yes, I have "art decks" in my collection that I enjoy as a visual pleasure even knowing I seldom to never read them or teach with them ... but I never thought about how the individual cards -even of a deck I don't read- might illuminate some aspect of that card that was otherwise missed. Hmmm. Food for thought. I think it makes me appreciate my art decks even more.

I had around 300 decks at one point. Not a big collection but it grew extremely rapidly and was too big for me as I came to realise. I've spent the last few years scaling back lots of 'stuff' I own - books, yarn stashes, clothes, decks... I don't see having lots of decks as problem at all if they make soneone happy. For me it created a strange anxiety and I'm much happier with a smaller collection of around 60 tarot and 15 oracles. I haven't bought a new tarot deck in many, many months and even when I think I might like a new one, I really don't know how to choose just one, so I don't bother! I can honestly say I don't need any more decks, but I'm open to more if they are super special!

I have a 100+ decks currently.  I bought many of them for the beautiful artwork.  I will keep collecting as long as I have space.  I keep a list so I don't accidentally buy duplicates on my cell phone 

Have you ever looked back on your collection at a deck and say, "I don't remember buying this." The other day I came across The Cat Tarot of Marsellie and I don't even like cats very much.  The art is awesome though.  I had not put it on my list, so a few decks had fallen through the cracks. 

Then the other day I found The Tell Me Tarot and said to myself, "Why did I buy this?" The artwork is RWS in a coloring book like style.  It also has keywords, I don't use deck with definitions.  I am saving this deck and hope to gift it to a newbie-- it looks a good deck for a teen to start with. 

That's the one that first came out as Do It Yourself, isn't it - and they had to change the name for copyright reasons and then USG picked it up. It's OK, but ODD. I'm NOT impressed by the words on the cards.

@Gregory I'm not impressed either.  I guess I liked the simplicity of the artwork that attracted me to in it in the first place  I have more RWS clones than I can shake a stick at. I don't regret it though.  Sometimes they are much better colors and illustrated than the original classic deck. 

10 hours ago, CharlotteK said:

... Not a big collection but it grew extremely rapidly and was too big for me ... I've spent the last few years scaling back lots of 'stuff' I own - books, yarn stashes, clothes, decks... I don't see having lots of decks as problem at all if they make soneone happy. For me it created a strange anxiety and I'm much happier with a smaller collection of around 60 tarot and 15 oracles. ... I can honestly say I don't need any more decks, but I'm open to more if they are super special!

I'm going through a similar process of scaling down EVERYTHING ... I wanted to do "death cleaning" prior to 60th birthday ... and then it turns out we're moving anyway and I must adopt a minimalist lifestyle to fit in the small house.

I relate to what you said about anxiety ... my deck collection is 70-ish and any more starts to feel "too much" especially as I've got to figure some clever ways to display all the decks an a tiny-ish house. 1-in-1-out if I buy a new deck. But the anxiety is also a feeling of being crushed under the weight of things. Years of accumulated things that must be moved every time I move [which is a lot].

I traveled light when younger ... and I'm happily returning to that. Age and consumerism made me heavy and I gathered moss. A rolling stone gathers no moss 😉

2 hours ago, Misterei said:

then it turns out we're moving anyway and I must adopt a minimalist lifestyle to fit in the small house.

When I moved to Bali 6 years ago, I had hard choices to make.  I had 2 suitcases and 2 boxes to contain all of my belongings.  It's interesting to see what makes the cut with that kind of paring down.  Well I did keep all of my decks, although I now have a few (oracle decks actually) that I wish to move on.  I kept lots of my ritual tools and crystals.  I kept a couple of carpentry tools too.  I live in a very small house now.  I am still buying/collecting.  If I find something that really moves me I want it.  I buy it.  I wait for someone to carry it her for me.

I am moving next year, but the home I'm moving into has enough space for  me to store stuff.  Decks of cards don't take up too much room. I'm moving in with my fiance who's been purging things to make room for my stuff. I don't need to bring much furniture so it's mostly clothes and personal items.

So for now It's rather get rid of other stuff than my Tarot/Oracle card collection.  I have lots of books I'm purging that I know I'm not going to read.  I hate the process of moving across country. When push comes to shove I'd prefer to get rid of other stuff than my card collection. For the time being at least. Ask me again in 5 years, LOL. 

The only cat decks I have, and I have Gregory to thank for Pagan Cats, are the majors only Tarot for Cats and Pagan Cats (the one without borders) and I have looked at every cat deck I could find online.  I wanted a deck with cats doing cat things that was easily RWS readable and borderless, so that is MY cat deck.  However, always open to hearing of any new ones!

And I don't find anything at all strange about people collecting all the decks they want, whether they read with them or are just collectors.  I don't have many, but I am very tactile and usually am shuffling a deck if I am watching a film, just sitting around.  Decks are wondrous! 

I’m paring down my collection along with a general declutter. I have too many decks for me. I’m finding that I spend time staring at all my decks and trying to figure out which one to use instead of reading. I’d kind of gotten away from tarot for a while, but I’m ready to get back to it. So, I’m going to do the deck of the week thing for a while and figure out how many decks I actually use and which ones I want to use. I figure that when I get to the point of wanting to use a deck I’ve already used instead of using a different one, I’m probably at or near my limit of what works for me. I have two Christmassy decks, so this is a great time to begin since I know where to start. My plan is to go through tarot decks first then oracle decks, then other systems. And then I’ll see where I am. I’m not going for a specific number, but I have more than fit in the drawers I’ve allotted for cards. Mostly because I had decks all over, so it wasn’t apparent until I piled them all up. 

On 12/6/2023 at 4:40 AM, CharlotteK said:

 I don't see having lots of decks as problem at all if they make soneone happy.

 

I can honestly say I don't need any more decks, but I'm open to more if they are super special!

Same for me. 

I should read the title of this thread every day. I have over 600 decks although I am not a collector, I use them just once in a while, they would last me all my life. Still I can't resist buying new decks if I find an interesting one for me. It is too much bother advertising and selling or giving away some (takes time which I don't have). So I am stuck with them. I don't mind, but it's a pity to have them when I won't look at some of them ever! 

There's a Share Your Collection thread.  That would be a good place for you discuss how many decks you have and are keeping.