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I see that this thread is already several months old so I'm unsure if anyone will see my response, but maybe that's for the best since I'm also brand new to this forum. Having said that, your post resonates with me even though I've owned tarot decks for several years and recently began acquiring more. As others have said, I don't believe there's a right way or a wrong way, the most important thing is what feels best to you. Personally, I don't enjoy having to refer back to a booklet to interpret the feelings I get when looking at a particular card -- and that describes how I've been using my deck(s), primarily drawing one random card and meditating on it. Sometimes I'll also do what is NOT quite so random, I'll quickly thumb through the cards until one "hits me." It's difficult to describe that feeling, but certain images have knocked my socks off (as I like to say), and once a particular card has that effect, I'll try to examine it more closely to figure out why. And interestingly, once I come across a card like that, it never changes. In other words, if it knocks my socks off one time, it will knock my socks off every time I come across it. I haven't progressed very far with spreads. I've done three card spreads -- past, present, future -- but honestly, that hasn't resonated with me as much as with single cards. I'm also having big problems with how to ask questions, and I cringe when the uninitiated suppose I use them for "fortune telling," which I certainly do not -- though I hasten to add that this is not criticism of those who do. But yes, I would like to be better at using them to unlock my feelings about issues like aging and death, for example, but am unsure how to go about it. Since I'm responding to someone's initial query here, I think your questions and/or misgivings are not at all unusual for someone new to tarot. It can be daunting, especially in a world that seems predisposed to slap you down for practices that a lot of people see as a bit weird, at best. That is why it's good that you've found a community here where you can air it out with confidence that your questions will be seen by sympathetic people who have probably been there and done that!

Welcome to the community @Crow Glad you found us and made it in 😄

Welcome @Svetlana to the community . Glad you found us here

Welcome! It’s nice to meet you!

Hello everyone! 😊 My name is Svetlana and I'm from Russia. I don't have much experience reading cards yet, I mainly read for myself and my family. I use the Thoth Tarot, but lately I've become more interested in Tarot de Marseille and other cartomancy systems, such as Lenormand, La Vera Sibilla, Kipper and playing cards. I'm gradually studying them and looking for information that will help me better understand and work with these systems. I'm happy to meet everyone on the forum! I'd also like to thank you for your interesting and useful discussions - they're helping me learn a lot 😊

Hello @Crow welcome to the TT&M Family

Thank you!

Welcome to the forum! 😀

Hi, I'm Crow (not my real name) and it's good to be with a new community. I've sort of dabbled with tarot for a long time but have recently gotten more into it and have been collecting more decks. But I want to be a better practitioner and not just a collector of pretty cards, and even at age 70 I feel like I have a lot to learn, not only about tarot but about myself.

Thanks for the welcome! I just entered my e-mail address where it said Screen Name and that didn't work, but seemed to maybe reset something so then I re-entered my screen name and e-mail address and something finally clicked. Just trial and error more than anything, but by the end of it I was too weary to continue last night and will make a fresh start today!

I'm sorry you have been having problems joining our community. It looks like you have managed to join us, I think if your account is @Crow . Hopefully you made it here 😃 How did you manage to get in? Did you change something or did it just work for you? Please let us know, so we know as this is happening to a tiny minority of people signing up and we are trying to get to the bottom of it. We want to record all the experiences with this issue. If you would like to introduce yourself, you are welcome to start a thread in our introductions section here🙂

I love what everyone is working with this week! 🤩

Thank you Fire cat! I'm in with the Sasuraibito Tarot paired with the Soul Cards 1 & 2. Sasuraibito Tarot, King of Cups; Soul Cards, Held in the Light Let us then try what Love will do. —William Penn This King, when someone troubled shows up, will invite them out on the porch and offer tea or coffee. They'll sit in rocking chairs, and the King will allow them to pour their heart out. The emotions of others don't rattle him; he sees his purpose as a supporter and encourager rather than a fixer. Open-minded and nonjudgmental, he offers others a soft place to fall. The Soul Card made me think of the Quaker expression, "I will hold you in the Light." Philip Gulley explains: "To hold someone in the Light is to stand beside them when they are unable to stand for themselves...our willingness to work for the betterment and well-being of another." How different this is than asking if someone is right with the Lord! A calm, steady presence can help stabilize most folks much better than any reprimand.

I’m not into tattoos at all, but this little deck - I have the pocket Tattoo Tarot - really turned my head. I can’t go past a mini deck without giving it a second look. This one has a woodcut feel to it. I love the clean, crisp images and the bright colours. I haven’t read with it yet, but I had a look at the structure. It’s Marseilles-based (Justice = 8, Strength = 11, and pips without scenes) but with the odd RWS overlay. If you look at the 7 of Coins: there is an hourglass in the middle, suggesting the RWS idea of waiting for the right time. There is also a playing card feel to the whole deck, with the suit of coins featuring diamonds etc. Really love the energy of this deck. The box features the Eye of Providence, which gives it an early 20th-century feel.

Lovely! Thank you for sharing the post with all the detailed information, @reall.

Welcome back @Rachelcat! Interesting to have a different kind of oracle in the group this week 😀

Hi! I've been attempting to register a new account but fail the security question despite knowing that I answered it correctly several times. I see that others have had the same problem. I'm using Firefox browser.

Had to Share this Amazing deck I’ve 1st seen few days ago on fb thanks to Alexandra Miron here is full post & photos provided with her permission: “Happy Sunday with Tea and Fortune Telling Cards Deck: Cartomanzia NAVALDE (Sibilla Italiana type) Date: ca. 1910 (or slightly later; lacking tax stamp) Extent: 90 cards (missing 5) Provenance: Property of P. Barelli, Corso Venezia 15, Milan One of the most breathtaking decks has finally joined my collection, a treasure that kept me awake with anticipation long before its arrival, a full month past its expected date! Crafted at the height of the Art Nouveau movement, its sinuous, elegant lines perfectly capture the ethereal aesthetic of the era. Pietro Barelli (Rovenna 1818 – Milan 1880/1890) was a prominent Milanese print dealer and publisher. Born on February 14, 1818, to Pietro Barelli and Tommasa Bianchi, he had four children with his wife, Maria Teresa Pin: Napoleone (1844–1905), Federico (1847), Letizia (1848)—all born in Cremona—and a fourth child born in Milan in 1862. Firm History and Locations Founded in Milan in 1844, the Pietro Barelli firm initially specialized in designs, woodblocks, and cutting tools for fretwork (l’arte del traforo). The firm’s ongoing commitment to artistic pastimes is well-documented through its illustrated trade catalogues, including Arte e Diletto (1904), a general catalogue (1906), and Lavori e divertimenti artistici (1910). Between 1882 and 1910, the company earned numerous gold medals at national and international exhibitions for its fretwork patterns. Sometime after 1894, Barelli acquired the Arturo Fumel firm (est. 1830). By April 1920, invoice letterheads show the business was managed by Luigi Russi Barelli (1872–1944). The publisher’s address evolved alongside its expansion: Pre-1879: Galleria De Cristoforis No. 8 1879: Galleria De Cristoforis Nos. 4–7 1906: Via Passerella No. 6 1906 onwards: Corso Venezia 15–23 Publishing, Photography, and Matrix Controversy Beyond craft supplies, Barelli was an active print publisher. A significant collection of his fine art prints (published through at least 1878) is preserved in Milan at the Raccolta delle Stampe Achille Bertarelli. He also produced portrait photography, including an 1862 portrait of Garibaldi stamped on the reverse with his Galleria No. 8 mark. The firm acquired the historic Soliani family woodblock collection alongside roughly 140 16th- and 17th-century wood matrices of unknown provenance. In 1887, Pietro’s son Napoleone sold these matrices to Adolfo Venturi for the Galleria Estense in Modena. Documents in the Bertarelli collection—including annotated trial impressions by Pietro Barelli—reveal controversial intentions: Barelli contemplated pulling modern restrikes (such as a 1617 Domenico Campagnola woodcut) framed to resemble original period impressions. The Soliani woodblocks saw several reprintings over the century: 1828: Compiled into 7 volumes (Incisioni in legno...). 1864: Reissued as a trade catalogue for printers (Catalogo generale...). 1906–1913: A limited run of 10 deluxe copies commissioned by the Ministry of Public Instruction. Barelli’s collector stamp—notably found on the reverse of a 1655 Robert Nanteuil engraving of Cardinal Mazarin—remains a distinctive mark, though the full scope of prints bearing his stamp is still unknown today. Bibliography Modena 1986: I legni incisi della Galleria Estense. Quattro secoli di stampa nell'Italia Settentrionale, Modena. Milano, A. (1986): “La falsificazione dei legni,” in Modena 1986, pp. 31–33. Milan 1988: I legni incisi della Galleria Estense a Milano nel 50° anniversario della morte di Achille Bertarelli (1938–1988), ed. C. Salsi, M. Goldoni, A. Milano, G. Montecchi, Milan. Milano, A. (2000): “Le falsificazioni Barelli,” in Achille Bertarelli e Trieste, Trieste, pp. 79–93. Piazzi, M.L. (2017): “Manipolazioni e falsificazioni nelle matrici xilografiche Soliani-Barelli e Mucchi,” Studi di Memofonte, N.S., pp. 134–158" All photos provided & card back design as far as I know this is most extensive deck of this kind & most esquisit art too! i'll dive into card meanings for weekend & add my observation after I figure what these extra cards are about?😉✨🍀💕

I used to try all sorts of spreads, small, huge, with fixed positions, etc. when I first started learning Tarot. These days I tend to just do 3 card readings with no fixed positions. I look at the base of the deck and consider that card as the 'engine' of the spread, its hidden foundation. I also look at the quint, which I reduce to a major, which provides me with the theme, the overarching topic that the spread is about. That's it. I like to look at the cards and see what story they want to tell. I look at combinations, positioning, major vs minor arcana, and illustrations - what direction is the knight facing, is he rushing towards or away from the other cards, that kind of thing. I find I get the most out of my cards by listening to them and waiting for them to tell me the story they want to tell. Fixed positions kind of hem me in. I don't think they are bad or anything, and they can produce really insightful readings, but for myself I feel most drawn to my freestyle 3-card spreads.

Hi crew! Better late than never! As a break from mid-century esoteric, and finally acting on @Tanga’s information from back in April!, I’m going to try to read with dominoes. I got a new set with colorful pips the other day. (I don’t like that the 1s and 2s are both red while all the other numbers have their own colors. And there aren’t even any blue ones. A fine-point blue sharpie might be in my future.) 28 items. I’ll be using interps from the site Tanga recommended, https://www.tarotteachings.com/domino-divination-how-dominoes-can-tell-your-fortune.html. I think I’ve come up with a spread: draw one and then a second, and if the second has a match to the first, use it too, and keep going until there are no matches. I’ll try it! In the meantime, a short interview. 1. What is your strength? Five-Blank, Think before you speak. The dominoes can help me think things through before I act on them. 2. Your weakness? Six-Five, Perseverance But I probably won’t want to keep using them very long. 3. What can I learn from you? Double Blank, Reset, pause I can learn to really take a break if I need to. They will remind me when I need to pause. 4. What will be the outcome of our work together? Six-Four, Temper and tension I'll get fed up with the dominoes or interps and will want to give up on them in a huff. We’ll see!

I'm reeeeally curious about the "Oracular Cards of Transformation/Change" - they look like playing cards with a twist? Anyone has had more experience with them? Thanks!

Welcome back @BrightEye 😊

Your comment reminded me of my Antica Cartomanzia @Morsoth. I posted them in the appropriate thread so as not to veer away from the topic here. Just one caveat: as can be gleaned from its very name, this grand jeu lenormand is different from the petit jeu lenormand that most currently recognize. While the latter does not include the 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's in a playing card deck resulting in only 36 cards, the former includes all 52 cards plus a pair of significators. Their images and elements are entirely different. I don't want anyone to purchase it because they mistook it for a Lenny.

I just remembered that I have the complete set. All pristine and unsealed as I haven't explored them yet. Sad that the series seems to have been discontinued. I looked around and all are still available at a fair price.

I’ve found the cards beautiful and intuitive, but I share worries about cultural appropriation and the authors’ commercial turn.