The tarot or the reader?

[EmpressAdora]

I have found myself pondering this question for a long time now. Is it the tarot that sees the answer, or is it the gift of the person reading the cards?  While I do believe that everyone can read the tarot at least to a degree, there are arguably some that are just better at it. There are some people who with little practice can just interpret with great levels of accuracy and detail. I personally feel as though the tarot is more of a conduit for an already gifted person. A means for them to draw out their gifts if that makes sense. What does everyone else think about this? 

[Carus]

It might be a bit of both in a way. I've seen amazing things happen from people just playing with my Thoth deck. So I think that there is a degree of potential in a good deck that can of course only be realised at the hands of a gifted reader. It will also depend on what you think is behind our work, is it the reader's subconscious of is it the influence of some other entity or force. I attribute the Tarot's power to the angels and especially the Holy Guardian angel of the reader so I think that they can sometimes influence the deck even if we are not trying.

[Guest Night Shade]

This is a really good question.  I think that the cards present the answer to the reader, and it's up to the reader to interpret them correctly.  You're right when you say that some people are better than it than others, but, as you also said, anyone can learn to read the cards on some level.  Those with a higher level of natural intuition will of course find it easier to connect the dots and understand the story the cards are telling, but really anyone can do a basic reading if they study the cards and learn their meanings.

 

Also, I think that ,especially when you're reading for yourself, the cards draw out the answers that you already know in your heart.  I don't know how it works, but the cards just seem to end up right where they belong, giving you the answers that you need.  The hard part is deciphering those answers, since the cards often seem to be speaking in code!  Again, those with greater intuition will have a much easier time of this, but anyone can get something out of their readings if they'll let the images on the cards really speak to them.

 

 

[EmpressAdora]

It might be a bit of both in a way. I've seen amazing things happen from people just playing with my Thoth deck. So I think that there is a degree of potential in a good deck that can of course only be realised at the hands of a gifted reader. It will also depend on what you think is behind our work, is it the reader's subconscious of is it the influence of some other entity or force. I attribute the Tarot's power to the angels and especially the Holy Guardian angel of the reader so I think that they can sometimes influence the deck even if we are not trying.

 

I think you’re really on to something with this. I have never been one to think that it was purely sub conscious. I certainly think that has a role to play. Especially when reading four ourselves and about situations that we know a lot about already. We’re human after all. It really really hard to put yourself out side of it completely. If I am being honest, I struggle to read for myself and often second guess and a assume that I’m seeing what I want to see and not what’s really there. However, like you said I have seen people with little prior knowledge and knowing nothing about a situation come up with really profound things. I think there’s guidance coming from elsewhere. I’m not 100% where that it is. But I see it much like a true clairvoyant knows things they’re getting that information from some source as well. Be it angels, nature, passed on relatives or what have you. I think it’s a similar thing just a different way of passing that information on to the person.

[EmpressAdora]

This is a really good question.  I think that the cards present the answer to the reader, and it's up to the reader to interpret them correctly.  You're right when you say that some people are better than it than others, but, as you also said, anyone can learn to read the cards on some level.  Those with a higher level of natural intuition will of course find it easier to connect the dots and understand the story the cards are telling, but really anyone can do a basic reading if they study the cards and learn their meanings.

 

Also, I think that ,especially when you're reading for yourself, the cards draw out the answers that you already know in your heart.  I don't know how it works, but the cards just seem to end up right where they belong, giving you the answers that you need.  The hard part is deciphering those answers, since the cards often seem to be speaking in code!  Again, those with greater intuition will have a much easier time of this, but anyone can get something out of their readings if they'll let the images on the cards really speak to them.

 

 

You are so right!  I often find that the hardest reading to interpret is the one I do for myself. Like I can’t read it at all or I am second guessing thinking that I’m only seeing what I want to see. It’s really a strange issue all around.  I have seen that too where someone who knows nothing about tarot reading can just completely understand what the cards are saying. Maybe that’s the whole intention?  To make it user friendly so that the universe can get its message out there to anyone whose willing to take the time to listen.

[Guest libra]

People often talk about the cards and say "They are just cardboard and ink..." and I'm not going to lie, those words have come from my mouth as well - but, when I say, there's always this little internal caveat of "Until you make them something more."

 

See, in my life, things are magic.  Items have spirits.  A notable example was my last car, a t-bird.  Her name was Tabitha, and she was a spirit who was stuck in this realm until she landed in my car (I made space for her there).  She was a bit older than me, tight jeans, crop top, chain smoker.  Always this hint of sadness in her eyes.  When we were in a terrible accident, one that should have killed me, I felt her wrap around me, showed me the image of 2 kids that she couldn't save last time.  She thanked me, and I watched her leave the crumpled body of the car. It sounds crazy, but I know that she was the mom of 2 kids who she couldn't save, and keeping Wolfboy & I alive gave her the closure she needed to move on.

 

The car itself wasn't magic.  Not until I made space in it for her, not until she agreed to inhabit that space.  Still, the magic is the only reason I'm alive today.

 

It's the same with my cards.  They are a different sort of spirit, but they are there nonetheless.  I get a deck, I open space, and something fills that space.  I feel ok telling people that their deck is just paper and ink, because the people who need that reassurance won't be consciously opening that space like I do, so I can use those words to reassure them that their deck isn't going to invite in demons or whatever they are fearing. 

 

It also means I have trouble reading with other people's decks. Either they are like me, and they have a spirit in the deck and it's like ... we need compatible energy I guess?  We need to be able to speak the same language.  And if they aren't like me, then their deck lies dormant.  They are being read based on knowledge of the cards and symbology, etc.  I can read with a deck that's dormant, but I have to switch brain modalities and really, it's often just easier to grab whatever deck I've got with me instead!  This does also mean that buying used decks is an interesting experience for me.  Sometimes, they are very old and very dormant and it takes a lot of effort to pull a spirit out of slumber.  Sometimes they were "activated" and it's a matter of "meeting" them instead.  Puts the "deck interview" idea into reality for me!

 

Alongside that, though, I do think that tarot, like everything else in the world, has people who are naturally talented, and people who need to put more work into it.  That's just the nature of humanity, and regardless if you have spirited decks or not, there's also the factor of the reader's innate ability and learned skill to be put into the mix.

[sandrang123]

I only read your initial post, as I don't like to taint waters (in my own interpretation).

 

I started reading tarot when I was 14. Tarot led me to so much and to so many. I can never thank cards enough. Arguably, I was an intuitive or psychic before that, but tarot was the thing that I most credit for my development and opening me up. <3

[EmpressAdora]

People often talk about the cards and say "They are just cardboard and ink..." and I'm not going to lie, those words have come from my mouth as well - but, when I say, there's always this little internal caveat of "Until you make them something more."

 

See, in my life, things are magic.  Items have spirits.  A notable example was my last car, a t-bird.  Her name was Tabitha, and she was a spirit who was stuck in this realm until she landed in my car (I made space for her there).  She was a bit older than me, tight jeans, crop top, chain smoker.  Always this hint of sadness in her eyes.  When we were in a terrible accident, one that should have killed me, I felt her wrap around me, showed me the image of 2 kids that she couldn't save last time.  She thanked me, and I watched her leave the crumpled body of the car. It sounds crazy, but I know that she was the mom of 2 kids who she couldn't save, and keeping Wolfboy & I alive gave her the closure she needed to move on.

 

The car itself wasn't magic.  Not until I made space in it for her, not until she agreed to inhabit that space.  Still, the magic is the only reason I'm alive today.

 

It's the same with my cards.  They are a different sort of spirit, but they are there nonetheless.  I get a deck, I open space, and something fills that space.  I feel ok telling people that their deck is just paper and ink, because the people who need that reassurance won't be consciously opening that space like I do, so I can use those words to reassure them that their deck isn't going to invite in demons or whatever they are fearing. 

 

It also means I have trouble reading with other people's decks. Either they are like me, and they have a spirit in the deck and it's like ... we need compatible energy I guess?  We need to be able to speak the same language.  And if they aren't like me, then their deck lies dormant.  They are being read based on knowledge of the cards and symbology, etc.  I can read with a deck that's dormant, but I have to switch brain modalities and really, it's often just easier to grab whatever deck I've got with me instead!  This does also mean that buying used decks is an interesting experience for me.  Sometimes, they are very old and very dormant and it takes a lot of effort to pull a spirit out of slumber.  Sometimes they were "activated" and it's a matter of "meeting" them instead.  Puts the "deck interview" idea into reality for me!

 

Alongside that, though, I do think that tarot, like everything else in the world, has people who are naturally talented, and people who need to put more work into it.  That's just the nature of humanity, and regardless if you have spirited decks or not, there's also the factor of the reader's innate ability and learned skill to be put into the mix.

 

This is so intriguing to me!  So, do you think that everyone has the ability to put a spirit in their deck. I 100% agree with you that all things are things until we make more of them. I think even someone with no magical belief or ability could believe in that. So often you hear people say “it’s not just a house it’s our home.”  I have seen that kind of energy in someone house before. Like memories of the people who lived it so. Willingly or not that energy gets out there. I think a lot of the time it stays. Have you ever seen the move the sixth sense?  It very much reminds me of the scene where the wife is working at her antique shop and a young couple comes to look at a ring. She goes on to describe that ring has an energy of in requited love. Silly example. Just a point to say I can certainly see a sport or energy or what have you put into something that is “just paper and ink”. Do you think that that is something that is transferable. Another strange example, when I was much younger maybe 12 or so. I was walking home from school and found this beautiful necklace on the street. As I started to wear it slowly it made me very ill. I don’t mean like cold symptoms. Rather something that shook me at my core and felt as though it was changing me from the inside out. It sounded so silly to say. But I buried it in the backyard with salt. For whatever reason that was the instinct that my 12 year old self had and thought was right. The feeling went away. Have you ever had something more negative like that come up?  Just curious. I find you to be a very interesting person!

[EmpressAdora]

I only read your initial post, as I don't like to taint waters (in my own interpretation).

 

I started reading tarot when I was 14. Tarot led me to so much and to so many. I can never thank cards enough. Arguably, I was an intuitive or psychic before that, but tarot was the thing that I most credit for my development and opening me up. <3

 

I totally agree with you on the same level. Do you think the tarot drew out what gifts you already had and made them easier to access and interpret. Or that it magnified or intensified what was there?

[Guest libra]

People often talk about the cards and say "They are just cardboard and ink..." and I'm not going to lie, those words have come from my mouth as well - but, when I say, there's always this little internal caveat of "Until you make them something more."

 

See, in my life, things are magic.  Items have spirits.  A notable example was my last car, a t-bird.  Her name was Tabitha, and she was a spirit who was stuck in this realm until she landed in my car (I made space for her there).  She was a bit older than me, tight jeans, crop top, chain smoker.  Always this hint of sadness in her eyes.  When we were in a terrible accident, one that should have killed me, I felt her wrap around me, showed me the image of 2 kids that she couldn't save last time.  She thanked me, and I watched her leave the crumpled body of the car. It sounds crazy, but I know that she was the mom of 2 kids who she couldn't save, and keeping Wolfboy & I alive gave her the closure she needed to move on.

 

The car itself wasn't magic.  Not until I made space in it for her, not until she agreed to inhabit that space.  Still, the magic is the only reason I'm alive today.

 

It's the same with my cards.  They are a different sort of spirit, but they are there nonetheless.  I get a deck, I open space, and something fills that space.  I feel ok telling people that their deck is just paper and ink, because the people who need that reassurance won't be consciously opening that space like I do, so I can use those words to reassure them that their deck isn't going to invite in demons or whatever they are fearing. 

 

It also means I have trouble reading with other people's decks. Either they are like me, and they have a spirit in the deck and it's like ... we need compatible energy I guess?  We need to be able to speak the same language.  And if they aren't like me, then their deck lies dormant.  They are being read based on knowledge of the cards and symbology, etc.  I can read with a deck that's dormant, but I have to switch brain modalities and really, it's often just easier to grab whatever deck I've got with me instead!  This does also mean that buying used decks is an interesting experience for me.  Sometimes, they are very old and very dormant and it takes a lot of effort to pull a spirit out of slumber.  Sometimes they were "activated" and it's a matter of "meeting" them instead.  Puts the "deck interview" idea into reality for me!

 

Alongside that, though, I do think that tarot, like everything else in the world, has people who are naturally talented, and people who need to put more work into it.  That's just the nature of humanity, and regardless if you have spirited decks or not, there's also the factor of the reader's innate ability and learned skill to be put into the mix.

 

This is so intriguing to me!  So, do you think that everyone has the ability to put a spirit in their deck.

 

Yup, definitely!  Even people who don't actively do any spirit work.  If you've ever made a wish before blowing on a dandelion head, then you've got it in you to work magic.  I DON'T believe that these spaces will open on their own, though.

 

I 100% agree with you that all things are things until we make more of them. I think even someone with no magical belief or ability could believe in that. So often you hear people say “it’s not just a house it’s our home.”  I have seen that kind of energy in someone house before. Like memories of the people who lived it so. Willingly or not that energy gets out there. I think a lot of the time it stays.

Exactly, this is what I'm talking about when I say anyone can open that space.  If you can make a house a home, you can make a deck a home for a spirit.  And man, homes can be such interesting things!  I used to work as a tour guide at a shut down cannery, and it definitely carried echoes from the past.  The net loft there in particular, when I walked in there alone, and closed my eyes, I could hear parties, and games, and songs that would be sung while mending nets.  It was the parties that I heard the strongest, and partway through the summer, it was told to me that that was where they had celebrations, weddings, birthdays, because it was the easiest space to clear.  I also found out near the end of the summer that my mom had lived there for a short time when it was running!

 

Have you ever seen the move the sixth sense? 

Is that the "I see dead people" movie?  Not since I was a kid!

 

It very much reminds me of the scene where the wife is working at her antique shop and a young couple comes to look at a ring. She goes on to describe that ring has an energy of in requited love. Silly example.

I don't remember that scene! It's a real thing imo though!

 

Just a point to say I can certainly see a sport or energy or what have you put into something that is “just paper and ink”. Do you think that that is something that is transferable.

Depends?  It's possible!  My car before Tabitha was a broken old civic, that I had a spirit named Blueberry in.  When her transmission blew, she didn't feel ready to go, so Wolfboy worked some huge magic to pull her from that car and put her into the next one we got.  It took a lot out of him, and didn't settle in too well in the new car - but turns out that was because it already HAD a spirit that hadn't made her voice known, lol.  They actually cohabited that space until I got myself a car and Blueberry took that one over, but again, I had to hold that space open for her - I felt something else trying to settle in, and I didn't want to lose her, so it was an evening of meditation in that car, holding a bubble for her while she did the hard work, experience from the first transfer I guess!

 

Another strange example, when I was much younger maybe 12 or so. I was walking home from school and found this beautiful necklace on the street. As I started to wear it slowly it made me very ill. I don’t mean like cold symptoms. Rather something that shook me at my core and felt as though it was changing me from the inside out. It sounded so silly to say. But I buried it in the backyard with salt. For whatever reason that was the instinct that my 12 year old self had and thought was right. The feeling went away. Have you ever had something more negative like that come up? 

It's funny how smart we are as kids, you know?  That's part of why I'm so silly and playful with my cards.  I know what my intuition was like as a child, and I figure anything that keeps that space alive in my will do good for my intuition!  And, I have had that level of negativity, in a deck, actually!  It was Wolfboy's originally, and he got it from the Salvation Army for some reason...  Anyway, it had the woooorst energy, and it was like, everytime we cleansed it, it would seep back to the surface.  Like a house owned by a chain-smoker, you can never really get the smell out right?  Or like the river spirit from Spirited Away.  It wouldn't stop oozing!  I buried it with salt too, actually, a full waning moon cycle, with cedar smudging before hand, and some banishing crystals... like, I went all out.  Whatever was in it ended up fully banished, and a new spirit took over.  It's now like... curmudgeonly grandpa.  But that's better than toxic sludge!

 

Just curious. I find you to be a very interesting person!

 

Lol, I'm not really that interesting, or rather any more so than most people.  I just don't hide my weirdness.  We've all got it, but society says not to share it!

[EmpressAdora]

 

 

Lol, I'm not really that interesting, or rather any more so than most people.  I just don't hide my weirdness.  We've all got it, but society says not to share it!

 

Society is so wrong. I’m a very outwardly weird person myself. I’ve learned to embrace it. And I loooooove Miyazaki. Spirited away is one of my favorites. No one needs a toxic sludge deck. Unless it’s starts giving out handfuls of gold like the river spirt, then it’ll take it. 😂

[Grandma]

I have found myself pondering this question for a long time now. Is it the tarot that sees the answer, or is it the gift of the person reading the cards? 

 

I admit I have not read most of the replies in this thread yet, because I just got home and I'm very tired.  (I had a wonderful visit with Grandpa - some of you will know what I mean - and just wanted to check in on the forum before bed.)

 

But this is what came immediately to mind:

 

Is it the violin that plays the music, or the violinist?

 

A gifted musician can coax beauty from a child's toy instrument, while a hack can produce only screeches from a Stradivarius.  Do with this metaphor what you will.

[EmpressAdora]

I have found myself pondering this question for a long time now. Is it the tarot that sees the answer, or is it the gift of the person reading the cards? 

 

I admit I have not read most of the replies in this thread yet, because I just got home and I'm very tired.  (I had a wonderful visit with Grandpa - some of you will know what I mean - and just wanted to check in on the forum before bed.)

 

But this is what came immediately to mind:

 

Is it the violin that plays the music, or the violinist?

 

A gifted musician can coax beauty from a child's toy instrument, while a hack can produce only screeches from a Stradivarius.  Do with this metaphor what you will.

 

I think that is the perfect answer.

[2dogs]

It's not just Tarot decks though, you can read anything containing material in which you can find a good range of meanings. It doesn't need to conform to some special system or even be intended for divination in the first place.

[Raggydoll]

It's not just Tarot decks though, you can read anything containing material in which you can find a good range of meanings. It doesn't need to conform to some special system or even be intended for divination in the first place.

 

So true! You can use anything. Literally anything. In my family, my relatives used to mainly read signs in nature and foretell things from that. Cards are a fairly new addition to the divinatory tradition. People have been divining since the dawn of times, so they would have used what ever methods they had access to. But cards should not be discarded as 'just' pieces of cardboard, in my opinion. Cards come from trees, and trees are as much a part of this universe as we humans are. And there is special energies in everything that resides on this planet, that is what I personally believe. So in a way I guess I feel that it that both the cards and the reader adds to the mix and that it is the unique combination that produces something that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

[Thoughtful]

Very interesting subject thanks for starting it EmpressAdora. 

 

l am always amazed when doing readings that the right cards always come up for the individual.  l never thought about a spirit energy working through the cards.  This makes sense to me as l have a few decks that l work with on a very close and personal level.  My favourite go to deck was created by a Buddhist and l feel the energies of peace, truth, kindness and healing as l read with it.  So perhaps a Divine spirit manifests itself through this deck.  l trust it implicity regardless.

 

A combination of perhaps a spirit in the deck, plus one's own gifts brings together the right cards for individual readings.  Does our Guide or Guardian Angel help us here.  Is this why we are guided to the right decks to work with.  Why do other decks leave us cold and we put them on the shelve.

 

This  thread poses lots of questions and theories, the answers which so far have been intriguing.

 

[Saskia]

I also think it's both.

 

To be honest, I still don't know if people (including me) can be psychic or just highly perceptive and open to subconscious hints, but I think tarot cards are an amazingly well working prompt for those skills. I often wonder how did the first creators of decks - and the ones who've been developing them further - managed to so accurately capture the human condition; life's different circumstances, emotions, frustrations, needs, wishes...

 

I like to practice with other methods than tarot to flex my intuition, for example I read clouds, random image generator, people's social media photos, dreams, anything really. It seems to work nearly on par with tarot - I'm able to pick cues and tell meaningful messages to people so I don't think it's just the cards.

 

Cards work better for me at the moment because I've practised with them and they have an established, shared system, unlike clouds or random signs found from the streets. Yet, cards are one tool among many in interpreting this world and ourselves.

[abalone]

I think tarot gives us permission and a system to use to begin to hone in on our intuition.  You hear about some readers who lay the cards out but don't even look at them or read them.  They read off their intuition.  I would guess in their case, its more of a comfort or ritual.  What I started to see happening in my own life (and I'm trying to develop -when I remember  :biggrin: ) is sometimes I'll be involved in a situation where I don't have an answer and I don't have any cards around.  Occasionally a card will flash in my mind or I'll ask for one.  And it has relevant information to the situation.  I think -- but I'm no expert -- that the cards can become internal signposts.  Similar to someone to studies a book thoroughly and in a pinch or moment of indecision will recall a relevant passage from the book. 

[Thoughtful]

  Occasionally a card will flash in my mind.  And it has relevant information to the situation. 

 

 

Yes l have had this happen and it has always proved correct.

[2dogs]

  Occasionally a card will flash in my mind.  And it has relevant information to the situation. 

 

Yes l have had this happen and it has always proved correct.

 

That would be very useful. I've occasionally thought a particular card would be most appropriate then drawn it.

[Guest libra]

It's not just Tarot decks though, you can read anything containing material in which you can find a good range of meanings. It doesn't need to conform to some special system or even be intended for divination in the first place.

 

So true! You can use anything. Literally anything. In my family, my relatives used to mainly read signs in nature and foretell things from that. Cards are a fairly new addition to the divinatory tradition. People have been divining since the dawn of times, so they would have used what ever methods they had access to. But cards should not be discarded as 'just' pieces of cardboard, in my opinion. Cards come from trees, and trees are as much a part of this universe as we humans are. And there is special energies in everything that resides on this planet, that is what I personally believe. So in a way I guess I feel that it that both the cards and the reader adds to the mix and that it is the unique combination that produces something that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

 

I was once desperate to know how someone from my past was, and while I was walking to work, a girl bent down to pick something up and the letters on her shirt arranged themselves plain as day to "he's fine". There's no logical reason her shirt should have done that, it was like an Abercrombie and Finch logo tee or something. But there it was.

 

I Was that sign for someone once. I had this phase where I held my sleeve with my pinky and ring fingers, leaving my thumb, pointer and middle fingers dangling. A lady came up to me, really distraught about it, that I was clearly showing her the number 3,and it was following her around and she couldn't figure it out. I gave her a quick talk about how three is a number of completion and manifestation, that adding a third point makes the first shape etc etc and she burst into tears, hugged me & thanked me and left.

 

Signs are literally everywhere.

[Thoughtful]

What a great and heart warming story libra. 

 

l have had signs with white feathers.  One in particular - a friend of mine had passed over and l could not get to her funeral it was miles away and there were other factors that prevented me from going.

 

On the morning of her funeral which was a beautiful day l sat out in the garden and put my thoughts and prayers out to her.  With that a huge snowy white feather fluttered down in front of my face and into my lap. l just knew it was her acknowledging my thoughts and letting me know she was safe and ok.

[EmpressAdora]

It's not just Tarot decks though, you can read anything containing material in which you can find a good range of meanings. It doesn't need to conform to some special system or even be intended for divination in the first place.

 

This is very true. I have heard of very accurate fire readers. Of people who can take a reading out of a handful of spilled salt. Those who are so in-tune with the universe that they can just pick up on signs around them. I’m so oblivious. That would certainly be something to work toward!

[EmpressAdora]

It's not just Tarot decks though, you can read anything containing material in which you can find a good range of meanings. It doesn't need to conform to some special system or even be intended for divination in the first place.

 

So true! You can use anything. Literally anything. In my family, my relatives used to mainly read signs in nature and foretell things from that. Cards are a fairly new addition to the divinatory tradition. People have been divining since the dawn of times, so they would have used what ever methods they had access to. But cards should not be discarded as 'just' pieces of cardboard, in my opinion. Cards come from trees, and trees are as much a part of this universe as we humans are. And there is special energies in everything that resides on this planet, that is what I personally believe. So in a way I guess I feel that it that both the cards and the reader adds to the mix and that it is the unique combination that produces something that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Exactly!  There are so many different ways of reading and interpreting that which is around us. I think the key is just the awareness of it and knowing where to look. Being open to what you’re seeing and not disregarding it.

[EmpressAdora]

Very interesting subject thanks for starting it EmpressAdora. 

 

l am always amazed when doing readings that the right cards always come up for the individual.  l never thought about a spirit energy working through the cards.  This makes sense to me as l have a few decks that l work with on a very close and personal level.  My favourite go to deck was created by a Buddhist and l feel the energies of peace, truth, kindness and healing as l read with it.  So perhaps a Divine spirit manifests itself through this deck.  l trust it implicity regardless.

 

A combination of perhaps a spirit in the deck, plus one's own gifts brings together the right cards for individual readings.  Does our Guide or Guardian Angel help us here.  Is this why we are guided to the right decks to work with.  Why do other decks leave us cold and we put them on the shelve.

 

This  thread poses lots of questions and theories, the answers which so far have been intriguing.

 

You pose a very good point!  Maybe that is why were drawn to certain decks. The spirit that’s within it. There have been times when I desperately wanted a beautiful deck and was just like nope. Couldn’t read it. Some I can barely handle. Others that I wasn’t attracted to that I feel a strange connection with. While there have been some that I swear have called me from across the store like “I need to go see their tarot cards” when walking in I had no intention of it. I never really thought about that until now. But honestly, it makes a whole lot of sense.