How do you choose!?

[Ephemeridae]

I came home from work real excited today because it was pay day and I had some moneys squirreled away so I was ready to BUY A NEW DECK, YAY!

 

So I gathered up my wish list, and prices and started comparing and watching reviews and.... I really can't decide! It's so hard! I narrowed it down quite a bit and now I'm between six  :-\

 

Two Tarots:

RWS (My one and only current deck is a clone)

Ostara Tarot

 

And then oracles, because I think I might get more out of them than an additional tarot deck at this point because I'm still new to the whole tarot thing and am in the middle of working through the deck I already have.

 

Spirit De La Lune

Wild Medicine Oracle

Clair De Lune Lenormand

Iris Oracle

 

Maybe this is a silly question but how do you decide? Is there a spread? Names out of a hat? lol

[Trogon]

If you have a pendulum, you could use that. (People are probably getting tired of me suggesting this. ;D) Write the name of each deck on a separate, small piece of paper. Hold your pendulum over each paper as you ask "is this a good deck for me right now?" (or something similar to that). When you get a strong "yes" answer, that is the one you go with. If you get more than one "yes", redo the exercise with just those.

 

Alternatively, putting the slips of paper in a bowl and randomly picking one would work too.

 

For me, if I'm in an actual store looking at decks, I might pick several and then use my pendulum. Or do like I did a few months ago and go in to buy one deck and walk out with three!

[Melissa]

Well I'm no help.. just imagine a dancing fairy making it "rain" money and singing "just buy them alllllll.."  hah Okay not really.

 

I just wanted to say that if you go with RWS, I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative set. I didn't even like using the RWS until I bought this one. To me it's aesthetically very lovely to look at, which in turn makes me want to use it all the time.

[Ephemeridae]

Trogon, I do not have a oracle-dedicated pendulum but I do have many relatively heavy items on strings do you think that would work just as well? I was thinking of doing yes/no with my current deck. I wonder if decks get jealous  ;)

 

Melissa, I was wondering about which RWS to get but didn't have much direction so I appreciate the tip.

 

Thanks guys! I crossed Spirit de la Lune off of the list because even though I love the art and the "moondalas" some things about it bug me. The shadow on the dark side of the moon doesn't exist, it's replaced with "space," and the zodiac are portrayed as animals instead of just showing the constellations themselves which would be much more open to symbolic interpretation. I realize I'm being rather pedantic here, but these gripes lead me to the Arcana of Astrology and Compendium of Constellations decks. So I crossed out one and added two. WHOOPS

 

[PathWalker]

I know this might seem a curious thing to say when I have so many decks - but I think first you should ask yourself why you want another deck? If right now you like the deck you have, it is giving you good readings and you're enjoying the process of learning all about it, what would another deck do for you?

 

Lots off us here are collectors by nature, and we have loads of decks and loads of 'this' or 'that' but it's not really necessary. Sometimes I/we buy extra things we don't really need because buying makes us feel good  :(  Check in with yourself before you start down this road - what extra is another deck going to contribute?

 

Oracles are all different from each other, as well as different from tarot - if you really want to add an oracle to your tarot workings make as sure as you can that it the one that speaks to you - I bought loads or oracles because I loved the artwork, but now I'm slowly culling them because many of them don't really speak to me, and I don't use them. So choose the oracle really carefully.

 

Enjoy having the money to spend, but don't think you have to do it straight away - "savings" isn't a dirty word (I wish my daughter would get that!)

 

With very best wishes

PathWalker

 

 

[Ephemeridae]

Thanks, PathWalker, that is really solid advice.

 

I want another tarot deck because I think it will add some dimension to my study. There have been many times I've seen pictures of cards from other decks and saw something I hadn't seen before, because the other deck approached it from a different angle. I've begun to understand that working with different decks can deepen ones understanding of the cards.

 

The oracles I am interested in for two different reasons. One is a sort of naturalist study impulse. Like, here's all the phases of the moon for me to study. And there, 36 different trees. Etc. The other is a self-study impulse. Not that the Tarot doesn't fulfill that need, but I would like to see how approaching it with a different system would feel and how that could help.

 

I agree that it's not always great to buy things just because buying stuff is fun!

[Lantana]

So what gets bought first for me almost always comes down to availability. There's been mass-produced decks I've wanted for years (sorry, Animal Wisdom) that I haven't bought because there were independent decks that needed to be got first. The RWS will exist in its many forms forever, so there's no real need to rush off and buy it right now, but some decks on your list might not have that. (Indie decks are often a toss up, some might sell out in a flash while others might be sold regularly for years or even get picked up by a publisher... It's always hard to tell!)

 

Of course there's also what you NEED. Maybe you do need the RWS to study the system, or perhaps one of the oracles on your list would nicely fill a hole in your practice. For example, despite the Slutist Tarot making me more worried about selling out soon, I think I'm going to end up ordering the Minimalist Oracle this month because I really need a good, all-rounder oracle I can use for daily readings.

 

I usually go more practical/gut-feeling than divinatory when buying decks, but I have used Lenormand to help decide between two decks, so that's definitely a route if you're just really not sure.

[Ephemeridae]

Thank you all for your insight  :)

 

I ended up fitting three into my budget, each fills a different need I have in my practice.

 

They are (drumroll):

 

Ostara Tarot

 

Wild Moon Oracle

 

Vessel Oracle (Not even on my original list, it's from the same artist as the Iris oracle but much simpler. I thought the Iris oracle might be a bit overwhelming as my first oracle deck)

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

If I haven't said it all ready, welcome to the forum and the cards, glad to have you here with us.

 

I'm thinking your way is by far the wisest way.  check and double check, Savor the hunt, enjoy the find, affirm good fiscal stewardship.

 

For many card lovers the buying is the big deal, and months or years later are wondering why they bought them in the first place, and feeling blue because the decks have never been used.

 

Best wishes on your journey~

 

 

[Trogon]

Trogon, I do not have a oracle-dedicated pendulum but I do have many relatively heavy items on strings do you think that would work just as well? I was thinking of doing yes/no with my current deck. I wonder if decks get jealous  ;)

 

Yes, just about any weight on the end of a short string or chain will work beautifully as a pendulum. But, you don't want to use something that's too flat, round, square, hexagonal, etc, should all work fine. With something flat and wide, I feel that air currents would affect it more and it might not swing freely in one direction.

 

For many card lovers the buying is the big deal, and months or years later are wondering why they bought them in the first place, and feeling blue because the decks have never been used.

 

And no, I don't think decks get jealous ... I just start to feel a little bad for not using them. But that is what the Deck of the Week is for! It's getting me using old and new decks that I haven't used much, or at all. ;D

[chongjasmine]

I choose, based on how rare a deck is.

If a deck is more rare than the others, I will choose to buy that deck.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Thank you all for your insight  :)

 

I ended up fitting three into my budget, each fills a different need I have in my practice.

 

They are (drumroll):

 

Ostara Tarot

 

Wild Moon Oracle

 

Vessel Oracle (Not even on my original list, it's from the same artist as the Iris oracle but much simpler. I thought the Iris oracle might be a bit overwhelming as my first oracle deck)

 

I just looked at the Ostara Tarot (not really into oracles right now) and whew it is available right now at a rather tempting price. Hope you enjoy your copy, Ephemeridae. :)