Is It Cheating?
When you have a tarot deck, and really open yourself up to learning how to communicate with your intuition via your deck, you build a bond with it. It becomes an extension of you, and something that you truly cherish, and for some, just don’t know how to be without. There is a form of relationship that is created.
So then, is it cheating if you get another deck?
Let’s face it, there are some absolutely stunning decks out there, some that just make you want to weep with joy at their artwork, or move you in ways you can’t describe. There are also some out there that you just can’t put your finger on it, but you gravitate toward them.
That’s fine. No, it’s not cheating. And I’m not just saying that because I can’t count how many decks I have between two continents (some are with me, some are in storage at my mom’s house until I get back, some are in storage at my friend’s house, or some we actually share).
Art
Tarot is a beautiful way of expressing art. Art is a means of expressing what it is to be human. I believe that tarot itself is an art form. It’s a means of reaching inward and drawing the cards that show the raw humanness we all experience on a physical, mental, spiritual, and karmic level. Art does the same thing.
Collecting tarot cards is just like collecting art. It is different forms of expression to help you express different forms of yourself. We are in a constant flux, we change from day to day. At the core we might be the same, or the core might be slowly changing, but daily, our moods change, and thus how we express ourselves also changes.
Furthermore, art is like books—it is literally never considered hoarding if you collect it.
Friends
Your deck is your friend. Your close friend that knows the ins and outs of you, your own working. No one is going to say that you can only have one friend.
Each deck has its own style, its own personality. Each deck will have different pieces of advice to give you, because they simply jive a different way. Thus, you can have more than one deck for more than one purpose.
I personally have a deck for my more spiritual work, for my ceremonial work, for my creative work, for my daily existence, for reading for others, and I have a deck that I share with my friend (seriously, we have joint custody of this deck, and it passes back and forth between us). Those are just the decks I use, mind you. But for me, my Thoth deck taps into the universe and it’s tunes for much higher learning and understanding than any of my other decks. My Aquarian deck is for my ceremonial work. Prisma Visions tarot is perfect for my creative work.
Find a deck that fits certain moods or situations is absolutely fine. I have friends that I would select to go to the gym with, but not party with. Or I have friends that I would invite on a road trip, but never to be my roommate. I have friends that I know I can call when I’m sick and dying, but not that I could ask me to move.
Different people have different gifts and if they’re in your life, we can call on them for certain situations but not others. Tarot decks are the same way. My Thoth deck would never be able to tell me anything about my daily, mundane living situation. Period.
Understanding
Not that tarot can be reduced to a hobby (although I suppose it is a hobby, just a very intense and consuming hobby that results in personal growth and inner wisdom), but it is just fun to find new decks and take them home with you.
I love seeing how different artists define different cards. They bring a new understandings to the table behind each card. So many people have taken the cards, meditated on their meanings to them, and created their own version of them displaying that meaning, and it serves to enhance the evolution of the tarot.
The more voices that come together, the better we can understand them. The better we can understand the tarot, the better we can understand the human experience. The better we can understand the human experience, the better we can understand ourselves. When we can understand ourselves, then we can help other people to understand themselves.
We are always the students, just as we are always the teachers.
As mentioned in another entry, I’m a writer. It’s my passion and my love. And I will always be studying writing, no matter how many books I publish, or how successful they become. I will always read, because that is studying writing. I will always hear what other authors have to say about structure, character development, narration, genre, etc., because that is studying writing. The more I study, the more I think, the more my writing evolves. Of course, it also evolves by actually writing, but studying is the other aspect of it.
Collecting tarot decks is a means of studying, and developing a broader view.
The Verdict?
No, it’s not cheating. In fact, it’s highly encouraged. And if you’re worry about your deck feeling slighted (I won’t lie, sometimes decks do get moody and don’t shuffle or read right for a little while), just make sure you give it some extra love. Spend some extra time with it, be sure to sleep with it under your pillow. Remind it that it’s number one to you.
But yeah, collect away, my friend. Collect away.
