Getting a Feel for Different Tarot Flavors
Okay, so you’ve got your hands on a new tarot deck, or maybe you’re just looking at all the different styles out there and wondering, “How the heck do I even start?” Yeah, I’ve been there. It can feel a bit overwhelming when you move past the good ol’ Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) or whatever deck you started with.
My journey into different deck styles wasn’t some grand plan. Honestly, I just saw a deck online with dragons, thought “Cool!”, and bought it. Then I got another one with cats, because, well, cats. Suddenly I had a few decks, and they all felt… different. Not just the pictures, but the vibe, you know?
First Steps: Just Looking, Really
So, the first thing I actually did was just spread ’em out. I took my original deck (an RWS clone) and one of the new ones. I didn’t try to read with the new one yet. Nope. I just looked.
I’d pull the same card from each deck. Like, The Fool. Put them side by side.
- What’s the same? Usually some core idea is there.
- What’s totally different? The colors, the symbols, the character’s expression.
- How does the feel change? One Fool might seem carefree, another might look genuinely naive or even scared.
I did this for a bunch of cards, especially the Majors and the court cards, ’cause they often show the biggest shifts in style and interpretation. I wasn’t trying to memorize anything, just letting my eyes soak it in. It was like meeting different people who happen to share the same name.
Dealing with the Differences: The Guidebook Question
Now, most decks come with that little white book (LWB) or sometimes a fancier guidebook. My next step was usually flipping through that. But here’s the thing: I learned not to treat it like gospel, especially at first.
Sometimes the book gives great insight into the artist’s intention. Super helpful. Other times? It felt kinda disconnected from the actual images on the cards, or it just rehashed standard RWS meanings that didn’t quite fit the new artwork.
So, my process became:
- Look at the card. Really look. What do I see? What’s the immediate gut feeling?
- Think about the standard meaning I already know (if I know it). Does it fit? Kinda? Not at all?
- Okay, now maybe glance at the guidebook. Does it add something? Does it confirm my feeling or offer a new angle?
I found this helped me build a relationship with the deck itself, not just the creator’s idea of the deck.
Getting Hands-On: Daily Draws and Simple Spreads
Looking is good, but you gotta use the cards, right? Staring at them only gets you so far. I didn’t jump into massive Celtic Cross spreads with a brand-new, unfamiliar deck. Felt like trying to run a marathon without training.
Instead, I started small:
- Single card draws: Just one card for the day. What’s the vibe? What should I focus on? This is low pressure. I’d jot down the card and a few thoughts in a notebook.
- Two-card pulls: Like, situation/advice, or challenge/strength. Simple stuff. Helps you see how the cards talk to each other in this specific deck’s voice.
- Comparing readings: Sometimes, I’d ask the same simple question to two different decks and pull a card from each. Seeing how a RWS deck answered versus how my dragon deck answered the same question was super insightful. Showed me the different personalities of the decks.
What I Learned (The Hard Way Sometimes)
It took time. Some decks clicked instantly. Others sat on my shelf for months before I felt ready to really work with them. Key takeaways for me were:
Trust your eyes and your gut. The art is there for a reason. If a card looks sad to you, even if the “standard” meaning is happy, explore that feeling. The deck might be trying to tell you something nuanced.
Don’t force it. You don’t have to connect with every single deck style out there. Some art just won’t resonate, and that’s okay. It’s better to work deeply with a few decks you love than superficially with fifty you feel “meh” about.
Journaling helps. A lot. Writing down my impressions, the card meanings as I felt them, the results of small readings – it really cemented my understanding of each deck’s unique language.
So yeah, that’s basically how I stumbled my way through learning different tarot styles. It wasn’t neat, wasn’t always easy, but it was definitely worth it. Now I feel like I have a whole toolkit of voices to consult, not just one. Give it a try, take your time, and see what speaks to you.
