I’m very surprised with the way my Tarot collection has changed over the past couple of years. Back when I first started reading Tarot, nearly fourteen years ago, I had only one deck. I bought another deck, but quickly sold it off to a used bookstore. After using my single deck for about two years, I moved on to my next deck. It kept me happy for many years, all through high school in fact. I eventually tried branching out and bought a couple of other decks, after losing interest in my old decks and their symbolism and (in one case) weird take on traditional symbolism.

During university I all but put Tarot aside. I just didn’t have time to spend on it. When I picked up my decks again, I found that none of them suited me. I traded them away and got other decks, which, in the end, turned out to be pretty much the same as the ones I originally had. I had been sticking with the fairly traditional, and ignoring deeper symbolism.

Lately my deck collection has really morphed it something totally different. Although I am in the process of selling off my Thoth deck and books, I still have one Thoth based deck. I also have a Marseille deck and book, and a feminist deck. I’ve got the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck and deck that takes a reverse look at it (Tarot of the New Vision). I also have a Pagan deck and an Ancient Egyptian deck. My collection has become much more rounded, and with it so has my knowledge of Tarot. There is a lot to be said for moving out of one’s comfort zone.