Choosing Your Tarot Deck

Introduction

Choosing Tarot cards can be a fun and exciting experience. Their colors, images, and stories give the cards life, and we are awakened and attuned to their supernatural wisdom when we see them with our own eyes. To me, choosing cards should be like choosing a life partner. You can read this whole article in Badass Butterfly's Moonlight Tarot Handbook, but here is a little exercise you can do to help you get clear about what card deck you choose.First of all, here is a list of Tarot cards that I recommend. I have used most of the cards in this list and I like their feel.

I definitely recommend that you purchase a set of paper cards if you can— especially if it is your first deck. Digital cards and paper cards are both equally effective. The advantage of digital cards is that you can easily bring them with you EVERYWHERE you can take your phone or tablet. I like to take long walks and talk to Spirit and having my cards handy is a part of my process. I love it. You can also easily email readings to people and to yourself with a digital app. Lots of the apps have spaces for you to journal and The Fool’s Dog app actually saves every single reading. If you get lost in a dialogue you can go back and reference the card you pulled and reread it if you need to. The paper card advantage is that you get to feel the cards and smell them and hold them in your hands. It is so sensual and simply feels nice. Getting your senses involved adds a whole new dimension to reading. Shuffling the cards is also an added benefit. You can really feel the energy of the cards when you handle them. Also, I like to interplay of energy when I take a card from a physical deck. I spread out the cards and float my hand over them. When I feel a downward tugging or heat, then I lower my hand and on whichever card my middle finger lands, that the card I choose. It’s very exciting!

One of the questions I get asked most is which Tarot decks I recommend. I am always happy to refer people to my favorite decks, however, asking my opinion about your Tarot deck is just like asking my opinion about your intimate, romantic partner. You aren’t really interested in my opinion about your man or your gal, are you? You don’t actually want me to tell you my perspective because I know nothing about you that you don’t know better than I do. So here’s my advice for choosing Tarot cards— look for all the qualities you want in your romantic partner in your Tarot cards.

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Choosing Tarot Cards is Like Choosing a Romantic Partner

Please do the following exercise in your journal:

Make a list of all the qualities you look for in a romantic partner and your romantic relationship. You can find my personal list in the Badass Butterfly's Moonlight Tarot Handbook if you need a reference.
And here’s my theory. Choosing Tarot cards is like choosing a romantic partner. Your relationship with your cards is intimate, private, deep, and touches your Soul at all times. I have found that I look for the same qualities in my cards that I do in my romantic partner.Let’s take a few of the items from my personal list and see how they can apply to a Tarot deck.

  • Sexiness. Choose a set of cards that stimulate your creativity and turn on your excitement. You won’t be having sex with your cards. But you will sometimes need your cards to help you find your sex drive when you’ve misplaced it. Your cards are your mirror. You’ll want the images and messages to be able to speak to your primal, juicy nature.
  • Chemistry. You and your cards should flow together with a sense of excitement.
  • Communication. Your cards should facilitate an easy flow of communication. They should draw out deeper introspection from you, as well as, feed you good information. You should feel like you are being heard when using your deck, and you should feel like your ability to understand is enhanced with your deck.
  • Connection. Your deck should make you feel dialed into life. Choose a deck that stimulates your mind so you can feel connected to Father Heaven and also your body, your sensuality, so you can feel connected to Mother Earth.
  • Friendship, Intimacy, Trust. Choose a deck that feels inviting. You would never choose a mean girl friendship, so don’t choose the mean girl Tarot deck. You want to feel like you can go to your deck and open your heart knowing that the imagery and the energy of the deck is supportive of you unconditionally. Your cards need to feel trustworthy.
  • Intelligent. Your Tarot deck should feel stimulating intellectually. You are already connected to Source Energy but your mind needs to be reminded of that. Choose a Tarot deck that appeals to your intellect. It should help you think better. It should help you manage your mind and nurture it with food for thought.
  • Beauty. Choose a deck you find beautiful. Tarot cards tell a story through symbols and colors. You will need to use your eyes for every reading. Choose cards at which you love looking.
  • Generosity. Choose a Tarot deck that feels generous with its information and doesn’t hold back. This is not about the number of symbols included on the card, but rather about the openness you experience when engaging with the deck. Do you feel your chakras opening a little or a lot? Is there a sense of expansiveness or contraction? Do you have to work hard to get information or is it flowing in abundance easily?
  • Strength. Your deck needs to be able to handle you and put your ego in its place. Choose a deck that can stand up to your ego’s narrow perspective. Your cards are supposed to expand you and make you think bigger. They should challenge your ego’s supremacy.
  • Marriage Material? Although this can be an open marriage/polyamorous affair, you want to choose a deck or decks that you know will feed your for the long haul. 20 years from now, will the concepts and principles presented in the images and writings be valuable for you? Choose a deck that feels like it can grow along with you. Also, consider that the author of the deck is a partner in your spiritual development. Their words are guiding you. The artist’s brush strokes are inspiring you. These people are influencing your experience. Consider who they are before investing in their deck. My favorite decks are Druidcraft, which I consider to be very masculine and Shadowscapes, which is very feminine. Druidcraft feels like a man who respects and protects the Goddess. Shadowscapes is like tenderhearted Goddess unleashed.
  • Unconditional Love. Choose a deck that loves on you. Choose a deck that gives you dark messages with a sense of hope and optimism. Choose a deck that doesn’t condemn or judge darker states of emotion.
  • Education. Your deck should initiate you into the world of Spirit, Energy and Magick. You should be learning something about the nature of life with every reading. Choose a deck that helps you deepen your understanding of not just of your situation, but also of Spirituality.

Choosing Cards Quick Check...

So when you go searching for your cards, ask yourself:

  • [] Does this deck feel trustworthy? Do I feel a sense of compassion from the images and from the author’s writing?
  • [] Does this deck stimulate my creativity? Is it getting my creative juices flowing?
  • [] Do the deck and handbook communicate effectively? What is this deck communicating to me? How is this deck communicating to me? Are the images clear? Is the writing helpful? Is it facilitating the flow of conversation or am I hitting a wall? Is the depth of message impactful and stimulating deeper exploration?
  • [] Is the deck beautiful? Do I like the colors, the symbols, and the way it portrays its stories?
  • [] Can this deck handle my ego? Is the deck going to let my ego push it around?
  • [] Does this deck reflect my Higher Self? Does it speak in a language of Unconditional Love?

Complete and Continue