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Author Topic: Can you own too many decks?  (Read 2965 times)

anubisa

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Can you own too many decks?
« on: November 08, 2020, 07:04:57 pm »
Hey everyone,

I'm just sort of asking this question out of curiousity. I have a penpal and we have been friends for at least 2 years. We met online at a pagan forum. I swear he buys at least one tarot deck a month. That's not a problem because he does readings everyday and posts them on his youtube channel. I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want. I do have a few decks, but I only have them because I have a special connection with them. I have three Egyptian related tarot decks, a fairy tarot deck, a manga tarot deck, and the lenoromand (think that's how you spell it). I did have the Rider Waite, but it's packed up somewhere and I just don't feel a connection with it. I just think that as long as you work with your decks, then it really shouldn't matter, but sometimes I wonder if he's getting too many. Lol!
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2020, 07:19:12 pm »
Hey everyone,

I'm just sort of asking this question out of curiousity. I have a penpal and we have been friends for at least 2 years. We met online at a pagan forum. I swear he buys at least one tarot deck a month. That's not a problem because he does readings everyday and posts them on his youtube channel. I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want. I do have a few decks, but I only have them because I have a special connection with them. I have three Egyptian related tarot decks, a fairy tarot deck, a manga tarot deck, and the lenoromand (think that's how you spell it). I did have the Rider Waite, but it's packed up somewhere and I just don't feel a connection with it. I just think that as long as you work with your decks, then it really shouldn't matter, but sometimes I wonder if he's getting too many. Lol!

I used to have about 15( most got lost in moving), and I used all of them to fit different questions, moods, or people I was reading for.  Some people also collect them purely as art, and no one would question having a private art gallery if you have the money and space for it.   If he were turning into a hoarder without enough space to move in his house or stealing and going without food and medical care to support a tarot habit, then I guess that could be a problem, but it's not one specific to tarot decks.

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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2020, 12:58:43 am »
I used to have about 15( most got lost in moving), and I used all of them to fit different questions, moods, or people I was reading for.  Some people also collect them purely as art, and no one would question having a private art gallery if you have the money and space for it.   If he were turning into a hoarder without enough space to move in his house or stealing and going without food and medical care to support a tarot habit, then I guess that could be a problem, but it's not one specific to tarot decks.

Very true. I didn't think of them because of the art aspect. I love most of my decks because of the art aspect but the main reason is because of the connection I feel with them. So I'm happy that he finds a connection with them and is happy in general.
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2020, 09:23:36 am »
I just think that as long as you work with your decks, then it really shouldn't matter, but sometimes I wonder if he's getting too many. Lol!

This is definitely in "Other people are different than me, and that's fine" category for me.

I keep my number of decks relatively low, mostly to what I actually use (right now, I mostly use one of three decks, one of which has gone some different directions with the RWS names/focus.) but I also have 3 other Tarot decks, and 3 other oracle decks around.
 
But there are actually a couple of excellent reasons for not just having one one or two. Besides the "plenty of people look at them as art works" (entirely valid, since they are!), I have some decks for these reasons:

- Limited edition deck that isn't a thing that I am using right now, but I would like to have the option of doing things with it in the future.

- Different styles of deck. If you're doing serious Tarot study and comparison, it would be entirely reasonable, even keeping a collection small, to have two or three decks each that are Rider-Waite derived, Thoth, Marseilles, etc. even before you get into other kinds of divination decks. Someone who was focusing on that kind of study and learning might quite reasonably have a bunch more.

- Teaching: I keep a copy of the classic Rider-Waite-Smith and an older deck I don't use very often for readings anymore partly so I can demonstrate different approaches to specific cards when i'm teaching coven students about Tarot. (As well as the decks I do use more regularly for readings.)

- People I know made them and I wanted to support that (one of my oracle decks, which is also great for specific kinds of readings)

- The fact some kinds of decks work better for different kinds of readings than others, anyway.

- A couple of decks, I don't use them regularly for readings, but do find them particularly evocative for magical work (whether that's using particular cards as part of an altar, having them up on my shrine as part of ongoing ritual work, being able to do a spread and leave it up for an extended period while still being able to do regular readings, etc.
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2020, 11:23:20 am »
I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want.

I think it's always worth questioning the feeling of "there ought to be a special case rule here".  I'm not saying that special case rules are never warranted, but there has to be an actively good reason for them.

Is there an actual specific reason that collecting decks should operate under different principles than collecting any other thing?  What is that principle, and can it be interrogated?

If that feeling is, for example "I don't think people should have decks that they don't use regularly / cultivate an intimate relationship with" is that a me-rule or is it an everyone-rule?  In other words, is it "I wouldn't be comfortable with that" or is it "Doing that is Somehow Bad"?  What is bad about it?

I see a lot of people feeling that Magic Stuff should somehow operate under different rules than "Normal" Stuff, and I think that is well worth interrogating.  Questions like "Is it ethical to do X with magic?" are basically "Is it ethical to do X", but the introduction of magical aspects seems to make that non-obvious.  "Is it okay to buy a tarot deck every month?" is the same question as "Is it okay to spend thirty bucks or so on a small item every month"?  Different people will have different answers to that, including "But I wouldn't get that small item", but when it comes down to it it's his thirty bucks and his storage problem.
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2020, 02:28:40 pm »
Hey everyone,

I'm just sort of asking this question out of curiousity. I have a penpal and we have been friends for at least 2 years. We met online at a pagan forum. I swear he buys at least one tarot deck a month. That's not a problem because he does readings everyday and posts them on his youtube channel. I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want. I do have a few decks, but I only have them because I have a special connection with them. I have three Egyptian related tarot decks, a fairy tarot deck, a manga tarot deck, and the lenoromand (think that's how you spell it). I did have the Rider Waite, but it's packed up somewhere and I just don't feel a connection with it. I just think that as long as you work with your decks, then it really shouldn't matter, but sometimes I wonder if he's getting too many. Lol!

So, I definitely am a collector by nature (hubby would say that I am a hoarder....I would admit I have hoarder tendencies).  When I like a thing, I want all of it. 

I am fascinated by tarot/oracle decks.  I LOVE the art, and when I see art that I like, I want the deck.  I just did a quick count, I'm sitting at about 30 decks right now (with a few more I've kickstarted that are on the way still...and that number isn't counting other non-card divination tools, which I also tend to collect).  Art is definitely how I explain things to hubby, because he has asked "Don't you have enough decks already?" but he does understand that I love the art on them.

From a use standpoint, I do sometimes struggle with remembering all of the decks I have...especially decks that are stored in larger boxes (I have a few that I keep in bags in a closed box...when I can't see them I tend to forget them).  I am trying to come up with better storage systems, because it is still a bit clunky for me to pull a specific deck I want from my collection (I have them on a shelf, but to utilize the space best right now is to have them stacked vertically, so pulling the bottom deck is a bit fiddly). 

But, I LOVE having decks that fit different moods.  I am a dark/spooky loving person, so I have a lot of dark decks.  I have some very specific decks (like a werewolf deck, which is fabulous!)  I also have some 'light only' decks, which I am learning to love (they are my go-to for self-care spreads, when I don't so much want to focus on where I'm hurting but on what I need to do to be happy).  I am also a RPG player, and I now own some hybrid decks, that are like crossover decks...they have functions in RPG situations, but they can be read as tarot or oracles (often using RPG classes and such as archetypes instead of the traditional tarot archetypes). 

I think it becomes a problem when you either are spending more money than you have (aka when you can't pay your bills or buy food because you are buying too many decks), when you don't have space to store them all, or when you cross that addiction line (you buy new decks you don't particularly like out of fear of missing out or because 'it's new'...with no real liking of the deck...buying for investment doesn't count for this).

When thinking about building connections with decks, I definitely have decks I am more familiar with.  It's like having a lot of deities you work with.  Sometimes you have a few that you are very comfortable with, you have a deeper relationship, you understand them better.  But you may have other deities you work with, from time to time.  They may deal with specific stuff (like healing deities), so you consult them when you need their specialty, but they aren't a daily interaction for you.  I think decks can be the same way.  You might have a deck that works really well for one very specific thing, but you don't use it that often because you don't always need that specialization.
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2020, 07:08:08 pm »
I'm just sort of asking this question out of curiousity.

I don't do tarot myself, but ask me about my Munchkin habit :P And various other card games, even though I have no one to play with. Thus far I've managed to resist buying any Cards Against Humanity expansion packs.

I also have a habit of collecting magic tools that I rarely use ... like Darkhawk said, I don't think it's different than any other kind of collecting.

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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2022, 12:50:08 pm »
Hey everyone,

I'm just sort of asking this question out of curiousity. I have a penpal and we have been friends for at least 2 years. We met online at a pagan forum. I swear he buys at least one tarot deck a month. That's not a problem because he does readings everyday and posts them on his youtube channel. I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want. I do have a few decks, but I only have them because I have a special connection with them. I have three Egyptian related tarot decks, a fairy tarot deck, a manga tarot deck, and the lenoromand (think that's how you spell it). I did have the Rider Waite, but it's packed up somewhere and I just don't feel a connection with it. I just think that as long as you work with your decks, then it really shouldn't matter, but sometimes I wonder if he's getting too many. Lol!
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2022, 10:50:38 am »
Hey everyone

Most things seem to be defined as disorders once they're interfering with an individual's ability to get on with their usual life.  As in, for example, OCD in which cases it's diagnosed as a disorder when a patient's rituals, intrusive thoughts etc get in the way of their daily activities &/or start impacting on their wider health such as skin integrity, or what they can & can't eat.  And in hoarding disorder, when a person's level of hoarding starts to take over their living space and make it unlivable, &/or their hoarding activities take up the majority of their time and prevent them doing other things such as socialising, personal hygiene, proper sleep etc.

So unless someone is -as Kylara mentioned- spending more money than they've got, filling up their living space (not just shelves/closets) with an overly large collection, or e.g. putting a romantic (or other) interpersonal relationship under strain with their excessive collecting, then I guess it's up to them.  If one of the behaviours mentioned above appears to be threatening the person's way of living &/or relationships then it's starting to become a problem, and it'd be time to consider seeking some advice.
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Re: Can you own too many decks?
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2022, 07:31:28 pm »
I'm just curious if there ever is a limit or do you think that it's okay to buy as many as you want.

My opinion, as a person who owns a metaphysical shop which basically is held afloat by the people who buy all the decks...

no, there is absolutely no limit, please buy more.  ;D

Slightly more serious answer:

it's like anything else you collect. My husband collects video games (both in digital and physical format) and as a category they have far less "re-play" value than tarot or oracle decks**. I have zero concerns about his digital collection of games, which is massive, and not just because I get to play them on Steam Family Sharing. The only concerns I have about the physical ones? How much space they take up.

Now, the other concern I might have is if he started spending money earmarked for rent or groceries on games, but... *looks at his nothing-but-Virgo-and-Libra chart* ...not really a concern at all with my husband. In fact it's a struggle to get him to spend any money on non-practical things.

And for him, all these concerns apply with my collection of tarot and oracle decks. How much space they take up and whether or not I'm spending money we don't have on them.

(And the space issue exists purely because we are still stuck renting tiny little places that barely have enough room for our physical bodies, let alone our stuff.)

*shrug* Humans gonna human. We like collecting shiny objects and decorating our nests with them. As a purveyor of several types of shiny object, I see no issues with it. ;)

**Obviously this is a matter of opinion as he and I just disagreed vehemently on it. But for me, there are lots of games that I will play once and then...never play again. Pretty much all my decks I'll use again at some point, even if there's a long period of time between uses.
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