Sentimental Decks

 This tag was started by James Feeney. I'm too ugly for YouTube, but I do like answering some of these prompts, so I will stick to blogging. This is a tough prompt. I'm a sentimental person to be sure, but there aren't a lot of decks that I get sentimental over. I either love a deck, or I don't. I'm more likely to get sentimental over decks that I've been given, but those are few and far between. This list is likely to be a short one.

Thoth Tarot

The Thoth Tarot was my first deck. I got it when I was 15 years old, and the Thoth system was the first

one I learned. There was a time when I was a lot more Thelemic than I am now, and I still have a soft spot for Uncle Al, even though his glaring flaws are a lot more obvious to me now that I'm older and wiser. 

But, some of his rituals still serve me well. (I'm one of the few people who prefer Liber Samekh over earlier versions of the Headless Rite. It packs a wallop, for sure). 

And lets face it, Lady Frieda Harris' artwork is sublime. 

I no longer use my Thoth deck for readings. For the last some years I've been using the individual cards as sigils. But I still cherish my Thoth deck, and though I've since learned RWS and Marseille, my readings still tend to be influenced by the Thoth system. My brain still loves to insert all those astrological and alphabetic correspondences. Eh, once a Thothie, always a Thothie.

Crow Tarot

My Crow Tarot was a gift from a dear friend, and it arrived at a difficult time in my life, not long after my life-altering surgery. It was also during a time when I was seeing black animals a lot. Not only plenty of crows, but American black vultures, black slugs, and black rabbits. It all felt very omeny. 

I didn't get to use my Crow Tarot much in the beginning, because the shit really hit the fan soon after, and I was uprooted by Hurricane Ida. Omens, amiright?

Once I did get to sit with the Crow Tarot for a while, I found it not only to be a beautiful deck, but also very expressive and easy to read. It was also one of the first decks that I edged (in a rich brown, to match the backs), and it really feels like one of my decks. 

Lunatic Tarot

I've had many decks in my lifetime that were expensive, or difficult to acquire, but nearly all of those were lost in Hurricane Katrina (Ida was not my first rodeo). The Lunatic Tarot, if I remember correctly, was rather difficult to get my hands on. I got the large version first, which was larger than postcard size and in a book form, so not useable as a deck. Then I finally was able to snag the tarot-sized deck. 

It's an odd deck, to say the least, but I actually found it pretty easy to read with. It seems especially attuned to romantic situations, and does fantastic romance readings. But, as the least romantic person on earth, I have little opportunity these days to reach for it. 

Even though I don't use it as much as I used to, it's still a well-loved deck and I'm glad I still have it. 

Quantum Tarot

This was a gift from the same friend who sent me the Crow Tarot. I seem to remember getting it back when I was caring for my terminally ill mother, but my chronology is all out of whack so don't quote me on that. The edition of the Quantum Tarot I have is definitely the 1st Ed. and I don't know how much the cards have changed since then but I did bust it out recently to play with it and it is just as beautiful as I remember. 

I never used to use it much because I was worried about damaging the edging, but these days, I don't concern myself with such things. The more worn a deck is, the more loved it is.