[Learning the Tarot] What makes a Tarot deck? (2024)

Ihaniel@aol.com

Greetings Everyone,
I was having this chat with a friend and we came to the conclusion that tarot
decks are like flash cards...at one point you really won't need the deck
anymore. Flash cards are tools to help you learn something so perhaps the
tarot acts in the same way? By taking basic symbols, numbers, colors, and
meanings and drilling them in to your minds eye so that you can develop a
deeper level of feeling and knowing. As for the spin off decks I think the
writers and artists got an idea that would help in key areas of psychic and
other developments and went with that idea...if the cards help unlock the
mysteries in all of us, I think they are doing their job...full deck or not.
Just a thought:)
Happy Shuffling,
H.

In a message dated 09/18/2002 4:20:41 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
greenwizardreads@... writes:

In a message dated 9/17/02 9:47:57 PM, Hudsongray writes:
"I dunno. What DOES make a tarot deck a tarot? There are fortune telling
cards from Persia that don't look anything like tarot or even coincide by
the
numbers or suits. There's the standard playing card deck that doesn't
have
'majors'. There's the Wolf Pack deck. There's the Rune Card deck (ok,
that's runes just in card form instead of on stones). There's meditation
decks that don't correspond to tarot but can still be used to read. And
what about the Medicine Card deck?"

Frenchee45@hotmail.com

Alan,

I would have a problem considering a bound book as Tarot. The book idea does not allow for the 'random' selection and placement of the items.

But I do not believe that it must be in the form of 'cards' that we know today, made of cardboard. Tarot can be made from any material. I am currently working on a set of cards out of a sheet of copper. While they won't be practical for everyday use, they will still be Tarot 'cards', in the sense that they will follow the 78 card system, and they will have much of the symbols advocated by Waite.

Frenchee

Ihaniel@aol.com

In a message dated 09/19/2002 2:34:16 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
phoenix.voyager@... writes:

Now an interesting question to ask yourself along these lines is this:
does
Tarot have to be in the form of a deck of cards? Could the symbols be in,
say, a bound book and would it still be Tarot?<<<<<<<

This is something I do...if I happen to have a book about Tarot cards around,
I'll pick the book up and use it as an oracle. Ask a question then open it
up to a page. I call it the lazy man's Tarot;) So to answer the question...if
it has the symbols... I think in this case it's still able to be linked to
the Tarot. But using a book as a divinity tool does have a name--
Stichomancy.
<A HREF="http://www.facade.com/stichomancy/">FREE Stichomancy Readings</A>
http://www.facade.com/stichomancy/

Lady_Kelien