Deck Addiction

One thing I keep coming across on Facebook and other social networks is this craving and wanting and needing of new Tarot decks. Initially I joined in the madness professing that I wish I had this deck and that deck. Until I realized one thing, what ever decks I already have, have so much to offer me still! Every time I look at a card, I see a different symbol here and there and am able to come up with a new meaning. Each card is like a work of art, a painting in a museum. Everyone cannot ever own all the paintings but by just seeing copies of them can learn a lot. There have been books and books written about the Mona Lisa and yet she is a mystery. This is the same with tarot.

These 78 cards possess hidden mysteries and each card is so deep and special that new meanings come out of even the old decks which you have. In my opinion it's okay to splurge once in a while just for fun, but ask yourself.. Won't it be fun to revisit an old deck in my drawer which I probably haven't seen in a while, maybe in six months or maybe longer? Is there a particular Osho Zen card I can't get out of my head and feel like looking at and admiring it for hours and contemplate on it's spiritual message? Most decks are Rider Waite clones so essentially they water down the original meaning of the deck. I know this may be a controversial thing to say. But this is exactly what is happening with the Lenormand decks. People are lesser and lesser concentrating on the meanings of the deck and are getting carried away by the materialistic and commercial side of the decks. I don't think that Pamela Coleman Smith meant to make pots of money with her works. I get the feeling that many tarot deck creators are out to make a quick buck taking advantage of the new breed of Tarot readers, the Tarotholics. They will grab any deck which is new and well publicized. 

I'm not saying that buying new decks is evil. But there are some people who go crazy and waste their life's savings only to sell all their decks a year later in a distress sale. This hurts me, and I feel bad for them. I would never sell my cards, they're a part of me. 

Just like shopaholics who can't stop shopping for clothes, jewelery or makeup, aren't Tarotholics the same thing? Shopping and buying excessively just means that you are trying to fill a void within yourself and is a form of addiction. And being tarot readers, aren't we supposed to be atleast a bit more aware of this than other, say non tarot muggles? 

Some people buy clothes to stay in fashion and to be seen wearing then, to make others envious of them. Some buy them to keep warm, clothed and safe. Which of these two people are you? Are you buying your deck to enhance your inner self and feel warm and spiritually enlightened or to stand out among the tarot crowd and be the first one to get the limited edition signed copy? The choice is yours..