Learning Discernment

 

One thing I've learned in my 20+ year journey with reading cards of many kinds is that it takes time to learn what art styles do and don't work for you, what really appeals to you and speaks to you when you're reading cards whether for yourself or others. Some people collect hundreds or even thousands of decks because their tastes are very eclectic and they just love having such a large variety available for use. 

I find that if I have too many decks, then a lot of mine don't get used. For me, and many others, the journey of discernment has taken several years, even a decade or more. There are groups on FaceBook dedicated to buying, selling and swapping decks for this reason, as well as a lot of used/pre-owned decks available for sale on eBay, Etsy, Mercari and other marketplaces where people sell. their stuff, so I know that I'm not alone. Like many things in life, I find this is also a journey, one within the journey of being a cartomancer and deck collector. 

Some of this ends up being driven by FOMO (fear of missing out), something that drove me for a while after a deck I'd wanted was OOP and I learned that decks do stop being made. FOMO is also created when you see everyone on YouTube and in card reading groups getting a new deck and gushing over it and you begin to feel like you're the only one not at the party. I'm still very susceptible to this, but I've learned to bookmark a deck and revisit it occasionally when I'm in the mood to get a new deck to see if it still appeals to me and I really want to add it to my collection or not. Lately the answer is usually "no" because I've been decluttering my collection rather than adding to it.

So how many decks does one really need? Each of us needs to find out how many and what types of decks really call to us and the number to have that makes us happy. I know of one long term reader and deck collector that decided to take her vast collection down to just ten decks. I personally can't imagine doing that, though the thought of it appeals to me on some level that wants a simpler life. However, I acknowledge that I'll never be a minimalist so I don't see the point. There are decks that I keep just because I love the art though I rarely use them, mostly in the RWS system and my Thoth decks. I'm going to try taking some of them outside to connect with Nature and Spirit this year now that the weather is warming up in New Hampshire and see if I can connect to them as oracle decks. If that doesn't work, then I may just sell and/or gift them after all.

So if you're a collector and just love having a huge collection, know that's okay, most of us collect something! Enjoy them and don't let anyone make you feel guilty for having them, it's your money and your collection. But if you find yourself becoming overwhelmed by sheer number of decks that you now own and realize that many don't really resonate with you, start going through and weeding out the ones that you really don't use. Someone will give them a good home!

Love and Light,

~Diane Jarecki