A Case Against Tarot Deck Interviews
Introduction
Hello. This is Andrew Arcana again.
These are things I want to say with good intentions, but which may stir up bad feelings or fights in the spaces I visit.
So, I'm going to tread carefully. Even though I will argue against deck interviews in some situations, I also believe fully that everyone's practice belongs to them. It is not my place to say what your practice is.
My case against them surrounds possible harm, especially to new tarot readers. I think that deck interviews can cause problems for newcomers. They should be spoken about with a little more care and caution.
Primarily, this comes from my time on forums. This comes from observing new readers who may even feel discouraged by tarot in general because of their very first reading. A bad deck interview could cause them to give up.
This is the companion article to a YouTube video at: https://youtu.be/avGpRupe-Z4
What is a Deck Interview?
Upon receiving a new deck, some tarot readers will ask their deck specific questions about itself. Each question is answered by a single card. This is similar to any other tarot spread, such as a celtic cross or a past-present-future tarot spread.
The oldest deck interveiw I could find was a forum post from 2005. That forum post, which I will link to, had these six questions to ask:
- Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
- What are your strengths as a deck?
- What are your limits as a deck?
- What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me?
- How can I best learn from and collaborate with you?
- What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
These would be the first six questions that someone would ask from their new tarot deck. One card would be drawn to answer each question. This is the basis of a Deck Interview.
Deck Interviews are Still Fairly New
New practices are not inherently bad practices, but its age needs to be brought up. This is a new practice. It has almost certainly come of age on social media.
The earliest reference I have been able to locate was the previous reference to a message on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum. That message was dated July 9, 2005. Part of the text reads “My thanks to [three other forum members] whose own “new deck” spreads in this topic forum inspired me.”
It's very much worth considering that the deck interview may have been effectively born and raised on the Internet.
I have never seen a deck interview mentioned in any of the books in my personal collection. I have never seen deck interviews in any Little White Books. These books range from new to old, from inexpensive beginners books to heavily researched books containing countless charts and graphs.
If anyone sees this and intends to be critical then you will have my genuine appreciation for finding an older source. I would especially love to see a deck interivew in print which was published before the turn of the millenium. This is genuine. I am excited by the history of tarot.
My gratitude would be sincere. You would be proving me wrong and making me happy about it.
Deck Interviews as a Social Experience
Deck interviews, especially online, strike me as social experiences. They can be a way to share excitement for a new tarot deck, especially among peers and online friends.
Every deck interview I have seen up until the mid 2010s was also a practice for more experienced tarot readers.
Once again, my worry comes from telling brand new readers to interview their decks.
I'm guilty, too. Friends have asked me to create unboxing videos. I have done that to socialize with online friends.
Deck Interviews Confuse and Scare New Readers
New readers are, again, my biggest concerns.
I spend time in online forums around tarot cards.
New readers are told to begin their entire practice with a deck interview. Then, those newcomers end up confused, afraid, or both.
Confusion
Confusion comes from a very logical place if you think about it. Someone just bought their first deck of cards. They have had no time to learn what the cards mean. They have had no time to build their intuition and understanding with the cards. They have laid out an interview spread with no prior knowledge of tarot.
This new reader has no idea what the interview spread is trying to tell them.
Fear
Despite having no experience with tarot, it doesn't take an experienced reader to sense dread in the Tower, half the suit of Swords, or the Death card. In fact, inexperienced readers may have even worse reactions than anyone else.
Picture this: A new reader draws cards for the first time, using a deck from the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition. This very first reading is a deck interview. The brand new reader draws two court cards, Temperance, the nine of cups, the five of pentacles, and the nine of swords.
Now imagine that nine of swords was the answer to the question: “What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?”
This is a new reader asking the very first question of their first tarot deck.
Plainly, that reader is confused if not a little frightened. Did their deck just say it hates the reader? Is the deck trying to taunt them? Is it offering a faustian bargain?
I have seen this happen to new readers.
I do not want this to happen to new readers.
My advice to newcomers in this position has been to treat the interview spread entirely as a practice reading.
Absolutely come back and interview the deck after having spent some time learning to read tarot. Interview any future decks you buy, after you're commfortable with the cards.
Please do not invite your very first tarot reading to scare you away.
Animism
Animism, in this context, is the belief that inanimate objects contain souls. A deck interview implies to me that the tarot deck has a singular soul split into seventy eight pieces.
This presents more considerations that a new tarot reader should ask themselves.
Does this new tarot reader believe the tarot deck has a soul? Should they believe it does? If so, then where did this soul come from?
If not, do they believe in another spiritual or metaphysical source for this communication?
The answers are up to every individual reader. It feels responsible for any new tarot reader to know where they stand before indulging in this practice.
(Note to self: Do not say 78 pasteboard horcruxes.)
Positive Next Steps for Deck Interviews
My perspective on all new practices is that it would be great to see someone fully develop the new practice.
- Create a web presence or a book or any fixed point of reference on deck interviews. This reference should be expansive and well researched.
- Discuss the positive sides of deck interviews.
- Discuss the potential pitfalls of a deck interview.
- Discuss whether to treat the interview as a serious tarot reading, a practice reading, or as any other relevant exercise.
- Discuss deck interviews at different stages of someone's practice, from brand new to intermediate to seasoned readers.
- Discuss animism, and whether the cards have their own identity.
- Discuss how much of a tarot reading comes from the cards or from the reader.
- Provide multiple interview spreads that run the range from secular to the reader being a psychic source to the deck having its own spirit.
- Do all of the above from a place of growth, safety, kindness, and encouragement.
There is a part of me that wants to spearhead this project from a very curmudgeonly but hopefully empathetic perspective. My ultimate goal would be safety.
Conclusion
My ultimate case against deck interviews is safety.
If someone has been reading long enough that they are secure in their practice, can read the cards with competence, and won't be afraid of pulling a few challenging cards then, yes, make these interviews a part of your practice.
If someone hasn't even pulled the cellophone off their first deck yet then please ease them into their practice with a little more discernment.
Ultimately, I want to make a case toward safety, encouraging new readers, and helping those new readers grow. To do that, I have to make one situational case against deck interviews.
Links
https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/new-deck-interview-spread.44573/ – View the source and search for “2005.” That will show the date of the very first post.
About Andrew
Andrew is a home recording enthusiast, former comedian and occasional amateur stage magician.
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