Divination Deck Spirit Experiences
The mods of Spiritionary as well as others we’ve spoken to have noticed spirits in many of our divination decks whether tarot or oracle. Each seems to be unique and in many cases completely sentient, and it not only varies from type of deck but deck to deck as well, each specific deck having its own spirit. It’s quite common for cartomancers (diviners who use card decks) to describe their deck’s personalities. Even doing an “interview spread” to communicate with a tarot or oracle deck itself is a standard practice for a lot of diviners when they get a new divination deck.
Yet despite how normal it is in the world of divination to speak of deck interviews and personalities, divination is usually considered a totally separate and distinct practice from spirit work. So acknowledging that most or perhaps even all divination decks have their own spirits has important implications for the potential overlap between spirit work and cartomancy divination (if not other forms of divination as well). At the very least, divination can always be used as a tool for communicating with spirits and the relationship between cartomancy and spirit work is very strong in that sense!
Here we’ve gathered some personal stories from 14 diviners about individual tarot and oracle deck experiences collected by Mods Wind and Fire...
Idris’ Shadowscapes Tarot Deck
"My Shadowscapes Tarot deck is very sassy but not it a bad way. She tells it like it is and makes you face hard truths. With me she is always particularly harsh and throws out lots of major arcana. With others she isn't too bad, but she still is blunt in her messages. She cuts to the chase." - Idris, @crystalwitch-in-the-tardis
Periwinkle’s Hawaiian Mana Card Oracle Deck
"I have a Hawaiian Mana Card Oracle deck and every time I use it, it feels as if I'm consulting a wise grandmother ancestor figure because she's very perceptive to everything (especially BS), and will give it to you straight, but with the utmost love and respect. She only wants the best for the readee, so any hard-to-swallow words are immediately followed by words of compassion and love for your true, vulnerable self." - Periwinkle, @destinylightreadings
Siris’ Chrysalis Tarot and House of Night Oracle Deck
"I have two decks I mainly use: Chrysalis Tarot and House of Night Oracle. The Chrysalis Tarot is very happy self-help yet doesn’t exactly explore the downsides. It’s more good advice and what you can do to address a problem so very practical. Comes off like a school guidance counselor. House of Night has more a motherly tone. Where it looks out for you yet win tough love. Likes to tell you the good and bad of a problem and give their opinion of how to proceed yet it’s ultimately up to you." - Siris, @path-of-stars
Subterranean Roses’ Steampunk Tarot Deck
"My steampunk tarot appears as a young woman in steampunk garb. She's actually fairly nice, like a supportive friend who sometimes is blunt because you need to hear it but not really in a sassy way. I'm pretty sure the spirit looks like one of the characters on the cards, but I haven't figured out which." - @subterraneanroses
Kuro’s Tarot Deck
“Mine can be sarcastic, and is usually pretty straight forward. I do have to store it with a little salt, because I have had problems with it being possessed in the past.” - Kuro, @ladykuro
Lala’s Oracle Deck
“My oracle deck. I love it to pieces. I didn't pick out my self but I did buy it. It is very good telling when to stop shuffling. Like it would be very hard to shuffle if I need to stop. It is very guiding and accurate. It tells advice in a practical and loving way. I didn't pick it. Someone else did. But it has this very distinct smell that no matters what doesn't go away. I am big on smells. It just feels like home. And comfortable. And just everything I need.” - Lala, @ursalala
Titan’s Tarot Deck
“My deck is pretty call out and harsh, but always has this little gentle, motherly tone. Like "Face your problems and get your life together omg but it'll be okay bb." It's stern but kind. I also conceptualize my deck as female.” - Titan, @a-spoonful-of-magic
Ismerila’s Tarot Deck
"For some reason, my deck reacts differently for me when around other people, and I really, really believe that it's trying to help me. Like with my nana, we shared doing readings together and it really laid out what she's going through and what she needs to do to change her life for the better, and when it got to me, the cards kept saying, ''Hey. I know you feel miserable.'' And the more cards that I drew that said ''you feel down.'' the more nana was like, ''uh.... u good?'' When I'm alone it offers advice, but when I'm around my family it's like ''HEY PAY ATTENTION LOOK SHE FEELS BAD HELP HER GENIUS.'' - Ismerila, @natasatcha
Amy’s Tarot Deck
“I've had my deck for almost three years... I truly believe my deck and I have a strong connection. Actually the first time I really connected with my deck I was going through a really hard time and it's like she (for some reason my deck really feels like a female presence) laid it all out for me and that's when I really started to get close to my deck. When I'm feeling confused or just need clarity in a situation I always find reassurance and answers with her. Also, it's nice just to spend some time with my deck. I feel more protected and secure when I do this... in my opinion in feels like something has my back and will tell me what's up, even when I don't want to hear it sometimes haha" - Amy, @glass-of-her-boudoir
Anonymous Divination Deck Owner
"My tarot decks def have "personalities" if that's what you mean one of them (Morgan-Greer) is very gentle and grandmotherly (maybe bc I received it from my grandmother and her energy rubbed off on it?), another (Aquarian) is pretty distant and abstract in its messages, and the third (Hermetic) is a bona fide troll or maybe the Hermetic deck just rubbed me the wrong way at first bc of its appropriation of Jewish symbols. (Nonetheless, it's very easy to read, esp. if you know astrology well.)"
Mod Fire’s Buddha Tarot Deck
“When I first finished printing and cutting out my deck, which has the card art from the Buddha Tarot but meanings from Buddhist sutra texts, I could feel a sort of presence within the stack of cards right away. I did a deck interview and got very clear answers about how the deck felt about me and wanted to work with me - it doesn’t care at ALL how other people think of it and will only deliver the honest truth from its point of view. I still haven’t really figured out what the spirit of my deck is, but I suspect that it’s derived in a way from the collective consciousness of all the cards within it - a sort of make-shift divinatory Buddhist messenger of wisdom drawing from all the Buddhist spirits and symbols represented by each card in the deck. I love my deck dearly, and for now, I’m so happy with it as the only one I own.” - Mod Fire
Lena’s Linestrider Tarot Deck
“I hadn't been doing much divination lately because my Linestrider deck is pretty serious and requires a lot of contemplation and reflection when I do a reading and I hadn't had an occasion when I needed that voice lately. Well today I did my Litha spread which was pretty encouraging but heavy, and then I did a deck interview spread even though I've had the deck for about three months. First of all: the "who are you/essence of the deck" card was the Queen of Pentacles. The book it came with described it as "If the Queen cards were embodied as friends that you went to for advice, the Queen of Pentacles would invite you to her beautiful plant-filled kitchen for homemade bread and soothing herbal tea." I couldn't have described the personality of this deck any better! The rest of the reading was super encouraging and reflective of the deck. I feel like we've really connected and I can read better from them now.” - Lena, @katialena
Lena’s Mini Tarot Deck
“I have this mini deck I got from Coles back in January and it's been good for learning the meanings and getting used to readings as a beginner because it was pretty straightforward. But ever since I got the Linestrider this deck (I call it my travel deck or my pocket deck) has had a bit of an attitude problem every time I tried to use it, like it was petulant and jealous. I was getting frustrated and contemplating resetting and cleansing the deck to give away since we clearly were not clicking anymore. But today I was on a tarot roll so I decided to do a simpler deck interview spread with it to kind of just "Why not?" WELL, let me tell you I was floored by the results.
I started as a casual conversation like "listen, I'm open to this conversation, talk to me" and the cards were SO snarky! The "who are you" card was the 8 of Swords and was basically saying "I'm a stubborn, straightforward, tongue in cheek kinda guy, but reserve your ultimatums and keep an open mind even if it's not pretty.” And the rest of the cards followed that lead talking about the strength as being cutthroat honest and the limits being super carefree like "I don't give a fuck" and at the end when I asked if I would be able to use reversals with this deck (clarification card) it told me that further exploration and learning would be my strength, but also to tread with caution. I really appreciated the candor of the conversation so I shuffled the cards so they would be all mixed up and different directions and when I had them all mixed and in a pile I felt this huge surge of power unlike anything I've ever felt from the tarot before. It actually brought me to my knees and made my eyes sting. When I felt it had absorbed/passed I brought them together and they seemed to buzz with new energy and purpose. Since then I’ve kept my travel deck with me in case it calls me for a quick warning or piece of advice.” - Lena, @katialena
Lotus’ Tarot Deck
“I’ve noticed that all of my decks have very distinct personalities - and I feel like with that, a spirit that embodies this personality. The deck I most often use has a very strong, brutally honest, alpha-male, warrior-like spirit. The deck and I work extremely well together, it delivers honest readings and never sugarcoats its answers. I get my strongest, clearest readings from it, in part due to the spirit's personality and due to our connection.” - Lotus, @lotusulfr
Mod WInd’s Elemental Tarot Deck
“My deck, who I call N, definitely has a (what I perceive as feminine) spirit. She’s very straight with me but kind, and pleasant most of the time. I think she has a very calming presence, even when I’m not reading from her. I have another deck but N is my go to for true advice and when I need to really hear something, my trusted deck. She’s become a great friend to me even though I don’t talk to her often knowing she’s near brings me peace. She can be silly but usually is more calming and pleasant, while being straight. Like a soft light in darkness.” -Mod Wind
—> Have questions? Send them to us at SpiritFAQ!