Hello!

Okay, so I don't have the hang of messaging yet, but it will get better. I was just so thrilled to find this group listed here! I have been a practicing witch for many years, and a "witch-at-heart" for many more. My interests are spirituality in all forms and alternative history. some of my favorite authors are Gavin & Yvonne Frost, Konstantinos, Zecharia Sitchin, and DJ Conway for some lighter reading. I have a library of over 700 titles in my two favorite categories, but I don't know if I'll EVER get them all cataloged! I also read tarot, and currently have over 60 decks.
Okay, I'm rambling... but like I said, it's just so great to find like-minded people!

Hi bakerlady, and welcome! Boy, no kidding - this messaging thing is a bit confusing....!! I hope they consider some other way of doing it.

I'm glad you're here! Practically every Witch I know is also a rabid book hoarder, so I knew there had to some like-minded individuals here!

Wow - you have SIXTY tarot decks!? That's awesome! That's an interest of mine too; I only have about 5, though...

Anyway, now that I *think* I know how to do this, I'm going to go make a "welcome and introduce yourself" post. Please feel free to jump right in and post topics, etc! Thanks again for joining!

WoW! 60 decks? if you don't mind me asking, which do you gravitate toward the most? i have 9 or 10 decks, unfortunately all but two are in storage. The Rider deck my Grandmother gave me when i was 13
and one a dear friend gave me last week.
With your alternate history interest, do you also read Harry Turtledove? I have to remind myself after reading his books that that is Not what happened.
Nice to meet you,
-jencie

I can't say I've heard of Turtledove, but it sounds like he's a fiction author. My favorite authors of this genre are Zecharia Sitchin and Graham Hancock. Their works are more of a "this is the way I believe it happened" than fiction. It's the whole ancient astronaut/ extraterrestrial thing... I just love it!
As for tarot... I carry The Universal Tarot in my purse. I really like Soul Cards also, because they allow for a more intuitive reading. Many decks I like for the artwork. The Gilded Tarot and Tarot of Dreams are probably the most gorgeous decks I have ever seen, and were both done by Ciro Marchetti. The Da Vinci Enigma, The Victoria Regina, and The Animals Divine Tarots are some of my favorites for appearance, but I tend to gravitate to the older, more serious decks for most situations; of course, you never really know which deck will call you to use it until the moment of decision! Do any of you have a favorite deck(s)?

Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg. Definately. I was going to ask if anyone else was putting their decks in this.

Many of them do have ISBN numbers attached to them, so I just plug it in and tag it with 'Tarot deck' to seperate it from the books. I suppose I should use 'card deck' or 'cards' as well.

My two favorites aren't tarot decks..more like oracle decks.
The Faeries Oracle by Brian Froud and Jessica MacBeth is probably my primary deck that I use for myself.

Morgan's Tarot by Morgan Robbins is the deck I use when reading for others. I know, it's an odd deck, but it works for me, and I'm so sad that it's out of print.

I use Crowley's Thoth (the small cards, not the big ones) for tarot reading, though my first deck was The Shapeshifter Tarot. I've also used the Animal-Wise deck for totem readings.

I use the big ones, lupa, even though they are a tad hard to handle. Those are my favs. I only have about 5 or 6 decks, anyway. I gave a few of my decks to my daughter so she could learn how to use them.

My first deck was a Native American one, I forget the proper title but I'll dig it out in time and list it...then my father gave me a Cat deck, which has a Rejuvenation card instead of Death. I think I still have either the Witches Tarot or the Pagan Tarot....can't remember, but same as above...it's here somewhere, but my favourite and current deck is the Rider Waite deck.

My first and long-time favorite deck is the Rider-Waite-Smith (the extra name in honor of the artist, Pamela Colman Smith). For personal work, I usually use the Robin Wood deck.

Over the weekend, I was given a deck, The Hermetic Tarot. I wouldn't have chosen it for myself, as it is black and white and I am very color-oriented. However, I did a reading with it and it was dynamite!