Is It Bad Luck to Buy Your First Tarot Deck?

Mine was a gift to myself

It was the first term of my Philosophy degree at Edinburgh University. I was at Blackwell’s Bookshop, picking up a stack of books on my reading list, when I found myself browsing the Mind, Body, Spirit section.

How curious, a whole shelf of decks and books on Tarot reading?!

I’d only ever seen tarot cards in films and TV. Being a highly skeptical atheist as a teenager, I felt somewhat taken aback that such a mysterious and maligned subject would be credited with a whole shelf of its own in a so-called academic bookstore.

Prickles of judgment and an attitude of arrogance swept over me, closely followed by a bemused inner voice whispering…

If you want to call yourself a philosopher, you’ll need to keep a more open mind. Try to investigate new ideas and concepts with curiosity before passing judgment.

That seemingly rational advice disarmed and stopped me in my tracks. It made sense. I couldn’t just dismiss something as silly and superstitious without properly checking it out for myself.

So I found myself selecting a classic Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tarot deck and adding a Teach Yourself Tarot book to the pile for my extracurricular philosophical inquiries.

It was only much later that I heard the rumour that tarot readers were supposed to be gifted their first deck, otherwise it would bring bad luck.

Anyway, being a philosopher now, I’d need to test that bad luck theory out for myself to discover if it was true or not.

My first guinea pigs were my university flatmates and neighbours, humouring me with my experiment as a bit of a laugh.

I quickly discovered that my readings drew out unexpectedly sincere and meaningful responses, changing my querents’ demeanour in such a way that I could tell they’d been moved by the messages that came through.

People would open up and share how my readings resonated and touched their hearts. I was astounded by these intimate exchanges. One by one, the encouragement I received and the opportunities that appeared provided the breadcrumbs I needed to keep my intrigue going.

My unlikely relationship with the tarot has grown into a connection with Spirit and the mysteries that I’ve come to trust and deeply value to this day.

I’ve never bought into superstition, other than when they’re obviously common sense, like walking under ladders. So the bad luck story around not being given your tarot deck never bothered me. Nor does it for the vast majority of my fellow tarot readers who, like me, hold that such beliefs only serve to put people off reading tarot by maintaining its shadowy reputation and creating an unfounded sense of exclusivity around it.

So if your first deck was a gift and you love it, then lucky you. But if not, don’t let this become a limiting belief preventing you from pursuing a calling to the tarot. I feel empowered as a tarot reader, knowing that the impulse to step onto the tarot path came from my intuition and direction.

I still have my first deck. It will always be special to me, though by now, I’ve acquired so many additional decks that I’ve lost count. My collection consists of both gifted and personally bought tarot decks over the years. While some resonate with me more than others, the story behind how each deck came into my keeping all have their unique significance, connected with people, places and periods of my life.

I still use my RWS deck when it feels like the right one for that particular reading or person, but I now tend to rotate the decks that I’m working with. I usually have a go-to set of three to five decks that I will choose from at any one time.

These days I remind the people that I read for that they have the power to rewrite their stories and that they can create their own good luck, regardless of the hand they are dealt.

What’s your take on tarot? Do you own a tarot deck or a few? Was your first deck gifted or self-bought?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.