This subject seems to come up again and again and there seem to be all kind of approaches, just as there are some couples who feed each other with their own forks, while others have their own distinctive cutlery that no one else can touch.

I suspect it is a way to keep energies at bay, but not all of us feel the same need to do it. In the end, the practical thing is to follow your heart.

I am a collector, so many of my decks are not really fit for readings (at least I find it hard to read from them: I buy them because they are beautiful, although I hope to read with all some day).

I use my standard RW for most face to face readings. I use Robin Wood's for my own readings because it is so cheerful. And now that I read here, I find it easier to use the mini Rider, so that I can scan a spread and post it, since I have no camera and most other decks are too big to scan the whole layout.

Hope to have been of some help. Cheers!  

Years ago when I first bought a deck, I read or had been told that you had to treat it very special.  No one else could touch it because of energy transfer.  I even wrapped it in real silk in a box with quartz crystal, to keep it's energy intact and strong.  That's where they stayed though and of course I never could read them.

Now I use one deck for everyone including myself  It's used often even though it stays in the box that it came in, nothing fancy  I've come to the conclusion that it's the energy of your mind, intuition and imagination that reads the cards.

You could have a different deck or the same deck for your own personal readings.  Either way I think it's hard to remain objective when reading for yourself regardless of the deck used.

I own five decks just 'cause I love them.  I'm a Taurus so I have to be careful or I'd own one of each. LOL

I use the one deck for myself and for other peoples readings also. Mainly the RW.  If I feel any negativity in them I will usually do a cleansing of them until they feel lighter again. Doesn't happen very often, and they sure feel a lot heavier when it does.

I think you have to use the deck that you are most familiar to and that you understand best...What's the point of using another one?

Hi
What I meant Xaxaa is that sometimes, people buy two RW decks for instance. One set of cards they use for their own readings, and the other set of cards they use to do readings for other people. The concern here is that the cards are not being "confused" by all the various energies...

The lady that first taught me the Tarot advised me NEVER to use the same set of cards for myself and for other people.

I started out following her advice. At the time I used the Tarot de Marseille.

When I got the RW deck, I was so happy with my new cards that I was doing readings for me and friends and family and strangers with the same set of cards. And I never noticed a problem...

Thanks to everyone for responding so thoughfully. this is an interesting topic.

Tarotart: how do you cleanse your cards?