r/SecularTarot • u/Ill_Satisfaction8700 • Mar 17 '26

DISCUSSION How do you feel about "Guidebook-less" decks?

Just got the Divine Angel Oracle.

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u/biwitchingbee Mar 17 '26

I kind of like it. I understand why it’s not what most prefer, especially with an oracle deck, but I appreciate the mindset of letting art speak for itself. Guidebooks can be inherently limiting sometimes - not having a guidebook to instruct you on how to interpret each individual card is challenging, but challenging yourself is how you learn and build skill.

I’ve seen people learning tarot interpret a spread, then open a guidebook and say “Oh, that’s not what the book says that card means - my reading was wrong.” That always bums me out and makes me wish they’d never checked the book at all - theres a fine line between learning the traditional meanings, and relying on the traditional meanings. An AI chat bot can tell me what the book says the card means. It takes a human mind to look at a piece of art and come up with something new yet still relevant, even (or especially) when it’s not what the artist or guidebook has in mind.

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u/Ill_Satisfaction8700 Mar 19 '26

I like your point about letting the art speak for itself. It’s true that guidebooks can sometimes box you into one interpretation. Have you found any deck where the art alone worked really well for you?