the meanings of the individual cards consistent from deck to deck?
Yes and no. In a reading you can draw from the classical interpretation of a card like, for example, the Emperor, but pay equal attention to the very different portrayal on the card before you. A good reader has access to the ideas behind every version of the Emperor card they have ever seen, which can greatly inform what they decide to tell you about it. Each reading is different, and each card is so packed with symbolic elements that they may never mean exactly the same thing twice. Some decks veer away from the familiar concept of the Tarot to the point where the only thing Tarot-like about them is that they’re printed on cards. As long as a person has learned them well, they can be used for readings, though the results may be harder for people to relate to if they are accustomed to more traditional decks.
