Best deck for beginner?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

QueenofRagnarok	07 Oct 2002
I have bought a deck called the destiny deck with a book by Jane Struthers. This deck is not reviewed on this website and I wondered whether anyone knows of a deck that would be good for a beginner like me. I am into all things historical, fantasy and horror. The destiny deck is good but does not a give a broad enough interpretation of the cards. I know you are supposed(sorry I can't spell)to use your intuition and not take the meanings too literally but it would be nice to have a book with more in depth descriptions and a variety of spreads not just celtic cross and three card spreads. :[:):O:P

wavebreaker	07 Oct 2002
Hi QueenofRagnarok, welcome to the forum! :) Here's a previous thread about decks for beginners, it has a lot of suggestions. And have you checked out Joan Bunning's website Learning the Tarot? It's a good place to start when learning the meanings of the cards.

Kiama	07 Oct 2002
Welcome to the forum, QueenOfRagnorak! I got the Destiny Tarot, and didn't really thin much of it. Whilst the Majors are brilliant, with lots of symbols and colours to get the mind inspired and thinking intuitively, the Minors don't do the same. This is a pet hate of mine, but differs from reader to reader. Some prefer un-illustrated Minors. Others prefer full scenes on the Minors depicting what the general meaning of the card is. I found that a really great deck for a beginner is the Robin Wood. (If you prefer illustrated Minors!) It's colourful, with lots of symbols and archetypal images. The artwork is gorgeous, and the Minors look as good as the Majors. This deck always gets compliments from all my querents, and I have been reading with it really well for a couple of years now. I have 95 decks, but this is the only one I use. The Robin Wood deck is reviewed on Aeclectic. Kiama

Jewel	07 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama I found that a really great deck for a beginner is the Robin Wood. (If you prefer illustrated Minors!) It's colourful, with lots of symbols and archetypal images. The artwork is gorgeous, and the Minors look as good as the Majors. I totally agree! This was the deck I learned with, and was my primary deck for 7 years. As for a good source of information on the meanings of the cards I would like to recommend Thirteen's Tarot Basics here at Aeclectic. Each of the cards are reviewed in a very easy to understand manner. Good luck and welcome!

Liliana	07 Oct 2002
Another good deck is the Spiral, it has the best court cards I have seen, and usually courts are one of the areas beginners get stuck with while learning. It also retains most of the Rider Waite symbolism so it would work with any of the books for Rider Waite. :THP

Emily	07 Oct 2002
I'd also have to recommend the Spiral, I switched to this deck from the Rider Waite and found it a much easier deck to study and learn with. The art work is beautiful and the cards are easy to read with, also its not a large deck so if you have small hands, like I do, you won't have to struggle to shuffle it :) The Robin Wood and the Diamond tarot are also nice decks to learn with, both being R/W clones.

juice	08 Oct 2002
I'll avoid bible thumping for decks that are already mentioned in this thread and others but suggest that once you read thirteen's basic and the learning tarot website come back here and look for some of the threads on specific cards. I woulen't have had to buy so many books if I had known about those chock full threads. OK ok I've been getting the books anyway but that is another story.

Minderwiz	08 Oct 2002
Like many others I started with the Rider-Waite-Colman Deck and I still use this a lot. The main advantage of it lies in the number of books and articles that tend to use it for illustrations and discussion, Including some of the best books like Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack. That being said many decks are published with their own book and authors are gradually beginning to use more than one deck to illustrate their books. So you ought to go with a deck which you find is both comfortable and easy to read. Wait till you feel proficient with that deck before trying others (unless you want to start a collection). Minderwiz

Mystica	08 Oct 2002
A great book for beginners is "Tarot Plain and Simple" by Anthony Louis. It uses illustrations from the Robin Wood deck, and applies to any Rider Waite type deck. A book worth checking out, in my humble opinion. :-) The Spiral deck is on my wish list. I don't have a lot of decks yet, I have stuck with the same couple of reliable decks for a long time. Everyone on this forum has inspired me to start collecting! I also really want the Diamond deck.

Keslynn	08 Oct 2002
Ditto the recommendation for the Spiral. It's a great deck, and it's easy to handle if you have small hands (which I do). Another good deck to start on is the Morgan-Greer, which is like the RWS deck in closeup with bright colors. This was the deck I started out on, and I could get a lot from it. Plus, it has no borders, which makes the pictures seem somehow more immediate. Check the Tarot Books and Media Forum for recommendations if you're shopping for a beginner book. I'll slip one in here though. I love Tarot for a New Generation by Janina Renee. A big bonus is that this book can be used with pretty much any deck you pick. If you stick around here long enough, you'll soon want a whole collection of decks and become a tarotholic like most of the rest of us. It's fun but expensive. ;) Or maybe you'll be strong and be able to ignore all the tarot sirening that goes on around here. :) Kes

The Best deck for beginner? thread was originally posted on 07 Oct 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.