Beginner That Needs Help

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

PltoStorm	30 Nov 2002
I'm sure a message like this has been posted millions of times before, but I'll get right to the point. :) What would be the best deck for beginners? I looked at a few at a store and my eye caught on the Dragon Tarot deck. I found this site and checked out a few more decks, one of which was the Sacred Circle deck. Now here's the big question! :-P Which one of those would you recommend for someone who has never even picked up a tarot deck before? If neither of those, then which? I'm not exactly worried about how hard the decks are to understand... should I be? Heh, thanks! And I hope to get feedback soon!

jmd	30 Nov 2002
You will undoubtedly receive various conflicting responses, so here are the summaries from past posts and my own preffered recommendation: Choose whichever you are drawn to: if you get a deck which seems to draw you in, you are more likely to take the time to enter its symbols; choose from one of the main style of decks which many of the others have been inspired by: the Marseilles, the (Rider-) Waite/Colman-Smith, or the ('Thoth') Crowley/Harris; or choose a deck consistent with a book you may use as one of your chief assistant tools. In my view, getting a copy of the Marseilles, as the deck which influenced both of the other decks mentioned, and as a deck which clearly differentiates between pips and courts and major Arcana (by not having scenes depicted upon the pips), it remains both an ideal first deck and one from which later acquired decks can easily be contrasted and compared.

HudsonGray	30 Nov 2002
To get a good look at the decks currently on the market & read reviews on them (plus they're rated with stars for 'readability'), go to the main aeclectic board & look under 'decks'. You'll get pictures & everything, plus if the deck is available in print & by which publisher. Find one that's not a theme deck (save those for later). Stick with one of the major types that are called Rider Waite clones, there's a wide variety of information on how to learn these decks, and will be the easiest to learn this way first, THEN branch out into other types of decks that do variations on the main style. (OK, for the purists here, Rider Waite decks are only ONE of the major ones--there's the Thoth as a different style, and the Marsailles, etc. However, in the interests of keeping it simple, it's easiest to find information on the RW clones so that's why I suggested it). Once you get the basics, then feel free to expand to any other deck out there. You'll be adjusting your learning curve to every new deck anyway, but by having the main one learned & under your belt, it's MUCH easier to do the rest. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/list.html This is the URL to the main deck page in case you have trouble locating it.

Teal	30 Nov 2002
Yeah----what HudsonGray said! LOL You'll be far better off starting with a deck that most of the books refer to. The theme decks (meaning dragons, cats, native americans, herbs, flowers, fairies, etc.) vary from the traditional decks quite a bit, usually. You'll do WAY better if you start with a Waite type deck, learn that well, then branch out to the theme decks. Of course, I guess you could pick a theme deck and learn just the meanings for that particular deck, which would limit you to just using that deck all the time, but there's a good reason why NOT to do that------and that is: If you get a themed deck, you're often going to be doing without the visual cues to the subconscious that are in the more traditional decks. Those visual cues are a big part of reading your deck. Even if you don't consciously memorize every little thing about every single card, the information you've studied is in your subconscious somewhere and it's going to float up and connect as you read, giving you the intuitive readings that you want to eventually achieve. By "intuitive" I mean being able to read without referring to books. The traditional decks have evolved into very intricate and rich symbolic and metaphoric "pictures" that convey to us far more than they seem to at first glance. These speak to our subconscious in ways we probably may never fully understand. Once you've thoroughly learned the traditional deck with all its symbols, colors, etc. then you can take a themed deck and read with it much more easily because you're going to have the traditional card in your memory to cue you. I personally don't like the Waite type decks, but 20 decks and two or three months of studying have taught me that I should have taken the advice I saw here and started with a traditional deck to begin with.

Shadow Wolf	30 Nov 2002
Buy whatever deck you are drawn to. My first deck was Celtic tarot, I was drawn to it because of my celtic heritage, and I liked the artwork.....I even liked the back. Iwould recommend that you go to a metaphysical store to buy your first deck. I've purchased decks from a metaphysical store and from Barnes and Noble, and the latter very often doesn't have a very large selection of tarot decks in stock. And buying from a metaphysical store kinda' puts you in the right mindset to buy a tarot deck. But please........................Get the deck that seems to have the strongest pull on you. If you make a good connection, then you will make the time to learn how to use it. I've been reading tarot on and off for about a year. I did readings for myself, only when I had a situation to navigate through. But after only 1 week in this forum and my new deck of cards, I will start doing daily readings. It's been giving me the spiriual boost I need to get through the day !!!! Good luck with that first deck and let us know how it all worked out !!!!! Just a warning ----- TAROT CAN BE HABIT FORMING !!! But that's a good thing, the more you read the more you find out.

oldsoul	30 Nov 2002
as a beginner myself i was nervous of choosing my first deck... a friend had advised that i get the swiss deck but i held it and it just did not 'feel' right. the shop had about 30 decks to choose from and i just kept asking the girl to pull out different ones for me to look at and hold. i was drawn to the dragon tarot cos i've always loved dragons but decided against it because it was themed and, i felt, too advanced. i ended up choosing (or did it choose me :) ) the cosmic tarot because it felt right and i'm thrilled with it. go with your gut instinct. oldsoul

Bings	30 Nov 2002
My very first deck, purchased before I discovered this forum, was the Sacred Circle. It is a truly beautiful deck that I was immediately drawn to. To this day I love working with it. BUT... It is not a very good deck for a beginner. The cards are beautiful (and large) and the book is wonderful. But they renamed a lot of the majors and the minors lack the symbolism that you would find in the Rider/Waite deck or its clones. Just a few days after purchasing The Sacred Circle deck I purchased the Universal Waite Tarot deck. The Universal Waite deck is the deck I use for learning tarot. I get wonderful readings with it and am able to pick up on the symbolism. Learning this deck first has made learning other decks easier. Because I took the time to learn the Universal Waite deck first I can now pick up other decks and go "Ok, I see where this deck is coming from (and going to). I understand this deck." Dianne

PltoStorm	30 Nov 2002
Thanks a bunch. :) I'm going to head out to this store a friend mentioned had a lot of choices this afternoon and check the decks out, hopefully finding a deck right for me. I'm excited! Heh. Well, thank you all again, and you'll be sure to hear back with which I choose!

PltoStorm	01 Dec 2002
I ended up getting the Dragon Tarot. I saw a lot of the ones I was thinking about, and a few others, but none drew me to them as much as the Dragon did. But my next choice would have to be the Marseilles, which I liked a lot as well, or Sacred Circle. Those both looked like great decks! Now all I have to do is figure out how to use the deck! :P Thanks again for the suggestions and I'll most probably have more later!

finn	01 Dec 2002
I chose the World Spirit deck......it does stick to traditional meanings in my opinion. And the illustrations are pretty too.

Trogon	01 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by PltoStorm I ended up getting the Dragon Tarot. I saw a lot of the ones I was thinking about, and a few others, but none drew me to them as much as the Dragon did. But my next choice would have to be the Marseilles, which I liked a lot as well, or Sacred Circle. Those both looked like great decks! Now all I have to do is figure out how to use the deck! :P Thanks again for the suggestions and I'll most probably have more later! PltoStorm... congratulations on the new deck and welcome to the addiction that is Tarot... ;) I also recently got the Dragon Tarot (in a trade) and love it. Though I haven't done a reading with it yet (mundane matters have kind of distracted me), I feel that it should be a very readable deck for me. While it is a "theme" deck the Major Arcana do contain quite a lot of symbolism to help you with guiding your intuition during a reading. However the illustrations on the Minor Arcana are not as insightful. The Minors in the Rider-Waite decks (and some others) have illustrations which, I feel, are better suited (pun intended) to guiding the novice. Interestingly, in light of recent discussions of the so-called "negative" cards (such as The Tower, and the 9 and 10 of Swords, for example) I do feel that the authors have softened these card descriptions in their LWB ("little white book"). They have downplayed the "negative" aspects of these cards. But I will (personally) probably still read them the way I originally learned them. In any case, looking forward to your questions... :D

PltoStorm	03 Dec 2002
It really is a great deck. I've done a few practice readings on myself, and the first was completely accurate! It's great! I'm hooked now! I don't find the cards that hard to read and I'm starting to memorize the cards the more they come up now. Since it's my first deck I'm not familiar with the "negative" meanings and how they were downplayed, but I'm sure I'll begin to notice them once I start using other decks. All in all the Dragon deck is great and I love it so much! Heh :P

Temperance413	04 Dec 2002
I just sort of jumped to the end to post this message and if someone mentioned the Celtic Dragon Deck, then I second that choice, if not, then I would say the Celtic Dragon Deck is very easy to read. If you like dragons they are depicted gorgeously in this deck. This is one of my favorite decks for reading, very to the point, and the cards mean what they say. At any rate, good luck with your selection and have fun!

The Beginner That Needs Help thread was originally posted on 30 Nov 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.