Enchanted vs Zerner Farber : my comparison

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kissa	23 Nov 2002
Hi all, First I must admit I have a twisted relationship to my Enchanted deck. I fell in love with the picture of the Moon card appearing on Amazon webpage, I ordered the deck straight away and was in this junkie-missing-her-dope kind of state until it arrived. Then ... Of course the pictures are wonderful and the artwork is so unique and detailed. Yet cannot read with it. Sometimes I even happen to dislike the deck so much, I think of trading it. But it must be glued to my bookshelf somehow, must have grown roots in there ... Anyway DH, holy man, offered me the tiny version of the Enchanted : the Zerner Farber deck. So now I am stuck with two of these extra precious lacy pinkish decks ;-) ... I know some of you have considered buying one of these decks but couldn't decide which one, so here are my two cents and my very humble opinion about each of them. I won't discuss the art, whether you like it or not is your own right, let's say I'll stick to practical details of each deck. ENCHANTED : * PROS : - cardstock is really great, thick, a promise to last long, especially if, like in my case, it lays untouched in your bookshelf all by its one ;-) - comes with a great book if you like the enchanted universe of the authors : dreams, spells etc. Worth checking their site : www.theenchantedworld.com * CONS : - once you've unwrapped the cards, no pack for them. The book and deck pack comes in a cardboard box - cards are big, takes time to get used to but they are not unusable even for petite hands ! ZERNER FARBER : * PROS : - smaller, pocket-size and unexpensive version of the Enchanted. Makes a perfect handbag tarot * CONS : - well, there's a big one and the main reason why I decided to write this comparison : the small pictures look pretty DIFFERENT from the big ones. First you don't get the borders (Enchanted has the picture centered on a blank card and a coloured border around the pic for each suit and majors (majors are violet, wands are red, pentacles green etc. like the dominating colours used in the picture itself actually). ZF cuts the borders away, it is full sized pictured, the name of the card comes indeed on the picture itself, sometimes covering details. What bothers me the most is that ZF pictures appear distorted, like they have been twisted as they were zoomed. It has a weird "distorting mirror" effect in some cards : The Empress looks more "fat" in the ZF than she actually is in the Enchanted. See what I mean ? And The Fool, bending as he walks forward in the Enchanted looks like Pise Tower on ZF ! - if you don't mind the distortion, the palest colours on ZF might be another big con. You cannot feel the warmth of the textiles involved in the collage work, the cards look like drawings, not collage, the relief is somehow gone. - last but not least, the cards are thin, I doubt they will live long. MY CONCLUSION : Altogether, I am very happy to have both decks (!!!) :-D but still would recommend the Enchanted. If you have never seen the Enchanted and only get the ZF, you might lose the point and not realize at all that this is textile/pearls etc. collage work. I don't know yet what I will do with these decks but I think it all comes on its time and some decks are just the right for you at some period of your life. Maybe I'll end up tradind them of giving them away, maybe I'll use them. Anyhow, I hope this comparison helps some of you to decide. Kissa

truthsayer	23 Nov 2002
i have both decks but haven't yet taken the time to compare. even tho i haven't compared, i like the enchanted better from the moment i laid eyes on it. i'll have to do a compare and contrast as soon as time becomes available. i've had the ZF longer and found it to be a good reading deck for me. pretty and pleasant, it's good for use w/ female querents. i agree it's not for everyone. sometimes all that lace and pearls gets on my nerves, too. i appreciate the review. :)

Dark Inquisitor	23 Nov 2002
Thank you so much Kissa , for posting this thread! I was just considering these decks a few days ago, and you have answered all my questions. Tarotphelia

Imagineer	24 Nov 2002
I was just looking at these decks and instinctively preferred the Enchanted for a lot of the artwork reasons you specified.

Sea Sprite	24 Nov 2002
Ditto on Imagineer's post. :D

raeanne	25 Nov 2002
Hi all, I have both decks. The problem I have with the Enchanted deck is the cardstock is VERY stiff. These cards are narrow and long. I have small hands with a touch of arthritis. The cards are too narrow to shuffle sideways and my small hands just barely reach lengthwise. As stiff as the cards are, I just can’t get them to shuffle in any way except in globs. It takes forever to get the deck mixed properly. While I agree that the images look better in the Enchanted deck, it just isn’t a usable deck for me to read with. I use the Enchanted deck for studying, spells, or anything that can be done without shuffling. For readings, I use the ZF deck. Its smaller size is much easier for me to handle. The detail is more difficult to see and the images do have the “squashed” look to them. Since the original cards are long and narrow, the proportions are off on the ZF deck. So I guess I am glad I have both!

Kissa	19 Mar 2003
bump!

The Enchanted vs Zerner Farber : my comparison thread was originally posted on 23 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.