Which one to choose?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Eyes of Night	24 Nov 2002
I need some help choosing which tarot deck I should buy. I'm thinking of either the Tarot de Marseille or the Tarot Nova (at least that's what it looked like from the box, but it had a different name). They seem like two very different kind of decks. I'm still a beginner so I'm not sure if they're good and they'll also be my second deck. I bet some of you are going to say I should get both, but I just can't afford it, and my mom wouldn't be happy. The Taorot de Marseille is about 18$ canadien, but with taxe, it comes up to 20.70$ (yes, Quebec has high taxes). The Tarot Nova would be around 14.95$ with tax. They both look like they're the small version. So, any idea on which one I should get?

jmd	24 Nov 2002
As a deck you will come back to again and again as you undoubtedly study Tarot ever more deeply, and as you seem equally poised between the two, I would (only) suggest a Marseille... Being in Quebec, you may undoubtedly also have access to books only published, at this stage, in French - so in addition to all those we have access to, do check your local libraries :)

fairyhedgehog	24 Nov 2002
Hi Eyes of Night (cool name :) ) It might help to know what your first deck is? The Tarot Nova is a small, fun deck, based to a large extent on Rider Waite type decks. The major arcana are very stylised, the minor arcana have a picture on each card but some of them are rather obscure. A Marseilles deck is a reproduction of a very old traditional deck. The major arcana will have traditional symbolism, the minor arcana are simple pip cards ie ten of cups will have ten cups on it but no scene to give you a clue to the meaning. So neither is very easy for a novice to use, is my guess. Although if you go for a Marseilles type deck, there are many people on this forum who will be able to help you with it and if you go for a Tarot Nova most of the post on Rider Waite type decks will apply to it. Sorry I'm not much help, but decks are such personal things. Have you had a good look at as many pictures from each deck as possible? I would type "tarot nova" into www.google.com and look at all the pictures you can find, then do the same for Marseilles (or is it Marseille?) tarot. And check sizes etc if you can - the Tarot Nova is a very small deck, which you may or may not like. I hope you'll let us know what you decide on :)

finn	24 Nov 2002
I'd suggest neither actually... perhaps I'd humbly suggest you look for a historical type deck that has beautiful illustrations such as the Classical Tarot or maybe the Rider Waite (since it seems to be v. popular and is good for beginners). but that's just my suggestion. I'd refrain from going to anything like World Spirit or any decks that stray away from the traditional meanings, mainly coz you're still a beginner and you wouldn't want to be like me - getting confused about the symbology, names, etc.

Teal	24 Nov 2002
I agree with Finn. You'll do best to stay with a deck with traditional meanings to begin with, I think. I didn't-----I went for the theme decks and it was really a waste of time and money to do that. I finally clicked with a Buckland Romani deck, which is a theme deck but the book gives traditional meanings for the cards, so I still learned traditional meanings for each card. The deck art work seemed to click with me to trigger my subconscious, where the traditional art didn't, but that's something mysterious to the way the cards work for each person, I think. I now have quite a few decks that I'll never use and I'm not a collector, so I could have saved myself a lot of time, money and brain power to have just begun with a more traditional deck. This reminds me of something one of my college professors said about writing: You have to know the rules before you can break the rules and get away with it. Once you have a solid foundation with a traditional deck of some kind, then I think you could probably branch out to other kinds of decks. In a nutshell, use me for a good example of what not to do when first learning tarot. Teal

finn	24 Nov 2002
you're not alone, Teal. you should've seen the cost of all the decks I had.........Wild Spirit, World Spirit.....miniture RW, Classic Tarot, Medieval Scapini.....

Eyes of Night	24 Nov 2002
Thank you everyone for your comments. My first deck is the Rider-Wait-Smith. I'm not quite "clicking" with it. I thought that maybe another kind of RWS might be better. But I also heard good things about the Marseille deck. I'm not too sure what a traditionnal deck is. The store I went to only had those two decks, and I think an oracle (can't remembre what though). My parents don't like ordering stuff off the internet, so I'm quite limited on which deck I'm able to purchase.

juice	25 Nov 2002
http://aeclectic.net/tarot/nova/index.html some pics and review here as if you didn't already know. Plus tarot passages nad Wicce are always good for a review. http://www.tarotpassages.com/novadeck.htm http://www.wicce.com/tarotnova.html

Shadow Wolf	25 Nov 2002
My first deck was the Celtic Tarot. It spoke to me because I'm Irish, and I'm really interested in Celtic mythology. My advice.......Choose the deck that speaks to you the loudest. Don't buy it the same day you go out to buy it. Let it sit in your soul for a while. When you return to purchase it, you will know which one to go for. Good Luck !!!!!!!

paradoxx	25 Nov 2002
This deck is different, the symbolisim is complicated, although the pictures are simple. the cards are of a different stock, and the interpretations in the booklet are useful for all decks. Also, if you look at the seven of swords, the mice also have the mouth and visage of 2 men, remember the story "Of Mice and Men", also Justice is balancing out apples and oranges. Defintely a tarot for a new age of taroists.

Demonesse	25 Nov 2002
I'd go for the Tarot Nova. It's fun and doesn't look too difficult to use, though I'm not sure how it's numbered - the Marseilles, if I'm not mistaken, has 8 as Justice and 11 as Strength; your Rider-Waite would have them the other way around, courtesy of Arthur Edward Waite. I like the Nova's simple, colourful illustrations and the cute borders; I find it very approachable and comfortable, while the depictions seem to convey traditional meanings in non-traditonal ways, from what I've seen so far. It isn't 'deep', but it's fun. The Marseilles just does not appeal to me. At all. If you're torn between getting another Rider-Waite and getting the Marseilles, I'd get the former. (Diana is going to come after me for saying this about the Marseilles...eek.)

paradoxx	31 Oct 2003
m y mistake, its teh 5 of swords that shows the mice who are also men. it is also a good deck if you need a basic guide to astrological associations with teh major arcania, the symbols are on each of the majors, sometimes where you least expect them. The Chariot has the cancer glyph as the pedals of the bicycle.

Mystic Zyl	01 Nov 2003
I would buy Tarot Nova beacause the minor arcana is illustrated. Also have you considered Universal Waite, pretty deck. easy to learn and read. U W was my first deck and first love, perhaps it could be yours.

Rusty Neon	01 Nov 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Eyes of Night I'm not too sure what a traditionnal deck is. The store I went to only had those two decks, and I think an oracle (can't remembre what though). My parents don't like ordering stuff off the internet, so I'm quite limited on which deck I'm able to purchase. If you're in Montreal and those are the only two tarot decks in the store, you're in the wrong store. Try Magical Blend/Mélange Magique (on Ste-Cats West), Valet d'Coeur (in the Plateau) and Librairie Nouvel-Âge (in the Latin Quarter). Heck, even Archambault and Chapters have more. I was wondering: What store were in you in, by the way?

WolfyJames	01 Nov 2003
Montréal is where I live as well, hello fellow Montréalais! Bonjour! I was surprised to see that you went to a store and that there were only a few decks there. I was going to give you a few stores but Rusty Neon beat me to it. Don't forget that it's not because they don't have the deck in store it means you can' have it, you can always make a command, you give a depot and you get your deck a few weeks later. Take a look around Tarot Garden (www.tarotgarden.com) and keep in note the author, the editors and all the numbers given and give these informations to any bookstore, you're not forced to take what is in the store. Still, it's nice to see that your parents support you. I would suggest you to run away from Le tarot de Marseilles, it's hideous and repulsive and almost impossible to decipher. Better wait till you have many years of tarot under your belt before getting one. Tarot Nova in the other hand is quite pretty, so pretty I'm might put it on my wishlist. The images are childlike and agreable. Still, you should get something you click with, if it's Le tarot de Marseilles, go for it, or Tarot Nova then, or something else.

The Which one to choose? thread was originally posted on 24 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.