Bestdeck for a newbie?
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Jul 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Wayward Son |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I am just starting out...what's the best deck for a noob? I have a Rider one. Just want to make sure I'm starting off right :-)
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| Anna |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Hi Wayward son, good to see you jumping straight in :)
I guess the first question to ask is how are you finding your rider deck?
If its a deck that you are enjoying, and the symbols and pictures resonate with you, then prehaps a rider inspired deck would be a good choice for you next purchase. The morgan greer deck follows closely the rider system, but it has a style all of its own. To my mind its a shade darker than the rider decks, and the lack of boarders and strength of the colours realy help me to get inside the images of the cards and get my intuition flowing. If I had to purchase my decks all over again, I would of got this deck far sooner!
Have you checked out the deck reviews section yet? It might be an idea to spend some time going through that and getting a feel for what you like and dont like about the different decks that are around.
I'm sure the others will have great advice for you!
Happy searching,
pixie
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| Wayward Son |
21 Jul 2004 |
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so, really, there is no "right" deck. It's kind of just what works for you. That makes it a bit easier and a bit hareder to pick one. lol.
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| Anna |
21 Jul 2004 |
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hehe, yes, thats both the joy and frustration of deck buying!
Its happened a few times to me now that I see a deck and I feel the urge to impulse buy coming over me. I need the deck! I must have this deck! This deck will be the ONE! And its only after getting the deck home that I realise its not atall what I expected.
I've learned that when it comes to buying tarot decks, research is top priority. Read as many reviews as you can, look at the images online. Then let the deck sit on your wishlist for a while, come back to it after a time and read those reviews again- is it still as appealing as you thought it was?
Good luck!
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| Eco74 |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I have not had the pleasure of looking at all of them but I can honestly say that I have been learning very quickly since I got, and started working with, my Robin Wood deck.
While the symbolism is basically the same as the Rider-decks the imagery is just that much brighter, happier and more detailed and alive.
Some say it's a little too gleeful for their liking, but for starting out in the tarotworld, gleeful is (in my experience) the best route to take.
Since the Hanson-Roberts is also in the same league (more playful and "humaine" images but still Rider) this would also make an excellent choice.
(In fact I'm currently waiting for my own HR deck ordered recently.)
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| Centaur |
21 Jul 2004 |
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The Hanson-Roberts is a great deck to start out with. Or how about the Universal Waite?
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| aneski |
21 Jul 2004 |
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The Universal is great, or the Radiant. I feel the Old English works well as a beginner deck, too.
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| lunakasha |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Hi Wayward Son!!!
Welcome to Aeclectic, from a fellow Mainer (Mainah) :P
I would agree with the decks listed so far....I personally prefer the Radiant and Universal Waite decks to the original....which do you have???
I also love the Hanson-Roberts, Spiral, Robin Wood and Morgan Greer (which I don't have....yet!!! ;) )
Good luck with finding a new deck!!!
:) Luna
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| CreativeFire |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I also think the Universal Waite is a good deck to add to your new collection ;) Being that it has the same images as the RWS (but much more attractive lines and colouring), and you will find a lot of tarot books refer to the RWS imagery so it makes it easier to follow along with them when you are starting out.
Another deck which I think is a great deck for the beginner is the Sharman-Caselli (comes in a set called "The Beginners Tarot" by Juliet Sharman-Burke), which is basically close in its imagery to the RWS with some other deck influences as well. Comes with a handy book in the set as well. There was a review done on it fairly recently here at AT - link below:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/sharman-caselli/review.shtml
But most importantly, just finding the deck that is right for you where the images, look, colouring catch your interest is the best way to go. Good luck in your search.
CreativeFire
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| lunakasha |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Originally posted by CreativeFire
Another deck which I think is a great deck for the beginner is the Sharman-Caselli (comes in a set called "The Beginners Tarot" by Juliet Sharman-Burke), which is basically close in its imagery to the RWS with some other deck influences as well. Comes with a handy book in the set as well. There was a review done on it fairly recently here at AT - link below:
I completely forgot about this one, CreativeFire!!!
The Sharman-Caselli has been on my wishlist forever.....
in fact, is probably sitting in my amazon shopping cart as we speak!!! :P I think the artwork is lovely....and as you mentioned, it is very close to the RWS so would be ideal for anyone just starting out....thanks for the reminder!
:) Luna
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| Chronata |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Another vote here for the Hanson Roberts.
Not as fluffy as it first appears, comes in a nice, easy to shuffle portable size, and made the difficult task of learning the Court cards a breeze,because they actually look like people I know!
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| TaranRavenfrost |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I would have to agree with the Robin Wood suggestion. I was learning the Tarot with the Thoth, so when I first opened my Robin Wood, I couldnt read its RWS based symbology. But now that Ive had it for a whole 4 days, I am really catching on. In the last two days I havent referred to the LWB at all (which you shouldnt anyway, but as a newbie to RWS, I felt it was necessary). And I dont know what religion you are, but the Robin Wood has taken out most of its Christian symbology, and in place of it there is Wiccan symbols. (Look at the Magician. He is a Wiccan High Priest!). Now, there is nothing wrong with the Rider Waite Tarot deck, (that was my first EVER deck) it doesnt have that great of art, and its the most used, so from my point of view, its less special. Now, the Robin Wood is VERY popular too, but it feels special to me for some reason. Now, the only card that aggravates me out of the WHOLE Robin Wood deck is that stupid Seven (7) of Pentacles! Is that Indiana Jones? Anyway, It really doesnt matter what deck you start out with, but you might want to learn on a RWS based deck so you are all speaking the same language (I took that quote from Lawguy51), Then move on to Thoth or that other weird looking deck LOL, the Marsellies (or however you spell it).
I wish you luck in your Tarot Quest, and remember, ALWAYS KEEP READING!
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| fyreflye |
21 Jul 2004 |
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If you already have the Rider-Waite-Smith deck why would you need another?
If your purpose is to learn Tarot the RWS is your best bet if only because so many instruction books use it for their examples. The pictures on the minors illustrate the meanings of the cards better than any other I've seen; the symbolism of the Majors is exceptionally rich and deep. The many RWS clones being touted here are often prettier but all have dumbed down the symbolism Waite carefully built into the originals. When you really learn the cards you'll be able to transfer your knowledge to almost any other deck you may prefer. But the RWS did not become an all-time best seller for no reason.
Of course if your only purpose is to become a perpetually broke consumer of tarot decks you'll find much help and encouragement on this forum.
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| Wayward Son |
21 Jul 2004 |
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So far I have acclimated myself pretty well to the Rider Waite deck. In fact, today I used it for the first time. Having absolutely no faith in myself or my own abilities (this is a terrible habit, I know, but alas a difficult one to free myself of) I simply just focused on the cards for a moment thought a little thought to myself, cut the deck and took the first card I saw which was the 5 of cups. Not familiar with what that meant, I used Thirteen's definitions and lo and behold, the card described my current situation to a T. Not just vaguely, or in a way where I had to stretch the truth and make some leaps of faith in order to match my situation to to the definition, but full 100% dead on accuracy. It taught me that I had been focusing so much on the perceived negativity going on around me that I had failed to stop and smell the roses and neglected all the positive things that were going on around me. The experience was almost divine. I know I have only been here a day, but the warmth and welcoming displayed to me in these forums makes me feel like I've been here a thousand years. I have been on thousands of boards on the world wide web, and never have I felt so immediately at home and at ease then I have here. I plan on staying heree for a long, long time and appreciate every bit of feedback everyone has given me!
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| TaranRavenfrost |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Well, were glad to have you! Anyway, if you feel a connection with the Rider Waite, USE IT! Thats what we were saying, if you didnt get along with the Rider waite, then those other decks were good substituts. I am glad that you found a deck that connects with you! And again, good luck on your quest, and Stay on the path to Ascension (Yes, look at your moon card. It will relate to my last sentance).
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| Riversea |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I started out with the Universal Waite two years ago last April. I had two other tarot decks (the original Vertigo and the Lord of the Rings), but I never settled down to read with them. The Lord of the Rings just seemed wrong, and the Vertigo... I love it, but the minors intimidated me.
I joined this board after reading raves about it on a witchcraft board. (Btw, I no longer read that board, but this board is now my homepage! People here are some of the best on the Web. Thanks Solandia!) I got serious about reading tarot then, and decided to get a deck to learn on. I knew I wanted a Rider Waite deck, but I remember dithering in the bookstore over just the regular RWS or the Universal Waite. The backs of the cards made the final choice for me. I hated those plaid backs, but loved the starry night of the UW.
I LOVE my UW, and it has served me wonderfully for over two years. I now own MANY decks, but the UW was the deck I trusted and used the most for almost two years. It only fell into to second place position when I received a Tarot of Prague just before Christmas. Now it has the most favored deck spot.
My only complaint about the UW is the court cards. They never did much for me. The decks that changed that for me were the Tarot of Prague and the Victoria Regina.
So, if you are happy with the Rider deck, that's wonderful! It worked well for me, and continues to. And there is a ton of written information on this deck, so that is a nice bonus.
If you are wanting to expand your collection, other decks I'd recommend are the Victoria Regina (another early deck for me), Tarot of Prague, Halloween, Russian Tarot of St. Petersberg, Golden, and the Spiral. All of these are RWS based, so what you know about that deck will translate easily over to them. I find I get a slightly different "flavor" from each of them, even though the basic language remains the same.
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| darwinia |
21 Jul 2004 |
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Since you have a basic deck of archetypes that is referred to in most how-to books on tarot, why not look into ones that have art or specialized subjects that interest you for a second deck?
Some people like Egyptian art or Faeries. My first deck was the Zerner Farber because I do a lot of sewing and appliqué and that had that. I bought the Victoria Regina because I enjoy history, I bought the Haindl because I like the art.
My favourite is the Osho Zen because of the wonderful art and the people-related aspect of it. You might like that. I bought the William Blake and the Shakespearian for literature and art studies and I bought the Giotto, Bosch, and Leonardo da Vinci because I liked the art. You might enjoy a historical deck or a fun deck like the Phantasmagoric Theater deck which is pretty interesting.
If you look on Joan Bunning's site, she lists them alphabetically and also by subject matter for browsing.
http://www.learntarot.com/decks1.htm
http://www.advancenet.net/%7Ejscole/tarot.htm
Just sort of look around and then maybe when you have a few specifics in mind, look them up here using the Search function to see what people's opinions are.
Have fun, I hope you find something to work with in relation to your R-W deck. I have a great time mixing and matching decks and augmenting readings with more than one deck.
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| Maly |
21 Jul 2004 |
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I was lazy, so I did not read beyond the original post... :p
I think, if you already have a Waite or Wood, and you dont like the art style, then try a Waite clone.
If you like the deck, and/or understand, possibly move on to normal decks. Like Fantastical (great deck) or maybe Fey, (looks great), or anything you like.
Remember, to just choose anything that calls out for you. thats how I met the Fantastical Tarot, and its splendid.
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The Bestdeck for a newbie? thread was originally posted on 21 Jul 2004 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.
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