Favorite Tarot Decks

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Necromancer	14 May 2005
There are many great & beautiful decks out there, but which not all are practical for use. what is your main choice in usage, and main for beauty? i like to use the good 'o.... Raider Waite.....and in terms of beauty is choose Dragon Tarot Or Gothic Tarot. Let me hear from some of you. ~Garry~

Dwaas	14 May 2005
Thoth, Morgan Greer, Tarot of Prague, Marseille Fournier, Tarot of the Magical Forest, and I'm sure I will love my "Drogi" the day it arrives. Blessings

Cerulean	14 May 2005
1. Simpler readings and ideas - some classic Italian favorites are the Visconti Gold, Visconti Sforza and Neoclassical. I can read simple action and reflective readings with the Visconti Gold or Neoclassical (Il Solleone/Il Meneghello or Tarots of Lombardy from Lo Scarabeo--but I tend to be puzzling the cards out. Non-human minors have me doing 'numerology' sort of readings. I am counting, "halfing or summing up" -say two fours in the reading and looking at eight as justice as a balancing metaphor. Then I also do pattern-matches with the minors and court-allegory-personality. 2. Pictorial reading and a little of the above - Etteilla workalikes with keywords and Thoth decks with keywords and 20th/21st century workalikes of Rider Waite Smith. An old Lismon Etteilla, Laura Tuan Egyptien Tarocco from di Vecchi, Tavaglione's Stella, Thoth and close Rider Waite Smith decks have interesting words and pictures, so I like to circulate among those choices. 3. Just plain easier to read...comfort decks Ananda Tarot (Kurt Ananda Pilz); Revelations (Zach Wong); Secrets (Marco Nizzoli), Forest Folklore (Beverly Kessia Smith) Secret Forest (Mattioli/Minetti). I'm exploring the tarotlike Odin's Journey and a funny movie still picture set from Taiwan that has Lord of the Ring movie characters.

WolfSpirit	15 May 2005
My favourite for usage: DruidCraft For beauty: difficult to name just one, as the reason I have so many is that I find so many decks beautiful. Celtic Wisdom and Tarot for Transformation would qualify; and once again the DruidCraft. For me that's a winner in all categories :)

Emily	15 May 2005
My favourite for reading is the Morgan Greer. But for beauty I'd have to go with the Spiral - beautiful but still reads well. :) I too have many beautiful decks in my collection - some read well, some don't but the Spiral is one of the prettier decks I'm using at the moment.

Necromancer	16 May 2005
i find the morgan greer a great deck!! you all have great choices!!! lol, but i like to stay with the good 'o raider-waite-smith, but something about the gothic tarot or throth tarot just draws me in, throth is sooo deap, it can seem evil at first but it is a misunderstood deck, it is very beautiful and deep! i love it!

Lillie	16 May 2005
Everyone who has ever read any of my posts will know what I would answer to this question. So, to surprise and amaze you all, I am not going to write it. I am going to put little stars instead, like a puzzle, so you can all guess. Aleister Crowley's ***** Tarot. :)

Emeraldgirl	16 May 2005
My favourite for usage is probably my standard RWS as it just keeps giving great readings. For Beauty alone I can't really pick as there are so many different ones. But here's a couple of faves: Gilded Angel Tarot (Michel Angela, Maria Miduki Version) Russian Tarot if St Petersberg Visconti-Sforza And at the moment I am studying Kirs Hadar's TdM deck.

Necromancer	16 May 2005
awww....a great deck, lillie, i have not been here in a long time, so i have not read any of your posts, if you dont wish to reville it to the rest, send me a message ;) Angel Tarot is a beautiful deck also emerald girl. -Garry-

mike gorth	16 May 2005
Usage would have to be Hanson Roberts cuz I've connected with it so well but there are more coming so I'll see about those and then beauty, there's a lot of decks that are being made on the deck making forum but now in print would have to be 'tarot of mermaids' Mike Gorth

SunChariot	16 May 2005
Well, I have owned 13 decks in all and only did not really connect with one, the Tarot Art Nouveau. Otherwise all my decks have been profound and well-loved and trusted friends. What makes a deck work for me is the beauty and complexity of the artwork, as I read very intuitively... But my favourite to use now is one I only have a month now: The Faeries" Oracle. I don't think I can explain it to someone who doesn't know they deck, cause you would never believe me. I never would have believed it could be what it is in my life myself before I got it. When I read the book with the deck and read that the author of the book and the designer of the deck beleived faeries are real and the deck was a means to connect with and contact real faeries, I was all "Yeah, right". But you can approach it with an open mind, darned if it doesn't work and I am totally convinced now and I consider them (the faeries good friends of mine. It is really a completely magical deck and unlike any other I am sure. The artwork on it is stunning, and for beauty of the artwork it is close to being my favourite too, But maybe the Lovers' Path is even more stunning a bit, or at least it's equal.

mythos	17 May 2005
I have 77 ... and am awaiting my 78th deck. Fells like a perfect number, though I know my deck buying will continue. I only read with the Waite decks - Universal and Radiant. My pre-Waite decks (Marseille - Minchiate's - not really tarot - etc, I use for study). Then there are decks which I buy from the artwork, or because I am reading philosophy or other stuff from that period.

SunChariot	17 May 2005
mythos wrote: I have 77 ... and am awaiting my 78th deck. Fells like a perfect number, though I know my deck buying will continue. Wow 77, I think I'm jealous! LOL I would never be able to remember which ones I have. :-) If I could I would own one of every deck ever made though. Bar

mythos	17 May 2005
Being a Virgo list freak, I have an alphabetised document with deck names, publishing details, and pics of a couple of cards for each. Of course, that only means that I can see what I own on a computer screen ... as for actually remembering which box, bag or room each is in ... is a whole ... very untidy and frustratingly different story. mythos I'm an ebay junkie!

Necromancer	18 May 2005
77!!!!!!!!!!! wow!! lol....o and my uncle has been going out with this one chick for around a year....she is soooo cool, she bought me the Hanson Roberts deck and i fell in love with it.....it is very understandable....i think she might be a member on here 0.o dunno...i'll have to ask her next time i see her....if you are then you know that you are dating buck! lol hahaha

SunChariot	18 May 2005
mythos wrote: Being a Virgo list freak, I have an alphabetised document with deck names, publishing details, and pics of a couple of cards for each. Of course, that only means that I can see what I own on a computer screen ... as for actually remembering which box, bag or room each is in ... is a whole ... very untidy and frustratingly different story. mythos I'm an ebay junkie! know the feeling, I'm a list freak too. Although I am a Cancer. My grandfather was also and was the same way with lists. Maybe it is a Cancer thing too as well as a Virgo one. LOL I like to be able to find what I want when I want it. :-) As you can imagine I have an agenda too where I keep upcoming events and everything I need to do.:-) In one year of doing Tarot (I read only for myself) I have accumulated 7 typed binders full of notes (mostly readings) which are my Tarot journals... They are full of info I find useful. I am about to start a list of readings I have done, by topic listing the book it is in and the page.... so next time I have similar problem I can look it up and either benefit again from the advice and/or see how far I have come over the years. I think it will be really useful to be able to find all your readings on the same and similar topics and compare them, now and like 10 years later :-) Okay, I am compulsive. LOL I have labeled each of my binders with the "volume number" and the dates I was working on it, and numbered the pages with an index at the beginning of each telling what page each reading is on, what deck I used, where I did the reading.... Bar

FaerieStorm	18 May 2005
My top two decks are: 1. The DruidCraft Tarot: It's so close to perfection that I can't even imagine it being more perfect! It combines traditional symbolism with Celtic/Druidic/Wiccan imagery. It's very, very practical for every-day use and for deeper readings. 2. Tarot de Paris (J. Philip Thomas): Aesthetic magnificence! It combines sculpture, architecture, and statuary from Paris with ethreal computer imagery. It's so exsquisite--you can't go wrong with this one.

mrowcat	19 May 2005
For usage, I tend towards either Nigel Jackson's Enchantment or the Secret Tarot. For aethetics, Nigel Jackson's is up there, so is the Robin Wood, but my absolute favorite just to look at is the Dragon Tarot.

Lillie	19 May 2005
Lord! I really ain't trying. After 20 years of doing tarot I have no journals, no records of readings, a bag full of decks and a scattered pile of books. Got a lot in my head though.

mythos	19 May 2005
SunChariot wrote: know the feeling, I'm a list freak too. Although I am a Cancer. My grandfather was also and was the same way with lists. Maybe it is a Cancer thing too as well as a Virgo one. LOL Bar I think it is. My Ma's a cancer ... and she has everything organised, with packets, files and box and things in things ... all planned. I keep telling her that everything must need a shell in which to live ... like a crab. Everything connected. She also walks side-ways sometimes ... but I doubt that has anything to do with her Crab Cancerishness (she says creating a whole new word) ... more because she's had a hip replacement and is still a bit wobbly. LOL I'm not quite as organised as you. I have the folders with the printed notes ... but then I also have lovely covered heavy white art paper books that I hand write tarot notes in ... and add drawings and little paintings... on my tarot (and related subjects) musings. mythos mythos

SunChariot	19 May 2005
mythos wrote: She also walks side-ways sometimes ... but I doubt that has anything to do with her Crab Cancerishness (she says creating a whole new word) ... more because she's had a hip replacement and is still a bit wobbly. LOL LOL mythos wrote: I'm not quite as organised as you. I have the folders with the printed notes ... but then I also have lovely covered heavy white art paper books that I hand write tarot notes in ... and add drawings and little paintings... on my tarot (and related subjects) musings. mythos mythos Your books must be beautiful! The drawings and paintings sound like they add some of your soul to it, and I really do find that beautiful. One of my decks, my favourite actually (The Faeries' Oracle) gives you a blank card you design yourself. I thought that was the greatest idea. Do you have the deck, if so what did you do with the card? just curious., LOL Bar

Tsuzuki	19 May 2005
Usage: Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal, Thoth, Classic Golden Dawn, Hermetic (Dawson), Golden Dawn Magical (Cicero), and Universal Waite. Beauty: Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal, Classic Golden Dawn, Universal Waite, Miracle, and Golden Tarot of the Renaissance.

mythos	20 May 2005
SunChariot wrote: LOL One of my decks, my favourite actually (The Faeries' Oracle) gives you a blank card you design yourself. I thought that was the greatest idea. Do you have the deck, if so what did you do with the card? just curious., LOL Bar No ... I don't have the cards ... I'm not very Faerie-ish! But, my son had the best book - printed in the 70's sometime ... the Thirteen Dragon. Twelve very different dragons, by different artists were beautifuuly strung together with a poem. They left a page at the end for you to create the 13th Dragon. Great book. I still have it, and my son is 30. mythos

SunChariot	20 May 2005
mythos wrote: No ... I don't have the cards ... I'm not very Faerie-ish! But, my son had the best book - printed in the 70's sometime ... the Thirteen Dragon. Twelve very different dragons, by different artists were beautifuuly strung together with a poem. They left a page at the end for you to create the 13th Dragon. Great book. I still have it, and my son is 30. mythos The really funny thing is I wasn't Feary-ish at all myself till I got the deck. I was just "Wow the artwork is stunning: I want that". LOL I do love decks with beautiful artwork. I did not at all believe in faeries, or care much about them one way or the other. But I did approach it with an open mind, as I try to always....and I did all the book exercises and suddenly there they were all around me. They did keep contacting me until I had to acknowledge they are real. Either that or I was going nuts, but I ran into enough people who had the same experiences as me to figure I wasn't. In the end they became real to me, they do contact me in different ways, using different senses periodically and I have in the end developed a deep respect and love for them. They are good friends now. And it is by far my favourite and for sure the most magical of all my decks now. Bar

Necromancer	21 May 2005
i am still saying that the gothic tarot is the most beautiful!!

The Favorite Tarot Decks thread was originally posted on 14 May 2005 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.