Comparing decks...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Trogon	09 Mar 2003
I'm curious... when you're considering a new deck for yourself, are there specific cards which you check out first to help you with your decision? In other words, do you have one or a few cards which you always look at as a comparison when you're considering that new deck? This might be a favorite card which you want to see in the prospective deck before you decide, or maybe several cards which you just always like to check. For me, the first card I look at is always The Fool. The next card I usually look at is The Chariot, then (in no particular order) The Star, The World, Temperance, The Devil and The Hermit. I also check to see the numbering of Strength & Justice. During all of this I'm also checking out the Minor Arcana - seeing if they're illustrated or not and the extent and quality of the illustrations. Just a little curious what cards y'all use as comparisons between decks...

Maan	09 Mar 2003
One of the first things i used to check out first was the size of the cards...but i recently learned that size does not matter ;) I always look at the queen of wands and the empress first. Than the moon, star and strenght. I usually try to figure out if the wands are associated with the element fire or air. If air the deck probebly wont and up on my bookshelf. It just does not feel good for me :( One of the reasons i can't read with the beautiful nigel jackson tarot :(

genna	09 Mar 2003
The Court cards are important to me;if some look like a person I have had conflicts with,that may affect my readings.I dislike scary cards for Death,The Devil and The Tower. I like nice cards for The High Priestess,The Empress,The Lovers,The Star and The World,and Six of Cups(R-W version is my favorite six of Cups).Nice Court Cards are important too. Wands have to be associated with Fire.

HOLMES	09 Mar 2003
1. the pips to see if they are illustrated, or least halfway illustrated. 2. the majors to see if they are beutiful or not. (i like a comic, cartoon, beutiful conan magazine poster style artwork) 3. the heirophant, 4. the book size if there is one. 5, and the review,

Silverlotus	09 Mar 2003
I usually check a lot of things. I'm picky. :-) First, wands must be fire. I tried using a Wands/Air deck, and I never really enjoyed it. Next I check the High Preistess, Death and the Empress. If I don't love all of them, then forget it. Thirdly I check the Queen of Pentacles, the card sort of identify with. And then the Hierophant. Last is the backs. I like them to be reversable, but if everything else about the deck is great, then I will forgive this. I do try to check out all the cards if I can before I buy a deck. If the minors are pips, forget it. If there is more then one or two cards that I don't like, I generally won't buy the deck. I'm learning restraint, which is good, since I'm not a collector. I like to work with all my decks.

Diana	09 Mar 2003
a) I check the numbers of Strength and Justice. b) I make sure that it's not just another Rider-Waite clone (sometimes I think they are churned out by the dozen). c) I look at the Tower and the Fool.

jlbvt	09 Mar 2003
What an awesome question, Trogon! You could post it as a poll, but you would need 78 different options, and no limit on the number each person could vote on! My "must see" cards are: :TCHAR Chariot :TDEAT Death (I am a sucker for a dancing skeleton!!!) :TTOW Tower (best if it's serious, yet sort of uplifting) :TMOON Moon also the Hermit and Magician, but they're not as important as the others mentioned

HudsonGray	09 Mar 2003
The Moon card, then Tower, Strength & the Fool. Also if there's pips or illustrated minors. Card size doesn't matter, neither does a reversable back. But the artwork does, it's got to have a strong appeal to me (I'm on a budget). ----------------------------------------------------------------- "We are such stuff as dreams are made of where thy final exams commence without thy knowledge and thou lookest down to find thyself bereft of pantaloons."

Woof	09 Mar 2003
I agree, great topic! Right now I need illustrated pips. I can forsee moving into the "moody" minors and eventually pips but for right now I need illustrations. In addition I need to see as many of the cards as I can. I prefer emotive expressions on the people on the deck and I like to see plenty of animals. I like a deck that's visually easy to read, by that I mean one that hits you immediately with clear visuals. Some artwork is too fussy and intricately detailed and this makes it more difficult for me to get an immediate intuitive "aha" from the cards. The specific cards that are important to me are :THERM the Hermit :THP the High Preistess :TMOON the Moon and :TLOVE the Lovers I don't care about nudity but I don't like a lascivious deck. Woof

Kiama	09 Mar 2003
Now that I only get decks for my collection which I will not use, I do not check them for their beauty, nor for whether Swords are Fire or Air, nor for whether the pips are illustrated or not. Nowadays I check them to see the concept behind them: If it's interesting, clever, unusual, I'll get it! This is why I got teh Tapestry Tarot the other day: It's a damn ugly Rider Waite clone which I wouldn't be able to read with, but the fact that it was originally made entirely from fabrics is just amazing! I check the deck's theme, and more recently, it's date of origin. I've recently got myself a penchant for the historical decks, so if it's old, it's mine! ;) However, when I was still searching for decks to use, these are the things I'd check: 1) Illustrated or non-illustrated Minors (I find it very difficult to use non-illustrated Minors) 2) Theme 3) Artwork 4) Empress card 5) Strength card 6) Fool card 7) Wheel of Fortune card (Y'know, I have not yet found a Wheel of Fortune that I like. And that's even though I've seen hundreds of decks, and own over 100. Anybody else have this problem, or is it just me?) 8) At least one card from each Minor Arcana suit 9) The Court cards: Are they different or all the same, eg - Is each King totally different, or are they just the same pic coloured differently? (Ellen Cannon-Reed's Witches Tarot springs to mind here.) 10) Price. Can I afford it? Probably not. After all, I have a budget, two mouths to feed, books to buy for Uni, bills to pay... 11) Do I want it? Course I do. Therefore I shall ignore 10) and buy the deck anyway! I've got enough rice to last me another 6 months, and the bills will magically disappear. ;) Kiama

Phoenix	09 Mar 2003
Yikes! Doesn't anyone here just get a deck because they like the way it looks?

Hedera	09 Mar 2003
Yes: Me! That's usually why I buy a deck. Or because I think it can teach me something new. I can ignore a whole bunch of faults just because there are one or two perfect cards in a deck. There are a lot of decks I find beautiful and budget is limited, so when I want a deck, I'll try to at least pretend that I'll be able to read with it. Quote: 7) Wheel of Fortune card (Y'know, I have not yet found a Wheel of Fortune that I like. And that's even though I've seen hundreds of decks, and own over 100. Anybody else have this problem, or is it just me?) Yes, Kiama, me too! It seems not to be a very inspiring card. I like the one from the Fey tarot best, so far. I just really like that picture. But it is still not *the* Wheel, somehow. Another card which is always a bit of a disappointment: the Chariot. It is both my personality and my soul card, and it usually depicts some guy with a horrible Village People mustache :D Also, weirdly enough, in a lot of decks the Fool doesn;t really appeal to me. I like the concept of the Fool, it's just that artists don't seem to get as much out of the idea as they should, somehow.

Icestorm	10 Mar 2003
I tend to be very picky about my decks which will probably mean that I will never attain the status of the venerable tarot-holic :-p Of all the reviewed decks on aecletic, there have only been 2 that I have absolutely loved and needed to get. and, u guessed it, ive got them both :-] Anyways, the first thing i look for is the general artwork: I absolutely must have superbly drawn artwork in my decks. The Ancient Egyptian, the St. Petersburg and the recently ordered Legend Arthurian all have astounding artwork. The next is consistency: there are some artists who make some gorgeous cards but their neglect towards other cards causes the general downfall of the deck IMO. PiP cards: I absolutely hate the marseille/thoth tradition of unillustrated pips. I find that i cannot interpret them without remembering either the LWB definitions or the same card from a RW deck. For example, i absolutely loved the sacred Circles deck, but it had fairly unillustrated pips so I didnt buy it... if i win the Lottery I might reconsider, though :-p Im my mind it is not so important that one or two or three cards within the 78 are superb, the entire deck must be a consistent work of art :-] (Oh, and im not into abstract tarot decks either, like the Dante or the Quest)

Logiatrix	11 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Phoenix Yikes! Doesn't anyone here just get a deck because they like the way it looks? *tauni raises her hand* yes, phoenix... i USED to get a deck just because i "liked the way it looked"...and another, and another, and so on, and so on...until i had well over a hundred decks that i liked--well, sort of: except for this one's Lovers card, or that one's Fool card, or that other's three of cups, etc. none of that mattered, though, because there was no possible way i could use them ALL, anyway (believe me, i tried...). truthfully, i was a tarot-holic, now (mostly) reformed for about the last year. these days, if i am seriously considering a tarot purchase, i do A LOT of research and analysis, and i also closely examine the reviews/opinions of my tarot kindred here on aeclectic. so my current determining factor for acquiring a new tarot is "do i have room for it?" of course, all that is subject to change according to mood, finances and available shelf space!

Bings	12 Mar 2003
When I first see a deck I seem to look at the artwork and colors of the deck. I like subtle colors, muted tones. I don't like them to be cartoonish. (Legend, The Arthurian Tarot will always be my favorite because of the color tones and artwork.) Secondly I look at the minors. Are they illustrated or not. I want them illustrated. Do they tell me a story? I will look at the cups more closely. They just seem to be my favorite. Lastly I will look at all the majors. Again, do they flow well together? Do they tell me a story??? If the deck passes all of those requirements I will then look more closely at certain cards. The Fool, The Chariot, Justice, The Tower, The Aces. Dianne

Demonesse	12 Mar 2003
I look at the style of illustration and colours first - I like beautiful artwork that doesn't look as if it was drawn by an eight year old, details and bright/rich colours. I tend to check out Death, the Devil, High Priestess, Star and Moon as well as the 9 and 10 of Swords, 9 and 10 of Cups, Two of Cups, Three of Swords, and assorted cards from the other two suits. Different themes interest me but the deck must be readable as well. Reviews and scans are closely examined. I hate: - soggy pastels :P - unillustrated pips - it when trumps' names are changed, eg 'Death' to 'Change' or something.

Ravenswing	12 Mar 2003
absolutely.... the queen of cups. it's always been the queen of cups. i recently discovered that she happens to be my personal potential card... raven

Wee Amazon	15 Mar 2003
hi ravenswing, > >>>> absolutely....the queen of cups. it's always been the queen of cups. i recently discovered that she happens to be my personal potential card...<<<< could you tell me how you find your personal potential card? love Wee Amazon

Ravenswing	15 Mar 2003
hi-- there are three personal cards based on your natal chart. They are all court cards. your personal potential card is determined by your Sun sign. your inner teacher is determined by your Moon sign. your mode of expression is determined by your ascendent. aries-- Queen of Wands taurus-- King of Pentacles gemini-- Knight of Swords cancer-- Queen of Cups leo-- King of Wands virgo-- Knight of Pentacles libra-- Queen of Swords scorpio-- King of Cups sagittarius-- Knight of Wands capricorn-- Queen of Pentacles aquarius-- King of Swords pisces-- Knight of Cups i'm cancer with a virgo moon and virgo rising so: personal potential-- Queen of Cups inner teacher-- Knight of Pentacles mode of expression-- Knight of Pentacles This is all covered in depth, along with other (more vital) personal cards in "Tarot for YourSelf" by Mary K Greer. An excellent book about a myriad of methods of self-examination and development using the tarot. I think most people here would agree that it is one to get. fly well ravenswing

coldsuns	16 Mar 2003
I dont really bother..as long it looks nice to me and i like it. Actually if you like the deck, all cards look great to you. And if it is reversal then will be much more better ^_^

Trogon	16 Mar 2003
Thank you all for your very interesting replies. I think it will help me a lot when I create my own deck... I'll be able to make it almost irresistable to all you Tarotholics... ;) Hmmm... may have to start a second thread with a poll... Let me think about it for a day or so...

Icestorm	16 Mar 2003
Im sorry but... What on earth is the moon sign? And how do I find out!?

Ravenswing	16 Mar 2003
icestorm-- when you get your natal chart done, all planets are in a particular sign of the zodiac. lots of people only deal with their sun sign. somewhere there's a site that'll do your birth chart if you know the time and place of your birth. i'll see if i can track it down for you. in the meantime, you might ask in the astrology forum. i'm sure someone will know it. fly well raven

The Comparing decks... thread was originally posted on 09 Mar 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.