Do you ever buy a deck companion book but not the deck itself?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rusty Neon	24 Apr 2004
In my case, where the "system" behind the deck intrigues me or where the deck is out-of-print and prohibitively expensive, I've bought the official (or a third-party) companion book for the deck. - Motherpeace Tarot - Belline Oracle deck - Grand Lenormand deck - Oracle de la Triade - Tarot Psychology (original companion book for Wang's Jungian Tarot) As well, I once bought a very beat-up condition book for the Servants of the Light Tarot deck (stripped from a deck/book set). I couldn't not buy it, as the deck was OOP. It satisifed my urge to see this deck, until a used set appeared before me, at a reasonable price, at a store. P.S.: For the purposes of this question, general tarot instruction books with images of the RWS deck don't count. :) (e.g., Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom)

Marion	24 Apr 2004
I recently saw copies of the book which goes with the Greenwood offered for sale. I was tempted but have never done that. I see your point though.

galadrial	24 Apr 2004
I bought Brian Willams Renaissance Tarot book to study. I enjoy his scholarship, but do not care for the artwork on that deck and don't intend to own it. I am enjoying his Ship of Fools deck, however.

Osher	24 Apr 2004
I once saw 'The Dragon Tarot' quite cheap on Amazon, compared to another 'version'. Er, ah, well, there was a good reason for it being cheap. It was the book! Oh well, I finally (after a few years) finally bought The Dragon Tarot (cards) the other day. Does buying the book by accident count?

Rusty Neon	24 Apr 2004
galadrial ... Me too. I bought Williams' Renaissance Tarot book even though I don't own or plan to purchase the deck.

laura_borealis	24 Apr 2004
I bought the Osho Zen book without the deck... but I don't know if that counts since the majors were included in the form of teeny tiny punch-out cards. :)

Diana	24 Apr 2004
I don't think this book is the accompanying book, but maybe it is. I have no idea. It's "The Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards" by Michael Dummett. Have never felt any need to have the deck, but needed to have something for reference purposes and the book is just perfect for that. The cards I think are reproduced even larger, I imagine, than the deck itself. I also have the book of the Enchanted Tarot (Zerner-Farber) because the pictures are very pretty! I even had the Zerner-Farber cards once when I was exploring all the different Tarots but those got traded ages ago. But I think the Enchanted cards are bigger than the Zerner-Farber.

ros	24 Apr 2004
I bought the Tarot in the Spirit of Zen. (Osho Tarot) I have the cards, but if I didn't I think this book is good for any Tarot reader.This book gives you a different understanding of life. I would buy others (I haven't) because I like the information the book gives & sometimes not the cards.

baba-prague	24 Apr 2004
I bought Rachel Pollack's book on the Dali deck. Partly I was interested to read her commentary, and partly I couldn't afford both deck and book, and decided I'd rather have tbe book. It has good illustations of the cards, and for me it was a good decision I think.

lionette	24 Apr 2004
I've also bought a copy of B.Williams Renaissance Tarot book and, like others have said, the art on the deck doesn't appeal. Would be nice if his book on the Minchiate was sold separately from the deck, which also doesn't appeal. (Ship of Fools is my favorite of his decks)

Moonbow*	24 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Marion I recently saw copies of the book which goes with the Greenwood offered for sale. I was tempted but have never done that. I see your point though. Hi Marion I have been trying to get this book for at least a year! ( I have the deck). Can you help? If so can you PM me. :) please! M*

northsea	24 Apr 2004
Ditto for me on the Renaissance book. I came across a used copy last month, and couldn't pass it up. Oh, and also the Herbal deck book 'Spirit of Herbs' Tierra. I gave away the deck.

contrascarpe	24 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by baba-prague I bought Rachel Pollack's book on the Dali deck. Partly I was interested to read her commentary, and partly I couldn't afford both deck and book, and decided I'd rather have tbe book. It has good illustations of the cards, and for me it was a good decision I think. Karen - I have the deck but not the book. Actually, because Gardener here on AT is such a wonderful person, I have the book on borrow. You are correct, it is a wonderful book ...... and I was doubtful of the deck, but thanks to my brother (who was the recipient of one of my two ToP's and who will be getting a Baroque Bohemian Cat set from me as well), I received the Dali deck. It is more beautiful than I imagined. Dan

Alissa	24 Apr 2004
:P I hate you, contra.... I totally, utterly *hate* you..... ;) }) (a DALI deck... aye me....)

BlueLotus	24 Apr 2004
It happened a couple of times, with the Thoth Deck and Spiral that I received the accompanying book before the deck. This just made me very curious about the decks themselves, and could not wait for their arrivals. Also with the Sacred Path cards, in which case I received the workbook first. Other than that I never seperately and/or intentionally order books that accompany decks .

WalesWoman	25 Apr 2004
I ordered the Mythic Tarot and it's companion book by Juliette Sharman Burke for some free online Tarot lessons, the deck was out of stock but I ordered the book anyway, thinking I would get the deck another time. I'm still deciding if I want it or not. After reading the book, I decided I could just incorporate some of the interpretations into my other cards because I just didn't get into a lot of the images as much as I thought I would.

SongDeva	25 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Happiness Does buying the book by accident count? I think so. I just bought the Legend Arthurian book on ebay because I thought it was the deck. I don't have it yet, but reread the posting and discovered this was the case. Oh well. I got the Merlin set cheap from the same person. :)

Osher	25 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Alissa :P I hate you, contra.... I totally, utterly *hate* you..... ;) }) (a DALI deck... aye me....) Er, I have the Dali set, well, sort of. A Spanish ex of mine bought it for me when she stopped home, except it is just the 52 cards of a normal playing deck, with illustrations by Dali. It is called Dali Tarot though (in Spanish). Am I to be hated too? :-)

Rusty Neon	25 Apr 2004
Good news about that 52 card deck based on the Dali Tarot. I've seen it for sale in art gallery stores in Canada. Published by Austrian publisher Piatnik. Called something like the Dali Poker deck. About the same price as other Piatnik souvenir playing cards.

The Do you ever buy a deck companion book but not the deck itself? thread was originally posted on 24 Apr 2004 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.