Which were your first and second tarot decks?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 04 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rusty Neon	04 May 2004
Which were your first and second tarot decks? How long ago was that? How and why did you acquire them? What were your thoughts about them? P.S. If you have only had one tarot deck in life so far, tell us about that one. You can tell us about your second one later. :)

Rusty Neon	04 May 2004
My first one was a Grimaud English/French titles Tarot de Marseille deck about 3 years ago. I thought I'd get a Marseilles since the design thereof seemed to be of some antiquity. I thought the various tarot books would also let me practise my French. I opened the deck. I was disappointed immediately. The majors were all very blue, yellow and red. The minors, within each suit, looked very much alike, except for the number of pip symbols. As it turned out, one of the pip cards was missing from the deck. I don't remember which card it was. The store didn't have a replacement deck, and I indicated I didn't want to wait for a new one to come in, so I received a refund. They seemed to have had the body language that I made up the story that the card was missing. I found the whole incident awkward as it was a general bookstore, albeit Francophone. A few months later, I bought a Universal Waite. Various articles on the net raved about the UW as being preferable to the R-W in terms of the beauty of its colouring. I wasn't happy with it though; the colours looked phony and I hated the pencil crayon colouring. Several decks later, I ended up getting a penultimate edition R-W with the antique card titles. Now that was a RWS deck for sure. There's something about a deck with colours close to the Rider deck printed at the beginning of the last century. This RWS that I bought is still one of my prized decks. Interestingly, the second Marseilles I ever bought was a Fournier. I was, again, disappointed. But, believe it or not, that one also had a missing pip card, and I got a refund. I guess I just wasn't ready yet for Marseilles decks. I have, since, purchased a number of Marseilles decks, including the Grimaud (French titles) and a Fournier. It's amazing how, with time, I now see each pip card as having a distinctness from its fellow-suited cards.

cheekyminx	04 May 2004
I was 20 or 21 (I think, was a while ago) and I bought the Enchanted Tarot. The deck that followed was the Celtic dragon tarot about 3 years later and then came the Celtic Tarot - de burgh about a year or 2 later. Gosh time is going so quick. I only own the Celtic decks as I got rid of the Enchanted a few years later. Never connected with them. This question is going to make a few of you THINK!!!

Nycelle	04 May 2004
First was Thoth, second has the Starter Tarot. Neither worked for me, so I put them away until I found and preferred the RWS (third deck).

firemaiden	04 May 2004
My first deck (two years ago) was the Thoth. The Book of Thoth on line fascinated me, but it was a long time before I actually broke down and bought the deck (LOL) - that would be betraying my skeptic's background . The next deck I bought was the (Thoth Based) Lupatelli "Fairy Tarot" or "Tarocchi dei Folletti" or "Elfen-Tarot" as it was called in German.

Bean Feasa	04 May 2004
My first was the Sharman-Caselli deck. It came in a set with the book 'Beginner's Guide to Tarot' or was it 'Tarot for Beginners' - something like that anyway. It's a sweet deck, a RW clone but drawn with finer, more detailed lines and soft watercolour-style colouring. It was a good deck to learn with, but I haven't read with it very much since then. Can't remember whether my second deck was the Spiral or the World Spirit, it was one or other of those anyway. There have been so many since - a Taroholic's brain gets very cloudy :)

Mimers	04 May 2004
My first deck was the RWS deck, because it was the least expensive. It wasn't long before I went back and purchased the Hanson Roberts. I did also get the Osho Zen as well. Mostly because I thought my Mom would like it. I ended up keeping it for myself. That was only 2 years ago! Mimi

mercenary30	04 May 2004
My first deck was a Lord of the Rings tarot. I was a not overly thrilled with the art work. After trying hard to use those in conjunction with my Joan Bunning book and failing, I went and purchased an RWS. It wasn't long before I decided I needed a deck for myself and one for others, so I reseached for a special deck and ended up with a Visconi Gold, as soon as that arrived I gave my LoTR deck to my daughter.

closrapexa	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Oswald Wirth. At the time I didn't know anything about Tarot, only that I wanted to learn it. Well, that proved a mess. Didn't get it at all. Tried learning the meanings by heart, failed and then decided that Tarot wasn't for me. A few years later I bought the RWS and started again. Didn't really connect to that either. I found the artwork too basic, I didn't see the richness that I see there now. So I left Tarot alone, yet again. Then I got as a present the Morgan-Greer, and couldn't lay it aside. Captivated me. And the rest is history...

Marion	04 May 2004
The RWS was my first and only deck for close to 38 years. Then I got the Robin Wood. And then, um, a few more.

jmd	04 May 2004
The first two decks I was exposed to were the Marseille (probably a Grimaud) and a French Tarot for game-playing, perhaps over fourty years ago. Interestingly, the first two decks I also owned, for two different purposes, were again these two, though many years later (in the mid-1970s).

Ruby7	04 May 2004
I was taking a "Women and Religion" course at university in 1989 and had to buy some books for it at the Ottawa Women's Bookstore. The store had a great spirituality section and I bought on impulse The Daughters of the Moon tarot, the black and white version that you can colour in yourself. My second deck was the Connelly deck, Ruby7

Savoyali	04 May 2004
My first was the Celtic by Davis/Patterson, last August. I didn't know the first thing about tarot, but had been looking at some samples online; only thing that was for sure was that I didn't want a RWS, all that yellow and block-y colour, urgh. And I wanted one in English, not German. I considered getting a Robin Wood, but then decided I wanted to physically pick up my first deck instead of ordering it online. So when I walked into the souvenir shop of Newgrange in Ireland, there it was, love at first sight, but rather expensive (well, what do you expect from ye olde tourist trappe). I held off buying it until I saw it again at Waterstone's on our last day in Dublin, took that as a sign and brought it home. :) I learned all the majors from this one, it was quite exhilarating to look at the cards, take notes about what I thought they might be talking about, and then finding how much of it the book echoed. I still love it to look at, though I don't really read with it often, for lack of illustrated minors. My second deck was the Art Nouveau by Matt Myers. I had seen it online before and thought it was very pretty. The morning after my brother's sudden death in a car accident I had an online reading with this deck, and decided then I wanted to have it; it was a soothing presence following this trauma. My brother's name was Matthias, the German version of Matt(hew) :) Hence my first interaction with the lovely Jeanette at TarotGarden, and it was here within the week, and I clung onto it for dear life. Worked like a charm :) It's still very dear to my heart, though again, I've moved on to other decks in the meantime.

Gerbear	04 May 2004
While at a Renaissance Faire in 1969, I was reminded of a reading given me by a village elder in Vietnam. He used bamboo sticks, and read my palm. He exposed things that no one, not involved, could know. So, looking at the display of decks at the faire, I picked out the RWS. A few years later, I found the display of many, many decks at Astara, a new age bookstore. I was studying the Maya, at the time, so I picked up the Xultun. Little did I know how my collection would grow.

Jewel	04 May 2004
I started with the RWS (about 12 years ago) as there were tons of books that focused on that deck. I never connected with it no matter how much I wanted to make myself like the deck. A couple of months later I saw the Robin Wood and that was it. It was with the Robin Wood that I was able to start my journey in earnest. Although I no longer read with it, I still have my original Robin Wood. She lives in a beautiful antique looking box. I occassionally pull her out and look through her, and on occassion will use the deck in some exercise or another. The Robin Wood was my primary deck for about 10 years until the Cosmic Tribe arrived two years ago .... a deck I only bought for collection purposes (1st deck to have 3 lovers cards), and unexepectedly there it was, the perfect deck for me. The Fey Tarot has now joined the ranks of the Cosmic Tribe, and both are my primary decks.

13thFaeChylde	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Tarot of the Old Path. I cannot remember how I acquired it, probably just bought it on a whim at the bookstore. I tried to connect with the cards, but it just didn't work for me, and ended up living on a shelf in the living room. We put the play-pen in the living room, and my little fae-baby promptly saw the box, found a way to get it, and began to chew up the cards!!! The only surviving card, free of drool, was the Empress. Which has been in a faery frame on my desk for 6 years now. My second deck was the Sacred Circle, and it was my only tarot deck for a number of years. Also, bought at a bookstore. I still use/study with this deck. A few weeks ago I received the TotOP again, through a friend. I was so excited to get this deck back, thinking that maybe I had grown and the deck and I would get along fabulously, but it was not meant to be. I traded it to Silverlotus for 3 gorgeous decks right away!

Woof	04 May 2004
1) in the late 70's earl 80's The Aquarian Tarot. I never use this deck anymore. 2) then when I came back to tarot and joined this forum in 2002 it was The Alchemical Tarot which I still love. The RWS, my favorite deck, I purchased 3rd. Woof

smleite	04 May 2004
The first deck I ever saw was a Marseilles, when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My first deck was the Fournier Marseilles. Then, I got a Hadar Marseilles.

Khatruman	04 May 2004
I guess you could say my first time wasn't all they told me it would be.... Yes, folks, I AM talking about tarot. :D My first deck was in the early 80s. It was an RWS for no other reason then it was all I knew of tarot. I did see other decks at the shopping mall; however, at that time they kept them behind the sales counter, so it was almost like being a teenager trying to buy a Playboy magazine: I had to peek around when the sales people were busy, and had to .."ah hem...ummm, could I get that deck right there to see?" In this way I bought the Grimaud TdM, Cagliostro, 1JJ Swiss, Classic Tarot (which I cannot find to this day), because U.S. Games decks weren't as comprehensive back then. I was immediately dissappointed in these other decks because they didn't have pictures on the minors, like the RWS. I even lost my original RWS and bought a new one. Still have them both now. I would really consider my "second" tarot deck to be the William Blake Tarot of the Creative Imagination, though it came 18 years later. This is the deck that re-sparked my interest in tarot, and let me know that tarot can speak to me directly, without deep memorization of astrology, numerology, and whatever -ology you can think of.

Emily	04 May 2004
I was around 16, many many years ago lol, and the deck was the 1JJ Swiss in french. I never connected to this deck although I always knew where it was and used it occasionally and then around a couple of years ago I noticed the Original Rider Waite in WHSmiths and I bought it. It was the Rider Waite that opened my eyes, I connected with this deck right away and although I wasn't too sure of the artwork, I was always looking for something prettier than the Rider Waite but that could be read the same (found them in the Morgan Greer and Golden :) ), it is the deck that started me off on the path.

galadrial	04 May 2004
My first deck, about seven years ago, was the Hudes. I had been looking at scans of tarot decks and idly considering trying to learn how to read, but not seeing anything I liked. Then I saw the Hudes and ordered it and used it with Joan Bunning's on-line course. That went on for a couple of years and then I saw the Wheel of Change deck. I ordered it and was so enamoured with it that I went to Alexandra's 4 day retreat to learn more about it. The Hudes has since gone to a good friend who wanted to learn, but I still have the Wheel of Change and my notebook from the retreat.

diane drizzy	04 May 2004
Hi Rusty Neon! My first deck was The Aquarian Tarot, which I got in the 70's.:smoker: My second was the Tarot Nova given to me as a gift.

lionette	04 May 2004
Hi everyone... Bought my first deck in 1990 and it was the white-boxed C-H Thoth. Was attracted to the art, since I didn't know much then about Crowley himself and had no knowledge of tarot then. Not so many books to help out with learning the deck then as now; bought Crowley's Book of Thoth to try and learn cards. Also had Papus book and Bill Butler's Dictionary of Tarot but found it to all too difficult to muddle thru alone, so gave up cards within a few months. Just packed it all away, and after several moves, finally gave the deck and book to my sister 10 years later. Fast forward to 2002, and I found myself strongly attracted to tarot again. Looked at a friend's new C-H Thoth deck and it felt so familiar and comfortable that I immediately purchased a new Thoth and shortly afterward bought a Crystal deck as a lighter companion. The Crystal was a bit confusing due to Swords=Water and Cups=Air, and this encouraged me to go back to tarot study. My sister helped too with a gift of a couple Hazo Banzhaf books on Thoth deck and immersed myself anew!

Arnaud	04 May 2004
My first deck, bought some months ago, was the Universal Rider Waite. I wanted a classic deck, but didn't like the standard RWS, and read somewhere (i hadn't discovered Tarot Forum at that time) that the Universal was prettier (it is !!). My second deck, bougth three days ago :-)), is the Thoth, which is amazingly beautiful (at least to me, my girlfriend is a little bit frightened by it, she dislikes it very much). It is a powerfully evocative deck, with very rich and bright colours. Simply beautiful. My third and fourth will be the Faeries Oracles by Briand Froud (not really a tarot deck actually) and the Fey Tarot, when Amazon will finally deliver them to me (shipping date on their site is, as of today, "Will be shipping soon, by the 28 of April" ... hey guys .. we are May the 4th now ...) Hum. I have to stop reading this website, or my collection of tarot deck will grow out of control :-D Arnaud

Moonbow*	04 May 2004
My first Tarot deck was Spiral which I used solidly for oooooh... about 5 months before getting the next. The next is a bit hazy because I bought two decks on the same day Chinese and Greenwood and in between all this I was into Oracles in a big way.

Jewel-ry	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Arthurian aka Hallowquest which I still have a close relationship with even though I don't use it very often. I knew this deck so well at one time. My second was the Goddess .. I think, although it may have been the Hanson-Roberts. After that everything becomes a bit of a blur :D :)

Star Spirit	04 May 2004
My first tarot deck, the Hudes Tarot, was purchased 3 years ago because it 'spoke to me' online when I looked at the images. Not your most common first deck (or any deck for that matter). My second (which I purchased before Christmas 2003) was the Celtic Dragon, because I had always liked it and my boyfriend thought it was the nicest out of my picks :D Since then I've been collecting many.

janomalee	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Albano Waite, which was a gift. My second deck was the Morgan Greer. I bought the MG for myself because I was having problems with the person who gave me the AW. I still have the AW but the person is long gone. :-)

Galiana	04 May 2004
The first deck I ever owned was a majors-only RWS-type deck. I don't remember what it was called, but it had the interpretations on the tops and bottoms of the cards. I got it when I was in high school; I don't know what happened to it. My first "real" Tarot deck is the Swiss 1JJ deck I bought almost fifteen years ago. I bought it because I was getting back into Tarot again and it was the only deck I could find at the time. My second deck was an actual 78-card RWS deck. I now have seventeen decks, and those two are still among them.

hedgecub	04 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by mercenary30 My first deck was a Lord of the Rings tarot. I was a not overly thrilled with the art work. After trying hard to use those in conjunction with my Joan Bunning book and failing, I went and purchased an RWS. It wasn't long before I decided I needed a deck for myself and one for others, so I reseached for a special deck and ended up with a Visconi Gold, as soon as that arrived I gave my LoTR deck to my daughter. No way, you too? My first deck was also the Lord of the Rings Tarot. I had been interested in magic and the occult for a little while, and I was just getting interested in tarot. I hadn't seen any tarot websites at the time, so I hadn't read any reviews or seen any card scans; all I had to go by was the box as it was all the stores I went to would let me see. I was drawn to the LotR tarot by the artwork on the box. The stores I went to didn't carry much of a selection, and the LotR looked the nicest of the decks I could see. I tried to read with it a few times, but I followed instructions straight out of the LWB, which confused me, especially since the Celtic Cross was far too complex for my skills and the questions I was asking. As I gained skill in reading, I realized how difficult the cards were to read intuitively. Also, I noticed the discrepancy between the illustrations of nonhuman races on the cards and their descriptions in Tolkien's works. My second deck was the Kalevala Tarot, which I bought immediately upon seeing it in a new age shop in Tampere, Finland. I had been interested in tarot for a few months by then, and was (and still am) obsessed with all things Finnish, so I couldn't possibly not get it :) I found it hard to read with, though, so on impulse I got a RWS deck from Akateeminen Kirjakauppa a week later. I found it much, much easier to learn with (despite the deck being in Finnish ;) ) and my tarot obsession grew and grew from there :)

mysticalowl	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Rider-Waite. After that I bought the mythic tarot. However, I really don't use the the Mythic tarot all that much.

hyatt	04 May 2004
my first deck was the glow in the dark RW. it just has the majors. looking back i think this is a great way to learn because i learned the majors first and it was not so overwelming. my next deck was hanson-roberts. yuck! i still hate that deck - the people look like cabbage patch kids.

yve	04 May 2004
My first deck was the Quick & Easy. I thought that the meanings would be helpful, however the meanings were not completely based on the Rider waite deck, but probably more on the author's personal interpretations...so they didn't last long. My second deck was the original Rider Waite. I used them extensively in learning the cards and meanings. They were invaluable to me in my learning process and building my confidence with the cards. I now prefer to use more visually appealing/attractive cards now that i'm more confident and adept at the interpretations of the cards.

Cerulean	04 May 2004
My first was the Ukiyoe for mix of folktales and art. I picked it because it was actually was true to the spirit and art of that time in my generic ideas, near enough to the meiji restoration period for me to think my grandparents favored these cultural influences. I've got one or two of these decks always around. My second was the Hallowquest or Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin and John Matthews. I thought then that the historically-inclined or romantic Grail Tales was originally only reflected in Celtic-English and then later, French tales. I wasn't into Renaissance studies then. I'm almost certain I'll never trade this, because it was my first 'year-long' course in tarot... I may propose a new related question about our latest obsession decks, not sentimental favorites... Cerulean

Strange2	05 May 2004
My first encounter with Tarot was around 1978, when I was 22 and beginning to explore the mystical and occult fields in earnest. Like so many, my first deck was a Rider-Waite-Smith, and Eden Gray's book "The Tarot Revealed". Soon thereafter, I was exposed to the works of Aleister Crowley, and thus picked up the Thoth-Crowley-Harris deck. While my explorations of Crowley and related occult authors continued for many years, I didn't feel comfortable with the Tarot, primarily because of my initial perception that it was geared towards predictive divination, which didn't interest me at the time (and for the most part still doesn’t now). Long story short, I got married, and due to conflicts of belief with my spouse at the time, I curtailed my esoteric studies. Alas, the Thoth deck stayed buried in my sock drawer for the next 20 years. Flash forward 20 odd years (and a long strange trip it's been). I had gotten divorced, and remarried to someone with mutual esoteric interests (live and learn!). My wife and I enjoy Egyptology, and as a gift she got me Clive Barrett's Ancient Egyptian Tarot. Learning that Barrett's deck was influenced by Crowley, I remembered and brought forth the old Thoth deck out of the darkness of my sock drawer and into the Light. BAM-a-LAM! The Tarot flame had been rekindled. I started to collect other decks (now over 100), discovered Tarot forums (Aecletic and Comparative Tarot, tarotholic enablers!), and also rekindled my artistic endeavors by creating 4 Tarot cards for collaborative decks (and looking forward to creating many more).

Ravenswing	05 May 2004
Okay.... My first deck was the 1JJ Swiss. I got it when I was 9, about 35 years ago. At the time, it was the only deck I was able to find when I decided to go searching for a deck. I was in Atlantic City for the summer at my grandmother's house, and I found it in a little shop on the Boardwalk. It was displayed in the window, and they had to take it out to sell it to me... I got a few Eden Grey books-- again, the only Tarot books I could find. It was a bit much at the time for me to memorize. And it was a two step process going from my deck to the Rider image to the meaning... (Although I did a six-foot tall mural of the Fool card in my bedroom...) So I drifted from Tarot, until... About 7 years later, I pick up a Rider deck on an impulse. Again, it was the only deck in this particular store. I really liked the Magician on the box. In fact, I painted it on the back of my denim jacket and wore it 'til it wore out sometime in my first year of college... This one I could work with. (and still do every so often) And there were LOTS more books; I haven't yet caugt up on them. I keep buying them too quickly :) Today, I consider the RWS and the Thoth as a good balanced pair. Left-hand path and right hand path. The two are sitting on my reading table. I've ordered them in the way that I'm going to draw up the deck I'm designing; they are my 'resource' decks. At the moment, I'm using the Nigel Jackson and studying the Tarot of the Sephiroth. It's been a long trip. fly well Raven

Badturtle	05 May 2004
My first deck was the Cosmic Tribe and it is still my favorite after all these years. After that, I succumbed to the dreaded tarotholism and added the Witches Tarot, RWS, Universal Waite, Thoth, Tarot of the Cat People, Voyager, Enchanted Tarot, Orishas, Motherpeace all in a jumble. Generally, I'm drawn to decks that have rich imagery throughout. The tarot decks I find myself using for others most often are Cosmic Tribe, Gendron and Medieval Scapini. For reading myself, I have begun combining the Cosmic Tribe with the Faeries Oracle with great success. I did not resonate much with Orishas and gave that away to a dear friend who is enjoying a much better connection. I also rarely find myself using RWS, Motherpeace, Enchanted or even Thoth but I like having them for comparison. I've recently added the Tarot of the Arthurian Legend which I can tell will become one of my favorites. And for years I've considered the Shape-Shifter Tarot but have yet to add it to my growing collection. (Is anyone out there especially fond of this deck? If so, I would love to hear your impressions and about your experience with it. But this may be a new thread...) After going from 1 to around 13 decks relatively quickly, I decided to stop acquiring decks like possessions and started approaching them as dear friends whom I would like to get to know better. And as I had a such a wonderful circle of "friends" to begin with, I've enjoyed more slowly acquainting myself with new ones in recent years and have been concentrating on strengthening the bonds with the ones I've already met and invited to live with me. Nice thread! Monica

Pook	06 May 2004
I bought my 1st deck about 5 years ago in a novelty media store. It was the Celtic Dragon Tarot. I had never studied anything about tarot before that, but had recently gotten the first in my series of three dragon tattoos, and the dragon from the front of the box looked amazingly similar to my new tattoo, so I had to have it. I only had the book that came with the deck and even though it was helpful, I just couldn't relate very well to the images, beautiful as they were. Not long after, a sudden move caused me to pack them into a box along with all my other books and precious possessions where they would stay for six months. When I discovered them again, I didn't have time for them and sold them (regretfully.) Finally, three years later, I bought another deck...a plain old rider-waite. I didn't use it long, though. After I got used to it and could understand the symbolism, I bought another that I liked better...and another, and another...

VGimlet	06 May 2004
It was 1972, and I had wanted a deck for awhile. I didn't really like the Marseille decks, or the classic RWS decks that were available. I don't think I ever saw a Thoth deck. When our family went into the local bookstore for our usual Saturday visit there, displayed in a glass case on the counter, was the brand new Aquarian Tarot. I wanted it SO BAD! But the price was 12.95 - pretty expensive. So, my dad made a deal with me that I would save up half, and he would pay for the other half. The bookstore owner (who was a friend of ours) told me the Aquarian might be a little difficult for a beginner, but I didn't care. After a month of mowing the lawn every week (yes it did look like it had been scalped) I finally got enough money. I got a marseille style book to use until my special order for the "real" book arrived. (My dad would buy us *any* books we wanted, without having to pay half.) I was SO excited. I was 11. I used that deck until I was 40, and it was getting pretty worn out, and kind of felt "used up", I wasn't getting the kind of readings from it I was used to. I decided I wanted a new deck. The first deck I decided to try was the classic RWS, but it didn't feel right to me.

Chronata	06 May 2004
These stories are great! :) I can definately remember my first tarot deck. It was 25 years ago that my parents bought me my first Rider-Waite-Smith. (although, back then...it was simply Rider- waite! ;) ) My second deck? That's a little harder to recall...because once everyone knew how interested I was in tarot...the decks just started to show up. I think most came from various garage and estate sales...and second hand stores. (for those of you who don't know...and have not read some previous threads...my Mother is the reigning Queen of finding cheap used and unloved tarot decks!!) My second came about a year after my first...and was either the Aquarian, the 1JJ Swiss...or the B.O.T.A. I wonder what ever happened to my B.O.T.A...I'm pretty sure I never gave it away...but it is no longer in my collection... :(

Cocobird55	06 May 2004
My first deck was the 1JJ Swiss, which I bought in 1969. I played with it for a few years. By 1972, I was getting spooked by the accuracy of the readings and I put it away. Almost 30 years later, I bought my second deck -- the Artists' Inner Vision Tarot. I really bought it more for the art than the tarot part. It was getting great press in rubber stamping magazines. A little while after that, I bought the Osho Zen, since I'm interested in Zen. Then I found Aeclectic. And now, 70 decks later... what can I say. The accuracy still gets me sometimes, but I am much more open to it now. Sue

SongDeva	07 May 2004
1. Thoth. Didn't get it. Even then I was waiting for the meanings to come for me intuitively. I can use it that way now, but needed more guidance at the time. 2. Sacred Circle. Better. More evocative. Still didn't really meld with me. 3. It took the Osho Zen to break things open and tune me in to all the options that are out there!

ncefafn	07 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Rusty Neon Which were your first and second tarot decks? How long ago was that? How and why did you acquire them? What were your thoughts about them? First and second were RWS and Aquarian, in that order. I doggedly tried to study the RWS, even more earnestly tried to like it. I figured in order to read Tarot, you had to love the Rider deck. I bought the Aquarian out of desperation, and worked just as earnestly at that. It wasn't until this year that I found decks that I: (1) really enjoyed aesthetically, and (2) could really connect with on an intuitive level. The Halloween deck is what helped me turn the corner, and I bought it just on a lark, during a period when I had given up Tarot. Kim

ncefafn	08 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel-ry My second was the Goddess .. I think, although it may have been the Hanson-Roberts. After that everything becomes a bit of a blur :D :) To paraphrase Dorothy Parker: Oh, gallant was my first deck And glittering and fine. The second deck was water In a clear, white cup. The fourth deck was his, The fifth was mine, And after that I always Get them all mixed up. :laugh:

LaLa	08 May 2004
Got my RWS sometime in the late eighties with a copy of Rachel Pollacks 78 Degrees and thought at the time there was only one tarot!! The books were my bible and have fallen apart from over use and the deck is getting a little care worn, but they're still in use. After discovering Aeclectic (and my ignorance about tarot varieties) I sought out new decks and fell for the artwork of the Osho Zen. This one works best for readings for myself but doesn't give me clarity when reading for my friends. (I've recently expanded my collection and feeling rather decadent to be the owner of 5 decks!)

sunflowr	09 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by VGimlet It was 1972, ..... displayed in a glass case on the counter, was the brand new Aquarian Tarot. ...... I was SO excited. I was 11. I used that deck until I was 40, ... That is so cool! Brings back memories. :) My 1st deck was the Hoi Polloi (back in 79/80'). Found it at a church rummage sale! ;) (strange place to find a tarot deck). I used that for awhile but my interest in tarot really came into being around 1990. My second deck was Aquarian and, from there, have tried all kinds of different decks. I am presently using Nigel Jackson. And recently (maybe about a year ago) had re-aquired my old friend Hoi Polloi. :)

Le_Corsair	09 May 2004
In the mid-70's in Florida, hippies that lived in the cottage next to our house were evicted for non-payment of rent, and their possessions thrown out on the side of the street by the county sheriff's deputies. They couldn't come back for it because they'd been growing pot on the premises. The people in the neighborhood rooted through everything, taking what they needed and leaving the rest to be carted off by the garbage truck. There were accoustic guitars there, clothing, candles, folk art such as God's Eyes, etc. Down under a bunch of paper I found a copy of the Aquarian Tarot; a lovely deck, perhaps a little cold from the white faces and melancholy from the lack of those white faces smiling. I acquired a copy of Eden Gray's Mastering the Tarot at a bookstore, and saw that she used a different deck in her book: the RWS. I acquired a copy of that, and also a copy of Waite's The Tarot Revealed, which should be more properly called The Tarot Obscured. That first RWS deck is long gone, but I still have the Aquarian. Bob :THERM

lunakasha	09 May 2004
My first deck was the Crow's Magick....simply because I liked the artwork, the photo-collage style appealed to me. Also because the store where I went to purchase a deck only had maybe 6 or 7 to choose from. (This was pre-Aeclectic, remember! :P) I also bought myself a book, to help with understanding the meanings of the cards: Tarot Unveiled by Laura Clarson and illustrated with the Hanson-Roberts cards. I immediately fell in love with the H-R, but at that time had NO CLUE that I could order them online, LOL!!! The days of innocence..... Anyway, the book was fine, but did not really "go with" the Crow's Magick cards....at all!!! I knew I needed another deck....and I knew I did not want the RWS (which they had at the store I went to) because it was ugly.... My second deck was the Crowley Thoth. I special ordered it from a local bookstore; unfortunately, I ordered the wrong one....ended up with the Big Green version! :eek: Oh and I also ordered the Book of Thoth to go with it, thinking it would help me learn to read the cards.....WRONG!!!! I could not decipher that book to save my life!!! I thought, OK, Crowley is REALLY out there!!! LOL!!! Once again....frustration....Thoth sat unused for a long time (recently revived now that I have a smaller, non-green deck and some excellent books to help me!). OK....the first deck I REALLY connected with and learned to start reading with....would have to be the Sacred Circle, followed shortly thereafter by Robin Wood. And btw, I finally did get my little Hanson-Roberts deck....only took me a couple of years! :P :) Luna

WalesWoman	09 May 2004
Oh, gee, way back when...May of 2003, I spent two weeks looking at a kajillion decks online and finally settled on Morgan-Greer for my first deck because I liked the art work and it seemed like it would be a good deck to learn tarot with. Then I bought the Radiant RW because I decided that I just wasn't getting a lot of the symbolism and things that were missing from the M-G. I'm not sorry about that one bit, it's helped me a lot. I preferred the artwork so much more than in a regular RWS or even Universal. Now I feel like I'm ready to try something new and different, with Legends, tho' I think most of it's meanings are RWS based. So I think the next deck after that will be a Thoth for the challenge because it seems to be so much more dynamic and in depth. But then again, it seems so daunting... I'll have to think about this and read up on it, spend some time browsing in that study group and make sure I get the right one!

lunakasha	09 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by WalesWoman Then I bought the Radiant RW because I decided that I just wasn't getting a lot of the symbolism and things that were missing from the M-G. I'm not sorry about that one bit, it's helped me a lot. I preferred the artwork so much more than in a regular RWS or even Universal. I agree, WalesWoman.....I LOVE the Radiant RW!!! :D Luna

Arnaud	09 May 2004
Waleswoman, i had the same incertainties about the "right version" of the Thoth :-) There are a lot of posts on the Thoth forum about differently colored/printed versions, and at first i was lost. But i have checked carefully, and bought one of the two prettier. The version i suggest you to buy is: Alester Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck US Game System the box which is the LAVENDER one (NOT the bigger one). The lavender box is slightly smaller than a RWS deck, the other one is slightly bigger. To be even more precise the ISBN is 0-88079-308-2 This is the three magus version. In this version, colours are very bright and vibrant, and do NOT have the green tint that is present on some others. Arnaud

WalesWoman	09 May 2004
Thanks Arnaud. I'll keep that in mind, I'm not due for another 6 months. I figure it takes me that long atleast to get comfortable and familiar with one deck, tho' that is a completely arbitrary time frame and assumption on my part. I have a feeling Thoth would take much longer than that and am drawn to it and intimidated by it all at the same time.

The Which were your first and second tarot decks? thread was originally posted on 04 May 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.