the worse tarot cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Nov 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

loveinspirit	18 Nov 2004
what are the worse tarot cards you have, did you buy them,or were given them, and why dont you like them. and if you could get rid of them how would you ie bin, burn them. or give them to someone else, what ones are the best and why.

Imagemaker	18 Nov 2004
For total disappointment and no redeeming usefulness, The Lord of the Rings deck. A commercial exploitation of the movie forced into tarot form. It's in a drawer, buried!

Eco74	18 Nov 2004
I have none of these but I'd probably give it to someone who seemed good for it, someone the deck seemed good for or simply someone who had been looking for the deck in question. If I couldn't find someone I already know I'd go for the tradingforum or another means of trying to find a good match for the deck (good karma and all)... Just tossing or burning it? That would take a verrrry naughty deck indeed. There is also the chance I'd hold on to it for the sake of the artwork though...

Gyda	18 Nov 2004
The Nova Deck, it was my first one, It came with a plam reading book in a fortune telling kit. I still have both. I'd give it a way or do what I do now with it leave it stilling in its box. Gyda

dolphinprincess	18 Nov 2004
The one deck purchase that left me the most 'cold' was the Spiral Tarot (sorry, I know a lot of people love this deck.) I bought it on a total whim at Borders bc they did not have the deck I wanted and I saw that the box was small (for my tiny hands).... I unwrapped it in the car.... and listed it on Ebay the second I walked through my front door. I currently do not have in my possession any decks that I dislike - as I always trade or sell them when I know I will not use them.

RedMaple	18 Nov 2004
The Zerner-Farber. I thought I'd like it because I do textile art, but it is so frou-frou, the colors are awful, and the cards so small you can't see the details. It sits in its box, outside my chest of usable cards, on a stack of Tarot books I'm hoping to trade.

Tiamat	18 Nov 2004
The "Art of Tarot" Tarot. I saw it in a bookshop and noticed it's a Rider Waite clone plus a small LWB and wanted to give it a try, because I don't like the classical Rider Waite art, and the collage styled pictures of "The magician" and the card's back looked nice. At home I unwrapped it and saw the Minor Arcana... Oh my... Half an hour later I listed it on eBay. ^_^ But this deck taught me something nevertheless: If you want to buy a new deck look for pictures at Aecelctic first. XD

VGimlet	18 Nov 2004
The Unicorn Tarot. I know some people like it, but it does nothing for me. I have a few others, but that's the worst. I may eventually get rid of a few of the decks that leave me cold - probably on e-bay, because I doubt if anyone here at AT would want them, either, LOL. Until then, I keep them with my other decks. I would never burn a deck, or bury it, or destroy it.

WolfSpirit	18 Nov 2004
I was thinking The Lovers' tarot by Jane Lyle...but now that I look at it again it does not really look all that bad, it is just unworkable. It is majors only and what's more, the cards are HUGE I'll have to clear the room if I want to do a proper lay-out. It wouldn't be easy to trade either, both the card titles and the companion book are in Dutch (unless someone is looking for something exotic maybe). O what the heck, it must have been my first deck ever...I was a member of a book club and it was my monthly buy, LOL. So I'll keep it for sentimental reasons. I never use it and hardly ever look at it either.

Osher	18 Nov 2004
The Garden of Priapus (I'm not even going to describe it, just an excuse for some, er, different, drawings) Elements. Pathetic and badly drawn RWS copy, printed on a material not good enough for a Cornflakes pack. Am I being too harsh?

rachelcat	18 Nov 2004
I have the large majors and regular full deck. But not in Dutch :) I think the outsized cards are great. Always thought they would be perfect for teaching a class. O.k., in the regular deck, the pips are just awful. Just identical reproductions of the number of tokens. And the tokens are not good. They seem small and unimpressive, lost of the card (even though they are not oversized cards!). The courts are very similar to the majors--decent collage. O.k. I didn't say I LOVE it!!! My worst deck is now up for sale or trade on the trading forum. It's not that I want to inflict them it anybody, but one woman's trash . . . Besides, I feel responsible for it--since I bought it, I need to find it a good home (like a kitten). One World Tarot--Attractive computer art, but it gives the impression that not too much work went into it. The courts have exactly the same faces, just different colors! And the pips are identical here too. They are larger and well-placed, but . . . This and inexplicable symbols (what could an upside-down pyramid possibly mean?) and non-traditional astrological attributions makes this a pretty much unusable deck. I also have Celtic Tarot by Davis up for sale/trade. It's not a "worst deck." It is acceptable as a RWS clone with pretty art. And that's about it.

Mesara	18 Nov 2004
Lord of the Rings Tarot- which I traded here on AT to someone with young boys who hopefully will appreciate them more than I did. I thought the concept was neat- illustrating scenes from the book and tying it in with the meaning of the cards, but it just looked too kiddie to me, like a cartoon or something. Also, the backs really bothered me. Fake looking, no aesthetic quality to the backs of the cards at all. And, from what I hear, the LOTR tarot really doesn't stay true to the story itself, and thats a shame. The Magickal Tarot by Tony Willis- HORRIBLE artwork, although I have a somewhat love/hate relationship with this deck since it was my first, so I haven't the heart to give it up, although I never use it anymore. The Medieval Scapini- I don't see how anyone can read with these cards. Although they are interesting to look at, they are so crammed full of symbolism and images that they literally make my eyes hurt. Complete sensory overload. And I just don't like the way he chose to illustrate the meanings of some of the cards. Some of those illustrations go against everything I believe the card to mean, but that is a rather personal opinion based on my own knowledge and experiences with tarot, so I don't expect my feelings in that aspect to be shared by many. Also, the cards feel really flimsy and cheap in my hands.

Keslynn	18 Nov 2004
I think it would have to be the Witches Tarot by the Cannon Reeds. I loved the books and the concept behind the deck, but the deck itself - YUCK! Some of the pentacles cards feature a weightlifter in panties. *snicker* It's totally out of place with the rest of the cards in the entire deck. Overall, just bad artwork. Also, a lot of the minors had confusing pictures. They made sense with the book, but it was more of a learning curve than I wanted for the cheesiness. I traded it. I don't think I could ever throw away or burn a deck. Oh wait, I got a copy of the Gill tarot from eBay and it was in horrible condition with mold on it. I threw that away and got a new one. :) Kes

Sushi	20 Nov 2004
Of the decks I have I like my Thoth deck the least. In fact, I think I am going to see if I can trade it for a Morgan Greer. The Thoth deck just seems to give a depressing feel to any reading I do with it.

TemperanceAngel	20 Nov 2004
I really disliked the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg, just couldn't even look at it. jmd didn't have it, so I gave it to him :D

Waterdancer	20 Nov 2004
I also hate the Zerner-Farber. It was one of the first I bought and I never use it. I will probably trade it or put it on ebay.

f. silvestris	20 Nov 2004
It's not by any means a bad or naff deck, but I bought Navigators of the Mystic Sea after a fair amount of dithering, and had that awful cold disappointed feeling when I unwrapped the cards. I carried it around for about 3 months, which I'd never usually do, and made myself use it all the time, but I really couldn't connect with the cards, because there were details on so many of them that I found distracting and was unable to take seriously whenever I tried to focus on them. So it's the only deck of my own which I straightforwardly sold.

Gaidheal	20 Nov 2004
I am *extremely* fastidious in researching decks before I buy them. If I can't, in some way, see images of at least quite a few of the cards, it's pretty doubtful that I'll buy it. I'm the miserable combination of poor student and starving artist, so I *really* can't afford to buy things I'm not going to like, and as a result have yet to obtain a deck I don't love in one way or another.

Michelle	20 Nov 2004
Zerner-Farber ~ The cards are pretty, but have so much going on that I just can't seem to connect with them. Blessings, Michelle

Emerald	22 Nov 2004
The Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack was the most disappointing deck I have bought. I had other decks but most lessons seemed to be based on the Rider-Waite deck. I saw images on the net and fell in love with them. I was so disappointed when I finally got them. The High Priestess' cloak is green which for some reason is the worse part of it for me. I had expected her to be in blue.

DarkElectric	23 Nov 2004
I also had a strong aversion to the Zerner Farber. I really didn't like the way it resembled ordinary playing cards as concerns the suits. I'm sorry, but cups are cups, not hearts. I see that as being such a limited aspect. Cups as a suit has a lot more meaning to me. (I know, there are other decks that change the suits, but they didn't gall me in quite the same way that the Zerner Farber did.) I was able to give the deck away to someone who really did like it. The one I haven't been able to rid myself of, however, is the horrible Dee deck. It was foisted off onto me, by a person I'm no longer friendly with. It is, without question, a deck I really, really dislike.

lark	23 Nov 2004
Emerald wrote: The Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack was the most disappointing deck I have bought. I had other decks but most lessons seemed to be based on the Rider-Waite deck. I saw images on the net and fell in love with them. I was so disappointed when I finally got them. The High Priestess' cloak is green which for some reason is the worse part of it for me. I had expected her to be in blue. Hi Emerald...try the Universal Waite version ..her clock is a beautiful blue. :) I was disappointed in the Gilded mass market card stock. Such a beautiful deck deserved better card stock in my opinion. I use this deck constantly at the fair because people pick it 90% of the time over the other decks they can choose from, and it's beginning to show alot of wear very fast. But I love it so much I guess I'll just have to stock up on a few spare sets.

April	23 Nov 2004
I told my best friend I would trade my Goddess Tarot for her Voyager. Sometimes I regret my impulses-sigh. The Voyager makes me feel like I'm in someone else's head (does that make any sense at all?), or maybe stuck on some alien planet. It's really just too busy for me. One last jab-the cards are too big. The worst part is it's missing a card so I can't even trade it. She swears it's somewhere in her apartment, but luckily I'm holding the Goddess hostage until she finds it. Maybe I'll just offer to it back to her and surprise her with a brand new Goddess for the holidays. Peace, April

Imagemaker	23 Nov 2004
April, you can contact the publisher for a replacement card. Many of us have had success getting one lost card replaced.

Little Baron	23 Nov 2004
The 'Matt Myers Art Nouveau', I am affraid. The minors do absolutely nothing for me. Was disappointed by the 'Adrian' also, but did start to see some stuff in it as I popped it in it's packaging for a trade. Gone now though and havn't thought about it until now. Yabs

MeeWah	24 Nov 2004
I had forgotten until I saw this thread, but the Zerner-Farber rates as "the worst". It was the second deck I acquired after years of only the RWS, & I am not sure what prompted me to choose it other than an interest in having another deck for reading. I found it at a local head shop which maintains demo decks but do not recall if I saw a demo copy. I like textile art but after getting it home, the artwork made me recoil. I do not know I can explain why. For a long time after, I could not bring myself to choose another deck until I found Hanson-Roberts; later, Robin Wood & others.

The the worse tarot cards thread was originally posted on 18 Nov 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.