Pairing Decks in Two-Deck Spreads

I thought about putting this in Using Tarot Cards, but it's really a more general question.

I've been using a couple of spreads lately involving questions with two definite sides to them. I use two decks - shuffled and dealt separately, not mingled - so both sides have equal access to all 78 cards in the population. My challenge has been to find two decks that won't be too jarring either visually or symbolically when compared across decks. So far, I've used the following:

The Thoth and Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal
Morgan-Greer and Aquarian
Navigators of the Mystic Sea and Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal

I'm considering using the following pair:

Kat Black's Golden and the Golden Botticelli

I'm also planning to buy decks for this purpose, either in pairs or to supplement those I already own. On the list are:

The Deviant Moon and the Tarot of the Magical Forest (both quirky)
The Mucha and the Victorian Fairies (thought about the Hidden Realm, but not quite right)
The Night Sun to go along with my rather dark Tarot of the Mystic Spiral
Another TdM to go with my Fournier (already got input in another thread on this)
Something (not sure what yet, maybe the Albano) to match with the Radiant RWS

If you were doing this, which decks would you find to be a good match for two-deck spreads?

I've used the Winged Spirit and Vargo Gothic together and also used the New Vision together with the Universal (both LoS).

One of these days I want to use the Victorian Romantic and Bohemian Gothic together. My time is running short, but I'm sure we've had this discussion before here in Decks. I remember listing many more pairs of decks I wanted to use, but of course can't remember them now....

Rodney

What about Robin Wood and Hansen-Roberts? Of course there's the differential in card size to consider but image-wise they're cohesive. You could also use two slightly different versions of the same deck like Radiant Waite and Universal Waite or Original Waite and the LoS Universal.

You could also pair an Oracle deck with a Tarot deck. Tarot of the Hidden Realm with Froud's Faeries Oracle for example.

Just thought of another natural pairing, Touchstone with Tarot of Delphi.

Madrigal said:

What about Robin Wood and Hansen-Roberts? Of course there's the differential in card size to consider but image-wise they're cohesive. You could also use two slightly different versions of the same deck like Radiant Waite and Universal Waite or Original Waite and the LoS Universal.

You could also pair an Oracle deck with a Tarot deck. Tarot of the Hidden Realm with Froud's Faeries Oracle for example.

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Thanks for the suggestion! Relative size doesn't really matter in this application since I'm not mingling the decks. (But I did draw the line at trying to pair the huge Druidcraft with the smallish Old Path.) I'll be buying the Robin Wood soon, I might have something else to pair with that. I presently don't own any oracle decks, but that's a good thought to keep in mind. Maybe the Legacy of the Divine (which I do own) would pair with Ciro's Oracle of Visions for this purpose. Regarding the RWS, I do think I'll go for the Albano to pair with the Radiant.

Madrigal said:

Just thought of another natural pairing, Touchstone with Tarot of Delphi.

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I've been looking at the Touchstone for a while now. I probably have all the Renaissance-style "fine art" decks I need for the present since I don't find them wonderful to read with. I feel like I'm in a museum with them. I'm also not big on religious art.

Here's the thread I was thinking of: Let's play deck matchmaker

Whenever I've used two decks together, I've literally shuffled them together instead of using a card from each (except in the Interesting ,"Deck Argument," Spread that I used to determine whether or not the decks actually wanted to work together.

Rodney

rwcarter said:

Here's the thread I was thinking of: Let's play deck matchmaker

Whenever I've used two decks together, I've literally shuffled them together instead of using a card from each (except in the Interesting ,"Deck Argument," Spread that I used to determine whether or not the decks actually wanted to work together.

Rodney

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Thanks, Rodney. I remember that thread now. The objective of the OP was to match "dark" and "light" decks and place a card from each deck in each position to look at what the "opposites" might have to say. It's similar to what I'm after, but I'm looking for decks with similarities in "feel," not extreme differences, and not intentionally looking for diverging opinions from each pair in a spread. If they do show up, that's within the scope of my interpretive model.

Pairing Decks

Barleywine said:

I'm also planning to buy decks for this purpose, either in pairs or to supplement those I already own. On the list are:

The Deviant Moon and the Tarot of the Magical Forest (both quirky)

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I have both of these, I have just laid out a few from each deck together. They do kind of work actually, I never would have thought of this!

I had some other ideas too...

*I've always thought the Housewives and the Zombie would work together. They both have that irreverent, kitschy feel about them. And both being from US Games, are kind of similar in the packaging/presentation.

*The Wild Unknown and the Gypsy Palace. One rather stark and natural, the other super vibrant and abstract.

*I have a feeling that the Happy Tarot (when it comes out this summer) and the Magical Forest will complement each other nicely.

*The Nicoletta Ciccoli and the Sweet Twilight.

*The Steampunk Tarot (the independent one by Charissa Drengsen) and the Zirkus Magi.

*The Ghosts and Spirits and the Shadowscapes.

More a conceptual pairing, and they might be too opposite for you, but how about the Universal Goddess or Dark Goddess (a goddess on every card) with Sol Invictus (a god for every card).

Maybe a divine conversation would be interesting!