Decks you used to love...

I used to love my...

Miss Cleo Tarot Power Deck, but then Miss Cleo was arrested and convicted of fraud! I'm so embarassed! How could she betray all of her adoring fans like that? Tarot for me just hasn't been the same. I guess I'll just......


Bob

Bob, Bob, Bob, don't despair. I sure she will be proven innocent and come back and redeem herself and then you can hold your head up again.

Somehow I am not sure if we really do 'outgrow' decks, because other people start to love the same decks we forget. I wonder, although many of use the same decks for years, if there isn't some quality in humans that keeps thinking 'well maybe it would work better *this* way'. You know, that same little voice that causes us to rearrange furniture. Subconscious Feng Shui. (okay, I am mostly kidding but not entirely).
Same with I Ching. I drank the Wilhelm version of the I Ching for about 12 years. Then I started buying other translations, but they all seemed frivolous. Then I discovered the Stephen Karcher translation in the "Elements of..." series (now republished as Thorson's), and I have rarely opened the Wilhelm version since. Okay, why does that happen? Clearly the first one 'satisfied', until we met the others. Is this all a part of human fickleness in general? Does this mean Kiama is a totally faithful person because she always reads with Robin Wood? (I say she just hasn't lived long enough yet, but she has looked at a lot of decks). Just random thoughts after a long day at work.

I cut my Tarot teeth on the Mythic deck. Now I pull it out rarely and when I do, it feels familiar yet flimsy in my hands. I had an early love affair with the Victoria Regina and used it several times in the Exchange but moved on and haven't really gone back to it for a while. For me, finding the Thoth deck was like finally arriving at my deck destination. I experiment with other decks but my one true deck continues to be my Thoth deck. It's like the gift that keeps on giving!

Lawguy51

Ah Marion... A long long time ago, before I joined Aeclectic, I did not own a Robin Wood...! *Gasps* *Kiama without her Robin Wood? Surely not?!?!* It's true, all true...

I used the Shakespearian Tarot from the age of 13-15. Before that I used the Sugar Mystic deck. After it I used the Witches Tarot. And after that... I started collecting decks!

I used to love the Shakespearian Tarot, since I have always loved Shakespeare, but it was a very difficult deck to read with when I was only 13, and I think the only reason I read with it was because I had neither the money nor the knowledge of Tarot-deck 'outlets' to be able to get another deck. Needless to say, it went by the wayside when I found the Robin Wood deck (after wading through Witches, Fenton Bale, Moon Garden, and a few more...). Every now and then I notice it in my collection and bring it out to have a look and reminiscence... The highlight of this deck was being asked for a reading with it by my Fundamentalist Christian English teacher. I think her love of Shakespeare finally overcame her!

There was a brief time when I gave up the Robin Wood *More gasps* for the Nigel Jackson, but it only last a few months. The Nigel Jackson was too big for my hands.

Every now and then I'll read with a different deck, when I feel like a change, or I'll pull out a second deck to add to my Robin Wood in a reading.

So I'm not totally faithful....

Kiama

For me, definitely the Aquarian. My dearest, oldest friend, who also reads the cards, got an Aquarian back in high school, just when I was first fooling about with Tarot. I loved her deck, loved it. (Of course, back then, we also very frequently went about the streets dressed in elegant vintage clothing and little hats, so...)

When I had saved enough to get my own deck (to replace the gift Marseilles one with which I had been fruitlessly struggling) naturally the Aquarian was the one I grabbed. And I used it for years.

Now, I can't believe how bland and boring it is. Although I do still very much like "my" card in this deck, the Page of Cups. That fish-to-face immediacy still charms me.

sigh...I miss my old deck...

This thread has made me slightly pensive. I posted on a different thread about my ebay-tarot-collecting binge that I am recently recovering (I think--unless I find a really great deal =) ) from. I managed to amass about 30 decks in several months. Now I'm completely overwhelmed by all these strangers...and I really really miss those easy, carefree days when I would simply reach for my Ancestral Path deck.

I read with a few other decks before finding the AP (Arcus Arcanum and William's Renaissance) but the AP seemed to fit neatly into my intuitive mind. My readings with it were excellent, I loved the imagery...and life was so simple.

Its been so long since I've even looked at that deck--between my obsessive pouring over ebay listings, and wandering through the new decks in my bedroom...Maybe I'll pull her out tonight!

Arcana

The Osho Zen

The Osho Zen was my first deck. I loved it for it's simplicity but then I started to think it was time I got one that was more complicated and accurate. The Osho was often too general, which is fine I think but I just wanted to see what it would be like to have a second deck so recently I bought the Haindl with a companion book by Pollack. I've been using it exclusively ever since. It's a lovely deck and unlike others here I find the pips court cards and aces to be nearly just as detailed as the majors. The stones don't have much substance to them but the title on each card explains it enough so that you remember which meaning goes with which card easily enough.

Even though I don't use the Osho anymore I strongly recommend it for beginners. I don't think I have enough experience with tarot to recommend it for experts and more advanced users but I believe the artwork speaks for itself

For a few months

I used the Voyager. Then most of my questions that I started with the Voyager, I move to Thoth for personal readings. If I want to read collage style decks for others, sometimes I pull out the Enchanted.

I like paintings better. I've like collage decks, but I gave many to friends who like that art form for their work.

For awhile I collected multicultural, pagan, celtic, anime illustrations, Rider Waite workalikes. But I have winnowed down these selections and added a few modern French and Spanish and German decks for change. I like my historical Italian Milanese variants and use them mostly.

Some of the more colorful and creative modern decks from Urania, AGM Mueller and the latest from U.S. Games, New Century Tarot, have innovative and amazing art...

I learned to read with the RW, but never use them anymore. To be honest, I only bought them because they were recommended to be great for beginners. The artwork never did much for me and I always new I'd move on.

......On the other hand, I LOVED the Sacred Circle! I used them exclusively for a while, but found other decks I loved much better.