Metafizzypop
I did! I started with the RWS about 20 years ago. Even though I've bought several other decks since, I still consider it THE deck. I think that other tarot decks, the ones that came out after the RWS, also have a lot of respect for the RWS -- as much as a deck of tarot cards can actually have an opinion about other tarot decks (browsing around this site I get the sense that they often do). I say this because sometimes I find myself using the RWS even when I'm not actually using it. OK, that made no sense. Here's what I mean.
Tarot decks vary. Artwork and meanings can change a lot from deck to deck. The Five of Swords in one deck for example, won't be the same in the next or the next etc. Sometimes I'll do a reading, using an "alternate" deck, and I find that, try as I might, I just can't figure out what the cards are saying. I'll get stuck on a card, or 2 or 3, and going by the picture on the card and the meaning in the book that came with the deck, it just makes no sense. I might be using the Vertigo deck, or the Alchemical Deck, or the Housewives Deck. What I'll do in cases like this is I'll consider the RWS card, the picture and the meaning on that. And a lot of times it clears things up. It'll offer something that makes perfect sense. So, it looks to me that, even when I'm using a different deck, the RWS still shows up, in its own way.
I don't know if it's because the RWS was the first deck I bought, the one that's most firmly stuck in my mind. It might also be because the other Tarot decks actually consider the RWS to be the gold standard. Or maybe it's because so many books on Tarot are based on the RWS that it's given the deck more psychic force or something. I don't know. But whatever it is, the RWS deck always seems to be lurking in the background of my readings, no matter what deck I use.
Then again, sometimes there's readings I do with the RWS that I can't figure out for the life of me, either. In cases like that, I'm usually just screwed.
Tarot decks vary. Artwork and meanings can change a lot from deck to deck. The Five of Swords in one deck for example, won't be the same in the next or the next etc. Sometimes I'll do a reading, using an "alternate" deck, and I find that, try as I might, I just can't figure out what the cards are saying. I'll get stuck on a card, or 2 or 3, and going by the picture on the card and the meaning in the book that came with the deck, it just makes no sense. I might be using the Vertigo deck, or the Alchemical Deck, or the Housewives Deck. What I'll do in cases like this is I'll consider the RWS card, the picture and the meaning on that. And a lot of times it clears things up. It'll offer something that makes perfect sense. So, it looks to me that, even when I'm using a different deck, the RWS still shows up, in its own way.
I don't know if it's because the RWS was the first deck I bought, the one that's most firmly stuck in my mind. It might also be because the other Tarot decks actually consider the RWS to be the gold standard. Or maybe it's because so many books on Tarot are based on the RWS that it's given the deck more psychic force or something. I don't know. But whatever it is, the RWS deck always seems to be lurking in the background of my readings, no matter what deck I use.
Then again, sometimes there's readings I do with the RWS that I can't figure out for the life of me, either. In cases like that, I'm usually just screwed.