Question for anyone willing to answer...

Please also let us hear what you might like...

"but I think that maybe a deck that is more 'me' may be more helpful/constructive..."

You are very right in the fact there's many fully-illustrated tarots out there...

I see by your profile you are a happily married Wiccan mother of three...but you might like anything from the fabulous embroideries of the Enchanted Tarot and it's soft-spoken descriptions to moods more shadowy and operatic of the Secrets Tarot. Would it be possible to hear more about anything you like to read in terms of books, see in terms of art, film or musical tastes? Maybe you are more outdoorsy, nature-oriented...or maybe you like fairy stories for your growing toddlers...that would help narrow our suggestions.

Best wishes,

Cerulean

Rusty Neon is right, if you search online for a particular deck you can see up to 70% of the cards in the deck if you're persistent.

A good place to also look is the mini-review site that compares like-types of decks against each other. http://www.advancenet.net/~jscole/tarot.htm It might help to see the same card in a side by side comparison, or check which groupings you find yourself drawn to.

If there's no bookstore near you that can get orders (most decks are through two or three publishers & are easily gotten on special order that way), then online or tarot garden is the way to go.

Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can find a Metaphysical store that sells tarot cards, and often have open decks of each one, so you can thumb through them all before purchasing. I have found this webiste to be so helpful in narrowing down my searches. I, at least, can write down what I think I would be interested in, or not, and that gives me a great starting point. And a lot of it is trial and error. Sometimes I see a deck that looks like I will love it, get it, use it, and end up not caring much for it. Or vice-versa. And as I collect more decks, I see a style coming forth, for me-in colours, style, being RW based or clones, etc. Some people are completely attracted to the Marseilles decks, others to Osho Zen. I'm a Gilded Tarot girl, myself! But there are others I love to read from, too. Russian St. Petersburg. I never thought I would actually read from this deck, but I do, and just love it. I thought I would completely connect with the Golden, but, though I love the artwork, I find it hard to read from. I would narrow things down, a bit, as best you can from online photos and descriptions/reviews, and then purchase one, and see how it clicks. If it does, great! If not, then make a note of why it isn't clicking. Size? Feel? Colours? The artwork? The meanings? All these little things can help find that perfect reading deck! Best of luck-have fun with it!

thoth revisited

Dear Kelmel,

After clicking on your profile I see you are a busy mom with only the RWS deck.

IMHO you'd do very well to purchase the Thoth deck next. It's a classic. It's sufficiently different from RWS to give you lots of food for thought and will undoubedly give you new insights.

Even if you hate the Thoth deck there are so many clones or decks which use the deck's esoteric imagery that you just can't go wrong. At worst, it's a learning deck you should keep.

Personally, I have the RWS deck but don't do readings with it ever. I dislike the artwork and colors. But I respect it as a "foundation" deck.

Once you have Thoth and RWS, you'll be ready to splurge on something more fun.

Just my 2 cents

hello there.

yes, i had a bit of trouble with that myself. when i did not know what deck to buy, i always consulted my much more experienced buddy. she told me that one should go with what their main beliefs are, research what kind of a deck is reccomended, and choose one that you like, one you are comfortable with. me, for example, i am a Spiritual Satanist. my other friend tim reccomended using the crowley tarot, (thoth) and i found to like them nicely... they are beautiful to me and they feel right. i dont know, ask around to see what works for who, i used to own several decks and i dont think there is anything wrong with that. you just need to experiment and get a feel for what is you.
good luck!
-AVE SATANAS!

I order online a lot and do appreciate the sites that go the extra mile to help folks like myself make the best choices.There are several good sites with reviews and scans. After you've looked around you'll start finding them.

But it's rare to find reviews that tell much about the card stock or finish. I've read a few that do but not very many. That's my only beef about shopping for cards online. But if I like everything else about a deck and really want to know I can always ask in this forum and it usually doesn't take long to get an answer.

Shopping online is far better than going in cold to a store, imo. At a store you have nothing but maybe one card on the box to go by.

fools_fool

Have you seen the Robin Wood Tarot? This was the deck I started with, and used as my primary deck for over 6 years. It is Raider Waite based with Wiccan flare to it.

The best way is to handle prospective decks yourself.
Some stores will let you take the cards out, but even
just holding the unopened box may give you vibes. You
can't really count on pictures or other people's opinions
all of the time.

Does your sister have multiple decks? If she does, have you looked at any of hers to see if one just jumps out and grabs you?

I have a Rider Waite, but just never have been able to "get into" it. It was not my first deck, I got it to take an online course based on Joan Bunnings' book, Learning the Tarot (a very good book, BTW, even if I don't care for the RWS deck ).

There are a few things I've noticed about decks that I really love:
I seem to be drawn to decks with lots of primary colors;
I love borderless cards; and
The pips have to be illustrated - unillustrated pips just don't give me the visual impact I need to read all the nuances of the card. . .

Okay, well I had a credit card and access to ebay, so I bought lots of different decks using the reviews and scans at various sites to pick out those I thought I would like.

Anything that didn't come up to par when it arrived in the post was sold on through ebay or amazon or traded.

Eventually, I found what I liked best (Greenwood/Druidcraft) and have stuck with those. It took time, but I finally found something that just clicked.

Oh, I would like to point out that I did not think much of the Greenwood from the scans I saw on the internet, but when I held it in my hand, it was a very different story.

Cheers,
Webwitch