Decks you dislike, and why

[Cassandra022]

Originally Posted by vee

The only deck I can think of offhand that I really just have a visceral dislike of is the Gaian. There are a lot of things I appreciate about it intellectually--its diversity of gender, age, and race, the modern setting, the nature based approach....but I really just want to retch when i look at it. It's so overly sentimental, hippy dippy, New Agey without substance and I really hate the photo-->art style. I get second hand embarrassment when I look at it. Like, I feel embarrassed for the people on the cards.

I mean I'm sure they aren't embarrassed by it or anything and I don't mean to imply that they should--clearly this deck speaks to a lot of people. It just doesn't speak to me, and I would be very embarrassed indeed to be a part of it.

add me to the list of Gaian haters. i won this deck in a raffle. i never win things like raffles so it OUGHT to have been exciting and with most decks I would have at least tried to work with it a while because I OMG!WON! it. With this though...my first thought, looking at it, was 'I need to trade this away'. For exactly those reasons

[Le Fanu]

The Gaian is doomed to date horrendously. Poor thing.

[Laura Borealis]

Originally Posted by gregory

My point precisely. They are NOT the cats of the BBC. I see no evil canines in there Clad or otherwise.

Just humiliated ones

[jackdaw*]

Originally Posted by vee

I am a "housewife" (stay at home mom, really) and a raging feminist and I love the Housewives Tarot! I use it to read to all my sahm buddies and we get a huge kick out of it. I don't find it oppressive so much as kind of ironic and catty...which doesn't really make it sound that great, but when you spend all your time with toddlers, ironic and catty can be fun sometimes

Ack. Have just stumbled across this thread again, and read snippets. It's accomplished two things:

(a) made me pull out my Robin Wood again, just to spite Le Fanu
(b) made me add the Housewives to my wishlist. For exactly the above reasons vee mentions. As a housebound housewife with a preschooler, I think I need that tongue-in-cheek sort of a deck I had it once, and traded it. But that was in my days when I had a job, a life outside the house, and no children. Now I need it. *off to trawl the internet for cheap copies*

[Melisandre]

The only one I've come across so far that I've less-than-loved is the Housewives Tarot. I wanted to LOVE it, I thought I would LOVE it.... and I'm still hoping it will wind up growing on me. In my limited experience, it's the one deck I just don't seem to connect with.

[Freddie]

Originally Posted by LRichard

I dislike about 99% of all the Tarot decks that have been published. The reasons usually are that I consider them to be inauthentic or ugly or both. However, one person's trash is another's treasure. Vive la différence!

I agree with you Richard.


Freddie

[MountainGirl]

Originally Posted by mizu

For some reason I disliked Rider-Waite at first sight, it just looks off-putting to me.

Same here. It reminds me of the pictures in an old children's book that was designed to frighten children into good behaviour, and it worked.

Blessings,
MountainGirl

[trzes]

I love this thread.

I learned what a creep I am to like the Baphomet. Ideed it is adoleszent, creepy, offputtingly violent, pretentious ("I am o so special because I am o so naughty"), and so on. It wasn't the only deck I now have to agree is crap but admit that I still like it. I even feel encouraged to buy some decks just because they managed to make a couple of people from ATF sick. These decks can't be just boring.

I find it very reassuring though that there are others too who feel put off by the Gendron and embarresed by the Gaian.

But what is it about the Robin Wood? I used to be indifferent about it, but I took a closer look when LeFanu called it very Ayran and slightly fascistic but couldn't pin it down. One could argue wether it has a touch of some sort of "Leni Riefenstahl"-esthetics, which makes many of the charakters look even more blond than they actually are. I don't know.

But I guess the sinister LeFanu was on about is actually the expressions of the faces. They all look so pleased with themselves, happy in a quite agressive way, as they seem to crow over the less enchanted. Just look at the rather creepy child from the sun card. Somehow they all look like brain washed scientologists. See http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=92734 for example. By the way Tom Cruise is on the 10 of cups. On the other hand I think that this was not intended at all. I rather think the artist simply wanted to paint happy yet expressive people. Didn't work too well for me.

The most frequent reason given here to despise a deck seems to be the self righteousness and in-your-face attitude of a deck. I hereby join the majority.

[BlackMoon]

I think there is more consistent with a deck of Tarot cards, sometimes it happens that there is no agreement with another deck.

What I can not use in any way is:
radiant. rider waite tarot
are used more and more common there's no way I can not use them.


I find it horrible (sorry for their users, and color that I do not like) the Italian Sibyl, the Italian tarot, oracle Italian.

Of those that I had the chance to see and experience.

[Grizabella]

(Re: RWS)

Originally Posted by MountainGirl

Same here. It reminds me of the pictures in an old children's book that was designed to frighten children into good behaviour, and it worked.

Blessings,
MountainGirl

Same here! I just hate the art work on that deck and exactly because it does remind me of the art work from some of the books in my childhood. I always got the feeling that it was chintzy art work----like someone skimped on the effort to make anything look pretty or realistic about it or to use any nice colors. In fact, not only did I feel like someone skimped on effort and paint colors in those childhood books, I felt like they were doing it because children weren't worth better and couldn't appreciate real art and I guess maybe, in my little child mind, I was insulted by that.

When I finally gave in and started learning to read with RWS, I still couldn't even bring myself to use it. I had to get the Universal Waite to be able to stand it.