Which of the 3 Should I Get Him?

TarotPourToujours

***UPDATE: I bought him the Tarot of the Angels and while he was visiting in July I also got him the Robin Wood which he seemed to suddenly like. Thank you for all your suggestions! <3

Greetings, fellow ATers! So after going over the "what do you want for Christmas" routine with my fiance for the hundredth time, I decided I would get him a Tarot Deck. He's been wanting one for a while now so I gave him a link of a few Tarot sites and told him to tell me what decks he likes. He literally spent hours looking at hundreds upon hundreds of decks and his list consists of 3 decks... "I didn't even narrow it down." I'm stunned. There are NO "I knew that was coming" decks on here. No Druid Craft, Robin Wood, Gilded, Rider-Waite (or a clone), etc. None. Nada.

He chose:
Tarot of the Angels: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/angels-picca/index.shtml#cards
Labyrinth Tarot: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/labyrinth/
Sensual Wicca Tarot: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/sensual-wicca/index.shtml#cards

Obviously I want his first deck to be one that he can easily learn to Read Tarot with. I didn't want to get him something highly themed that may make it difficult to see cards in a different way. For example, I'd never recommend the Dark Grimoire Tarot as a first deck because it's "dark" and it may be hard for an inexperienced Reader to see it as something positive and light depending on the cards. But these make it awfully hard.

He is Wiccan so I know the Sensual Wicca Tarot is right up his alley... but I fear the name changes on the cards along with the highly sensual (and sexual) theme may make it a bit difficult. I just don't want him to think Tarot is all about sex. LOL All jokes aside... I don't really feel this would be a great beginners deck.

Labyrinth Tarot looks great and like something he'd enjoy... but the pip cards just seem to be "decorated" like the description states and not illustrated such as one would find in, say, the Rider-Waite deck. I just fear that the non-illustrated pips would make it difficult. I originally started learning with non-illustrated pips before it started to turn me off from Tarot. Luckily, I did get another deck. :D Can anyone with this deck tell me if the pips are just decorated?

I'm leaning toward Tarot of the Angels. It seems to have the Cards named in a way that they can't be confused (no "Lust" or "Explosion here) and it seems to be balanced (it isn't completely fluffy as I expected an Angel deck to be). I just feel strange getting an Angel deck for a guy. =\ But he DID say it was one he wanted. I just don't want to make him appear feminine by having it as his first deck.

Any suggestions? Like I said, I'm leaning toward Tarot of the Angels. I thought about getting him one of those three and then possibly a more traditional deck such as a Rider-Waite clone so, if he feels confused by one deck, he can view the other to study. But finances are tough at the moment and I DID want to get him a book, as well. Add in shipping 2,000+ miles away and it could get costly. =\ I'm at a crossroads here. Thank you for all suggestions. :)
 

moonbear

Hi TarotPourToujours
If he spent all that time looking then I wouldn't bother getting anything other than something on his list. I'm a relative beginner and although all three decks are lovely I found myself drawn to the Angel one.

And I'm not an angel person AT ALL })

Second on my list would be the Labyrinth but then he is a guy and the Sensual Wicca is pretty interesting!
 

Grizabella

My suggestion would be to get one from his list and then a second deck---RWS or Universal Waite---to actually learn with. True, it's a little more expensive to buy two decks but at least you'd know he'd have a deck that's a standard learning deck so that he wouldn't get discouraged and give up on learning Tarot if the others proved too difficult for him at first.
 

Reyan

Present suggestions

I think Grizabella's suggestion sounds pretty good. It is a tough choice! Personally, I think the Labyrinth Tarot is in the best taste of the three, and if you are planning on getting a rider-waite/clone as well, I think the geometrical pips wouldn't be as big of a problem.

On the other hand, it doesn't look like Tarot of Angels should be too difficult to learn from, so if you want to get only one deck, I agree perhaps you should pick that one. As long as he picked it as one of his choices, I don't think you should have to worry about it being too feminine.
 

Cassandra022

If shopping for a beginner i'd likely get the angels one too actually. It does seem best for learning with.

And gender roles are silly anyway. Why should an angel deck be 'girly'? Why shouldn't a man read with a deck, even if it was truly girly (lol like the manga tarot) if that's what deck he connects with? Why all these societal rules about well if it looks like this its for men and if it looks like this its for women blah blah. It's all just silly social constructs.

plus, if he feels comfortable asking for the deck, and doesn't feel it's a challenge to his masculinity, why should you be concerned? :]
 

porcupines

I'm a relative beginner like moonbear as well, I really liked the idea of giving the Labyrinth deck. The Angels deck also seems great. Why do you think he selected these decks, any particular reason why you think he's drawn to them? That might give you a better idea as to which one he might work best with. And I think everyone can do with angels around the holiday season :)
 

Melisandre

Grizabella said:
My suggestion would be to get one from his list and then a second deck---RWS or Universal Waite---to actually learn with. True, it's a little more expensive to buy two decks but at least you'd know he'd have a deck that's a standard learning deck so that he wouldn't get discouraged and give up on learning Tarot if the others proved too difficult for him at first.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I did when I picked up my first deck(s)...which was not long ago AT ALL, but my collection has grown a bit since then! In any case, I was very drawn to Tarot of the Sidhe but knew that it probably wasn't the best deck for me to learn on. So I also bought the Radiant Rider-Waite. It worked out very well for me.

Plus it would give you the freedom to just get whichever of his three picks you think would please him the most, without having to worry about the logistics. Good luck! I'm sure he'll love whatever you pick out. Also, Cassandra took the words right out of my mouth about the feminine/masculine thing.
 

SixDegrees

I'm a man, and I must admit being drawn to the Tarot of the Angels as well. It strikes me as much deeper than much of the Angel-themed stuff out there.
 

Chronata

Of those three...I agree...Tarot of the Angels is a very good bet.

Sensual Wicca is Ok, but deviates a little, and is a bit distracting. If he ever wants to read for anyone else, it might be tough with this one.

Labyrinth is a nice deck, but the minors don't do it for me.

I think the Angels is beautiful, and maybe easier to "get" for a first timer.
 
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