Queeny
Mine was RWS but i didn't use it for long, came across the enchanted tarot and haven't stopped using it since 
Your first deck?
nisaba
My first deck was a Rider-Waite. I didn't really know any others existed (this was in the 1970s and I was very young). I also picked up a copy of Alfred Douglas' book a bit before the deck ,and I remember wishing passionately that it was actually possible to buy a deck like the line-drawings in that book! (I got the Sheridan-Douglas something like thirty years later). So in a way, the black and white version of that deck as shown in that book was a first deck, too, because those were the images in my mind when I was doing early thinking and early reading.pyrogyne said:
Neither of these decks influenced me much as a reader. I think the voyage through around eighty decks of all different genres influenced me more, and taught me more than just sticking to my beginnings. And the two decks that dominate my inner Tarot perceptions are decks that were first published in the 1990s, so well after I bought my first deck! If anything those two later decks influenced my style much more than any of the earlier decks.
Queen of Disks
My first deck was the hideous Jonathan Dee (mainly because it was there in the bookstore.) Never used it. Tried a few other decks, but they never stuck and I didn't know what I was looking at.
The first deck I actually used and understood was the Universal Waite. Hooked me for life!
The first deck I actually used and understood was the Universal Waite. Hooked me for life!
gregory
Exactly. I would never get rid - but I can't read with it AT ALL !Emily said:Mine was the 1JJ Swiss too - nearly put me off for life - just the book by Stuart Kaplan to go off, no internet and no other material to help me at all. I soon found out that it just wasn't my kind of deck and I still can't read with the Marseilles style decks.
But it did feel pretty special buying it from the occult shop that later had to close because of stupid people, and the incense smell stopped on both the deck and the book for years. So although it never turned out to be my special deck, I do still have fond memories of buying it.
jackdaw*
First deck I owned was that Jonathan Dee/Shirley Barker set. It was cheap, and I thought I could use it to see if I liked it, and if I did I'd find a better one.
Well, it intrigued me enough that I bought my first "real" deck, a Universal Waite. I loved it, and mourned it when I got rid of it in a massive culling. So much so that I recently re-bought it in pocket size and its original full-sized Belgian-printed glory.
To this day, when I picture a Tarot card in my head, it's almost inevitably one of the Rider-Waite recolourings. Usually this one, or the Albano.
ETA: crossed posts, Queen of Discs. Coincidence, no?
Well, it intrigued me enough that I bought my first "real" deck, a Universal Waite. I loved it, and mourned it when I got rid of it in a massive culling. So much so that I recently re-bought it in pocket size and its original full-sized Belgian-printed glory.
To this day, when I picture a Tarot card in my head, it's almost inevitably one of the Rider-Waite recolourings. Usually this one, or the Albano.
ETA: crossed posts, Queen of Discs. Coincidence, no?
Nytebugg
My first was the Enchanted. then I thought I lost it so I bought the Londa. then I took a tarot break for many years. when I came back to it I got myself a new deck which was Kat Black's Golden.
I have since sold the Enchanted. I still have the londa but I rarely read with it these days. The golden sits on my shelf as well the thick card stock is nice but a pain to shuffle.
I have since sold the Enchanted. I still have the londa but I rarely read with it these days. The golden sits on my shelf as well the thick card stock is nice but a pain to shuffle.
MrAndrewJ
Mine was the Magic Manga. I bought it to inspire ideas for fantasy stories.
The one that really sucked me in was the Halloween Tarot. Very much in the philosophy of RWS but with images that clicked with me.
The one that really sucked me in was the Halloween Tarot. Very much in the philosophy of RWS but with images that clicked with me.
Chronata
RWS
The Rider Waite
Yellow box
It was exactly what I hoped tarot would be.
It had just the right amount of occulty goodness and classic looks that made me a respectable fortune teller at the ripe age of 13.
I still have it.
I still adore it.
It's old and worn now, and bowed and dirty...and it looks better than it did when I first took it out of the box.
It's had three different vintage bags...each of which fell apart, before it came to live in the ribbon bag made by a nice AT member.
It made me want to know more about Pixie, and her life and her art.
It made me trust my intuition and become the detective that delves for hidden symbols.
It made me a reader who almost always sees the RWS illustrations first, when I think of a certain card.
The Rider Waite
Yellow box
It was exactly what I hoped tarot would be.
It had just the right amount of occulty goodness and classic looks that made me a respectable fortune teller at the ripe age of 13.
I still have it.
I still adore it.
It's old and worn now, and bowed and dirty...and it looks better than it did when I first took it out of the box.
It's had three different vintage bags...each of which fell apart, before it came to live in the ribbon bag made by a nice AT member.
It made me want to know more about Pixie, and her life and her art.
It made me trust my intuition and become the detective that delves for hidden symbols.
It made me a reader who almost always sees the RWS illustrations first, when I think of a certain card.
Milfoil
Mine was one that I laboriously traced from a book in the mobile library when I was about 15, then copied onto cartridge paper, coloured in etc. It was some sort of Marseille deck but other than that I have no idea. Also it ended up being only about 3" high because that was the size of the photos in the book. 
It was given up as a 'tool of the devil' which is a shame really, I think of it fondly now.
The first 'real' deck was a RW.
It was given up as a 'tool of the devil' which is a shame really, I think of it fondly now.
The first 'real' deck was a RW.
Golden Moon
Mine was a renowned Latin American tarot deck called, "Tarots Egipcios". I was 15 at the time when I was given the deck by my mother and grandmother. After I got the deck, I went through it and wondered, "What the heck?, How am I suppose to read this?" but one thing that helped me was that the tarot deck had keywords in both Spanish & French. I read the deck long before I knew a book existed for this deck. I must say had I not bought the book when I was given the deck, I don't think I would have sharpen my intuition.
