Personal Tips On Choosing A New Deck

[Inana]

One thing I forgot to meantion initially is : It's very important to me where each character in the card is looking. You know, are they gazing towards the right side or left side ect.. For eg: it bothers me that the RWS tarot's fool's body and direction is going towards the left. To me it makes more sens if its going towards the right... ( crazy, I know!!!)

Not crazy at all. It's about if the card is oriented to past, present or future.

Reading all these post is making me want to buy a new deck too!!! I'm going to take a look at the upper boards and the AT cards section.

 

[SunChariot]

I just look at the images of it online and I just feel it inside when a deck is calling to me. Which tends to mean I am meant to have it.

If I had to put it into words, I guess I would say it is about the beauty of the artwork, and something I can just almost start to sense "behind" it.

It's about the meaning behind the images, like when I look at them I can sense they have something they want and need to say to me, like they want and need to chat with me and I can just barely start to sense some of what it is that they want to say by looking at those images.

It's the feeling I get when all that happens that makes me have a longing inside to have that long talk with them so we can learn from each other. It a sense that there is some deep wisdom there that needs to get out and make its way into my heart.

Babs

 

[SunChariot]

But for right now, I will be honest, I would have a hard time using a deck that belonged to someone else before me... I don't know if I am wrong about that....but still, it would kinda make me feel funny....

You're never wrong if you follow your true feelings/heart when it comes to Tarot. They will tell you what is right for you and what is not. And what is right for some people is not for others. It's all individual. If that is how you feel respect and follow your feelings. We are not all made the same, some people are more sensitive to other people's energy than others...but the point is that you sense inside what is right for you and if you follow what you are sensing you can't go wrong.



Babs

 

[sweet_intuition]

Sweet Intuition, I'm officially on the lookout for a stunning deck that contains a "BUNNY NO LIKE THIS" card... and I'm sending a copy to you for your ownsome. Thank you thank you for that! That phrase sums up an entire worldview that gives me the heebs.

I so can't wait for such a deck. Maybe there's something called 'The Bunny Tarot' .

In fact your post pretty much says it all... and apparently we do (and look for) a lot of the same things when looking. Down to the fact that in GD decks, I look at The Moon, the 3 of Swords, as well as the Knight of Wands.

Ooo.. thank you for reminding me.. THE MOON!

That's also another card that would go through my 'scrutiny' before I give a deck my seal of approval. The Moon is such an amazing card, and decks that try to downplay it totally make me wanna slap the artist. I hate titles like "Illusions" or "Fear" or "Evil PMS Cramps"... cause lady luna is a whole lot more than all that. It's so rare to find a deck that does 'justice' to this card.

And though I'm not a fan of the Knight of Wands, I'm a sucker for the Knight of Cups (I consider him to be my personal signifactor majority of the times - except when I'm in a total Bernadette Peters' Witch from "Into the Woods" mood, then I'm a Queen of Swords .. stress on 'queen' ). The Knight of Cups should totally be someone dreamy and cute and so totally make me wanna blush and giggle like a jr.high girl crushing on a guy. If a deck has a Knight of Cups that doesn't do that for me, it automatically makes me wanna go "eh".

The only thing I think I might disagree with is the Artwork. While I love beautiful images, I don't know if that's actually the best way to find a deck. Often, prettiness is its own reward.

Never underestimate the value of 'pretty'.. pretty can be really powerful, especially when you least expect it. Fenestra being an example of that - I've had such amazing readings with it. Plus, even if 'pretty' isn't so 'functional', it's always nice to keep something pleasing to the eye laying around.

A lot of the great decks of the world are considered butt-ugly.

Very true... and a lot of super hyped up decks by famous tarotists tend to be super butt-ugly and not great at all ... *whistles the overture of Gypsy and skirting the task of naming names*

But I think each of us has a sense for the kind of visual detail to which we respond... That said, I have zero-tolerance for shoddy artwork. Crappy skillsets make me insane. If the armature is off or someone can't do basic perspective or composition, I know I'll spend all my time gathering rage and wanting to write them a cease and desist letter.

Exactly!!! That's what I was trying to say when I mentioned 'Artwork'. True, everyone has their own tastes at the end of the day, but personally, shoddy and sloppy art is completely inexcusable!

I will say Mag... that lots of ATers will warn you about the Quest for the Perfect Deck. That way madness lies. I think the best way is to identify a deck that you think might teach you something or push your envelope, buy it and try it. You won't really know 'til you read with it.

Precisely. At the end of the day, you gotta pick something that strikes a chord within you. I never thought a deck like Robin Wood, with it's gramma looking Empress and super cheesy Wheel of Fortune would ever be readable by me, but I spent almost all of 2008 reading with this deck, and it was an incredible experience! I've learned so much from it, and it helped me push my 'intuitive' envelope.

I think I'm less patient with half-ass decks these days and I can spot them at 90 paces.

Hehehehehehehehe... I know the feeling


Also Mag, it's important to understand that at the end of the day, it's "your" deck. You need to be able to read and connect with it. You can take all our advise, or abandon it as you please, for at the end of the day, Tarot is a very personal tool, and so if you like something, and it works for you... more power to ya!

Love and Blessings

 

[morticia monroe]

Actually, I know what I DON'T like far better than what I do.

Anything that can be called "cute" is not my thing.

Light, airy, "floating on a cloud" pastel decks are absolutely out.

Anything TOO esoteric that requires studying (studying Kaballah, Hebrew letters, etc) to the point of brain hemmorhage is out.

Something that is so far off the beaten path that it should be an oracle but still calls itself tarot is out.

Bright, screaming, in your face shocks of violent color are out. Color is good, But I don't want to be sun-blinded.

ANYTHING to do with Fairies is out. The only exception here being Frouds. I bought it, and have yet to work with it, but I LOVE the earthy colors,,I see things in the good old color brown that no one else seems to understand. The colors in this deck soothe and invigorate me at the same time. And the fairies are more like little fairy-troll morphs than just Tinkerbells all over the place.

I have my own breasts. And breasts are fine in a deck, But giant bulging globes spilling out of dresses cut to the navel on every other card are out. It makes me feel like the creator was more into getting his/her self off than in designing a great deck.


The first card I check out is the Moon. Gotta have a great Moon. Then I look at the Queen of Swords.


But with all that said, I have found that like many of the others the only way I REALLY know if a deck will work is to try it. The last deck in the world I would have thought would be my "sure thing" was the Ator. But it works for me every time. I see things in it that don't even seem to be there, if you know what I mean. So I'll never say never, because my list of favorites are entirely too diverse.

I've had too many "OH my God, THIS is the one!" decks arrive, only to find them flatlining on the table before me.

Trial and error.

I do try to have diversity in my collection, and so at times am inclined to choose something that I know I probably won't click with,,,no big deal, I 'll pass them on.

 

[afrosaxon]

Actually, I know what I DON'T like far better than what I do.

Light, airy, "floating on a cloud" pastel decks are absolutely out.

ANYTHING to do with Fairies is out.

Morticia and I are >>><<<. Great minds and all that.

I also don't do Renaissance/Victorian/Medieval-type decks, like the Touchstone, Golden, Robin Wood, etc. Such images don't appeal to me. And right now, I don't see myself reading with non-illustrated pips in Marseilles-type decks. I've seen some of the images and my brain just froze.

I freely admit to not being a fan of RWS (although I do own some RWS-based decks). I like decks that stretch me in their interpretations, and I get to learn new things. Which is why I am so in love with my New Orleans Voodoo Tarot. I had to learn more about vodoun, the spirits, etc...and the deck is so VERY loosely based on the RWS that it speaks to me on a more primal level...I don't feel like I'm regurgitating traditional meanings. I also have the Thoth, and it's intriguing enough to keep in my collection, though I don't read with it as often as I should.

Speaking of which...I enjoy decks that, even if they are RWS-based, put their own unique spin on it (like the Deviant Moon, Tarot Nova, Mystic Dreamer, Tarot of the Magical Forest, and Gaian Tarot)-- RWS-lite, if you will. . If a deck is practically a carbon copy of the RWS in different colors, that turns me off. For all that, I can just get a copy of the RWS and eliminate the middle man.

(originality! love it!)

I love color in a deck, because I rely on color during my readings. The Mystic Dreamer is the most monochromatic deck that I own. *sigh*

When I'm considering a new deck, I look for the 3 of Swords and 5 of Pentacles. If the 3 of Swords shows the usual big, red, bleeding heart with three big swords in it; and the 5 of Pentacles shows the two poor people shivering outside a church, I may have to pass the deck by. There is so much more to those two cards, and those two particular images set my teeth on edge.

But with all that said, I have found that like many of the others the only way I REALLY know if a deck will work is to try it. I've had too many "OH my God, THIS is the one!" decks arrive, only to find them flatlining on the table before me.
.

Yes. I have a couple of decks in my collection like that. I only hold on to one of them because it's very querent-friendly (read: non-threatening ). It also comes in handy sometimes when I use Umbrae's relationship spread on myself.

T.

 

[Scotty_Bane]

I was looking through decks and found The Fenestra deck. Immediately I thought I had found the perfect new deck for my wife, but I was so excited about it and how I was talking about the cards, she had to spell it out for me that it was actually MY deck. And she was right, when I opened the deck my heart fluttered. They totally speak to me.

 

[sweet_intuition]

I was looking through decks and found The Fenestra deck. Immediately I thought I had found the perfect new deck for my wife, but I was so excited about it and how I was talking about the cards, she had to spell it out for me that it was actually MY deck. And she was right, when I opened the deck my heart fluttered. They totally speak to me.

I'm glad that you discovered a deck that felt perfect for you. Fenestra is a lovely deck, and I wish you all the best with it. Readings from it are as powerful as the artwork is incredibly beautiful.

Love and Blessings

 

[Debra]

I've started a new thread on the question of whose opinions influence ours in choosing a new deck: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=1699170#post1699170

 

[AJ]

I saw that, some of the repeated names are the ones that help me know a deck is NOT for me Guess it comes to the same thing, depends on how the question is worded.