What Modern Decks have "Stood the Test of Time" for You?

[MarieBernard]

To qualify I'm asking about decks you bought from say, 5-15 years ago when they were trendier or new that you still use regularly. What has kept your interest, has anything changed in how you perceive the deck? What about decks you may have jumped on the bandwagon with that lost your interest? What was it that made you not maintain a "relationship" with those cards? 

 

I'm going to name the Anna K. Tarot and the Lunatic Tarot as two that I've 'stayed with.' The Anna K. has become like a homey old friend, honest, comfortable without being overly cute or dressed up, the cards are a nice size and easy to use - it's almost completely replaced the Morgan Greer for frequency and all of my Fairy/Forest/Folklore types. The Lunatic's artwork has kept it a favorite because it has a definite BDSM bent without being morbid, overly lurid, or too dark.

 

One that fell out of favor with me, to my surprise, was the Gaian Tarot. I still pick it up on rare occasions, but while it's not as flakey and saccharine as something like a fae-themed deck, the people in the cards seem a bit plastic to me, like they're not gritty, faulty, and three-dimensional like real life is.

[Flaxen]

Great question! 
 

I bought a lot of decks 9-10 years ago as I got the collecting bug. Have slowed down massively in the last few years though. 
 

The ones I still love and reach for regularly are the Deviant Moon, Tarot of the Sidhe, Tarot of the Crone, Arthurian Tarot and the Bohemian Gothic. Tarot of the Sweet Twilight was also a surprise and reads well for me. 
 

There are some TdM decks bought in that time period which I adore but they are not ‘modern’ so probably don’t count. 
 

There are also a few bought in the last 5 years which have the potential to be keepers too. 
 

I have a long list of ones which haven’t really made it to regular readings decks for me! 

[teknikalley]

Druidcraft and Llewellyn were the first two decks I owned (and the only two I used for over a decade before the deck collecting rabbit hole sucked me in). I still pull them out on a weekly basis, even though I have over 100 decks now. 😳

[gregory]

Sweet Twilight (2009) (waves at Flaxen !) and Pagan Cats (2010). I still love looking at them and they still read superlatively for me.

 

I love to look at the de la Rea, but I'm still not good reading with Marseille decks.

[MarieBernard]

@Flaxen I have the Dark Goddess Tarot by Elaine Lorenzi-Prince (sp?) who also did the Tarot of the Crone. I love the Dark Goddess, but it's not a go-to deck for everyday readings for me, it's one I'm more likely to break out for something special. 

 

 

[DanielJUK]

I've moved this over to the Tarot Decks section as it fits in much better over here, discussing decks 😀

[Bodhiseed]

Victorian Fairy Tarot and Druidcraft Tarot

[vulprix]

Tarot of the Hidden Realm.

[Aeona]

One of the first decks that gave me lots of details to add to my readings was the Tarot of Bohemian Cats and it's still one of my favorites. 

[MarieBernard]

@Aeona Is that the same as the Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot? 

[Rose Lalonde]

Tabula Mundi from 2016.  
(Reprinted recently and a mini added. 🙂 )

[Aeona]

2 hours ago, MarieBernard said:

@Aeona Is that the same as the Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot? 

Oops, yes that's what I meant!

[vulprix]

1 hour ago, Rose Lalonde said:

Tabula Mundi from 2016.  
(Reprinted recently and a mini added. 🙂 )

Oh I so agree with this, Rose!! It’s been sneaking into my rotation recently

[cosita]

Tarot of the Magical Forest, the Sakki-Sakki Tarot, Charissa Drengsen's Steampunk Tarot, and the Stretch Tarot. I use a lot of other decks, but one of these are always in the rotation.

Edited December 20, 2021 by cosita
Added another deck

[katrinka]

Not very many, TBH.
The Babas are consistently good. The Fantastic Menagerie, Bohemian Gothic and Victorian Romantic are standout reading decks, but they're all great.

I like the Vamp, but I think that one came out in 2019?

The Trionfi della Luna is good.

Most of the decks I use are reproductions of historical decks. The newer ones usually don't do much for me.

[Niobium]

Possibly not a surprise because I keep mentioning it, but my Hello Tarot remains a modernish (2002, anyways) deck which I've never really stopped using. The other one I keep coming back to which is more properly in the definition given is Anima Mundi, by Creeping Moon. The clean, concise nature imagery in her art really hits the right spot for me when I want something a little more sober than Hello Tarot.

[Jewel]

The Baba (Magic Realist Press) decks 100%, my favorites being The Alice, Fantastic Menagerie, Victorian Romantic, Baroque Bohemian Cats and Bohemian Gothic.  Frankly I love all of their decks, they have incredible readability, excellent companion books, are all different in tone, and just excellent quality all around.  You can't go wrong with a Baba deck.  Baba decks, in my book, are in a class all of their own.

 

Aside from those standouts there are several that have stood the test of time for me as well in no particular order:  Victorian Fairy Tarot, Tarot of the Sweet Twilight, Cosmic Tribe, Green Witch, Mermaid Tarot (Leeza Robertson), Magical Dogs, Tarot of the Sidhe, Fey Tarot, Every Day Witch, Joie de Vivre and Deviant Moon.  There are plenty others I have that I still enjoy but those are my standouts.  Some of these caught me by surprise some were as good as I thought they would be.  The art is evocative often times giving new perspectives to traditional meanings, or speaking in a particular voice during readings that really resonates with me.

[ballerina]

2 hours ago, Jewel said:

The Baba (Magic Realist Press) decks 100%, my favorites being The Alice, Fantastic Menagerie, Victorian Romantic, Baroque Bohemian Cats and Bohemian Gothic.  Frankly I love all of their decks, they have incredible readability, excellent companion books, are all different in tone, and just excellent quality all around.  You can't go wrong with a Baba deck.  Baba decks, in my book, are in a class all of their own.

 

 

@Jewel and @katrinka I'm with ya 'bout the Baba decks.

 

Otherwise I still love my Zircus Magii, Mibramig, Druidcraft.  I actually (knock on wood) have bought very few that I really haven't connected with.  Some day I'll sort them out and find them new homes.