How do you choose tarot decks?

[NightOwl]

Apologies if this topic has been covered, I have been having a look through some of the previous threads but can't find something specific to this.

I was just wondering how you choose tarot decks when buying them...

 

I have found that sometimes when I use tarot decks that are pretty and simple, it can make reading harder- not sure why. But then I'm not sure if I want a deck that is overly complicated either... which  I think Raider-Waite is sometimes.

So are there any rules/considerations you have when choosing your decks or is it largely trial and error?

[DanielJUK]

I've moved this thread into the Tarot Decks section @NightOwl, don't worry it's easy for us to move things around and it's easy when you join to post threads in the wrong section and the forum is confusing 😆. This is the best place for tarot deck related discussions 🙂 .

 

It is trial and error, you never know for sure you will like or get on with a deck. I think you can reduce the risk of not liking your new purchases by choosing decks to your tastes. Choose decks with themes and artwork styles you love. Say you like cats, well look at the cats decks. Also look at reviews online and or youtube videos. Maybe even there are reviews and discussions here. See if you like the deck before you spend on it 🙂

 

We are all different with different tastes. Mostly I love really complicated and busy artworks on decks, it really helps my intuitive part of my readings but others just want minimalism 🙂 .

[KiMo]

Hi @NightOwl 😊 I was going to comment but DanielJUK beat me to it!

 

If you feel drawn to a deck and want to find out more about it, more often than not there will be a review and / or a flip through of it on YouTube. I’ve found them very helpful when I’m trying to figure out if I’m ready to buy a deck or not!

[NightOwl]

Thank you both! I will start looking for some other decks, I feel like mine are tired and also a little contradictory... 

[NightOwl]

Also sorry for posting in the wrong place @DanielJUK, it did cross my mind but couldn't work out which would be more appropriate! Thank you for helping though! 😄

Edited September 17, 2022 by NightOwl

[Niobium]

I second trying to find a flip through and/or some reviews so that you can see the images and decide how good a fit a deck will be. Impulse purchases are a nice dopamine hit but I can count on one hand the number of times a deck I've bought like that was a solid hit. Too often there was a dealbreaker card (...or three...) or it was a pips deck and I didn't know that, etc. So once you've identified some candidates, look around for images (or ask here, because some of us may have it!), read reviews, etc. That way you can be reasonably certain your money is being spent on a deck you'll enjoy and get good use from. (Nothing wrong, of course, with buying a deck just for art value, but your question didn't sound like that was the aim.)

 

 

[AnomalyTempest]

I got most of mine from a Half Price Books near my home. Being a mostly used bookstore means they don't always have decks and I would just buy anything that came in without even looking. I have a couple of decks I got this way I love. I also kinda liked the surprise of not knowing anything about the deck. I keep a wish list of decks in my planner so if I happen to come across an actual tarot selection, I kinda have something to work with when choosing. I keep bookmarked folder of indie decks in my browser since I'm not likely to find them in a bookstore.

 

Overall, my deck acquiring style is pretty hodge podge. Some decks I save up for, some I snatch up in used book bins. Luckily, I don't frequent bookstores so I've managed to keep myself to around 30 decks. I haven't really come across a deck I don't like at all. I tend to think it's me just not wanting to put in the effort to get to know more difficult decks. Only Zolar's Astrological Tarot seems unusable but it was found in a desk where my SO works and given to me with no booklet although I understand there is one. It's printed on both sides so idk how it's supposed to work. 😂

[legendaryelement]

My first round with tarot decks was completely focused on themes that followed my interests more than tarot structure itself. Decks with animals, gemstones, Native American/Indian art. Joan Bunning’s site and a couple of others that are gone now showed a wide variety of sample cards with reviews. (Youtube videos hadn’t become so “standard” yet. LOL)

 

Then I decided that I should have one of each of the main 3 system approaches:

Marseilles

Thoth

RiderWaiteSmith

 

The next phase was anything that had an extensive companion book!

 

Trade Trains on Aeclectic Tarot gave me the most wonderful way to try decks & interact with incredible people who have become dear friends. I’m quite disheartened by the prohibitive costs of mailing now - it put a huge barrier up for the Fun & Games section activities.

[Eric13]

I've grown to like the RWS decks, and their influences lets. Boutique style makers who base their cards off it and the Golden Dawn theory of tarot card meanings, so I now stick with that. There's a lot going on, an endless amount of discovery to me. The entire decks are really full of metaphors and various meanings. Now all I have is the borderless version of the classic RWS deck. Its all I need. Siuts me to a "T". Oooo! I'll be here all week!

Edited September 17, 2022 by Eric13
Added "pun" he, he!

[Agnes]

I choose decks based on imagery and what decks people talk about. It’s nice now that you can usually find images of entire decks before buying. 
 

I am really enjoying participating in the Deck of the Week forum here. When I first read the title I thought it meant everyone would study the same deck for a week but really it is people trying out a deck of their choice for a week and talking about it. I’ve learned a lot about my own decks and from reading other people’s experiences with the decks they choose. 

[RunningWild]

When I first started out I didn't want to spend a fortune on something that I might not gel with so whatever was available was good enough.   I didn't order things online at that point.

 

Once I got over ordering online I started purchasing decks that had been out for some time such as the Mythic Tarot, Cosmic Tarot, and the Morgan Greer.

 

Somewhere in there a friend pointed me toward AT and suddenly I was purchasing privately published decks like the Quest Tarot and the Anna K.

 

My favorites are decks that show me something new-to-me, an aspect of a card that I hadn't considered before.  And now also, I tend toward decks that require some extra non- Tarot learning like one that @gregory mentions in another thread (sorry, I'm using the phone and obtaining the link is well beyond my ken here).

 

So I guess my point is that your tastes are going to change as the (hopefully) years roll by.

 

Enjoy the journey!

[Chariot]

I have been streamlining my tarot deck accumulation recently, ridding myself of the decks I don't use/have never used.  I just found a new shop that opened up in our town, which was happy to take them (free) and will use them either to sell as used decks, or possibly for promotional purposes.  The decks are all in their original boxes and are in mint condition (other than having had the shrink wrap removed.)

I am now very picky about the decks I choose to buy, and, to be honest, am unlikely to buy more any time soon.  I have 18 decks I routinely use, and a few that I don't use but keep because they are interesting.  That's enough for me ...unless something comes along that really blows my socks off.  I don't have a wish list any more, though.

I only use the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) system, so RWS-themed decks are the only ones I would buy now.  (Non-RWS decks are fantastic—don't get me wrong—but I'm not in to learning new systems just to accommodate the cards.)

My choices are made easier by the YouTube flip-through videos. (They would have saved me a lot of disappointment in earlier years.)

 

My criteria are:

 

1) I must love the imagery and artwork (or I won't bother)

2)The deck needs to adhere to the RWS system (or I won't bother) - and the minor arcana must be fully illustrated

3) The cards need to be easy to handle and shuffle (not too big, not too sticky, etc.) Not easy to tell until I've bought them and used them though.  I HAVE learned to modify cards, and have 'rescued' a few decks that I would otherwise not use.  (The Druidcraft Tarot is an excellent example.) But some decks just don't adapt well to being cut down, or made borderless, etc.

4) (This is very important to me now) The images on the cards must be easy to distinguish while doing a reading in dim light.  Overly complicated designs just don't work for me any more, because I can't see them clearly.  It's too easy to make a mistake and misinterpret a card.  Strong colour is really important to me, as well, in order to distinguish which cards I'm looking at.  

5) I like the cards to be clearly labeled, especially the court cards.  It's annoying when you think you're reading the Queen of Cups reversed, when it's actually the Queen of Pentacles, badly labeled.  I also get annoyed when the pages and knights both ride horses (!) or neither of them rides a horse—or some do and some don't.  I've made mistakes doing readings (fortunately only for myself) by getting some of these cards mixed up.

That all being said, I do own and use ONE deck that certainly doesn't fit my final two requirements.  That's The Crow Tarot.  I use it, and I love looking at it, and it does work for me. But dang.  I do have to have lots of time and plenty of light to read with that one.  The images are so similar to one another, at a glance, and the labeling is nonexistent in the minor arcana (except for the court cards.)  I am constantly trying to distinguish between the wands and the swords ...as they both are drawn as thin sticks, and it's easy to get confused.  I would never use this deck to read for somebody else, but I make an exception for myself.  It's just such a beautiful deck—and accurate as well.

Edited October 1, 2022 by Chariot