Your favorite decks that nobody likes

[Mokona]

The Parrott Tarot deck. I haven't seen it mentioned or talked about, I only found out about it because my first received tarot reading (happened online) the deck the reader used was this one.

I love it, it's got all the correspondences mentioned on the cards (and a lot of symbolism I don't get but that's okay). The parrot in the corner of each card gives a clue to the mood of the card. My deck is so high energy that I have never cleansed my deck; that was a first for me. Also, it cheers me up just to look at it.

 

Edit: here's a picture, because the Aeclectic images are so low-res.

 

And one more. 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Mokona

[katrinka]

On 8/3/2021 at 3:00 PM, bastetly said:

LOL.  Why would this deck be unpopular?  This thread totally enabled me to hurry and find me a copy.  I think it's gorgeous.  My cards are the larger ones so I can see it clearly.  The colors used are rich and the scenes are quite interesting.  But I rarely see it discussed except by a couple of members (ahem) on cartomancy forums, or a certain (ahem - fennario's) blog ??   The book being in French may daunt some, but if taken in w small spreads, should be doable!

 

It's actually easy to read, once you've correctly identified the images. So - their loss!
People want to be spoon-fed, I guess.

 

7 hours ago, Morsoth said:

 

Hi Decan, I am French (from Québec, Canada). You can ask me anything to be translated from French if you want!

 

That's right! A "lanterne sourde" (deaf lantern) is a lantern with some walls opaque, so that the wearer can see without being seen and completely mask the light if necessary.

 

That's an amazing old lantern. It looks like the openings were hand punched,
And the cloaked man on the card would definitely have something like that - he's obviously up to no good!

[Decan]

When a bandit was caught in the act, he could put his hand in front of the lantern to block out the light. You can see how well I know this topic, now 😄

This card could also be perfect to represent a problem with black magic imo, a really bad and pernicious card!

[katrinka]

45 minutes ago, Decan said:

When a bandit was caught in the act, he could put his hand in front of the lantern to block out the light. You can see how well I know this topic, now 😄

This card could also be perfect to represent a problem with black magic imo, a really bad and pernicious card!

 

Yep. It's all bad intent and possibly, with certain cards around it, malice. Sneaky and on the lowdown.
Such is cartomancy - yikes! 😁

[Decan]

I agree with Bastetly here, this thread makes me want to select the Petit Oracle des Dames among my top favorite decks.

It was already a favorite of mine though, but currently it’s important that I focus on a few decks only (5 could be really a maximum! Ideally 3 but this could be really hard…).

I like that we find another of these lanterns in the Belline (I’ll use too).

For those who have the Grimaud edition, take care of your copy because it is OOP for several years now, and not sure at all they will reprint it!

[katrinka]

23 minutes ago, Decan said:

For those who have the Grimaud edition, take care of your copy because it is OOP for several years now, and not sure at all they will reprint it!

Yes. Odd since it's popular over there!

[TheStarOfCups]

I just posted about this deck in another forum topic but it's my oldest one. I've never seen another tarot reader use it (as opposed to my Tarot of the Divine deck which I see people using a LOT so it's very popular!) My Bunnies are very sweet and love being used in readings. I love having this deck for straight forward answers as on the minor arcana there is no specific imagery. So, I just get straight to the point of the card. The deck feels young, though. They don't like talking about some of the sadder parts of my life like my trauma but I have other decks to help me with that! They came all the way from Mexico and I live in the United States Midwest region so it took a while to get them but they are very lovely!

[smittenkitten]

I used the Osho Zen Tarot and loved it for almost 20 years before I read about all the corruption of Osho himself.

 

Despite having a bit of a bad taste in my mouth about it now, I still pick it up occasionally because it is so direct, which I love. Although I don't read The Master card when it comes up, because it is creepy.

 

It was actually this deck that got me back into tarot this year, so I think it will always be special to me, if no longer such a firm favourite.

 

Smittenkitten

[PathWalker]

I spent quite a while giving readings with Shining Tribe tarot - nice deck once you get into it.

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/shining-tribe/

 

And I am a BIG fan of Gummi Bears - not matter how tough the news they offer, they always make me chuckle 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/gummibear/

[Saturn Celeste]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:31 AM, smittenkitten said:

I still pick it up occasionally because it is so direct, which I love. Although I don't read The Master card when it comes up, because it is creepy.

I totally know what you mean!  I was surprised about his history also but I love the deck and I still use it for relationship readings.  It reads too good to NOT use the deck! 

[Marina]

On 8/23/2021 at 8:57 AM, PathWalker said:

And I am a BIG fan of Gummi Bears - not matter how tough the news they offer, they always make me chuckle 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/gummibear/

 

I LOVE the Gummy Bear, but mine got stolen! 😞 I never found it again here.

It was one of the most straightforward tarot decks I ever owned. And it was cute and came in a tin! 

 

One deck that I really like but never ever see anyone using or even talking about is the Grail Tarot by John Matthews.

Maybe it's because of male-centred theme or the art style. Me, I really love it!

 

 

 

The Flower Speaks is another oracle deck that I absolutely love but no one else cares about!

It has given me some powerful readings despite its whimsical look and I never travel without it.

 

 

 

 

[katrinka]

48 minutes ago, marinaoracles said:

 

I LOVE the Gummy Bear, but mine got stolen! 😞 I never found it again here.

It was one of the One deck that I really like but never ever see anyone using or even talking about is the Grail Tarot by John Matthews.

Maybe it's because of male-centred theme or the art style. Me, I really love it!

But the Grail cycle of stories is about knights. They're men. There's a few women in the stories, but they're minor players.
I'm a stickler for inclusiveness, but it would ruin a Grail deck to try to make it balanced. And it's a great theme. Yes, they're guys, but it's the human experience, women can relate to it.

It's such a profound collection of stories. It would lend itself well to a Tarot. I don't have this one, and TBH I'm not confident that John Matthews would be the guy to tackle a project like that, but even flawed I'm sure it's a great deck.
 

 

[Marina]

5 hours ago, katrinka said:

But the Grail cycle of stories is about knights. They're men. There's a few women in the stories, but they're minor players.
I'm a stickler for inclusiveness, but it would ruin a Grail deck to try to make it balanced. And it's a great theme. Yes, they're guys, but it's the human experience, women can relate to it.

It's such a profound collection of stories. It would lend itself well to a Tarot. I don't have this one, and TBH I'm not confident that John Matthews would be the guy to tackle a project like that, but even flawed I'm sure it's a great deck.

 

 

Well, yes, the Grail cycle has a very important focus on aspects of the male archetype, and I think it's fine. I don't need to have my gender explicitly present in the every image of a deck in order to relate. There are women in the Grail Tarot, in less quantity but not in less important aspects.

 

It's a great deck, but it does have some Judeo-Christian imagery that may bother some (although it's not Christian in a fundamentalist way... it's closer to Christian Gnosticism). John Matthews has many books about the Grail, but usually his focus is on how Celtic legends got mixed with the Arthurian Lore to create what we know as the Grail cycle. The deck, however, focus more on the Templar side of it, bringing in some elements of the Arthurian Grail Quest as well. 

 

I specially like how all the cards in the Major Arcana and the Suits form one continous image when you place them in order side by side. There's a feeling on continuity through the cards which I find very satisfying for some reason. 

[katrinka]

"The Templar side of it"? Dang it, now I want this deck. I have Templar ancestors on my Mom's side.
* sighs *
* makes a space in my best decks cabinet *
* shuffles off to google *

[katrinka]

And I agree - the Grail cycle is definitely NOT fundamentalist. It's not a power play or a cash grab, it's legit spirituality.

[katrinka]

Here's one not many people are into. You wouldn't think that 78 photos of an actress would make a workable Tarot, but this thing is genius. The creator certainly did some research:

https://fennario.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/vamp-the-theda-bara-tarot-from-jook-art/

 

And a bit about how it all came together:
https://tabi.org.uk/2018/10/vamp-theda-bara-tarot-part-2/

 

The good news is that it's still available!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/738575618/vamp-the-theda-bara-tarot-self-published

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by katrinka

[bastetly]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:41 PM, katrinka said:

"The Templar side of it"? Dang it, now I want this deck. I have Templar ancestors on my Mom's side.
* sighs *
* makes a space in my best decks cabinet *
* shuffles off to google *

DANG!  How do you know that?  Is it thriugh French ancestry or>>> ?

[katrinka]

2 hours ago, bastetly said:

DANG!  How do you know that?  Is it thriugh French ancestry or>>> ?

 

Ancestry.com, lol. It was all there. They're from northern England, but their ancestors were Normans. Here he is on Geni (you don't have to sign in to see) and if you click his effigy, you can see it larger. Unfortunately, somebody knocked the face off so we have no idea what he looked like:

https://www.geni.com/people/Waterhouse/6000000000591576114

 

Some sources say his father was also a Templar, but other just say he was a Viscount. There's a lot to untangle. But Sir Gilbert was definitely a Templar, I found tons of info on him. 🙂

[Decan]

I add here the Oracle Alma Bose. We rarely hear about it in English-speaking forums and even in my country it doesn't seem very popular, but it is a deck which has its majority for a long time (40 years old)!

I don't know if it reads well, I read a few negative comments on it though, but it's possible because we have to read it the cartomantic way I guess, and people generally like -or they use to- read a deck from the picture.

The main picture on the cards seems to be just something decorative (often scenes with houses, or landscapes). Otherwise there are symbols at the top too (and at the foot), important to consider.

It looks "special".

I will add a pic of it when I'll receive it! It has a particular style, even a little unusual 🙂

 

Below from the Internet

Edited October 24, 2021 by Decan

[katrinka]

Let us know how it reads, Decan! I've been seeing it around but I never hit the 'buy' button. But if it's any good, I'd like to get one before it's OOP (oh, FOMO....)

I have to ask - and I'm not trying to be rude, or suggestive, or ANYTHING, I just want to know - what are those blue things on the top center card? They look like these (NOT SAFE FOR WORK!)

 

Spoiler

 

[Decan]

28 minutes ago, katrinka said:

I have to ask - and I'm not trying to be rude, or suggestive, or ANYTHING, I just want to know - what are those blue things on the top center card? They look like these (NOT SAFE FOR WORK!)

Lol, I have no idea (I wasn't able to open the Hidden contents above, it just doesn't work, mysterious) 🤣

Edited October 24, 2021 by Decan

[katrinka]

Maybe that's for the best, lol.
Maybe you recall that here in the US in 2016, some lunatic militants holed up at a wildlife refuge in Oregon. Their leader, Ammon Bundy, asked people to "send snacks."
The hidden content is what they sent. 😁

[Decan]

11 hours ago, katrinka said:

Maybe that's for the best, lol.
Maybe you recall that here in the US in 2016, some lunatic militants holed up at a wildlife refuge in Oregon. Their leader, Ammon Bundy, asked people to "send snacks."
The hidden content is what they sent.

Interesting, I wasn't aware!

 

13 hours ago, katrinka said:

Let us know how it reads, Decan! I've been seeing it around but I never hit the 'buy' button. But if it's any good, I'd like to get one before it's OOP (oh, FOMO....)

Yes, I will took a close look at this freudian older deck 🙂

I hit the button on my part because I had a doubt in the past and also FOMO, since I think it will be OOP soon, so if it reads well it would be too bad.

[Decan]

I received my copy and find the deck charming, I don't regret my purchase.

 

Of course I took a look at the LWB and tried 1 or 2 very simple spreads to test it a bit, and it answers, I would even say it hits the target!

Nevertheless things can take a little time so that we get acquainted with all the cards and how they are working together, the LWB is concise, and the readings can be "cut-and-dried" and fortune-telling oriented, it's probably the reason why people left some negative comments.

But with time and practice I'm pretty sure it reads very well.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Decan

[katrinka]

5 minutes ago, Decan said:

readings can be "cut-and-dried" and fortune-telling oriented, it's probably the reason why people left some negative comments.

 

That's EXACTLY what makes a good deck, AFAIC.