What makes a deck "click" for you?

[Bodhiseed]

10 hours ago, FindYourSovereignty said:

I store in a purgatory box until I am 100% certain I will never like the deck

I think this description is hilarious too!

 

I'm always drawn in by a deck's art and symbolism, but I'm learning over the years not to jump on the buy wagon too quickly. I prefer to find some online scans or photos of the cards and ask myself, "How would I read this?" Sometimes I realize that the cards are beautiful but I don't click with them as far as reading goes. I have had decks that I originally enjoyed, but later found them flat in readings. The Deck of the Week group as been helpful for these; I wait until they come back up in rotation to see if perhaps I was just having a bad week previously before I pass along the cards. 

[Akhilleus]

I find that as time goes by, my hit rate with the decks that I eventually buy increases. It might be because as my exposure to different Tarot styles widens, I begin to intuitively know the kind of aesthetics that I truly like as is, and not as a passing fancy or out of FOMO. It could also be my tastes simply maturing, so I'm not as taken in by the flashy and new. 

[Misterei]

14 hours ago, FindYourSovereignty said:

... several I moved on that I wish I had kept. ... ones I am just not reading well, I store in a purgatory box until I am 100% certain I will never like the deck or a person comes along that I can sense is perfect for it. Then I can happily release it.

Ah! This is the perfect name for it. I have a "purgatory section" (my cards are on shelves of a book case). I've noticed that the decks I don't know what to do with ... get moved to one end of one shelf. Having a name like "purgatory"  helps my Virgo moon obsessive organizer self process the process haha.

[Misterei]

16 hours ago, Scarlet Woodland said:

 

... I have a few decks that have felt like we're conversing in a third language that neither me nor the deck is terribly fluent in. My first tarot deck was a classic for this. Thank goodness I persevered and switched to the Druidcraft, as that positively sang for me on the first reading. I always mean to dig out that Old English Tarot and put it through its paces on DOTW but it's like reading Chaucer with a hangover.

Reading Chaucer with a hangover. 😆 Great line. Druidcraft is a great deck. It hit for me ... but I gave mine to a friend b/c it was so perfect for her ... for me it would have been one of many ... for her its an only deck.

[Aliki]

5 hours ago, Misterei said:

Ah! This is the perfect name for it. I have a "purgatory section" (my cards are on shelves of a book case). I've noticed that the decks I don't know what to do with ... get moved to one end of one shelf. Having a name like "purgatory"  helps my Virgo moon obsessive organizer self process the process haha.

Random appreciation and out of topic but much love for virgo moons here virgo sun mercury nn etc just much appreciation ✌️

[Chariot]

So funny how some decks just don't grab me.  @Misterei might be interested to know I had exactly the opposite reaction to Lightseers.  I watched a flip-through, thought WOW what a fantastic deck.  Ordered it.  It came.  And I haven't been able to use it.  There is just something about the imagery and artwork that doesn't work for me.  The artwork is uncluttered and easy to see ...which is a big plus for me—but I never really engaged with it.  I still think it's a fantastic deck, but I'm passing it on to somebody else who might appreciate it more than I do.  Maybe it's just too new-age-y for me?  Or too much like modern graphic comic book illustrations?  Dunno for sure.  I think this is a deck that probably appeals a lot to younger people.  Me?  I like old style imagery.  I struggle to work with modern imagery on tarot cards.  Even though, politically and socially, they are more 'me' than the older ones. 

A deck that I love (I now have two copies—one modified for size and one unmodified) that I wasn't sure at first, is Ciro Marchetti's Tarot Grand Luxe.  I'm not fond of most of the Major Arcana images in this deck. Most are way too melodramatic—the Temperance card, for example. The Star is a piece of jewelry? The Sun card is really strange ...a dark gold mask? And the Hanged Man seems to be anything but static, but looks as if he's flying.) I do love The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hermit, and The Devil, though. I do do do do love all the minor arcana and the court cards, which make the deck work for me.  The readings are always spot-on for me from both decks.

I love the Druidcraft deck so much that I bought three copies, even though the cards are HUGE and hard to handle.  I keep one that isn't modified, which I never use (cards are way too big.)  One modified deck that shows the names of the cards, which I bought second-hand. And my self-modified deck that I actually use (a lot) that shows only the pictures.  This is one of my most-used decks, and one that I totally rely on.  And my modified (for size) Anna K deck which is visually very appealing to me, and also 'works' very well. 
 

Funny.  You don't really know till you try them, do you?

[Misterei]

17 hours ago, Chariot said:

... Lightseers.  I watched a flip-through, thought WOW what a fantastic deck.  ... And I haven't been able to use it.

It's so funny when we like something on the flipthrough ... and then there's no chemistry in person. *sigh*

I was actually shocked I like lightseers. I don't care for the modern aesthetic which I think is somewhat bland ... yet I do find I have chemistry with the deck. I seldom to never use if for clients ... use it for myself and use the book to get out of my own head when reading for myself. If that makes sense.

17 hours ago, Chariot said:

A deck that I love (I now have two copies—one modified for size and one unmodified) that I wasn't sure at first, is Ciro Marchetti's Tarot Grand Luxe.

Huge fan of Marchetti here .. but Legacy of the Divine is my fave. It's too expensive ... but I fantasize to buy his other decks and make a deck using my favorite cards from each. In reality I just stick to Legacy. I have one full size and one I cut off the borders and inked so its smaller.

17 hours ago, Chariot said:

... love the Druidcraft deck so much that I bought three copies, even though the cards are HUGE and hard to handle.

I like druidcraft but it's too huge. I was going to trim it down ... but then ended up giving it to a friend who's into druid stuff. I knew she would love it.

17 hours ago, Chariot said:

 Funny.  You don't really know till you try them, do you?

So true. Although I think I finally got better at knowing ... lol toward the end of my collection phase. I began to get a real sense of what would resonate for me but it was a journey. I now have about 70 decks and that feels like more than enough. In the process I learned a lot about why I have chemistry for decks or don't. But yeah ... you can only truly feel chemistry face to face with a deck (or a person).

[Chariot]

@Misterei - Just curious, but do you ever do a deck 'interview' with a new deck?  That's kinda fun. If I'm in the right mood at the time, these interviews can be quite predictive, as to how the deck and I will interact.  

I will look up Legacy of the Divine.  I like a lot of Marchetti's work, although some of it is pictorially WAY over the top in terms of melodrama.  But I use his Gilded Reverie Lenormand deck (which has extra cards that I find very useful) and I've recently been playing around with that Gilded Reverie deck mixed together with his Fin de Siecle Kipper deck. They are both the same size, shuffle well together, and give an expanded Lenormand result.  I'm not really a total fan of Lenormand yet, except for fun only, and Lenormand purists are probably moaning and clutching pearls as they read this. But it's fun—and with the two decks mixed together, gives a more focused result (for me, anyway.)  

[Misterei]

6 hours ago, Chariot said:

... do you ever do a deck 'interview' with a new deck? 

God knows I've tried deck interviews. They soooo don't work for me. idk why. I feel stupid and get nonsense. I might try again ... but so far the practice never clicked. LOL forget decks for a minute. I realize I only have "chemistry" with very few SPREADS. Hmmm.

6 hours ago, Chariot said:

... I use his Gilded Reverie Lenormand deck

Yep. That's my go-to LeNormande. The one I always reach for.

6 hours ago, Chariot said:

 Fin de Siecle Kipper deck.

 I had to stop with Tarot, LeNormand, Pasyans, and a few oracles. I just can't go kipper. It would be too much for me. };>

[Jewel]

On 11/23/2022 at 3:48 AM, DanielJUK said:

I do look at decks and think this fits my taste and this doesn't. But some decks have been recommended to me by friends which I would never have bought by looking at the cards. Sometimes you have to challenge this. People kept recommending the Wild Unknown to me, I would never have bought it from looking at it but saw it on sale and went for it and love it. So recommendations made me try it. I would definitely challenge not buying entire genres because you don't like them. I don't like photo decks particularly but bought one I love. Treat each deck on it's own.

 

I think decks I click with are those I connect with intuitively. It is best to see if the deck appeals or fits you but sometimes you have to take a risk and go on reviews or discussions. But there have been decks that have arrived that didn't click with and also good surprises. Some decks look wonderful but don't read well. I can never be sure, it's always a gamble 🙂 .

I could not agree with this more!  This has been my exact experience.  There are several types of clicking for me the love at first sight, which sometimes turns into an eye candy deck but not one I enjoy reading with (in my case most Lisa Hunt decks), decks I buy because I know the authors of said deck make amazing decks so even if the art does not necessarily rock my boat at first I know the deck will read beautifully if I give it chance (I have some Baba/MRP decks in this category), and some decks I have gotten just for collecting purposes and when I go through them there is an instant connection (looking at you Cosmic Tribe).  Then like @DanielJUK following the recommendation of someone who knows I would enjoy a particular deck if I gave it a chance, the one that stands out to me the most is LS Fey Tarot and the Victorian Romantic which were like that for me.

 

I have now been reading tarot for close to 30 years so I have gotten a good feel for what my taste and reading style are so I have gotten pretty good at being very pleased with my choices, and I no longer buy everything that comes out.  But there are still some hit and misses.  I find that I like very colorful decks, decks with swords as air and wands as fire, there are certain themes that appeal to me very much, that I they spark my intuition by looking at them,  But I am also open to deck recommendations from people who know how I read because honestly those have been decks that to date have not missed the mark.  Totally worth the risk for me.