I'm kind of just starting out, what deck should I use?

[XrabbitX]

I bought several decks, but when I do a reading on them I just go back and look at the Rider Waite.   For a newbie would you recommend starting out with a Rider Waite or just grabbing a deck you find aesthetically pleasing? 

[Chariot]

You can certainly use a standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck and you won't go far wrong, but there are SO many other decks out there that are based on the RWS, but may look a bit more decorative.

I only use the RWS system, as it's the one I learned back in the 70s when I first got started, so I can't speak for any other system (like the Thoth system.)  But nearly everybody is familiar with RWS, and it's a good one to start with.

One of the advantages to the 'original' RWS deck is the clearness of the images.  They are easy to read on any background, and often the basic, non-shaded colours give a clue to the meaning of the cards as well.  Not to  mention, most books you might want to learn from use the original RWS cards to illustrate their points. 

However, the RWS Pamela Coleman-Smith illustrated deck is also a product of a different age, and perhaps the study of tarot has moved on a bit.  For example, more decks nowadays have left behind the overly Christian religious symbolism, and have 'secularised' the decks.  This might appeal to you.

How much of a newbie are you, @XrabbitX?  By that, I mean are you already familiar with the meanings associated with each card, or are you still learning that?

My advice would be to avoid decks that require a book to figure out what the cards 'mean.'  Choose a deck where you can get pretty close to the meaning just by looking at the illustration.

I would also avoid overly decorative decks, because fancy artwork—especially if similar colours, complicated detailed designs, and similarity of figure poses make the cards difficult to distinguish during a reading.  It doesn't matter how gorgeous a deck is, if you end up not being able to easily read from it ...especially in dim light.  Nothing worse than doing a reading based on mistakenly identifying one or more cards!  (Been there, done that—lots of difference between a Knight of Swords and a Knight of Pentacles, but if they both look the same, it's easy to get mixed up.)  This caution can apply particularly to court cards. When choosing a deck, I would look closely at the court cards to ensure that each card is markedly different from the others, and easily identifiable, even when reversed.  Also look at the symbols. Are swords easily distinguishable from wands?  Are cups easily distinguishable from pentacles (or coins?)  I can think of decks I own/owned that could use some tweaking in this regard.

For me, hands down, the best of the newer decks for clarity and ease of use, while sticking closely to the RWS system is Ciro Manchetti's Grand Luxe Tarot.  While I'm not totally in love with all his images ...there are two or three than annoy me ...I have to say that each image is clear, many of them show close-ups of the figures, which makes it incredibly easy to distinguish one from another.  The imagery can be a bit over-the-top, but is usually crystal-clear, and he does a really good job of bringing the card meanings up to date.  (Although he keeps the 'medieval' vibe for most of them, he makes them easier to understand intuitively.)  This deck has the advantage of being easily available and affordable as a mass-market deck.  Highly recommended for learners.

For clarity and ease of use I can also recommend three older decks: The Hanson-Roberts Tarot, the Sharman-Caselli Tarot and The Robin Wood Tarot.  The Hanson-Roberts Tarot uses many close-up depictions of the characters, and is very good at depicting emotion and facial expression, which helps with intuitive interpretation of the RWS card meanings.   The Sharman-Caselli Tarot features very clear images, simple colours and relatively simple, uncluttered designs, while employing the RWS imagery with better facial expressions.  The Robin Wood Tarot deck has similar features to the Sharman-Caselli deck ...and both work really well with the RWS system.  While they are 'older' decks they are still easily available in up-to-date printings—especially the Hanson-Roberts Tarot.

One RWS-based deck which I own that I would NOT recommend for a beginner, due to clarity issues, is The Pictorial Key.  At first it looks really good ...but go to use it and I guarantee you will experience difficulty distinguishing one card from another in certain instances.  I suppose if you use it exclusively you'll have less trouble, but, for me, the court cards are particularly problematic.  I have to be in a particular mood to want to peer closely at each card during a reading, although I have to say the readings I get from this deck are quite reliable.  It's not a bad deck, but there are certainly image clarity issues with it.

I didn't mean to go on and on, but I hope this is helpful on some level.  If in doubt, go to YouTube and find a flip-through of the decks you are considering, and look for clarity of images, faithfulness to the system you choose to read with, and check to see if the cards are all are different enough so you won't get them mixed up during a reading.

 

Cheers, and all the best!

[XrabbitX]

As for what kind of a newbie I am, several years ago I did a daily draw with a Rider Waite style app.  It took about 3 months before anything clicked, and I stopped after about 5-6 months b/c things were not going well for me, and I felt like all tarot was doing for me was giving me bad news in the morning, before I got the rest of it at work.   I guess I've been back with it b/c of renewed interest from listening to some podcasts, plus I've found more confusing problems I need help with.  I've been using a Salvador Dali deck, b/c I like the artwork the best, but also like the Hermetic tarot deck I have (although the artwork is a little busy).  I think the Rider Waite intuitively makes the most sense when I look at it, and when I use my decks I just go back and look at the RW anyway.  

 

 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

On 7/17/2023 at 11:08 AM, XrabbitX said:

For a newbie would you recommend starting out with a Rider Waite or just grabbing a deck you find aesthetically pleasing? 

Fortunately, with the plethora of decks out there, you can do both.  For a deck to work for me, first and foremost, it most be aesthetically pleasing.  For a deck for a newbie reader, stick with a RWS clone.  There are so many out there that it is not hard to find one that you will enjoy looking at as well.  Be sure that all of the pips, Minor Arcana cards, are illustrated.  Be sure that no major changes have been made to the structure of the deck -- that it is the regular 78 cards with the usual 22 Major Arcana cards and the four court cards per suit.  Read reviews.  Check card images on the internet.  I know that the perfect deck for you right now is out there.  Take your time.  Don't feel bad if you end up with a couple of decks that you don't resonate with.  It happens to all of us.  Enjoy!

[Chariot]

6 hours ago, XrabbitX said:

As for what kind of a newbie I am, several years ago I did a daily draw with a Rider Waite style app.  It took about 3 months before anything clicked, and I stopped after about 5-6 months b/c things were not going well for me, and I felt like all tarot was doing for me was giving me bad news in the morning, before I got the rest of it at work.   I guess I've been back with it b/c of renewed interest from listening to some podcasts, plus I've found more confusing problems I need help with.  I've been using a Salvador Dali deck, b/c I like the artwork the best, but also like the Hermetic tarot deck I have (although the artwork is a little busy).  I think the Rider Waite intuitively makes the most sense when I look at it, and when I use my decks I just go back and look at the RW anyway.  

 

 

I hear you, when it comes to the 'daily draw.'  I suspect some people can become so adept at it that they can tell when things are going to actually be bad, and when it's just kind of a negative, but mundane, slant on things.  I'm certainly not that advanced!

I think the best 'rule' for tarot reading ...for yourself or for others ...is NOT to do a reading if you feel you can't handle bad news or negativity.  If you want confirmation that everything is going to be hunky-dory, you can be in for a shock ...which might be more harmful than just dealing with situations as they arise.  It also might be very misleading.

How many times have I drawn the Death card, for example ...but I'm still here, and so are my loved ones!  Ditto The Tower, The 10 of Swords, and all the other 'bad' cards.  I've drawn them umpteen times.  It's a good idea NOT to take these bad cards too literally, especially in a daily draw, but unfortunately our tendency is to do just that, unless we know what they are referring to.  I mean, Death can simply mean you will finally decide to throw away those out-of-date magazines you've been hanging on to!  But waking up on a nice sunny day, where everything looks great, and getting the Death card or The Tower in your morning reading, when you're not expecting anything bad to happen, can certainly put a damper on your mood.

 

Daily draws are good for practice and getting to know how to interpret the cards, but they can cause you to worry more than you should ...thinking the day will be more pivotal than it actually turns out to be.  For practice purposes, it might be more beneficial to draw two or three cards at random, and see if you can construct some story that pulls the two or three cards together so they make sense.  Make it clear in your own mind, before you pull the cards, that it's an exercise in story construction, not a 'reading' for yourself.

As for your Hermetic deck, or any other deck, just own it with pleasure.  You might well want to learn another system at some point.  But if you prefer using the RWS system (as I do myself, as I think it's got more practical applications than the other systems I've looked at) then just keep your eye out for a good RWS-based deck or two, as @Natural Mystic Guide suggested.  Thankfully nowadays with forums like this one, plus the YouTube flip-through videos, you can get a feel for a deck BEFORE you buy it!

[DanielJUK]

RWS and RWS style decks are a good idea because there are so many resources for them online. But they don't fit everyone.

Always go with decks that you click with and also with artwork or themes you love because you will connect with them the best.

 

One minor warning though, outside the RWS, some decks are really hard to read! I learnt using RWS and getting experience with reading, I bought other decks that I couldn't really read for one or two years, until I got to that level. Some are really hard to use and read. So it's best to learn and improve with one that you connect with and feel you can read the artwork.

 

For reference, here is a list of good "beginners" decks - https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/beginner.shtml

[Nemia]

Well, I started with Thoth and in my experience, it reads wonderfully no matter on what level you approach it. I'm always a bit sorry that the RWS monoculture has totally taken over. 

 

It's possible to start with any and every deck. I think it took me some 12 years into my tarot journey until I bought the RWS (the Centennial). I actually love it now but it took a long time. And I still get better readings with the Morgan Greer. 

 

And funnily enough, there are perfectly beautiful decks that read okay but no further than that, and decks that I don't connect with esthetically at all (okay, I'm picky) but they read wow. I wish that all beautiful decks were good readers but in my experience, there are some you have to grow into, and others that never really spark. 

 

Well, that was not very helpful, was it? 

 

Make a list, take your time, look at some walkthroughs on Youtube and readings here on the boards, and wait for an excited prickling feeling in your neck 🙂 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

11 hours ago, Nemia said:

Well, I started with Thoth and in my experience, it reads wonderfully no matter on what level you approach it. I'm always a bit sorry that the RWS monoculture has totally taken over. 

I appreciate your perspective here, @Nemia.  For whatever reason, I have never cozied up to the Thoth.  After 22 years of almost full time immersion in the cards I am teetering on the edge of purchasing the Thoth deck.  I think that this is largely because of what I know and sense about Aleister Crowley.  I will soon be receiving a Tabula Mundi deck.  I have another deck that is classified as being in the Thoth camp:  the Asherah Deck by Sarah Wheatley.  My attraction to both the Tabula Mundi and Thoth decks, at this point in time, is in no small way due to the beautiful work that you do with Keeping Time with the Tarot.  So Thank you, Nemia for adding in this dimension.

[Jewel]

Excellent advice all around!  To add my two cents ... I personally never could connect with any version of the RWS.  I own one because, I firmly believe in having a copy of each of the three foundational decks (RWS, Thoth, and Marseilles), but I do not use any of them.  They are study references only for me.  I did really try with the RWS, but it was the Robin Wood that got me started in understanding and really learning.  But we are in different times (I have been at this since the early 90's) and there are a ton more choices in this day and age.  I would say look at your personal interests, add to that the art style you like, then look to see if you can find a RWS based deck that ties the two together.  If yes, then read reviews about the deck and also see what decks might be similar to that.  Over time I learned that I gravitate towards Pagan, Faerie, and whimsical decks the most.  I love theme decks if they are properly executed within the context of Tarot vs. forced.  I look for strong presence of use of elements as I use those a lot in my readings, that the court cards are expressive, and that the majors and minors are given equal artistic treatment,  I use a large variety of decks as I collect them, and enjoy writing deck reviews.  So bottom line, it comes down to you putting together the things you like as if you find those the meanings of the cards will be more clear to you.  Good luck on your search!