Dark Decks? Light Decks? Balanced? What's your preference and why?

[Chariot]

Gosh,  interesting to think about this issue.  So many decks ARE 'dark' and the only one I've kept is the Trionfi Della Luna deck ...mainly because I find it amusing, and yes, I've done good readings with it thus far.  I've still not succumbed to the Deviant Moon Tarot's charms ...although I acknowledge the genius that created it.

I guess I don't lean towards 'dark' decks.  The darkest one I acquired was the Tarot of Oppositions.  I was intrigued by the concept of the deck, which was to illustrate both upright and reversed meanings so whichever way the card came up  you got an upright picture to deal with.  I still like the concept, but this deck's images were, by and large, so unpleasant that it made me queasy to use it.  I gave it away.  Tooty Sweetie.

At the other end of the spectrum, I really am not engaged with cutesy decks either.  Normally I don't buy them, but in the early days before flip-throughs became available, I did buy a few.  Got rid of all of them.  (Cute gnomes, cats, etc.)  Fine for people who like these; I don't.  My cutest deck (which I prefer to call 'non-scary') is the Hanson-Roberts deck.  Yeah, I do like that one, and use it a lot.

So...I guess I gravitate towards neutral decks—the kind that offer the whole spectrum of possibility, but keep it fairly low-key.

 

Clarity of image is also very important to me.  I want to be able to know which card I'm seeing in a spread, without having to peer at it ...especially if it's reversed.  I've given away many decks that looked good, card by card, but were really difficult to work with in a layout of any size, because it was too easy to get them mixed up in a reading.  My go-to test is the Celtic Cross.  If it's easy for me to immediately identify all the cards in a Celtic Cross spread, I'm happy!

Edited November 3, 2023 by Chariot

[akiva]

12 hours ago, GreatDane said:

oh Akiva, I see an opportunity!   Looked at more of the cards in the Shade, and uh, no.  LIKE the vibe, but not RWS enough for me.  BUT cool looking.  For now, my BG will be my only Victorian gothic moody deck!

For me the shade tarot comes across as wispy 😂 definitely a non reader, too dingy for me!

 

11 hours ago, FindYourSovereignty said:

Yep! I question myself on everything now. Everything. 😏 manmade influence or do I really want this? And why do I want it. This is a big deal for me.

Sometime I do this when I do a reading, like I get this feeling that I'm creating a self fulfilling prophecy 🤣 I have to get rid of those thoughts fast else I question everything! 

 

4 hours ago, Misterei said:

I like RWS for this ... their angels are serious or even fierce. Also they defy attempts to label them};>

On a side note ... I never thought of the Enochian spirits as angels ... even though they're called that ... they always seemed ... other. Their own thing.

They never scared me per se [I guess i respected them?] but I felt disinclined to work with them at a certain point.

Yes the RWS angels kick a bit of ass, especially the one on Judgement! It certainly doesn't give off a 'woo woo' distracting vibe.

I don't think anyone truly knows what the Enochian spirits are. I have done readings but it just said that they're trapped here from a far away place...

 

They called themselves angels but then they started trying to get Dee and Kelly to cuckold each others wives! 😂

People have theorised that the spirits wanted them to sleep with each other to make them closer for magickal practice, but because of the era the next best thing was that...

 

4 hours ago, Misterei said:

I also like the historic Italian tarocchi's for the same reason you like TdM. They're quite balanced and the NON-scenic pips make them deliciously neutral.

"Deliciously neutral" is absolutely the way I'm describing it now. 😆

There's just something about old decks where they don't get in the way of a reading and allow us to express our intuition from a clean slate, if that makes sense?

[Misterei]

20 hours ago, akiva said:

Yes the RWS angels kick a bit of ass, especially the one on Judgement! It certainly doesn't give off a 'woo woo' distracting vibe.

I don't think anyone truly knows what the Enochian spirits are. I have done readings but it just said that they're trapped here from a far away place...

Yes, RWS got it right with that Judgement angel. My [limited] experience seeing angels is rather more on the fierce or aweome side ... NOT woo at all.

LOL the Enochians as trapped here from a far away place ... sounds about right. Of course I also feel trapped here from a far away place ...

I think that's why I stopped working with Enochians ... the sex stuff. They feed off it. Many spirits do ... hardly unique ... but No thanks. Not my cup of tea.

 

Of course this is off the original topic ... so I'll stop here and express my appreciation for any deck that shows a FIERCE angel or a poignant demon.

 

And I do love the historic decks which show the Devil with all those strange eyes and faces. Fascinates me no end. This fierce looking devil has a smiling face on his tummy. Did he just eat a good meal? Are these the souls of the damned?

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Misterei

[akiva]

4 hours ago, Misterei said:

And I do love the historic decks which show the Devil with all those strange eyes and faces. Fascinates me no end. This fierce looking devil has a smiling face on his tummy. Did he just eat a good meal? Are these the souls of the damned?

It's a really nice card, the Vandenborre did the Devil right! 

 

On the subject of decks being dark/light/neutral I do think that this particular card isn't so dark. Not sure if you'd agree? He kind of feels more like a 'animalistic/natural force' than a 'sign your soup over to me 🤘' kind of Devil... 

 

Here's another good set of cards:

 

I do love Vachetta's Devil, its just so unique! The Soprafino Devil looks like he's having a bad trip... And the Lombardy one looks way more human than the rest.

 

Here's the article I got the image from. It compares Devil cards throughout history 😊

[Misterei]

19 hours ago, akiva said:

On the subject of decks being dark/light/neutral I do think that this particular card isn't so dark. Not sure if you'd agree? He kind of feels more like a 'animalistic/natural force' than a 'sign your soup over to me 🤘' kind of Devil...

 Vandenborre [?] Devil feels dark but with a bit of humor ... that smiling tummy face ... he vibes like the Triunfi della Luna cards ... grotesque more than pure demonic evil. Shades of dark. The serious in your face demon dark is quite different from the grotesque with a sense of humor dark.

 

@akiva writes <<I do love Vachetta's Devil, its just so unique! The Soprafino Devil looks like he's having a bad trip... And the Lombardy one looks way more human than the rest.>>

 

Vacchetta is my ALL TIME favorite devil. There's a dive bar in France painted like this card. Vacchetta devil somehow captures the essence better than any other. Dark in a matter-of-fact I will devour your soul kinda way. He don't need no stinkin' Baphomet to get his point across! [Blazing saddles reference in case you're wondering]

 

Sopraphino is definitely an object lesson in why you shouldn't buy LSD from the wrong people.

Hunter Thompson would have liked the lizard people. Adds a nice touch to the whole Fear & Loathing factor.

 

Lombardy? He looks so human he went into politics };>

Edited November 5, 2023 by Misterei

[akiva]

6 hours ago, Misterei said:

Vacchetta is my ALL TIME favorite devil. There's a dive bar in France painted like this card. Vacchetta devil somehow captures the essence better than any other. Dark in a matter-of-fact I will devour your soul kinda way.

It's interesting that you used the word devour, as this card has always felt like the ego's  desire to consume everything in its environment to me 😯

 

6 hours ago, Misterei said:

Sopraphino is definitely an object lesson in why you shouldn't buy LSD from the wrong people.

Hunter Thompson would have liked the lizard people. Adds a nice touch to the whole Fear & Loathing factor.

This made me laugh! In some ways though, his wide eyes are kind of endearing. Even with the reptiles writhing around his feet 😁 it's almost like a caricature.

 

Unfortunately the Angels in this deck wouldn't win in a bar fight with the RWS Angels 🤣

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by akiva

[KiMo]

What @Nemia said really chimes with me, I feel like the experience of life and my place in it is so complex that a narrower representation of energy wouldn't be enough for me. My deck collection is relatively small, but the decks that I do have each have quite a distinct personality and span a gamut of vibes. Ultimately though, I'm like @DanielJUK and @Bodhiseed in that I only buy decks that appeal to my tastes and I free flow use them whenever they call to me for a reading. I don't tend to use certain overtly themed decks for certain purposes, not so far anyway.

 

I'm not drawn to and wouldn't work with decks that tap into energies that I wouldn't want in my life, and that includes very fluffy decks as well as very dark decks. In terms of darker themed decks, for me there's a line between energies and themes that are challenging or even confronting, and energies that I'd be very uncomfortable inviting into my mental and emotional space. On the other end of the spectrum (and I say this with the full appreciation that sometimes we need a hug just as much as we sometimes need to be challenged) the really light and fluffy decks can have a tendency to 'positivity wash' which starts getting us into bypassing territory. The messages start to all seem the same and we put our rose tinted glasses on. 

 

What @FindYourSovereignty mentioned about the outcome of a reading being swayed by the energy of the cards used is really interesting. My own personal belief is that the cards are never wrong, in that exactly the cards we need to see at that time for that reading are the ones that are drawn. I feel it's the same for decks, if we're drawn to use a deck and it forms a part of the outcome we read, perhaps that's what we needed at that time?

 

All that said, I do also tend to choose neutral decks if I need a specific and / or mundane answer, which for me is usually the RWS (Centennial most of the time) or the Aquarian. I think for my part it's a confidence thing, to make very sure I'm getting the message correctly as best I can. Maybe that will change in years to come when I become a little more experienced.

[Misterei]

3 hours ago, KiMo said:

... for me there's a line between energies and themes that are challenging or even confronting, and energies that I'd be very uncomfortable inviting into my mental and emotional space. On the other end of the spectrum (and I say this with the full appreciation that sometimes we need a hug just as much as we sometimes need to be challenged) the really light and fluffy decks can have a tendency to 'positivity wash' which starts getting us into bypassing territory.

Good point about the distinction between what we might call dark vs. evil. I dislike the word "evil" as it's so over-used ... but "Dark" might be just the deck for confronting uncomfortable emotions ... whereas "evil" feels like energies I would not want in my house.

 

"Bypassing territory" 🤣 love this.

[FindYourSovereignty]

5 hours ago, KiMo said:

 

What @FindYourSovereignty mentioned about the outcome of a reading being swayed by the energy of the cards used is really interesting. My own personal belief is that the cards are never wrong, in that exactly the cards we need to see at that time for that reading are the ones that are drawn. I feel it's the same for decks, if we're drawn to use a deck and it forms a part of the outcome we read, perhaps that's what we needed at that time?

Yes, I feel this with my readings as well. 

[Esclarmonde]

Interesting topic... I'm drawn to the darker decks, but I have various types in my collection. My personal deck, that I use only for myself and not to read for others is the Alchemy England 1977, which is definitely on the darker side, but I've also got more neutral decks such as Ciro Marchetti's Gilded and Legacy of the Divine (at least I regard them as neutral). But another "dark" deck that I have and like is the Barbieri Tarot - I love it and get good readings from it. As for lighter decks, I do have a cat deck (a gift from friends) that I perhaps wouldn't have chosen myself, but which I really like - and the images are often humorous, e.g. the Devil is a dog (it's a cat deck, right🙃), and the Death card shows a vacuum cleaner 🤣. But the deck reads well and is not cutesy-sweet.

 

As for really unsettling decks, I'm surprised no one mentioned the Giger Tarot. Now that one creeps me out! I'm afraid I'd have nightmares after reading with it. 

[Guest]

I was deeply into dark decks before. Like, I used to have five different vampire decks.

 

Now that my tastes have matured a bit, I'm more into neutral/balanced decks. But what with my burgeoning Anne Rice fixation, I can definitely see myself sliding into dem dark decks all over again lol. 🧛🏻

[euripides]

On 11/2/2023 at 12:28 PM, Misterei said:

But as some of you know ... I absolutely loathe "sweetness and light" decks. Possibly even worse than my aversion to dark decks!

The aversions come from different places.

 

 

On 11/3/2023 at 4:37 PM, Nemia said:

Life is a balance of light and darkness, my soul is mixed from both, and I like honest tarot decks. Whether the artist sees life through a dark or light lens is less important to me, as long as they give me their honest view. I never liked overly sugary decks - those oracles where every answer is simply positive. I want decks to acknowledge the struggles and negative forces we encounter in life. Nevertheless, I quite like the Good Karma and Distant Past Tarots, and also the Inner Child cards, which take a determinedly lighter view of the difficult cards. Sometimes, it's all I can deal with. 

 

 

There's something about those really sugary decks that I find a little unsettling - maybe it's that sense of being divorced from reality? It's like a wilful head-in-the-clouds. I'm reminded of an interview with an actress who did a show - Annie? I think? - and after the season of being so relentlessly cheery, she developed clinical depression.

 

The Forest of Enchantment that I mentioned -  I'm not generally a fairytale person (though I did have a treasured fairytale book as a child, so I wonder if it's resonating on those memories) - while it's a little more sugary than I'd like, it also has some of those darker sides that fairytales do, and some solid characters and sober advice. It connects with those struggles and negative forces that you mention, Nemia. I like that idea of an 'honest' deck. But yeah, sometimes we need that honesty to be tempered. I've been coveting a couple of fairly 'grungy' decks that connect with modern life - there's one called A Pocket of Peers that has lovely, realistic folk - and another whose name escapes me that is very diverse.