Tarot Deck Pet Peeves

[moonglow]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

@moonglow an example of a dark deck that I admire but won't use for reading is The Deviant Moon Tarot.  I supported the artist/author through his concepts and development of his deck in AT.  He did a great job on them but I find them subtly disturbing as well--but as works of art they are cool.

 

Yes, my husband chose that one. The art is admittedly neat, and as wheelchair users, we did like their inclusion as a completely cohesive/normal part of the world depicted. It’s just is not for me. I also find I don’t always see what the guidebook states the cards are depicting, and the illustrations don’t necessarily mesh with the instinctive meaning in my head for certain cards. (The Nine of Wands is the card I was just looking at.) So I’m left a little adrift. I can see why some would enjoy it, however.

 

We were both disappointed to only find out about The Dark Mansion Tarot after buying the Deviant Moon. I’d still find The Dark Mansion hard to pass up, even now, if just for the fun art. I probably wouldn’t use it for myself, other than maybe comparatively.

 

Subtly disturbing is why I probably won’t own the Mary-El. I keep being drawn to it when I see a card here and there, but then a video flip through quickly reminds me why it’s not for me. 🫠 It’s hard to find the right balance for me. Picky, picky.

[Nemia]

Pet peeves? My only real peeve is the objectifying depiction of young women (also men sometimes) in certain Lo Scarabeo decks. 

 

I like diversity in my decks: all ages, body shapes and ethnic groups. I find it irritating to see the Hermit depicted as a teenager 😉 

 

Otherwise, I'm pretty open to anything. If a deck is convincing and coherent in itself, I can go along with nearly everything. Dark or not, collaborative, computer art, variations of tradition, eclecticism, sugarcoating, I'll take it if it's readable. I can read with the Deviant Moon (dark and sarcastic) and the Distant Past (wildly collaged and optimistic dark cards) because they work well and have real tarot depth and meaning. 

 

Oh, I dislike pretty-pretty decks that have little tarot content but were obviously created to make a buck. Jane Austen Tarot, looking at you. Shallow, shallow, shallow, both on the Jane Austen side of things and the tarot side. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

3 hours ago, moonglow said:

Subtly disturbing is why I probably won’t own the Mary-El.

I am more than subtly disturbed as I forge a relationship with my new Mary-El deck.  It's not just the card images either.

[Chariot]

5 hours ago, Tom said:

Getting back to my pet peeves I don't like it when Tarot decks are defined as toys or children's games.  I would never consider reading cards as a game for young children--as I don't think it's appropriate for pre-teens (and that would depend on the maturity level of the teenager.  If they are marketed as games and toys they should have card games that the cards can be used to play--not divination.   I don't think that many parents could tell the differences as to whether card reading it is a "game" or not.  

 

I reckon when these decks are advertised as 'toys' and 'games' they are actually counterfeit decks.  See them a lot on Amazon.  They are usually very cheap, as opposed to the actual decks they are supposed to 'be.'  I remember when Deviant Moon was sold like this ...for about £6 per deck!  It was listed everywhere as ...toys and games. 😬

 

................

My pet peeves—and I'm not counting decks I don't like or am not drawn to.  I just don't buy them.  But of the ones I own and use, I have three:

1) Card stock issues, or huge card size that makes the deck nearly impossible to handle, shuffle, and deal.  I've modified many for size, but not much you can do with cards that are too thick to riffle shuffle or that stick together—yes, I've tried that magicians' dusting powder which helps for a while ...but doesn't really make the cards ideal to handle.  It's so frustrating to have a deck you LOVE, but struggle to use for these reasons.  You want to scream WHY WHY WHY????

2) Cards that are perfect in many ways, but there are a few 'lazy' card designs thrown in there.  You know ...an otherwise down-to-earth deck that contains three or four images that are some ethereal, thinly-clad creature (sometimes with wings) shooting off into space in a shower of sparks, etc.  Grrrr.  I do use a couple of these decks, because most of the cards are so good, but inwardly growl when one of these dipsydoodle cards appears.

3)  This is major for me, and often determines whether I use a deck or end up giving it away.  Unclear images.  I like to read in dim light ...candles, salt lamps, soft side lighting ...and I struggle to see some cards.  Either the designs are too elaborate, or too many of them are similar.  It's a pain when you mistake a Knight of Swords for a Knight of Wands in a reading (particularly difficult if the card is reversed and/or not clearly labeled.)  One of my very favourite decks is The Crow Tarot, but I really struggle to distinguish one image from another.  I can only read with this deck using small layouts ...three cards, 5 cards at most.  The Pictorial Key is another deck I love, but have made mistakes so many times with the court cards (which are very pictorially confusing and are not labeled) I usually actually remove them from the deck before I start.

 

...........

Some people hate decks with no diversity in them, and I can understand that.  It bothers me some, but I do use many 'traditional' RWS-based decks that contain no diversity of any kind as well.  They are traditional, and I can usually work around the pictures—a 'king' isn't always a male, etc.  However, the decks like The Everyday Enchantment Tarot by Poppy Palin is superb about including 'everyone' in the images—young, old, different races and creeds, folks who are disabled, etc.  That's one of the best, most naturally-inclusive decks around.  The images never feel forced or self-consciously politically correct.  (Shame about the thick, sticky card stock and over-large deck size, but I'm working around that to the best of my ability....)  One of my tarot 'dreams' is that this deck will be re-issued with the card size and stock issues corrected!  

.....

Just one other point: 'fluffy' or 'cutesy' deck images.  While I shrink and slink away from these when reading for myself or an adult person, a good 'fluffy' deck with clear, well-defined images can be useful when reading for either a child or for somebody who is frightened of dark tarot images.  I initially bought the Hanson-Roberts deck, back in the 1980s, for this purpose.  Since then, many others have been created.  It's probably worth having one or two of these decks in a working reader's collection.

  

Edited December 15, 2023 by Chariot

[akiva]

8 hours ago, Tom said:

Getting back to my pet peeves I don't like it when Tarot decks are defined as toys or children's games.  I would never consider reading cards as a game for young children--as I don't think it's appropriate for pre-teens (and that would depend on the maturity level of the teenager.

Sorry for derailing your thread Tom! 

 

Just realised another pet peeve: when you buy a deck and it's split into two within the box. It's like the two halves never sit right together after a while, or you can kind of tell it was in two halves. Not to mention it means having to store a larger box. Then there's those annoying inserts that the deck sits in, which can get cards trapped underneath them 😅

[DanielJUK]

9 hours ago, Tom said:

Getting back to my pet peeves I don't like it when Tarot decks are defined as toys or children's games.  I would never consider reading cards as a game for young children--as I don't think it's appropriate for pre-teens (and that would depend on the maturity level of the teenager.  If they are marketed as games and toys they should have card games that the cards can be used to play--not divination.   I don't think that many parents could tell the differences as to whether card reading it is a "game" or not.  

 

 

Although patronising and annoyingly infantilizing to divination and our interests, I see this sometimes in bookshops in very conservative areas and towns. They don't usually have a "spiritual" or "eclectic" book section, only religious and so they are sneaked out there through this method as a game or for teenagers. It's always fun to go into a bookshop and finding what-the-hell area they put decks in! 🤣

 

Tarot and divination as a whole is having a bit of a popular renaissance in the last 5 years and so it tends to have an obvious place in shops but before that, it was often some random section somewhere.

 

7 hours ago, moonglow said:

We were both disappointed to only find out about The Dark Mansion Tarot after buying the Deviant Moon. I’d still find The Dark Mansion hard to pass up, even now, if just for the fun art. I probably wouldn’t use it for myself, other than maybe comparatively.

 

Dark Mansion Tarot is really just fun! It's like a dark deck at a funfair! It makes you smile. I don't have the Deviant Moon but I think the cards are very effective at going deep into your self-conscious. Whenever someone on here reads for me or a friend reads for me, with it, it always gets right into my shadow side annoyingly! They both have a different purpose.

 

My pet peeve is putting a load of crap all over the card art. Like artists have made a beautiful piece of art for each card picture, we want to see that art and appreciate it! This was very popular with the deck publishers during the 2010's, where you would have the artwork, huge border with distracting elements, name of the card and then a keyword! If you read intuitively, it's so annoying having keywords, specially when they don't even match the card. The worst of all is when you have a keyword, borders, card title and some LWB details on the card! During the 2010's readers kept emailing the publishers saying please stop doing this! Now all the big publishing houses seem to just give us the picture with just a card title. All the other stuff can go in the little book (LWB), we don't need it on the card. We just want the art! I think we won on this one, it's much better now 🙂

[Tom]

@DanielJUK if I want to get into shadow study the Deviant Moon world be a good deck to pick I'm sure. I'm just not ready to do shadow work right now. 

 

I love The Dark Manor Tarot.  I purchased a deck but it's the pocket sized edition, which I didn't realize until I actually got it. I don't find them to be sinister at all (unlike the Dark Grinimore deck). They are kind of like the Adam's Family aesthetic.  The problem i with the mini Dark Manor is that it that fine details are hard to see. Not too mention that I have big hands. I want to get the full sized deck, but the price on Esty's is prohibitively expensive for me.  If I bought it, it would be the most expensive deck in my entire collection. Maybe I should go for the installment plan, LOL. 

[Rupicapra]

I get annoyed when a creator takes existing non-tarot artworks and tries to squeeze them into a tarot deck, like the Banksy Tarot decks. Not for me. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Rupicapra

[Nemia]

17 hours ago, Tom said:

@DanielJUK if I want to get into shadow study the Deviant Moon world be a good deck to pick I'm sure. I'm just not ready to do shadow work right now. 

 

 

 

I do all my shadow work with light or neutral decks. I don't think you need a dark deck to do shadow work, actually, it would be too much darkness for me to do so. You can do shadow work with any deck you like. Maybe that's a pet peeve of mine - that darker decks get associated with shadow work while lighter decks can work just as well 😉 

 

Just try it. Any deck you love and trust will help you deal with that darkness, understand it better and find a way to let the light in. 

[gregory]

Gilded edges. Hate hate hate them. Cards stick together, gilding flakes off, and the edges are then vulnerable. Please do not do this. If you must, offer s gild-free option.

[DanielJUK]

18 minutes ago, gregory said:

Gilded edges. Hate hate hate them. Cards stick together, gilding flakes off, and the edges are then vulnerable. Please do not do this. If you must, offer s gild-free option.

 

Recently I had a choice when buying a deck of Gilded or rainbow edges. The rainbow edges are black and shiny and the make rainbows but you have to move the cards around in the light and it's really not that great!

Gilded Edges sound amazing as a concept but the realisation of them is so annoying! Definitely because printers could now do them, they became a huge annoying trend!

 

2 hours ago, Nemia said:

 

I do all my shadow work with light or neutral decks. I don't think you need a dark deck to do shadow work, actually, it would be too much darkness for me to do so. You can do shadow work with any deck you like. Maybe that's a pet peeve of mine - that darker decks get associated with shadow work while lighter decks can work just as well 😉 

 

Just try it. Any deck you love and trust will help you deal with that darkness, understand it better and find a way to let the light in. 

 

Totally agree with you ❤️. Every time someone reads for me with the Deviant Moon, it always gives me a message from my shadow side, so my theory is that somehow it connects directly to that side of me. But it's always an uncomfortable message, something I need to deal with or change or acknowledge from that side. I only get that with this deck and one of the reasons I haven't bought it for myself. I should try lighter decks to connect with it and maybe it will be an easier message to process 🙂

[Misterei]

On 12/15/2023 at 1:52 AM, akiva said:

... another pet peeve: when you buy a deck and it's split into two within the box. It's like the two halves never sit right together after a while, or you can kind of tell it was in two halves. Not to mention it means having to store a larger box. Then there's those annoying inserts that the deck sits in...

Right?

Those end up in a box or pouch.

Generally bad packaging bothers me ... whether its boxes that are too bulky with extras and inserts, or those awful flimsy boxes where the deck never fits again b/c a few cards get stuck on the interior lip of the box. UGH!

[akiva]

42 minutes ago, Misterei said:

or those awful flimsy boxes where the deck never fits again b/c a few cards get stuck on the interior lip of the box. UGH!

This deserves it's own place on the list... had to learn the knack to getting them back in again without a few cards sticking out the box, it's annoying! 😂

 

Another peeve is boxes that come with a sticker seal on the top and the bottom of the box is also glued, so either way you're ripping it open and damaging the box in the process. Pick one but not both please, hate ripped boxes 😔

[Natural Mystic Guide]

16 hours ago, gregory said:

Gilded edges. Hate hate hate them. Cards stick together, gilding flakes off, and the edges are then vulnerable.

I just unboxed a new deck.  Almost every single card was damaged due to gilded edges.  Many cards were stuck together.  Three sets were so  badly stuck together that I had to steam them and then pry them open with a sharp bladed knife.  I sent two videos of my unboxing to where I bought the deck.  No response.

[TysMom09]

On 12/15/2023 at 2:13 AM, Chariot said:

However, the decks like The Everyday Enchantment Tarot by Poppy Palin is superb about including 'everyone' in the images—young, old, different races and creeds, folks who are disabled, etc.  That's one of the best, most naturally-inclusive decks around.  The images never feel forced or self-consciously politically correct.  (Shame about the thick, sticky card stock and over-large deck size, but I'm working around that to the best of my ability....)  One of my tarot 'dreams' is that this deck will be re-issued with the card size and stock issues corrected!  

.....

Just one other point: 'fluffy' or 'cutesy

I love the Everyday Enchantment deck, I also trimmed the borders and while that was helpful for me, I am a riffle shuffler and I find the cards to be thick and sticky. I don't use the deck as much as I would like to because I get aggravated and my whole energy is off. Hoping for a reprint of small cards and a matte non stick card stock. I hate the shiny coating on some cards that also make them stick. I'm in a humid state so that's not ideal either 😞

[Misterei]

On 12/14/2023 at 10:07 PM, Nemia said:

... I find it irritating to see the Hermit depicted as a teenager ...

This is my one major complaint about the Mucha deck ... which i otherwise love.

But yeah ... I guess ageism would be a pet peeve ... some cards are supposed to be old people, others mature people. I like Ciro Marchetti's decks b/c he depicts the full gamut of ages including older people.

[Chariot]

7 hours ago, TysMom09 said:

I love the Everyday Enchantment deck, I also trimmed the borders and while that was helpful for me, I am a riffle shuffler and I find the cards to be thick and sticky. I don't use the deck as much as I would like to because I get aggravated and my whole energy is off. Hoping for a reprint of small cards and a matte non stick card stock. I hate the shiny coating on some cards that also make them stick. I'm in a humid state so that's not ideal either 😞

Yes.  I do honestly think the deck would sell better if the card stock was easier to  use.  I modified it for size (removed the borders) but there isn't a lot to do with the thick, clingy card.  

[Chariot]

In addition to large cards being difficult to handle, they also make it very difficult to set up large spreads.  Even a 10-card layout like the Celtic Cross can take up most of the table if the cards are 4x5.5 inches in size.  

[Tom]

You all have really good points.  I don't mind guilded edges on what I can my "fine art decks" like the Baroque Tarot.  I bought that one to admire but not for reading purposes.

 

I want a full sized deck of the Dark Mansion Tarot.  The mini deck that I accidently purchased doesn't give room to see all the symbolism of each card.  I want to full sized deck, but the edition that's available has guided edges.  There is a black edge edition but it appears seems to be sold out all the time. I want to read with this deck so the guilding is less desirable. 

[Raggydoll]

I really dislike tuck boxes that are too small, where I need to take extra extra care to fit the cards back in without damaging them. Too slippery cardstock is another one of my pet peeves. And I agree about glossy gilding, it’s a real nuisance. So far though, my decks with matte gilding has not had the same issues. Those cards do not stick and the gilding still looks new. 

[gregory]

On 12/17/2023 at 1:07 AM, akiva said:

This deserves it's own place on the list... had to learn the knack to getting them back in again without a few cards sticking out the box, it's annoying! 😂

 

Another peeve is boxes that come with a sticker seal on the top and the bottom of the box is also glued, so either way you're ripping it open and damaging the box in the process. Pick one but not both please, hate ripped boxes 😔

Also well-meaning creators who make up lovely lovely packaging that you have to tear apart to get to the deck. It's heartbreaking. Please STOP IT.

[akiva]

51 minutes ago, gregory said:

Also well-meaning creators who make up lovely lovely packaging that you have to tear apart to get to the deck. It's heartbreaking. Please STOP IT.

Does this happen a lot with kickstarter decks? I've been lucky enough to not have to totally destroy a box to get into it, but it's been close with those stickers/sealed box bases 😅

[gregory]

14 hours ago, akiva said:

Does this happen a lot with kickstarter decks? I've been lucky enough to not have to totally destroy a box to get into it, but it's been close with those stickers/sealed box bases 😅

With selfpublished of all kinds. The ks ones also come with loads of junk extras nobody wants.... Coins, stickers, extra prints. Hate it.

[Raggydoll]

1 hour ago, gregory said:

With selfpublished of all kinds. The ks ones also come with loads of junk extras nobody wants.... Coins, stickers, extra prints. Hate it.

I once had a deck package that was filled with GLITTER !!

 

[akiva]

2 hours ago, gregory said:

With selfpublished of all kinds. The ks ones also come with loads of junk extras nobody wants.... Coins, stickers, extra prints. Hate it.

I guess it's a case of what do you do with it all? And if you buy a lot of ks decks then you end up with a lot of extras littering the house 😅

 

38 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

I once had a deck package that was filled with GLITTER !!

Glitter?! That sounds so infuriating. It gets everywhere for years!

We have enough micro-plastics in the environment too without it being added to packaging... 👀