Need advice on a good first tarot pack for gf

[nadineset]

Hi guys,

 

I’m very new to all of this!! So please help me out. I’m dating a girl I really care about and she’s expressed on a number of occasions that she would love her own tarot cards. She’s very conscious and spiritual, I am starting to dip my toes in but I’m really inexperienced. I want to buy her, her first tarot cards I just have no idea what I’m doing or where to start. Ideally I would like the pack to be special/ beautiful. I’m not sure if that’s a thing (please excuse any ignorance on my part). Advice and suggestions are all so welcome!

 

Thanks in advance.

[DownUnderNZer]

 

There are many decks out there and different styles or methodology. Eg Thoth/Rider Waite.

 

Something special?

 

Tabula Mundi with the book might be a decent thoughtful gift. The creator has her own site.

 

Ciro Marchetti has some amazing decks out there as well and on his own site.

 

Just a few thoughts.

 

DND X/

 

Hi guys,

 

I’m very new to all of this!! So please help me out. I’m dating a girl I really care about and she’s expressed on a number of occasions that she would love her own tarot cards. She’s very conscious and spiritual, I am starting to dip my toes in but I’m really inexperienced. I want to buy her, her first tarot cards I just have no idea what I’m doing or where to start. Ideally I would like the pack to be special/ beautiful. I’m not sure if that’s a thing (please excuse any ignorance on my part). Advice and suggestions are all so welcome!

 

Thanks in advance.

[ashwsh]

Am not sure but some tarot card reader few years back mentioned to me that tarot cards should always be bought from your own earned money or pocket money. Not sure how true it is 😀

[cosita]

You can get her one of the Centennial Smith-Waite versions. It's one of the prettiest versions of the Rider Waite, which is usually the first deck for beginners. There's the regular one, the borderless one, and the smaller version in a tin.

 

Maybe the Anima Mundi Tarot from Etsy would be something she'd be interested in? It has animals and an air of gravitas. It might not be as easy to learn with as a first deck, but it does come with a guidebook.   

 

I've heard the opposite ashwsh[/member] ! What I heard was that your first tarot deck should be a gift from someone! I obviously didn't heed that and got my own deck. ;)

[RavenOfSummer]

Hi and welcome, nadineset[/member]!

 

I would recommend giving her a deck that has a theme related to things she loves or is interested in. Does she like cats? Vampires? Dragons? Chinese art? Celtic mythology? There are so many decks out there that there is bound to be one that fits her interests. If you give us an idea of what else she's into, perhaps we can suggest some possibilities :)

 

The deck I learned to read with is The Goddess Tarot by Kris Waldherr, which I highly recommend! Especially if she is interested in goddesses/the divine feminine. The art is beautiful, the imagery is simple and clear and based on the Rider-Waite system, which is the most common deck system, so most books you pick up on tarot can be applied to it. You can get it in a deck and book set, which would be a special gift perhaps as opposed to just the deck alone.

where you can watch someone flip through all the cards, although they are much more beautiful in person.

[Jewel]

I am of the same thought as RavenOfSummer - a deck that touches on something she loves.  You said she was quite spiritual, but that could mean a lot of things.  The deck book sets I am suggesting below are ones that come with books that will be useful for a beginner and get her started.  I have also used and reviewed there decks and you can find the reviews in the Deck Review section of the Forum.

 

If her spirituality is Earth based I would recommend one of these deck book sets:  Green Witch Tarot (beautiful, and very spiritual feeling to me), Every Day Witch (pretty, fun, cross between modern and magical worlds), Druid Craft Tarot (a great deck for learning the court cards, steeped in spirituality from a druid/wiccan blend perspective, large cards).

 

If she likes fantasy and/or Faeries:  Shadowscapes (gorgeous art), though out of print if you could get the Victorian Fairy Tarot it is wonderful, The Joie de Vivre (a gentle empathetic deck, whimsical art - this one has no book).

 

If you can let us know what sort of things she likes that might help us make some better recommendations.

[DevonCarter]

You can get her one of the Smith-Waite versions. It's one of the prettiest versions of the Rider Waite, which is usually the first deck for beginners. There's the regular one, the borderless one, and the smaller version in a tin.

 

Yes, I agree with this. Especially the Centennial Smith-Waite in the tin. It's not terribly expensive, it's easily portable, and the vast majority of learning material out there uses the Rider/Waite system.

 

I'd get her a pretty one that she'll love the art of, but I'd ALSO get the Centennial in the tin to go with it. I started with a highly recommended Rider/Waite style deck that was not an actual Rider/Waite, and then a Ciro Marchetti, and looked at zillions of other beautiful decks, but until I got the Centennial in the tin I was super frustrated trying to learn. It's been incredibly helpful to have that one to compare the others to when learning. It's not the prettiest deck, but once I really started studying with that one I found I could read almost any other deck in the same tradition.

 

Of course, if you decide on a pretty deck that is NOT Rider/Waite based, then there's no need for that - but if you got a Thoth based deck I'd get a copy of the Thoth to go with it.

 

Obviously you CAN just jump in and get whatever deck is most beautiful, but if she wants to seriously learn it would be helpful to have a basic Rider/Waite or Thoth or whatever to start from as well. A brand new driver doesn't start in a racecar, a brand new knitter doesn't start with teeny needles and super expensive yarn, a brand new reader doesn't start with Shakespeare, etc.

 

I personally love the Joie de Vivre, and am really hoping to get the Dark Mansion Tarot for my birthday. There are tons of gorgeous decks out there with all different styles of art. But I keep the Centennial Rider/Waite/Smith close at hand along with those. If I find myself super confused by a card, sometimes pulling the Rider/Waite version of that card can really help.

[Thoughtful]

If she likes cats the Pagan Cats  is a lovely tarot and reads really well

 

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/pagan-cats/

 

If she is quite intuitive how about the

 

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/legacy-divine/

 

If has already been mentioned you can tell us her interests it will help us to give more suitable decks.

[gregory]

Am not sure but some tarot card reader few years back mentioned to me that tarot cards should always be bought from your own earned money or pocket money. Not sure how true it is 😀

Not true at all. One of those tarot myths that gets trotted out all the time.

 

Hi and welcome, nadineset[/member]!

 

I would recommend giving her a deck that has a theme related to things she loves or is interested in. Does she like cats? Vampires? Dragons? Chinese art? Celtic mythology? There are so many decks out there that there is bound to be one that fits her interests. If you give us an idea of what else she's into, perhaps we can suggest some possibilities :)

I'd absolutely agree. A deck based around something that she really cares about. But the Centennial Waite on the side is a very good idea.