Have you ever been a deck snob?

[Scandinavianhermit]

I'm sensitive when it comes to decks claiming to be "Oswald Wirth" decks but turn out to be (usually very ugly) decks drawn and painted by entirely different artists at later dates. A real Oswald Wirth deck consists of 22 cards, but sometimes you can buy boxes with 44 cards, i.e. both the 1889 version and the 1926 version. 

[Misterei]

On 2/21/2019 at 11:11 AM, Guest Night Shade said:

Have you ever been a deck snob?

What I mean is have you ever rolled your eyes at the deck that someone pulls out to read with. If someone with their big Spencer's Pentacle on pulls out the Happy Unicorn of Light and Love deck to read with have you ever inwardly just done a 'oh no you didn't' kind of thing. If so which decks make you kind of roll your eyes? Also on the flip side have you ever been really impressed with the deck someone pulls out?

I am *totally* a deck snob. The worst.

I feel TdM was debased from the original Tarocchi b/c it was mass printed for commoners instead of hand painted for nobles 🤣

 

RWS and Thoth remedied this somewhat. It elevated Tarot again. But then came the digital revolution and the tsunami of modern decks.

Some part of me dies every time someone pulls out a cheezy theme deck to read with [a few themes are well-done but most are shallow and trendy]

 

Some part of me is secretly horrified and repulsed by *politically correct" decks like the one that shows happy H*jabi l3sbians being openly gay whilst wearing their h8jabs. Please. Stop. This. [Note: Sufi Tarot touches on Islamic imagery more realistically and it's done by an Iranian-American woman].

 

If someone produces a deck showing Empress as a pr3gnant m@n I will kill myself. [note: Pavlov tarot uses trans and gender fluid imagery in a deep way that doesn't violate Tarot's spirit]

 

I cringe at photo collage decks which are more a tribute to Photoshop skill than Tarots. I could go on, but I'll stop. I'm sure I've already offended enough people ... but like Popeye, I yam what I yam.

Edited July 9, 2024 by Misterei

[Natural Mystic Guide]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:11 AM, Guest Night Shade said:

Have you ever been a deck snob?

I don't really think that I am a deck snob.  Lots of decks strike me as just not for me -- things like cutesy animal Tarots (excluding The Playful Heart Tarot -- which is the epitome of cuteness and I adore); or dark and creepy stuff (although I do possess one delightfully creepy vampire deck that I pull out for Halloween).  When I see decks that I have a strong negative reaction, I actually rejoice in the diversity of our world and of human tastes.  Someones out there loves these decks.  That makes me happy for them!

[Guest]

I think I'm more of a deck ho than a deck snob. I can't help it if I'm truly made for dem streets - cartomantically speaking, I mean. 

 

* joke in bad taste redacted *

Edited July 9, 2024 by Akhilleus

[Misterei]

@Akhilleus LOL I had to edit my post. I wish I could see your redacted joke. Then again I *do* appreciate this forum as one of the few civil places on the internet.

[dancing_moon]

I'm not a deck snob, but I do find myself internally rolling my eyes at modern-modern decks. I mean, T-shirts, jeans, earphones, cars? Like, come on, what about the esotericism, the mystique? I guess that does make me a snob after all 🤔 🤣

[DanielJUK]

I was a deck snob for years about the Wild Unknown, the whole image and marketing that came with the deck was a real turn-off to me. Like take a mini version with your yoga mat in your yoga bag, let's go meditate with the larger size. It wasn't just a tarot deck but a hipster brand and was sold in places outside the normal tarot realm, like Urban Outfitters. I found it a really fake esoteric spirituality to be honest. It was highly marketed to a youth zeitgeist.

 

However a tarot friend told me to buy a deck and one Summer it was on sale. I really love it and the artwork. So it was the marketing and brand around it that I turned me off but the deck is wonderful. I was a snob and I should have given it a chance! I notice the marketing of it has been dialled down in recent times from when it first came out. It wasn't just a marketed image, it had substance!

 

@Saturn Celeste wrote earlier on in the thread about being a snob about Doreen Virtue. She is a controversial artist for sure and for me, it's about taste and her decks don't show the darkness, so for me not complete decks. They only show the light, they are unbalanced. I don't think it's being a snob but just not liking that system, however probably it would be a snob to not allow others to enjoy angel decks. We all have what we like and don't and the diversity of decks is wonderful and different decks will really fit us! 🙂 

[Misterei]

6 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

I was a deck snob for years about the Wild Unknown, ... I found it a really fake esoteric spirituality to be honest. It was highly marketed to a youth zeitgeist.... one Summer it was on sale. I really love it and the artwork.

LOL my story ended differently than yours. I also bought a WU deck on sale ... and discovered I dislike reading with it. It viscerally creeps me out b/c I think of that movie Blair Witch Project every time I touch it 🤣 But I did keep the deck b/c many of my students [especially younger ones] like it.  Even some older readers I know have been won over as you were.

6 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

... being a snob about Doreen Virtue. She is a controversial artist for sure and for me, it's about taste and her decks don't show the darkness, so for me not complete decks. They only show the light, they are unbalanced.

I take a harsher view of this. I feel that movement toward *nicewashing* tarot damaged it. And it ties into the fake spirituality mentioned above. This goes beyond *deck snob* and touches upon a basic philosophy of both Tarot and life itself. After going quite deeply into Right Hand path spirituality, I can say it's every bit as dangerous as Left Hand path. Perhaps moreso b/c it pretends to be the *safe* and *good* path. At least Left Hand path tells you the danger up front.  I've discovered Balance is the key in both cards and spirituality itself.

 

But this is prolly off topic, so I'll stop.

[Ix Chel]

I do not see myself as a deck snob. There are decks which are not my favorites, but some do love them. You can learn from every deck. Everybody has a different taste.

[yelloworacle]

I wouldn’t say snob, personally. I’m just very pick and choosy with what deck I use on what person or a certain situation. 
when I first started out, a lot of my decks were virtues. When I use them now, I don’t even associate the decks with her. 
one of my first decks was the Raphael healing deck, and every time I do a reading for someone I use it still. I have my own interpretations of the cards though. 

[Morwenna]

On 7/8/2024 at 1:24 PM, Morwenna said:

I wouldn't say snobby, just picky. I have no quarrel with anyone else's taste or level of affinity. I just know mine, and shop accordingly. I'm not always right, even with my own choices, but right often enough that in some 20 years of accumulating I've let go of no more than a dozen decks, mostly in the past ten years, and I still have some 60 or 70 decks. 

Did I say 20? More like 40!