Picking out your First Tarot Deck
In my previous blog, Tarot Superstitions, I explained the legend behind the mythological requirement that one must be gifted a deck versus purchasing their own. Since this legend does not hold true, how does one know which deck to choose? Due to the recent increase of interest in Tarot and divination tools in general, I wanted to give some tips and tricks on picking out your first Tarot deck. For the purpose of this blog, I use a variety of the same card to showcase different types of decks that fall under the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) system of tarot to help you compare decks when you start looking.
Questions to ask yourself when you are looking for your first Tarot deck:
Do I want a deck that has more symbolism available or do I want less symbolism to try and work more with my intuition?
When exploring different decks, you may discover the intense variety overwhelming. When first investigating what deck I wanted to work with, I appreciated and preferred decks that had simplistic artwork versus complex imagery. It wasn’t until I got my first deck that I realized how challenging it was to work with simplistic decks. I spent many years working with decks that challenged me to the point of frustration. It wasn’t until I started working with cards embodying more complexity that my readings and intuition started to expand.
This Moon card comes from my first deck, The Wild Unknown Tarot. This is a great example of a more simplistic deck with limited imagery and symbolism. This decks aesthetic is beautiful but it can be challenging to work with as a new reader.
How much of a commitment do you want to make to learning symbolism?
In a traditional deck, the symbolism is the key to unlocking your intuition. A traditional Rider Waite Smith deck has various use of symbolism to help you understand the meanings behind the card. Symbols connect to cultural aspects across a global dimension. Regardless of the deck, there will always be symbolism and it is important to help make personal connections as well as research what the traditional meaning of animals, colors, numbers, or other aspects represent.
This Moon card comes from a traditional borderless RWS tarot deck. Comparatively you can recognize the difference between the previous card because there are additional figures, colors, and situational orientations that represent collective concepts. This one card has dozens of meanings and symbolic representations. To understand them all would require extensive research, luckily you don’t have to know every meaning to be a good reader! Just follow your intuition and you will do just fine.
Does this deck give me a good feeling?
Everything in life gives off a vibration, hence why so many refer to positive and negative vibes. If you are lucky, you could live near to a metaphysical shop that allows you to test out a deck before purchasing your own. Some locations have tester decks to see if the energy or messages make sense to you. Otherwise, I like to look up reviews and walkthroughs of full deck compilations to see if I truly connect to each card.
This Moon card comes from instagram’s @xiahunt and their deck: The Children of Litha Tarot. This deck energetically connects with me which assists my intuitive reading abilities. I find that the symbolism behind this deck helps my empathic side connect for whoever I am reading at the time.
After explaining the legend of being gifted a deck and the story behind that legend, new readers will find that it is just one of the many falsities that have been passed around through word of mouth. I thought it important to explain the process of picking your own Tarot deck. These are some of the questions and processes I like to go through to make sure I am purchasing a deck that has an energy that meshes well with mine. Feel free to follow my instagram and reach out for more advice or any questions you might have!
