Are some decks better than others?

ivanna

Possibly, but I am not a better reader just because I use the Thoth. I don't think anyone is. However, a deck that has that much thought and work put into it (five years in the making and based on a forty year magickal career) merely has the potential to deliver more bang for your buck. If one can be a good reader with a bad deck, how much better will they be with a great one?

Spot on. I mean, the same reader. If someone can do good readings with the kitty, what will happen with the thoth?
 

greatdane

I liked that word, Closrapexa!

POTENTIAL! Yes, certain decks have more potential for certain things than others. While it is up to the reader what they can, or do, get from a deck, the potential of certain decks, what thought has been added or not, can certainly be different.
 

Barleywine

Well, "De gustibus non est disputandum" (very loosely, "There's no accounting for taste"). Some decks have demostrably better art, some have much deeper symbolism, and, yes, I'd rather peel an apple with a paring knife than a machete (and my fingers would thank me :D), but ultimately the talent, intuition and wisdom lie within the user, not in the cards. Of course, there are many decks I wouldn't want to even try reading with, but that's me and no real fault of the cards (unless thay had absolutely no good reason to ever see the light of day). Some tools just suit me better than others. We can debate all day about nuances, but it comes down to personal bias in the end. I like Thoth and RWS (and a few of their clones) best and wouldn't touch anything to do with vampires, zombies or (ugh!) fairies, no matter how well executed. If that makes me an outcast in some circles, oh well . . . .
 

Zephyros

I guess everyone just understands the question differently. It didn't say if there are better decks for reading, in which case the really would be that there is no accounting for taste.
 

Barleywine

I guess everyone just understands the question differently. It didn't say if there are better decks for reading, in which case the really would be that there is no accounting for taste.

But it also didn't say "better for meditation" or "better for self-improvement." Being "better" implies a purpose of some kind; it's a comparative judgment, not an objective one. If it said "which deck took longer to create" or "which deck has more detailed artwork," that would be a different matter. Of course, feel free to differ . . . ;)
 

Rhapsodin

It's surely down to what the individual likes and can worth with. I'm not yet a reader so my interest is more in the spiritual scope of a deck, the art and layout - but always with the possibility that I could start learning to read.

So, yes, I find some decks are better than others.
 

gregory

It depends what you mean by better.

This reminds me of a long-running argument with my mother, who says that Mozart is BETTER than Joni Mitchell, and "everyone knows this". I (a music graduate) cannot agree.

What do we mean by "better" ? I can recall the days I swore blind that a deck I had bought was only capable of the fluffy; it's all full of fairies and I said it was silly. I then read with it for a bet. It delivered one of the sharpest, most accurate and blindingly painful readings I had ever done. My sitter (a more experienced reader than I) was gobsmacked. (And rather upset, as it wasn't what she had hoped to hear.)

Then there was the Charmed. I mean - NO-ONE can read with a rubbish deck like that. But as probably the only person here who owns the thing. I agreed to read with it. but not for a sitter, as that would be unfair on the poor sitter. So I asked it what kind of a deck it was. It informed me - that it was rubbish. I was very impressed. (I still won't read for another human being with it though !)

Some decks have stunning art. Some very lovely arty decks are unreadable. Some decks that one least expects to deliver amazingly on-target readings do exactly that. I can't get readings at all out of decks that others find perfect. On the other hand, many here find decks that I get results from absolutely impossible (take the Savage, for example - most here will run a mile rather than read with that one !)

Better in terms of art - sure, there are some BRILLIANT art decks - but some of those won't deliver a reading. But better for reading - you have to use the ones that speak for you.
 

foolMoon

I feel every deck has its place, and some decks suit better in certain type of readings. And there are decks I love because I like the art work, design, colour, history ... etc. There are also decks because I can connect better, and feel right as well. So that's why some of us keeps buying more and more decks even if not all of them are collectors. :D

I think the concept 'better' has quite subjective, abstract and wide implication, which calls for subjective and variety of answers to the original question.
 

Freddie

Use the decks you like and don't worry about what others say. It is all about how you connect with the deck, nothing else matters.



Freddie
 

Le Fanu

but ultimately the talent, intuition and wisdom lie within the user, not in the cards.
I think it is healthy to perpetually question this. It gets repeated again and again that it has become one of those things that nobody dare disagree with.

But - change of analogy - imagine if we said that it is what we bring to books that matters, not the book itself. Forget the language of Shakespeare or Tolstoy - that doesn't really matter; what matters is what you bring to the book. Of course we all bring *stuff* to whatever we do but it is a tiny proportion of the wider picture.

Most of the greatness of great artwork comes from it and not us, surely? Perhaps we're just too vain to admit it. I do think of tarot and what it does to our subconsciousness as simply another form of reading.

As to the question of "better", if we can argue that Austen or Henry James or Proust wrote great literature, - better than something pulpy that you might pick up at the airport - then I'm sure there are decks that are better (assuming better means with more content, richer, well thought out). But I question it a lot - I mean, can we honestly say that the wisdom and talent of great literature is what we bring to it and that the greatness of great literature is in us? I just don't buy it. That's why I question the adage that "the magic is in us."

Better or not better, I can't define it but yes there are decks that are well thought out and ones that are rushed, empty and formulaic. But can a rushed, empty and formulaic deck give good readings? I guess it can. I'd rather use the best tools at my disposal. But that's just me.