What are they thinking?

Enough talk about your favorite decks. This thread is for decks that are popular with others, but for some reason YOU can't figure out what all the fuss is about.

For me, the first two that come to mind is the Hansen Roberts & Witches Tarot. You like those decks? What are you thinking?!?!?!

(disclaimer- this is all in good fun, of course - your taste is your business, and you probably hate the decks that I like)


-tb

My 'I just don't get it' deck list firmly includes Shapeshifter and Enchanted. I guess I can halfway see the using the Enchanted deck when working with someone who is a little nervous about Tarot but I really just have never understood the appeal of Shapeshifter on ANY level!!!

weaver
(still stinging over the perfectly good money spent on those decks!)

I consider myself a little picky with decks so there are quite a lot... But the ones I really don't get why they're popular:

Tarot de Marseille *blushes*
I can see why the historic aspect would be very interesting, but reading with it and actually liking the images? WHOA.

Tarot of Prague
I think I'm the only one who can't "see it" in this deck. Sorry!

Golden Tarot
Doesn't appeal to me at all.

Tarot of Dreams
Too sterile for me, I can't sense any feeling, though others seem to be enjoying it!

There are plenty more decks I wouldn't want to read with, even if it was a gift, but these are the popular ones I keep staring at without seeing what others are seeing, I guess. ;(

I don't get the TdM either, and also the original RWS, I LOVE the Radiant, but the original is just icky. and *hiding* I don't get the Froud's Faerie Oracle either. The faeries in it just scared me! Most people love it, but I found it creepy. Don't hate me.

Rhiamon, I am a Faeries Oracle lover and there is offense taken Tastes are very personal no one should get offended because you do not like what they do.

The one I just never got was the Victoria Regina. When I got mine I looked through it, called Truthsayer and mailed it to her the next day. I am not sure if it was the guns, the color, or what but I just did not want that deck even in my house. It did absolutly nothing for me. She loved it, and I am really glad it went to a good home.

ThinBuddha, I understand how you feel about the 'Hanson Roberts'. It is a very popular deck but I cannot see why it is as popular as it is. I am surprised that nobody else laughs out loud at those two kids in the '6 of Cups' with the extremely squashed heads, like I did.

I have spoken to Cirom here on many occasions and have every respect for him, but neither of his decks do it for me. I did own his first for a matter of hours and felt quite repelled by it. It was weird in the sense that I appreciated his work. I just didn't feel a thing for the deck. It went back into the bag pretty much straight away and waited there until I could exchange it in the shop. That was days later and I didn't feel compelled once to take it out and leaf through it. I knew I couldn't use it. Without meaning any offence to his many fans here, I see so many threads talking about and recommending these decks and I do wonder what it is that so many see in it that I cannot. I love Marseille and ancient decks so in that sense, it feels like some modern neon building standing next to a nice old catherdral. I love the colours Cirom uses (they are oustanding) but for me, it is the old rustic colouring of the fifteen century decks that say 'tarot' to me. I like their mystery. Interestingly, the 'Cosmic Tribe' is very colourful and modern, but I do like that one.

LB

I can't figure out what others see in the Gilded. When I've tried to read with it, I get nothing. A big old nothing . . . well, aside from some amusement at the cut and pasted photographic heads on some of the figures.

I also fail to feel any excitement over Lisa Hunt's first two decks (the Shapeshifter and the Celtic Dragon) - they both looked too much like cheesy fantasy art to me, and not enough like tarot decks. But then, I love her latest deck, the Animals Divine. That one really speaks to me.

Count me in among those who fail to love the Hanson Roberts; I hate to put it so bluntly, but to my eye that deck is really ugly.

And lastly, I don't get what people are seeing in some of the Asian-influenced decks that are such hot topics lately - the Lunatic, the Lepidopteran, etc. I grew up in a pre-anime generation, I guess, and just never have come to like that style of art.

Edited to add: This may go without saying, but I certainly don't intend for my honesty to offend anyone. I deeply appreciate the effort that it takes to design a tarot deck, and I know that much time and love and care went into creating each of the decks I mentioned above. Still, not everyone will like or understand every deck!

Sorry, but the Bohemian Baroque Cats Tarot squicks me out. I don't like animals dressed as humans, and the proportions seem odd.

Apollonia said:

Sorry, but the Bohemian Baroque Cats Tarot squicks me out. I don't like animals dressed as humans, and the proportions seem odd.

Click to expand...

Same here.

And even though I think the Hanson-Roberts is cute, I also hate the bad proportions! The Magician is the card stopping me from buying that deck, the guy just looks SO weird.

I just looked up the 6 of Cups. They kind of look like gnomes, don't they? lol

Thoth: I'm aware to have an enormous prejudice against Crowley, so I feel over scared by most of the cards.

Gilded: The art is cool but Major Arcana do not speak to me... I find some of them very simple (Judgement, Devil)

Anyway I'm glad many people consider any of those decks as the ONE lucky souls indeed.

PS. I do like the Hanson Roberts