I learned about the RWS dominance in English speaking countries only when I discovered tarot sites on the Internet. I met the Thoth first - how do others from German speaking countries remember their tarot socialisation before the advent of the Internet?
Same here. Only I met Marseilles decks first, being from a Spanish-speaking culture.
The RWS has always felt like a chore, something that needs to be learned simply because there are superb books on it --Pollack's, for instance. The Thoth, however, which came later for me, is always a joy, even though the more I learn about that deck, the more I feel that I'm only scratching the surface.
Kat Black's Golden has never spoken to me. I enjoyed looking at the art, but couldn't read with it at all.
Funny, how different we all are (thank goodness!). For me, this is my comfort, meat and potatoes, everyday deck. I know every nook and cranny of it, and it still manages to surprise me.
But there are plenty of decks that are closed to me. The Golden Tarot of Botticelli is a good example. Stunning.... but silent. Like looking at art slides. Shadowscapes, same thing --plus it was like looking at the slides from the wrong end of a telescope. And the Wild Unknown, so dear to so many people.
I'd been having trouble with the Golden Dawn Magical until a few years ago, when I pulled the deck out and asked it very bluntly what the problem was. The answer it gave me opened up this deck to me, and in a slightly unexpected light too. I guess, sometimes it takes a shift in perspective and/or tastes, as it happened to me many times.
That happened to me with the Baroque Bohemian Cats. So beautiful, yes, but... cats in baroque gowns? Seriously?
Until I took it out to trade it away, but decided to do a serious deck interview with it first. And I was FLOORED. Now you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.....