What influenced you to go and buy your first Tarot deck?

gregory

Rage. :D

My SO bought one - a University Books Waite, from the local bookstore - and for a number of reasons I was cross with him at the time. And now he had something I didn't.

So I went to KMart (and YES I do mean KMart, to everyone who always says I can't have done; did SO; it was on a mall in Kitchener ON) - and what they had there was a 1JJ, so that was what I got.
 

Redfaery

My parents bought me a Hanson-Roberts when I was a teenager. I was reading a lot about Wicca and whatnot. I think they thought I *was* Wiccan...I wasn't and I never have been. (I'm a devotional polytheist). But I was smitten with the art, and touched by the gesture. So ten years later, here I am.
 

Denever

When I was in 7th or 8th grade, 1970 or '71, I was interested in all things mystical and metaphysical, so I spent a couple of weeks' worth of my allowance on the Albano Waite. I bought it at a wonderful bookstore in Carmel, CA, called Pilgrim's Way. Amazingly -- given the demise of so many brick & mortar bookstores -- it is still in existence, though its subject matter is more general now.

I no longer have that deck; it's probably been sold and re-sold an eBay for 15 times what I paid for it. I now prefer the coloring of the Centennial Smith Waite but wish I still had that first deck for nostalgic reasons.
 

Beanfeasa

My first paycheque from my first job, I went to the only bookstore for a new book and lo and behold, there they were, the Jonathon Dee tarot pack.
I still have it, occasionally use it, for nostalgic reasons mainly
 

page of ghosts

I think it must have been in late 2011 or early 2012 I visited a second hand shop. They had a lot of metaphysical related stuff at the time, so much I thought an actual shop must have closed and just given their stuff to Fretex (our version of Goodwill I think)! I was interested in a lot of alternative stuff at the time so naturally I was drawn to the table where all this was laid out. There were some oracle decks but what interested me the most was the Roots of Asia Tarot I saw, so I got that one. It's a beautiful deck and I wish that I took it out more but my knowledge of buddhism is limited so I don't always get the images and the guidebook. It feels like a deck where I should know more or be a better intuitive reader and not just put the RWS meanings that I'm now familiar with there, but I could never part with it since it was my first <3 It has given me some beautiful readings when I was able to decipher it though!
 

Tanga

I'd just dropped out of Uni and was on "a year out" - deciding...
To go back to Uni again :joke:

I walked into my 1st esoteric shop ever (they didn't exist where I grew up - probably still don't) and BAM - there were all these decks with amazingly colourful and beautiful pictures...
what on earth was all this stuff about??
I bought my 1st book on Wicca, and an Art Nouveau Tarot (wish I'd kept the copy - could have flogged it at an OOP price now - Lol) - I loved stained glass and the deck is in a stained glass window style:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/art-nouveau-tarot/


Then - I discovered my sister had Barbara G. Walker Tarot...
The power of the sacred feminine (raw in tooth and claw), wild moonlight magick and love?? Bring it on!
 

Barleywine

If you had asked me what had enticed me to buy my first utterly gorgeous, expensive and completely unreadable "art" deck, I would have remembered that I want to go find it at beat the crap out of it! :joke:
 

Tanga

Rage. :D

My SO bought one - a University Books Waite, from the local bookstore - and for a number of reasons I was cross with him at the time. And now he had something I didn't.
So I went to KMart...

:joke:

If you had asked me what had enticed me to buy my first utterly gorgeous, expensive and completely unreadable "art" deck, I would have remembered that I want to go find it and beat the crap out of it! :joke:

:joke:



**Just looked on ebay - and found an affordable copy of Art Nouveau - Huh. Go figre...
I originally gave it away because after I'd finished learning basic Tarot - I began to notice it was "too white" for me ;) (i.e. began wishing to have a multi-racial deck, seeing as I am.).
 

Barleywine

**Just looked on ebay - and found an affordable copy of Art Nouveau - Huh. Go figre...
I originally gave it away because after I'd finished learning basic Tarot - I began to notice it was "too white" for me ;) (i.e. began wishing to have a multi-racial deck, seeing as I am.).

That wasn't the reason I bought the World Spirit tarot, but it certainly stands tall in that regard. It doesn't follow the "Chinese menu" approach to tarot multiculturalism: "Let's see, I'll have half-a-dozen brown ones, a couple of yellow ones and a red one, and . . . "
 

Isobel Gaudie

I started fiddling with cards very early. But nothing serious, I used poker cards and had the mayor arcana of RWT when I was about 10.

There where many superstitions surrounding tarot in my environment, like one needing to be a certain age to properly start learning and reading cards, no readings to people that are younger than 16, Thoth tarot is filled with negative energy....yadiyadida.

I got my first deck at 18. A Thoth deck, of course. But it did not last long due to superstition.
Then I switched to RWT.