Can't find a deck I absolutely LOVE

[sapienza]

Just wondering if anyone else has this problem???

I have been using the tarot now for about 9 years and for the first 7 I exclusively used my Mythic deck which was what I first had. I started to feel like I needed to expand and so got a few other decks, such as Rider Waite and Thoth, and I was drawn to the Rider Waite symbolism but not the actual illustrations on the cards. Now 14 decks later and although I have many that I really really like, I just can't find 'THE ONE'. Maybe it doesn't exist. I have the Druidcraft and absolutely love the artwork, but not being Wiccan or Druid I struggle with some of the symbolism. I love the colouring of the Morgan-Greer but don't like other things about it. I really like the symbolism of the Sharman-Caselli deck but feel the colouring is too washed out. I'm currently reading with the World Spirit, because it seems to speak to me and has a good feel to it.

Anyone else still searching for the deck that finally clicks for them? Oh, if only I were an artist....I'd paint own!

 

[SunChariot]

Well for me I love all my decks. All 27 of em.

I certainly don't believe there is one deck out there that could fulfill all your needs perfectly. That would be like expecting to find the perfect friend who can always meet all your needs no matter what the circumstance, then you would not need anyone else ever again. I like the variety and being able to choose which deck suits my needs best each time.

Instead, they collectively fill all my needs together. I.e when you're in the mood for symbolism pick the one deck, when you're feeling moved by colou pick the other...

Babs

 

[redflash]

I have to agree, I think it's rare to find the "perfect" deck. I think sometimes that a certain deck works for one type of reading but not others, so I just go with whatever feels right at the time !

The druidcraft is gorgeous isn't it, I use it just about every day.

 

[sharpchick]

I agree with redflash and SunChariot. People are multi-dimensional and sometimes really moody, so it would be asking a lot of a single deck to be completely satisfying.

Maybe you need to sit down with a piece of paper and identify the things you want in "the one" deck. Is it art - do colors make or break a deck for you? Primary colors, earth tones, what? Borders - big, little, none, borders that contrast with the art or borders that blend?

You said you can't identify with the symbolism of pagan/Wiccan decks - have you looked at Christian decks? Native American themed decks? Illustrated pips or not?

Once you make a list, you can go to Aeclectic's main site and look at themes and categories to see how many fit your criteria.

Maybe that would help.

 

[jackdaw*]

I really like the symbolism of the Sharman-Caselli deck but feel the colouring is too washed out. I'm currently reading with the World Spirit, because it seems to speak to me and has a good feel to it.

If you really like the Sharman-Caselli's symbolism, I might suggest Juliet Sharman-Burke's "My Tarot". It's a line-drawing black and white version of the Sharman-Caselli that is made to be coloured yourself. That way you can make the colours less washed out and more to your liking.

 

[Deana]

I know what you mean. I go on buying frenzies where I keep expecting the next deck to be "the one." Like, as soon as I get this one in the mail, I'll have found the one. Or as soon as I get these decks in the mail and sort through them, I'm sure one of them will be the one. Other times I don't buy any new decks for several months because I know there is no "the one."

I second the suggestion for My Tarot. If you like Sharman Caselli, then by all means get the one you can color yourself.

Also, sometimes I think it's having so many choices that causes discontent. At some point you just have to decide to be happy with the deck you're currently using, imperfections and all. I've been known to have an hour available for Tarot and spend the whole hour trying to decide which deck to use and then my hour is gone. I works better when I just grab one and don't even look at the rest or wonder if another is better.

Sometimes I put all but one in a box and duct tape it and hide it in a closet. That usually works for about 24 hours, then I'm digging them out again. I also periodically sell the ones I haven't connected with. I tend to keep my collection at about 20 because I have enough trouble choosing between 20, let alone 50 or 100. I like to think of the ones I have at any given moment as the "best of" the ones I've ever bought.

 

[baba-prague]

Anyone else still searching for the deck that finally clicks for them? Oh, if only I were an artist....I'd paint own!

This made me smile because I am driven to make decks partly by the need to USE them. I needed the Fairytale (I found the fairytale related decks out there too childish for me - though some of them are very well done). Now I NEED the Victorian Romantic... it's going to be my main reading deck this winter I think.

I know that decks work differently for different people, but the experience of designing your own does, I've found, also intensify what you see when you work with other creator's decks. Maybe you could do your own deck in a very informal way - collage perhaps (if you only use it for yourself and don't share it in any way then you won't need to worry too much about copyright)? It might open up all sorts of possibilties and help to satisfy this need for "the one"?

 

[diane drizzy]

I hear you sapienza!
Went through this phase already, but right now I'm down to my Tarot Nova and my Minute Tarot.
Funny enough I've only used my Faeries Oracle as an oracle deck.
I've always wished that I could find a tarot deck that gives me that same warm fuzzy feeling as the FO!

 

[Emily]

A couple of years ago I was absolutely certain that there was such a thing as the 'The One' deck, a deck that would keep my attention and I'd never need to move on, and I thought I'd found it in the Morgan Greer.

But times and people change and so did I. The 'One' is now the deck that helps me at the time when I need it. I moved on from the Morgan Greer and onto the Tarot of the Old Path (which is my 'One' at this time).

I think I learn something from every deck I use, even if I'm not particularly keen on the artwork - Tarot of the Spirit is one that gets me, I don't really like it but it fascinates me.

But over the years I have noticed a trend in my choice of deck - I like RWS clone decks, it has to have good artwork, nicely drawn human and animal figures, I like flowers and animals on my cards, and good expressions on the human faces and even better if they have eye colour. They don't have to stick rigidly to the RWS artwork but there does have to be some kind of association there. I don't like keywords but borders don't bother me at all, infact the Old Path is a pure white background and it just makes you focus on the image better.

Have you tried looking at the Tarot of the Old Path, Tarot of Northern Shadows and the Nigel Jackson? I'm not Wiccan either but I don't have any problems using the Old Path.

 

[chrisam-crystals]

i don't think that there is the "ONE" deck for a person......we all change during our lives and so does our personal preferences.

when i was in my teens i totally adored my tarot of the ages and would shun all thoughts of using any other.....in my 20's i swapped to the norse and ancient egyptian tarots......and now i'm 32 and the gothic tarot holds my love!

no doubt something else will catch my heart when my 40's arrive.

(or maybe this weekend when my druidcraft deck arrives.......yippeeeeee!)

jue xx