Is it a Must to own a Rider Waite Tarot Deck?

[laurenhuang]

Is it a Must to own a Rider Waite Tarot Deck?
Since it is the Most basic and earliest Tarot Deck, and Most of the Tarot decks in market had a foundation from this Deck.

I didn't have one. But I do have the Tiny Universal Waite Deck.
Now I am thinking if I should buy one?

 

[Zephyros]

Nothing in Tarot is obligatory

However, it is a good idea to own one each of the "Big Three," Thoth, RWS, Marseilles as they form the basis of almost all modern decks.

 

[3ill.yazi]

It is not the earliest Tarot deck.

As to owning it, it is the most commonly used deck in the English speaking world, so it's much easier to learn to use, as most resources use it.

There are no "musts," but I strongly recommend reading A Wicked Pack of Cards or similar books about the actual history and evolution of the decks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[willowy]

Nothing in Tarot is obligatory

However, it is a good idea to own one each of the "Big Three," Thoth, RWS, Marseilles as they form the basis of almost all modern decks.

I agree with this as it covers all the ones most used in learning books,however if you're not keen on the original RWS one of its various clone decks are fine.

 

[CornissMagorniss]

I agree that there are no "musts", but on the other hand, the Rider-Waite has had enormous influence on Tarot reading and card developers, and is used in a lot of instructional books. It's also one of the easiest (and cheapest) decks to get hold of. Even if you don't end up reading from an RWS, it can be interesting to use for comparisons.

 

[jema]

YES!
The tarot police will be knocking on your door any minute now!

 

[rwcarter]

YES!
The tarot police will be knocking on your door any minute now!

She forgot the smiley face....

 

[Le Fanu]

Is it a "must" to be informed?

I mean, it helps to have a sense of dimension for the things you love and which fascinate you. There will always be the "I'm intuitive and I don't need to know anything" school of tarot.

Secretly, I think if someone is really into tarot then owning a RWS is a must, yes - there, I've said it. However, there are people who have one deck and spend their life reading with it - and if it isn't the RWS, I don't think it has any impact on their skill and relationship with tarot. There will be people who have read with the Thoth - for example- for 40 years and don't feel the need for any other deck.

But - hey - we all use tarot for different things. I personally can't imagine really loving tarot and not having a RWS. I can imagine having a book with the images in and refering to it and not feeling a need to shuffle the RWS, but that's different. But I can't imagine a deep love of tarot which doesn't embrace some knowledge of the RWS. You don't have to like or read with it - but some level of familiarity is good, I'd say.

But then the RWS isn't exactly traditional. What if I ask - "can you honestly consider yourself really into tarot and not have an Oswald Wirth. Or Vachetta? Or Etteilla?" Was it just chance - or perhaps U.S Games - that brought the RWS to the forefront?

ETA

Since it is the Most basic and earliest Tarot Deck

Just seen this! er... NO!

 

[rylla]

Leaving aside the part that there is no must - yes! a Rider Waite deck is a must! But You have the Tiny Universal Waite Deck. You might be able to get away with it (=that might do it , basically it is a very close RW design)

 

[Laura Borealis]

I'd say it depends on why you think you need it.

Do you not really want it but just think you *should* because everyone seems to use it? Then forget it, you don't need it. Use what you like!

Do you want it to study with, or follow along in a book that uses it? Then sure. But your mini Universal Waite might be just fine, as rylla says.

If you just want a better look at the pictures, and you have a smartphone or tablet, a cheap (or even free) option would be to get an app that uses the Rider Waite. Or they're always on the web of course. For instance here


Also, yeah, not to harp on it but the Rider Waite deck is not the earliest! Not by a few centuries