what you absolutely cannot stand in any deck

[GryffinSong]

...I never, ever say "never" and, unlike what our culture teaches us, I believe open-mindedness is something we all have to work towards, day in and day out. It is not a natural state of being for most people.

...

Here's to teaching ourselves how to turn "absolutely cannot stand" into "don't much care for but can live with."

I completely agree with you. When I first saw this thread I looked at my profile to see what I'd listed in there as things I can't stand. Among other things, it says ...

I don’t care for goth, gore, nudity or non-scenic pips.

Since then I've tried a couple of goth and/or gore decks, several non-scenic pips, and just recently bought the Mary-el. Although I tend to still dislike nudity, I find its mainly the TYPE of nudity I object to. The Mary-el has an earthy nudity. Realistic in many ways, even to the detail that some of the "male parts" are circumsized and some are not. I thought this deck would be difficult for me, a challenge. Quite the contrary, I find that the nudity doesn't bother me at all, and that the deck is very powerful and moving. I realize that the nudity that bothers is me is either the type I mentioned above, clearly meant for a primarily male audience, and/or explicit sexuality.

 

[gregory]

Because Death name has a scary connotation to most people perhaps?

That is their problem, not tarot's. Give them a nice fluffy oracle and back away slowly.

 

[wooden-eye]

To say that I can not stand this would be rather strong, I am not keen on decks with too much meaning written on them, as try as I might I find it hard not to read words, therefore, more off-putting than helpful. One odd example has," 7 0f Swords- Hopes. Wish card. Highest minor arcana". I may be missing something, but .......?

 

[GryffinSong]

Good point, wooden-eye. I have a very strong preference for NO keywords at all.

 

[rwcarter]

Loathe, abhor and despise keywords on decks. I LOVE the Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA, but I can't stand the keywords on the cards. I have thought more than once about trimming the deck to remove the keywords (especially since I don't agree with/don't understand ~ half of them), but then I'd have a micro deck that I'd never use because it was too small....

The other thing I don't like (but isn't as big a bugaboo as keywords) is art I don't like. If the art (style) doesn't speak to me, I'm not inspired to use the deck for readings.

 

[Thoughtful]

Don't like huge borders, (my trimmer comes out)!
Cards that are way to big to shuffle properly. Guts and gore. l like bright colour that speaks to me, but can't abide cards that are so overly busy with colour and imagery that it confuses and gives me headaches! Cards that are too thick and shiny. Wishy washy images and too pale a colouring.

l am not that hard to please, honest!

 

[poopsie]

Aw shucks, I like DEATH! I also like DEVIL... i find these words truly apt and straightfprward and yet they trigger my intuition.

Decks I don't like - similar to pthers, very modern or "images" that depict today's world - men on neckties, officers, modern houses, etc.

I guess using imagination and intuition i reading too modern- day artwork for me becomes too concrete, at least for me.

 

[SunChariot]

For me:


1) white borders

2) any words or titles, especially in white

3) renamed cards


Next?

Anything scary of overly negative. I want my reading to be full of light and love and posiitvity. So those would make it imoissible to read as i want to.

I actually love renamed cards, especially when they have a novel concept behind them. The more original a deck the more I love it. AndI kind of prefer keywords or titles written on the cards. I think it's cool how we all have such different tastes and how there are decks to accomodate all of us.

Babs

 

[Fairytale]

3 different translations on top of the border..........

 

[Carla]

I've been thinking about this and I've read through this entire thread again. What I absolutely cannot stand in any deck:

1. A bad smell, either the printing smell or some stinky incense, etc

2. Grubbiness from being used before

3. Crooked printing or borders being wider on one side than the other (some publishers find this acceptable but I don't)

4. Detail too small for me to see (like Shadowscapes) or where the images seem actually slightly out of focus, the sharpness just isn't there (Book of Shadows Vol 1)

5. Distortion of images--things looks stretched or out of proportion (Tarot of the Old Path)

6. Photographs rather than art

7. Art where the person flat out cannot draw (Shining Tribe)

8. Art that either is CG or looks CG (Legend of the Divine and many others)


Everything else that I can think of that sometimes bothers me, it turns out I tolerate it in certain decks. But not the above. Those are the real deal.