Your First Deck

[feynrir]

My two

I have two "first" decks.

My first tarot deck ever was an extraordinarily tiny Tarot Nova (the cards are the size of my thumbnail). I used it a little bit as a teen but gave up on it because the format was very unsatisfying, and school and work were too demanding at the time as well. I really didn't learn much with it.

Fast forward and I picked up the Tarot of the Hidden Realm with a friend because it was love at first sight. Everything about tarot as a system clicked for me with those pencilly facial closeups and sweeping gestures, just as I knew it would.

 

[wrenkincaid]

Gentle Start

My first deck was the Gaian Tarot. I had eyed tarot decks for many years, and finally, at age 40, took the plunge and bought myself a deck. It love the deck because of the gentle and inclusive feeling of the artwork, and it was a wonderful introductory deck for me, as someone who had stepped out of Christianity and into Paganism.

 

[CassandraR]

My first deck my mother brought for me when I was 13. A Brightly coloured deck by Samantha Bale and Sasha Fenton. I don't even think the deck has a name. My mother brought them for me after she saw how fascinated I was with her friends daughters deck. I loved them and I still own them. I don't use them but they were my first so can't bring my self to get rid of them.

Could never read them without the book though

 

[Nel]

My first deck(s) was Raider Waite, one standard size in Norwegian and one pocket sized in English. I believe they are around 4 years old now
They served me so well when learning and studying the basics of the cards!

I've just recently felt confident enough to use other decks =)

 

[Curious Dragon]

My first deck was - one I drew. When I was around 13, I found a little book on various kinds of divination, including tarot. At that time, there was no chance of finding a tarot deck in a small town like I lived in, so I drew the Major Arcana and either the knights or the pages from the line drawings of RWS tarot used in the book and made up the rest of the deck with regular playing cards. It didn't work that well, as I'm sure you can imagine.

My first real tarot deck was the Eclectic Tarot that I found a few years later. Definitely not a beginners deck, but it was the first time I'd ever seen a deck for sale, so I snatched if up. The deck is twice as thick as a normal deck, so I never had any trouble with the many decks that came after.

 

[Annabelle]

I bought my first tarot deck when I was about 15 or 16, I think.

There was a bookstore in the local mall that had one of those displays with cards from about 5 or 6 decks that you could flip through, and I distinctly remember narrowing my choice to either the RWS or the Aquarian. Turns out, I bought the Aquarian .

I had it well into adulthood, but about 10 years ago when we moved, the deck was somehow lost in the shuffle.

Since then, I've bought a new copy .

 

[Richard]

Mini Albano-Waite (Tarot Productions), purchased c. 1969.

 

[TheSixOfWands]

As I don't yet have my 1st deck, I'm watching this thread with interest.

I prefer deck that are close to the RWS deck and particularly drawn towards the Druidcraft deck, apart from the size of it. The RWS pocket may be the better option.

I'll report back here when I get a deck.

 

[seedcake]

"China Tarot" - still own it and thinking about getting the second copy. This deck has a very special place in my heart. The artwork is just pure perfection. When I use it, I really feel a strong energy rush. It's not for beginners but well, I couldn't resist it.

 

[gregory]

1JJ.

Bought for $2.95 or something, in KMart (yes, I DO mean KMart !) in about 1975, in a fit of jealous rage. The rest is history....

I still have it, though.