Alright, let me tell you how I figured out there wasn’t just one kind of tarot deck. When I first started getting curious about tarot, years ago now, I honestly thought they were all pretty much the same. You know, the classic images you see everywhere.
My first real encounter was with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Someone I knew had one, and those pictures were kinda striking. Very storybook-like. So, naturally, when I decided to get my own deck, that’s what I grabbed. It seemed like the standard, the one everyone learned with. And yeah, having pictures on every single card, even the number ones (the pips), made it easier to guess at meanings initially. I spent a lot of time just looking through those cards, trying to soak up the vibe.
But then, I started digging around more. Maybe I was browsing online, or I walked into one of those cool little shops. Suddenly, I saw decks that looked totally different. This threw me for a loop. Some decks, I later learned they were kinda like the Marseille style, had really simple number cards. Like, the Five of Cups just showed five cups, no crying person or anything. It felt… stark? Less helpful at first glance, honestly. I picked one up cheap just to see.
Trying to read with that Marseille-style deck was a different beast altogether. Without the little scenes on the number cards, I had to rely more on the suits, the numbers themselves, and pure intuition. It felt harder, more abstract. Not really my cup of tea back then, I gotta admit. I put it aside pretty quickly.
Then there was another rabbit hole – the Thoth deck. Whoa. I saw this one and the artwork was intense. Super detailed, lots of weird symbols, felt way more complex and kinda heavy. Someone told me it was tied into all sorts of complex systems. I looked through the pictures, felt a bit intimidated, and decided, “Nope, not for me right now.” Just seemed like a whole different level of study I wasn’t ready for.
Finding My Groove (Sort Of)
Around the same time, I started noticing all the amazing art decks popping up. Decks based on animals, nature, fairy tales, modern art… you name it. This was exciting! It felt less like sticking to one old tradition and more about finding something that personally resonated.
- I bought a beautiful nature-themed deck. Loved the art, but found the readings felt a bit… fluffy? Didn’t quite hit hard enough sometimes.
- Got another one with really abstract, modern art. Cool to look at, but hard for me to connect with intuitively during a reading.
- Picked up an animal-themed deck that I actually quite liked for a while. The animal symbolism added a nice layer.
So, I went through this phase of trying different things. It was fun, like collecting little pieces of art. But I realized that for me, the deck itself really changes the feel of a reading. Some decks just felt ‘chatty,’ others felt blunt, some felt confusing.
After all that messing around, where did I land? Well, honestly, I mostly came back around to decks based on the Rider-Waite-Smith system. Not always the original deck itself, but decks that use its structure and have fully illustrated minor cards. For me, those pictures just work. They give my intuition something to grab onto, a starting point for interpretation.
It’s not that the other types are bad, not at all. I totally get why people love Marseille for its directness, or Thoth for its depth, or indie decks for their unique beauty and perspective. It’s just about what clicks for you. My journey led me back to the RWS style as my personal workhorse. But exploring the others? That was definitely part of figuring out what felt right, and I wouldn’t trade that process.
