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[Opinion] Tarot deck (and book) recommendations?

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minette

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I’ve bought a few tarot decks and have struggled to find one whose imagery felt intuitive. What are your favorite decks or books?
 

amirartpop

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I have been into tarot the last few months, and I have researched a lot of books and decks.
My favorite decks I've gotten are the Golden Art Nouveau deck and the Bianco Nero deck.

As far as books, I've utilized The Big Book of Tarot by Joan Bunning. Very in depth and easy to understand. Also the TarotLingo app is great!

Recently got a Thoth deck and have been reading Understanding Thoth by Lon Milo Duquette - this is alot heavier and I suggest learning the Rider Waite system first.
 

Yazata

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Robert Ramsay

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The book I recommend is "The Tarot: The Origins, Meanings and Uses of the Cards" by Alfred Douglas and illustrated by David Sheridan. It's out of print, but you can still buy from Amazon or eBay or wherever. The cards themselves are much more difficult and are selling for ludicrous prices.
 

nargile57

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I have been using the Crowley Thoth cards since the late 70's.
 

Reynard

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I have been into tarot the last few months, and I have researched a lot of books and decks.
My favorite decks I've gotten are the Golden Art Nouveau deck and the Bianco Nero deck.

As far as books, I've utilized The Big Book of Tarot by Joan Bunning. Very in depth and easy to understand. Also the TarotLingo app is great!

Recently got a Thoth deck and have been reading Understanding Thoth by Lon Milo Duquette - this is alot heavier and I suggest learning the Rider Waite system first.
I love my Thoth deck. I'm a beginner with Tarot, and everything I read suggested I steer clear of Thoth until I've gotten to grips with the Rider Waite deck first.

I totally ignored all that advice. Sure, Thoth is much heavier (and I might get lynched for suggesting this) but I don't see how a piece of cardboard can know the future. Basically, it's your reading of it. So I choose to look at the card and ask myself what I think it means, rather than learning the traditional meanings or looking up tables of correspondences or Kaballah or whatever.

"Ooh, that's a pretty looking card, I like all those fancy bits around the cup, very creative" and "Awesome, boobs! I love boobs! Life is so cool"... that's how I do it. It works for me ;)
 

dcwilson

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The Waite/ Rider deck is a good beginning since its pretty much a standard deck. (I know, boorriinngg!) You can then branch out to some more exotic decks. Tarot decks don't predict the future! What you'll get is a clearer vision of the many paths you're on, like the Rorschach or Oh cards. You can do most all of this with a standard 52 card deck! Just because Tarot has special trumps doesn't mean they're somehow the Debbil's deck. Tarot cards are used to play Tarocicci and other non-occult games. This is where fantasy intersects with reality - the trump cards could also be a religious flashcard suit to hide a "heretical" sermon in something that only Neer-do-wells and gamblers would carry, like the Waldenses. A. Crowley's deck was changed to correspond to the Kabbalah ("Tree of Life") and its opposite. Or it's just a more complicated card game akin to Hearts or Spades.
;)
 

Kellhuss

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Hermetic Tarot deck + Almodovar book will certainly get your intuition working!
 
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