Readers have their tastes. I really like the Deviant Moon tarot, (and it is a popular deck) but I know others who do not like it all. Doreen Virtue's Angel tarot is another deck I like, even though I have some minor issues with it. Others I know find the deck too sweet. And that's fine, of course. There are thousands of tarot and oracle decks out there, to fit all kinds of tastes and philosophies.
But then there are "tarot snobs" and I admit, I was guilty of such snobbery myself. Someone very close to me, who's also been reading cards for a good forty years and more, hates, and I mean
detests, the Rider Waite Smith tarot. He's gone so far as to say he wouldn't respect any reader who uses that deck. I used to think that as well, to a point. But funny thing about opinions; often we have them and aren't sure why, and often, they change.
I've had a mini Rider deck for years. Almost have given it away at times, but couldn't bring myself to do that. Lately I've been reading with the deck, and I had to wonder why I had negative opinions about the deck. As with many of us, when I first began to explore the tarot, the Rider deck was the one I used. It was the first tarot deck I was introduced to -- my mother had the same deck. Reading with the deck lately I had not only good readings, but good energy around using the deck, and those readings.
So I've been looking for a deck similar to the RWS deck. I wanted something very close to the "original" but, slightly different. I finally found it! The Diamond tarot. Unfortunately, it appears hard to find, and is very expensive. Amazon has the decks ranging from about $70.00 to over a $1,000.00! Good time to practice my manifesting mojo and see what comes.
The cards are very much the traditional RWS cards, but the borders add a psychedelic energy to the cards that I like. The wide and colorful borders frames the images in a new way. One of the criticisms about RWS from my friend is that the images are too "obvious" and put assumptions into the client's head. (Hmm. That happens anyway, doesn't it, and the role of the reader is to facilitate the interaction between both…) At the same time, the borders and coloring do add something fresh to the tradition, and I like the interplay between the new and classic.
