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Which Deck is Right for You?
On a bright autumn morning, you step inside your local bookstore, intent on purchasing a deck of Tarot cards. What sounds simple quickly becomes bewildering when you discover dozens -- even hundreds! -- of Tarot decks exist.

Perhaps you recognize the Rider-Waite. Maybe you recall an article about the Osho Zen Tarot you spotted while browsing www.tarotpassages.com. You know you like the artwork you've seen from Robert Place's Alchemical Tarot. But how does that differ from his Tarot of the Saints? And what's up with this Minchiate deck, with all those extra cards?

And how do you choose the deck that's right for you? What criteria inform that decision? Do you go for a theme you find appealing (baseball? dragons? animals? the Renaissance?) or do you simply snatch the first deck with artwork that catches your eye?

In other words: which deck is The One for you ... and how will you recognize it when you find it?

The Myth of "The One"
Eventually, you'll discover what most participants on the Comparative Tarot mailing list have already learned: there is no one, perfect deck. You'll find that you want one for its stunning artwork. Another will "speak" to you, even though its art is crude or simple. You'll buy another deck because you love its Majors ... and buying another deck despite its unimaginative approach to the Minors.

You'll eventually adopt one or two decks (maybe even four or five!) that you enjoy more than others. But after contemplating and working with so many different decks, over time, something amazing occurs: when you plunk down the Seven of Swords from the Rider-Waite, you'll also "see" the Seven of Swords from the Alchemical deck, and the Morgan-Greer, or the Thoth, and the Gill, or the Tarot of Marseilles.

The method behind your deck collection madness suddenly becomes clear: behind any Tarot card is a concept ... and no one card can completely capture all the dimensions of that concept. You suddenly understand each card from each deck represents a Truth ... and that each deck's version of that card amounts to a crystal in which that meaning is embedded and reflected.

Since no one card from any deck perfectly encapsulates that Truth ... comparing the same card from many different decks broadens your perspective on the Truth hidden there.

The Comparative Tarot Method
That's where the Comparative Tarot Method comes in. Generally, the method consists of three steps:

• reflecting on the artist's rendition of the card
• acknowledging author's intentions regarding the card and its meaning
• noting how these renditions or intentions differ
• relating to the meaning of the card through our education, our intellect, our intuition, our experience, or any or all of the above.

We capture this experience for a given card within a given deck in an essay ... and post those essays here (and on our Comparative Tarot mailing list).

Each of the essays on this site grew out of the process outlined above. In some cases, the authors provide a description of the card, highlighting aspects of art (or the symbols, or the technique used) which appeal to them.

Most authors provide a summary of the deck designer's intentions for the card, as expressed in that deck's LWB (Little White Book) -- some quote the author ver batim.

The majority of authors then go on to describe their own experience of the card: insights into its meaning, contexts in which it has appeared in readings, or connections they've made between this card and others like it in other decks.

Why Share?
Why share these essays? Imagine you're studying the Emperor and attempting to achieve as holistic an appreciation for the Trump's meaning as possible. If you work with one deck, your understanding of the Emperor may be very much influenced by -- or limited to -- the perspective of that deck. How do you get around that bias?

Perhaps you just won the lottery. If this is the case, you rush out and purchase every deck on the market. In addition, you offer Stuart Kaplin at U.S. Games an offer he can't refuse for his massive collection of decks. Then you can sit down, compare all the Emperors in the known universe, and expand your knowledge of the card and the ideas it represents.

ComparativeTarot.com provides an alternative for those of us who aren't lottery winners. From a single, easily accessible page on this web site, we can explore essays and information about the Emperor card in dozens of decks. In addition to learning a great deal about how the energy of the Emperor is expressed in a wide range of decks ... we may also come across another version or two of the Emperor we just have to have for our own collection!

Don't Just Sit There -- Compare!
We invite you to browse our collection ... but we also invite you to participate in the work of the site! If a particular deck speaks to you -- even if an essay on some of its trumps, courts, or pips is already on our site -- write about it! Your perspective is unique ... and may incorporate exactly the information some of us need as we continue our comparative study.