Tarot cards

[spiritman51]

Hello, I am a devotee of the Tarot and also I collect vintage Tarot decks. The basic decks are the best. A good learning deck is of course the Rider-Waite deck which springs from the work done by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn at the turn of the last century. Plus, There is a huge body of literature on this deck and it is widely available in a lot of editions. I also look at the size and the quality of the card stock. I would also go to a store which will actually allow you to see what the deck actually looks like. Usually an new age or occult store will have sample decks. The printing and coloring should crisp and bright. The final word in choosing the right deck is to pick the deck which calls to you.

I have used a Handl deck for my daily reading for 12 years. I picked up the deck in a little shop and I could feel it "buzz" in my hand. It wasn't traditional and I had some objections to the non traditional. But that deck has been a great joy to use. Good luck

[mirrorinthefog]

I think it depends on the person. Some people learn better with different decks. I started off with the Rider-Waite deck, and "Tarot for Dummies", which I still use as a reference, but I don't know if it's the best book out there, since I haven't had a chance to look at very many other books. (Though I've found a lot of useful info online and on this site)
The second deck I got as a present (the Tarot of Mermaids); it has beautiful illustrations and doesn't deviate much from the standard Rider-Waite interpretations, they were very insightful and fun to use. I bought another deck (Gothic Tarot of Vampires) on impulse because I'd seen the artwork on various sites, and though some of the depictions were a bit confusing at first, it helped me see the cards from a different perspective and now they're the ones I use the most!

[Sacredstar]

When teaching traditional tarot in the past I found that beginners made much faster progress with the Morgan Greer pack, they are very colourful and impactful, the symbolism jumps out at you.

The best book that I ever found was the 'Tarot Workbook' by Emily Peach. Ceased being published now, but easy to get second hand copies on the net the last time I looked.

Some of the more modern packs are also delightful particularly the Osho Zen cards, healers tend to go for these types of images.

If you are into tarot and intuitive cards, it is hard to avoid becoming an avid collector.

enJOY the adventure

Sacredstar

[Ryuuko]

Namasté Sacredstar,

Is the Osho Zen Tarot what you have? It's funny you mention this because this is my most recent deck, and I really enjoy working with it. I don't have much time to do so, but I find it to be absolutely beautiful.

[Sacredstar]

Dear Ryuuko

Yes the images are quite beautiful on the Osho Zen!

I have many different packs as I was a collector for many years, some never used outside of the odd workshop.

But I do love Osho, I only have one book of his, he is one man that I would have loved to have met.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Ryuuko]

Dear Sacredstar,

I forgot to welcome you to comparative-religion.com last time, so... welcome!

I'm glad you agree with me! If some of you reading this forum would like to see the Osho Zen tarot pictures, you can click on the following link:

http://www.osho.com/Main.cfm?Area=Ma...nguage=English

Mind you, I am not affiliated in any way to Osho (apart that he was human and so am I ), but it's just interesting to see the pictures. Plus, if you want to, you can pick out a card for today, or click for a tarot spread.

Osho was a great philsopher--I'm just going through one of his books called "The Art of Tea".

[Sacredstar]

Thank you, it is a great and peaceful domain....

Sacredstar

[Ami]

Well I just got the gilded tarot deck its a standard deck so its easy to use and find books that interpret them though unfortunately I havent spent as much time as I would like with them jst yet but the book that comes with it is most helpful and the artwork divine, something I think I shall treasure for years.
One word of advice is make sure you find a deck that is appealing to you, look online before you buy, if your unhappy with a deck or you find the images unappealing then your readings probably wont be the same,
Besides it makes more sense to find a deck you are going to want to own forever rather than a new deck every few months

[Sacredstar]

this is an interesting link if you are interested in divination or tarot


http://www.taroscopes.com/astro-theo...otheology.html

[PocketScot]

A few months ago, well maybe longer someone noted The Gothic Tarot of Vampires, I wanted to add to the discription of the Cards and a basic review. There is alot of beautiful artwork and once one can understand the symbolism of the cards(as someone else also noted) and has a basic idea of what the cards mean it is a great deck to work with. I would personally not suggest this deck to a beginner.

Each card is not labeled with a name of the card. The Major arcana, are listed simply via Roman Numerals. The Minor Arcana have a symbol and a number. To a beginner this can be very confusing.

In addition to this, the instruction booklet has a few errors which might also confuse a few individuals. Under the describtion of the Major arcana the numbers and the cards don't follow numerical order. XI and VIII (specifically the numbers themselves, not the meaning of the card) are mixed up. [in other words, the name and meaning are in the right order but those two numbers are reversed] I kept looking at VIII knowing it was supposed to be justice yet reading in the book it was Strength which made no damn sence to me at first. untill i realized what had happend. i felt like a goof.

Unlike many other decks this instruction booklet does not give reverse meanings. Granted using reverse meanings is up to the reader, but i have found it has helped to explain the situation a little better, rather then (in some cases) lead the questioner astray, but as I said it is up to the reader, and every one has there own personal opinion and adaptation. Sometimes it is good to know the reverse meanings even if you don't use them.

On a positive note the symbolizm of most of the cards are very beautiful and easy to understand or in some cases rationalize. I must admit XIII (death) is one of my favorite cards. For as many people know death isn't necessarily a bad card, merely the begining of new things. The picture deplicts the embrace of an individual. I think that qualifies as the begining of new things.

In relation to buying your first deck of tarot

My first Tarot deck was the Vampire Tarot by nathalie hertz. My mother bought them for me because i liked the name. (i have a vampire fetich can you tell)The cards worked and, the picture represented the name of the card(not specifically the symbolic meaning), which at the time was what i needed. I guess the point i am trying to make is this, grab what calls to you, follow your intuition.

I am sure I have probably just reiterated what many people have said. my appologies.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to rid yourself of a deck? My first deck is the Hanson-Roberts - it's based on Rider-Waite. After a few years I felt the need to work with a different deck and picked up the Motherpeace round deck. In the store it seemed to work for me, but once I'd got it home and tried working with it for a few days, I realized I couldn't use it after all. That was a couple of years ago and I've held on to it because I don't know what to do. My (sceptic-agnostic) partner tried to put it in the paper recycling, but I objected. Asking the local used bookstore or esoteric shop if they want to buy/take it seems the best, but is there anything in particular (cleansing/release ritual) I must do beforehand? Has anyone else gotten rid of a deck before?

[bgruagach]

Originally Posted by Scarlet Pimpernel

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to rid yourself of a deck?
...
Asking the local used bookstore or esoteric shop if they want to buy/take it seems the best, but is there anything in particular (cleansing/release ritual) I must do beforehand? Has anyone else gotten rid of a deck before?

Well, since you didn't actually use the deck much at all I would think it has very few connections to you. If you had used the deck extensively then it might make sense to do some sort of cleansing or banishing on it first.

Since the new moon was last night it's a perfect time to do a banishing or cleansing of it though if you want to try it anyways. I'd get a brand new cloth to wrap it in, then put the deck on a tabletop and pour out a small circle of salt around it to enclose the deck. Then draw a banishing pentagram over it and state that all ties between it and you are severed. (They show how to draw both invoking and banishing pentagrams at this website -- the banishing Earth one is a good one for all-purpose use.) If you don't want to draw pentagrams then draw a cross or other meaningful holy symbol instead and state your banishing phrase.

Then use the new cloth to pick up the deck (try to not touch the deck directly with your hand if you can) and wrap it up in the new cloth. Then give it away or whatever you are planning to do!

There is more information on how you can cleanse or clear a tarot deck at this website and also at this website. You'll find more if you do a web search for "cleanse tarot deck."

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Those are great tips and great links, Ben. Thanks.