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Tarot Cards: Themes, Sets & Decks

stonedog3

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Jul 19, 2003
Messages
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You may be familar with the cunning plan where people with odd sized feet and similar tastes pair group to buy shoes... all the same size and colour and then mix and match pairs that actually fit them.

I'm trying to find a similar group for tarot cards.....

The growing interest in the Green Man means that he's included more and more often in newly designed decks.

I source, purchase and curate for IOTA - a private collection of images of the Green Man. Images Of The Archetype as in Jung.

Archiving and as many as possible of this latest twist in use of the GM image would be a good idea.... but not necessarily keeping an entire deck of the cards. I'd need enough to set the GM card in context.

So can anyone put me in touch with people wanting only Fools, Emperors, Hanged Men or whatever? Unless that's the guise the GM is wearing on that particular deck of course :)

Kath
 
Interesting. I've always wanted to collect Tarot cards but I've resisted the urge as I couldn't think of any way to display them. Collecting just one or two cards from a set would solve that problem.

Anybody else interested?

Cujo
 
Expensive Tarot

Aren't Tarot decks very expensive? I've only got one, the Knapp-Hall deck, but got it unbelievably cheap :)

The Fool is the greatest card. Tells me the most.

Ian
 
Some of them are terribly expensive but most are quite resonable really.
 
My thought was that however much a deck is, split n ways it's that much less... and one can therefore have more with the same budget :)

When you collect anything seriously the space it takes up is ridiculous. A file page with a GM card, showing the back of the card, any other gm images &/or a couple of other cards for comparison is much better news than a boxed deck LOL

I offer this site

http://www.angelfire.com/mi/rex/celtic.html

as a must see if you're into this! Haven't stitched the GM up yet but he's a cutie. Is that an appropriate word I wonder...

Am a copyright fiend (having had to drag people through legal process fo my own work) so I'm not into just getting copies.

cheers, kath

PS and just WHERE did yo get this cheap deck - snarl?
 
That's a lovely site. I'm afraid I may have to make up the whole deck.
 
They should do a Tarot Top Trumps deck. Strength, Wisdom, Speed, Luck, etc.

The Fool would have wisdom of zero (or should it be infinite?)
The Magician would have the fastest speed, etc, etc.
 
My local second hand bookshop sells used tarot decks for around £6 , I can't imagine they are much use except for splitting up as they have been used . Also another shop in town that sells tarot decks has a book with a sample card from each deck in so you can see what they look like-I don't know what they do with the rest of the decks the cards come from. ( I'm too chicken to ask I'm afraid)
 
Marion! that's a great pointer.... I simply hadn't thought of secondhand bookshops (which is embarassing as I volunteer in the local Oxfam Bookshop) or the sample pack idea (which is embarrasing because that's how I do a lot of patchwork).

D'oh

THANK YOU!

off to make a few phone calls, maybe I can get on a owsh list or something.

Kath
 
It is an esoteric second hand bookshop mind you! ( I have to stop myself going in there cause otherwise I always come out with a book.)
 
I saw this the other day and I thought it might be of interest here.
F6EC321A-C3C6-4E6A-9A11-B0B1CB0F44F5.jpeg
 
^ Awesome.

Questions for readers
How many decks do you have?
What was your first? (don't tell me; the Rider-Waite-Smith, right?)
Which gives best results?

How many decks? I've got a large-sized Rider-Waite-Smith , a mini Rider-Waite-Smith and a Universal Waite. My spouse has a Marseilles deck and one that has a sort of art nouveau design (can't recall the name, though). The other sets I have aren't tarot, but serve the same purpose -
The Russian Gypsy fortune telling cards, a Lenormand deck, and the Commonplace deck (shown above).

The first deck I ever handled was a Medieval Scapini that belonged to my cousin, but it had a high creepy factor for me, so I never owned one myself.

The most accurate results I have are with the Universal Waite and the Russian Gypsy cards, though the type of question the cards are best at handling are different.

The Russian Gypsy cards give my spouse the creeps (much like the Medieval Scapini did for me) so he doesn't like them at all, but I feel quite cozy with them. If you haven't seen them they look like this. (I've had this deck for nearly 25 years now, so they are a bit worn!)

RussianGypsyCardsJuneJuly2016.JPG
 
Thanks, Ula. I understand that a deck can be viewed as a form of grimoire. It can even act as kind of portal. Do you think these responses are valid? If so, might the creepy vibe engendered be from the external or is it more from what the imagery elicits from within the reader alone? Of course, I acknowledge the possibility that a combination or mergence of such factors may be at play.. Your thoughts?
 
... Questions for readers
How many decks do you have?
What was your first? (don't tell me; the Rider-Waite-Smith, right?)
Which gives best results?

I've owned about a dozen decks since I first got into the Tarot in the very early 1970's.

I still possess only one deck - the (yes ... ) Rider-Waite deck that was my first one and has remained my primary "instrument" for 5 decades now. Even if all the others hadn't been destroyed in a fire some years ago they'd have remained secondary items. Here's why ...

This deck has been kept under strict personal control all along. Nobody touches this deck except me and a current querent. Over the decades this deck and I have become mutually attuned to an extent analogous to a long-cherished musical instrument or similar tool.

It's not that I prefer the Rider-Waite deck to any and all alternatives. It's simply that this first deck is the one with which I've sorta co-evolved and with which I've repeatedly demonstrated a rapport (for lack of a better term .... ) that's been unequalled with any other deck.

In other words ... It's the long-term relationship and attunement that are important, not the particular deck itself.
 
Grand. Thanks EG. I've been hearing that from many of Gordon White's (Rune Soup) interviewees. (edited out this question and have replaced - thought it sounded a bit silly but EG has responded during the edit, so) Do you think a favourite deck should be handed down or discarded? I'd love to hear about how you got in touch with the tarot at first and how you developed your practice.

I further ask, do you think I can learn to use a deck myself by following online guides, or would it be better to take instruction in person from a professional?
 
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I would never consider transferring a "working" deck except as a specimen for a collection or maybe a keepsake. My main deck is as intrinsic to my card reading as Willie Nelson's beat-up guitar "Trigger" is to his music. In both cases, it would be unthinkable to sever the connection between the practitioner and his long-time instrument.

In my experience this isn't just a matter of superstition or sentimentality. The handful of people I've known who were adept card readers (using the Tarot or regular playing cards) all used a jealously closely-held deck dedicated to that purpose.

My father was an uncannily adept poker player whose reputation (spanning a circa 100-mile radius in the gambling underground) was such that a fresh deck of cards had to be opened once he sat down at the table. At home, he would sit and play solitaire, etc., for hours on end so as to study the cards and how they fell. I suppose I inherited or adopted a certain knack for studying and knowing cards from him.

However, there was a significant difference between our card activities. He was studying the patterns among the cards' meanings in the relatively closed context of a game, so the understanding wasn't specific to a given deck. I, on the other hand, was studying patterns and meanings in a more open-ended context that depended more on the specific deck I was using.

My point is that the best long-term learning about the cards comes from studying and using them.

In my own case ... I was on the road doing the full-time rock musician thing. This particular road stint occurred during what can only be called a major life-shifting existential odyssey. I purchased the Rider-Waite deck on a whim, then set about learning how to use the cards. Over the subsequent years I read quite a bit about the Tarot and accumulated a number of books on the subject. The biggest thing I learned from years of study is that there's no solid consensus on the cards' origins, history, use(s), and meanings.

I therefore used the books (etc.) as background "serving suggestions" from which I derived my own knowledge base with primary regard to using the cards. This knowledge base included my own conclusions about certain issues (the deck's origins; which cards were to be used; layout preferences that worked best for me; etc.) based on readings, study, and practice. I settled on a praxis that worked for, and made sense to, me. YMMV ...

The significance of a given card doesn't derive 100% from the card in isolation. It's also dependent upon the layout / spread being used. As a result, the layout protocol is as important to developing rapport as the cards themselves. If you stick with the cards, sooner or later you'll settle on a preferred layout / spread. I've never met any adept card reader who admitted to using more than a couple or maybe three spread protocols. I've tried a number of spreads on an exploratory basis, but I settled on a single one early on.

I'd therefore recommend using "book learning" or "instruction" to get started, but only for starters. The diversity of opinions and attributions prevents such documented sources from providing a guaranteed "full education". A "cookbook approach" is useful for getting acquainted, but it will never get you past a cursory beginner's status. At some point you have to learn from using the cards rather than just reading about them or discussing them with others. In the long run, the only expert you can trust for guidance is yourself, and you'll have to grow into that expert status by developing confidence in what you glean from practice.
 
That's a great response. Sounds like my auto-didactic tendencies will reward an exploration. The cooking metaphor is apt as I use a recipe as a basic main ingredients guide and then adjust amounts and supplements according to my experience and imagination, changing each cook until I get the flavours I'm looking for. I also spend (read waste) a great deal of time with playing cards in various games and activities, mostly while watching youtube videos and absorbing knowledge while sorting patterns out. I have to be amused while I'm thinking I guess.

I'm going to buy my first deck on Wednesday. Thanks for your replies. I will return to them once I get underway.
 
What @EnolaGaia said above pretty much covers all you need to know, IMO.

Get a deck of cards (choose the one that appeals to you instinctively) study the general meanings of the cards, but it's when you begin to use them that's you'll start to get the hang of it. Don't take it too seriously at first, think of it as a game, a learning experience. Watch and take note of the patterns that cycle through, and how (and if) those patterns reflect the world around you.

Eventually you'll learn how to "tune in" (as I call it). This is what really takes time, and I suspect it can't be taught. It's only experience that makes it happen.

I could describe my own method of "tuning in" but it may sound so peculiar as to be useless in a practical sense.
 
That's great advice, Ula. When you say study the general meaning, am I looking at written background or responding to the images?
 
The Thoth deck is my top one, but there are a few other more obscure decks I like. Two of my favourite decks are both quite abstract and pretty hard to find now. Linda Falorio's Shadow Tarot is also a brilliant deck, with powerful, intense imagery.

The Terrestrial Tarot


Terrestrial Deck.jpg




And Ithell Colquhoun's Taro deck,

Colquhoun-Tarot-collection.jpg
 
I used to be active on a tarot forum. I collected, I bought and sold collectible decks on ebay.

I have probably owned over 100 decks, though not at the same time. I know collectors who own 1000 or more.

I used to read them, the Thoth was my reading deck. I don't own any decks now except an old RWS that is hanging around in the kitchen.

I think if you have someone you want to pass an old deck to, then pass it. But I always destroyed my reading decks when I stoped using them. It was a personal thing.
I once fed one through a shredder, one card at a time.
 
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