Favorite Tarot Deck

[Arienwen]

I had asked anyone who would listen, months ago, that I wanted a new Tarot deck in the Rider-Waite fashion. The Sister went out and found that one on Amazon. She said that it wasn't "as boring as" the original Rider-Waite that I had pointed out.

 
Just wanted something a bit more pretty... :ange:

My old favourite deck was the Fairy Circle Oracle deck.  The artwork is just gorgeous.  

But when I was living in Florida and got really into the Red Sox, my Ex-Roommate gave me a Baseball Tarot  And I am absolutely in love with them!  (Knowing the ins and outs of baseball is optional.  :cool:)

[drekfletch]

I know this was done on the old board, but it's interesting to see what everybody says. What's your favorite Tarot deck?

Mine at the moment is The Robin Wood deck.

 
I don't read Tarot much at all anymore, but for a while I really liked the Cosmic Tribe Tarot (probably NSFW).  Like many, I'm coveting the Shadowscapes Tarot for it's artwork.

My go-to for divination is Morgan's Tarot, an oracle deck that is decidedly light-hearted.  Possibly even tongue in cheek.

[Fier]

I don't read Tarot much at all anymore, but for a while I really liked the Cosmic Tribe Tarot (probably NSFW).

Is the fool wearing a mullet? :eek:

My go-to for divination is Morgan's Tarot, an oracle deck that is decidedly light-hearted.  Possibly even tongue in cheek.

 Interesting! I like it.

[drekfletch]

Is the fool wearing a mullet? :eek:

 
Nope.  Long hair and some form of antler.

[FinchLove]

For me, it's Crowley's The Thoth Tarot.

 
This. I have a small old version I found tucked away at a second-hand store a few years ago, and I've been smitten ever since.

[sephira]

What's your favorite Tarot deck?

 
Unfortunately for me I can't read the tarot. Gods knows it's not for lack of trying! I've read the books, bought and been given the cards, tried and tried and tried, but I just don't have the gift because that is what all of you lucky people have: a gift! I would love nothing more than to be able to read the tarot and be able to help people.

There is only one thing I can read, but I have to refer to the book because I am still learning it, and it is called The Rune Mysteries. I'd add a link, but I don't know how. Anyway, I get pretty accurate readings from it.

[SunflowerP]

Unfortunately for me I can't read the tarot. Gods knows it's not for lack of trying! I've read the books, bought and been given the cards, tried and tried and tried, but I just don't have the gift because that is what all of you lucky people have: a gift! I would love nothing more than to be able to read the tarot and be able to help people.

There is only one thing I can read, but I have to refer to the book because I am still learning it, and it is called The Rune Mysteries. I'd add a link, but I don't know how. Anyway, I get pretty accurate readings from it.

 
Ah, that's what you were trying to test!  I wondered if it might be.

Here's a post from Randall explaining how to make an Amazon link that goes through TC's Amazon store (and also explains why we prefer those, rather than direct links).

And here's the TC/Amazon link to the book:  The Rune Mysteries

This is far from the only resource on runes, and, going by who the authors are, is likely to have a lot more to do with the Western Magical Tradition (largely based on cultures that didn't use runes) than with anything historically authentic.

That's not necessarily to say you shouldn't use it, Sephira - if you're finding it's a divination system that works for you, that's great.  But you might want to check out other resources - this website is a good place to start - to either see if a more historically-based approach works even better for you, or just to understand how the approach you're learning differs.

Sunflower

[sephira]

This is far from the only resource on runes, and, going by who the authors are, is likely to have a lot more to do with the Western Magical Tradition (largely based on cultures that didn't use runes) than with anything historically authentic.

 
I know it's nothing compared to using the real runes, but for some reason I have a very hard time reading/interpreting them. I know the [SPECIAL]RUNE MYSTERIES[/SPECIAL](I did it SunfowerP! Yay for me!) are a pretty cheesy system as far as you see it, but yes, they do work for me for some reason and I am still only learning. Until some magical intervention occurs and I am suddenly bestowed the gift of tarot, I'm left with them.

[Arienwen]

I know it's nothing compared to using the real runes, but for some reason I have a very hard time reading/interpreting them. I know the [SPECIAL]RUNE MYSTERIES[/SPECIAL](I did it SunfowerP! Yay for me!) are a pretty cheesy system as far as you see it, but yes, they do work for me for some reason and I am still only learning. Until some magical intervention occurs and I am suddenly bestowed the gift of tarot, I'm left with them.

 
Hey, I always wished I could read Runes, I thought that would be really awesome, but unfortunately I don't have the gift for that.  Everyone has different strengths and niches.  Sometimes it's Tarot, sometimes it's Runes, sometimes it's Palmistry, there are a select few where it is all three (although, outside of tv and movies I really haven't found one...)

And, hey, many people find my Baseball Tarot to be a bit cheesy, what with the minor arcana consisting of Mitts, Balls, Bats, and Bases and it's extensive use of baseball terminology.  (And the major arcana has things like "The Rookie" and "The World Series" and "The Umpire")  But that deck works beautifully with me.

I guess the point I am trying to make (however convoluted it may be) is that everyone is blessed with different gifts that play off their strengths, and in the end is most comfortable with.  And if that version of the Runes is it for you, awesome!  Keep working with them.  They chose you for a reason.

[drekfletch]

I guess the point I am trying to make (however convoluted it may be) is that everyone is blessed with different gifts that play off their strengths, and in the end is most comfortable with.

 
For example, I've always gotten more from the written discriptions of the cards than from the images on  the card.

[SunflowerP]

I know it's nothing compared to using the real runes, but for some reason I have a very hard time reading/interpreting them. I know the [SPECIAL]RUNE MYSTERIES[/SPECIAL](I did it SunfowerP! Yay for me!) are a pretty cheesy system as far as you see it, but yes, they do work for me for some reason and I am still only learning. Until some magical intervention occurs and I am suddenly bestowed the gift of tarot, I'm left with them.

 
Oh, I'm on the "what works" side.  It doesn't matter how historically authentic something is, if it doesn't work for you, it's no damn use to you.  But there's a long history in esoteric writing of people claiming historic authenticity whether or not it's true; I like to make sure these things are kept straight.

I'm not surprised you find the more historical approaches to runes difficult; they are difficult.  That there are fewer runes than there are tarot cards, and that the runes are a much simpler image, doesn't mean they're an easier system; it means that it's up to the reader to have enough knowledge of runelore to be able to supply the complexity.

( Aside about links: Nope, not that time - but I'll take it back to your test thread and we'll see if we can get it sorted.)

Sunflower

[SunflowerP]

For example, I've always gotten more from the written discriptions of the cards than from the images on  the card.

 
Do you, now?  Word association?

Sunflower

[drekfletch]

Do you, now?  Word association?

 
Certain phrases feel like they have more importance.

Tarot never grabbed me enough to become familiar with the discriptions, so I always have to look them up.  Reading through the description and meanings, a passage would feel more prominent than others.  More relevant.

For example: I just pulled a card for demonstration, and asked what I should tell you.  I drew 8 Wands (my deck is Thoth derived).  My first impression of the image is "energy radiating from a central point?  Expansion?"  It's an educated guess, not much of an interal push-of-meaning.  The first paragraph of the discription:

Lean and capable, you have been training a long time. Every day you feel your focus tightening and your power growing.  And every day you are given endless opportunities to use your power to further the experience of the universe by living free.

The first two sentences pop out to me, the third feels irrelevant.  In the first two, especially the words 'training' and 'focus tightening.'  Borne out through the rest of the discription, and combined with your italicized Do*, I'd posit a meaning that this is something like a confirmation moment for you.  Where upg gets validated through spg.

*Though the italics threw me in your post.  I couldn't get a clear bearing on the inflection.

[SunflowerP]

Certain phrases feel like they have more importance.

The first two sentences pop out to me, the third feels irrelevant.  In the first two, especially the words 'training' and 'focus tightening.'  Borne out through the rest of the discription, and combined with your italicized Do*, I'd posit a meaning that this is something like a confirmation moment for you.  Where upg gets validated through spg.

*Though the italics threw me in your post.  I couldn't get a clear bearing on the inflection.

 
You're close.  More just very interested, rather than confirmation/validation of UPG - it's far from the first time that I've encountered someone else for whom the words are an integral part of the reading.  But it's always very interesting for me, because that's seldom mentioned as a possibility; everybody, it seems, is all about thinking of the verbal descriptions as "training wheels" that will be discarded after a while.  Yet it's not uncommon for an individual to be word-centred in how they connect with tarot - I once estimated that a good third of those I'd mentored were.  (My inflection was also influenced by "Derek's resonating for me yet again" - you do that a lot.)

For me, it's much more clearly word association; I favor sources that have lots of single words and short phrases.  But otherwise, it's pretty similar - some of them will stand out, and generate further words, phrases, and thoughts.  And your demo example was useful to me for seeing just how your process works - it's not what I do, but it's akin enough that I could follow it and have it make sense.

Apologies if this is a bit scatty - my grieving is kind of immediate today.

Sunflower

[drekfletch]

everybody, it seems, is all about thinking of the verbal descriptions as "training wheels" that will be discarded after a while.  Yet it's not uncommon for an individual to be word-centred in how they connect with tarot - I once estimated that a good third of those I'd mentored were.  (My inflection was also influenced by "Derek's resonating for me yet again" - you do that a lot.)

 
Aside from using tarot as an elaborate bibliomancy, I always thought of the book as the training wheels.  (When I was starting with them) I always figured that eventually I'd assimilate the meanings.  Much like a beloved movie, you don't need to see the whole thing to know a quote.