Paul W - would you mind sharing the name of the book/deck you found on Amazon?
Laura F. - It was "The Essential Tarot" by Rosalind Simmons.
I thought this thread would be about Tarot card readings, as in predictions. This how I use the cards doesn't mean anything to me.
Elaine, Why not open up a topic asking questions of the cards? People will weigh in. :-)
Don't know how. I don't see a new topic button.
I love the tarot so much (and I read it so often) that when I’m doing readings these days the cards appear in my mind when I ask a question . I don’t always have to have a deck with me anymore. I love that.
PS I read the Thoth deck (that is the deck the. Ok I’m writing uses) and also enjoy the Osho Zen deck. But I can read any deck and often see images in my mind from the Ryder Waite. When people here throw cards and tell what they got, I want to know what deck it was from.
I was just thinking the other day if it was possible to know a deck so well that one didn't even need to throw the cards but could just let the card pop into one's mind. Seems like it is!
I absolutely love the Osho deck. I have Toth also, as that's one I started with years ago, but sometimes it can be tricky to read I find.
I have been teaching the Thoth (Crowley) deck for 30 years. The artwork is unsurpassed. The depth of this deck is also amazing. Crowley was a genius who traveled the world to learn from ancient spiritual traditions. This deck draws from Celtic, Roman, Hindu, Egyptian, and Tibetan traditions and the Kabbalah.
It helps to understand that the images are a picture of the mind and emotions, not reality. The swords cards show the most struggle because swords are a picture of our thinking and humans get caught up in distorted thinking. So when you pull a negative swords card, know that it is distorted thinking that is causing that difficulty, and distorted thinking can be healed.
Here's an article I wrote on reading scary cards: https://www.jeannemayell.com/how-to-read-the-scariest-tarot-cards/.
I find the Thoth deck a little bit "too much". It even has all those Hebrew letters on it, it's a bit intimidating. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it for somebody who was just beginning with Tarot. I suppose it depends on how you approach it. When I started with Tarot, all I had for guidance was a magazine article that wasn't too good, so I just spent a lot of time looking at the cards and trying to make sense of them myself. If I had had access to somebody who could explain it to me, I'm sure it would have been different.
Maria I understand how you feel. There is no perfect deck for everyone. It's a matter of personal preference and it helps to have a good teacher. I didn't have a tarot teacher, but I love art, was a painter, and am turned on by visuals, so I loved the Thoth deck. When I taught myself the cards, I read a couple of books that got me going. For the Thoth Deck, (until my own book comes out - lol), I suggest Gerd Ziegler's Tarot: Mirror of the Soul.
Best rule of thumb for picking a deck - use the deck whose images inspire you.
Try, or at least take a look, at different decks until you find the one that moves you.
1. I've taught hundreds of people to read the Thoth deck. It is so beautiful and stimulating, I feel it is worth the effort, but only if it inspires you. It is the second most popular deck, next to Ryder Waite.
Bluebelle learned the Thoth from me, and is giving great readings now. Same with Andrew Posey, Yaeko, Ginny, and many others, who were in my classes. All started as beginners and are now reading it like experts. I love how stimulating it is, and the beauty and power of the art work. The creators, Alistair Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris, were a Lennon and McCartney team who somehow came together perfectly. Crowley was an iconoclastic bad boy genius who cavorted with the giants of the day, like Winston Churchill, Isadora Duncan, the sculptor Rodin, and WB Yeats.
My mentor, David Hall, suggested I start with the Aquarian deck. It's beautiful but was too static for me. I need stimulation! He thought is would be an easy deck to start with, but if it didn't inspire me, so I couldn't read it.
When I began reading the Thoth deck, the images would sometimes jump right out of the card. There is so much movement and color. When the images start moving like that, you know you are reading energy. David used to tell me "to throw light on the card." He meant to focus on the cards inwardly and see the energy they are evoking in you. I could do that readily with the Thoth.
But if you are uncomfortable with the Thoth, then it's not the deck for you.
2. The Osho Zen is also wonderful, calming, and filled with wisdom. I love reading it and these days, I use it along with the Thoth when giving a reading.
3. The Ryder Waite is the most popular deck. It is easy to read because the images are little tableaus that you can readily interpret. If you are reading and enjoying it, then good to stay with it. But it doesn't give me the full range of spiritual power and breadth that I feel in the Thoth. Compare the Star card in the Thoth with the Ryder Waite and see if you notice a difference. Maybe it's just me.
Conclusion: Use the deck that awakens you.
I have to agree, from my experience. Both the Toth and the Rider Waite deck both apparently come out of the Golden Dawn teachings, it's interesting to see how visually different they are. I think the Rider Waite is so popular because it seems more visually 'accessible'. I haven't personally used it but from the imagery I think it could be just as layered and deep as the Toth deck. I think some of the symbology of the Toth deck which has so many details and so much going on can make them seem hard to understand, or can be off-putting to beginners especially without prior knowledge of numerology, astrology and kabbalah, and because the imagery is so dynamic could be overwhelming. When learning about the Toth deck symbology it sometimes feels like unpeeling and onion, more than other cards. But it's also interesting how popular that deck is too.
I also use the Osho Deck with Toth, sometimes for clarification. Another wonderful deck I have is the Dreams of Gaia Tarot. I find the imagery stunning and feel they are very spiritual cards.
But yes, you have to choose decks you personally feel drawn. I'd love to hear what other favourite decks are for folks here.