Reading Decks

The queen of reading decks is the Rider-Waite deck. It is certainly not the only good deck for learning and reading tarot, but it is certainly the one to start with. Here’s why.

The imagery of the major arcana, the trumps, of the Rider-Waite deck was specified by the great 20th-century hermeticist and mystic, A.E. Waite, a major figure in the famous Golden Dawn magical lodge. That’s why the deck bears his name.

But what made the Rider-Waite deck revolutionary, and what made it a tarot standard, is the imagery on the minor arcana, the suit cards. The minor arcana are just as rich in imagery as the trump cards. That is why the deck is so easy to read. And that is why most modern decks are based on the Rider-Waite at least to some degree—even if their artists and publishers do not realize it.

More on the Rider-Waite in another article. The point, however, is that most decks that are good for reading have complex imagery on the minor arcana, the suit cards, not just on the trumps.

For good readings the imagery should be complex and relevant to the tarot. I’m not talking about just complicated designs. Each card should offer a wealth of evocative, psychologically active imagery that helps one’s subconscious mind convey ideas and feelings relevant to the traditional meaning tarot meaning of that card.

That is, someone might come up with a completely new deck with complex imagery on a different system that can be used to give fairly accurate readings, and it might still not be a tarot deck. There are such decks. But they are not tarot decks.

The very best way to find a good reading deck is to try out the deck. But opening a new deck and laying it out in the store is usually not allowed. If you can handle one that belongs to a friend, that will work. Otherwise, you just have to learn to get a feel for the deck just by seeing a few sample cards, even by just viewing the box.

If you know the Rider-Waite deck well, you can usually recognize good reading decks, but even then, you can make mistakes if you cannot see the whole deck. I like to read with several different decks at psychic fairs and parties.

For awhile I collected decks, and I was sometimes fooled by the box. I do not read from decks that have only coins, cups, and so on, on the minor arcana. I’m very visual, so the numerology alone is not enough.

I used to give away useless decks if they were not compelling enough to keep as art decks. But I hate giving people decks that I think they will have a hard time reading, even though they like them.

Decks based on the Rider-Waite deck, though they can be innovative, and beautiful enough to collect for the art alone, are usually a safer bet. Some can be quite eccentric and still work for reading if you know the Rider-Waite well.

For example, the Alice in Wonderland tarot I bought some years ago is simply brilliant. It should not work, but it does—partly because the Alice story itself consists of subconscious, dream energy.

Which decks people can read from accurately and easily will vary somewhat. The thing they will all have in common is complex, subconsciously true and complete imagery, a complete symbol system that provides a vocabulary for the reader’s subconscious mind to speak to speak to the conscious mind.

So while a good reading deck will work for most readers, some decks may work for only a few readers. It is up to each reader to become skilled and experienced enough on standard decks to be able to recognize unusual decks that will also work for them.

Art Decks

For a discussion of art decks, tarot decks that are beautiful but not good for giving readings, see the first article in this series, Two Kinds of Tarot Decks: Part 1, Art Decks.

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Condottiere Francesco Sforza, painted by Bonifacio Bemo, c. 1460. Image via Wikipedia

Author: Janet Francis

Tarot cards—a clever marketing strategy or an ancient mystical guide?

There is much mystery surrounding the history of the tarot and countless myths about its origins. Cynics say that this mystery has been manipulated as a marketing tool for tarot card salesmen!

However, by just looking at the evidence and opinions supplied by other tarot enthusiasts we see that the earliest surviving full deck was painted in 1422 by Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo. This is known as the Visconti deck, named after the Duke of Milan, who commissioned them.

Although accounts of Ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Indian and earlier Italian links have been suggested, there is no evidence of any earlier decks.

The cards were originally used for a game called Tarocchi or ‘Game of Triumphs’ which was similar to Bridge. The game was played mainly by the Upper Classes and has continued in some circles.

The tarot’s use by the Upper Classes probably saved the game from being banned by the Church even though it was considered to be heresy and was outlawed by the Church. Indeed in the latter half of the fifteenth century some church sermons labelled tarot as the work of the Devil, but the Church had better foes to fight where cards were concerned- mainly games promoting gambling.

It is believed that the cards were used for inspiration for poetry, describing aspects of the human mind and character traits. The cards have obviously evolved according to the culture of the times and attitudes from whence they were used.

Probably the most important manifestations and manipulations of the Tarot deck were by Alistair Crowley and Waite of the Rider-Waite deck. The imagery on this deck is the one with which we are most familiar today. The Rider- Waite deck was introduced into America in the twentieth century and the one most available to the American public.

For more information on tarot cards visit http://www.thetextperts.co.uk/tarot.html

About the Author:
Janet Francis is currently opening her own business while continuing to freelance as a commercial writer. Check out her new services at http://www.entourageangels.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Tarot Cards- a Clever Marketing Strategy or an Ancient Mystical Guide?