What Tarot Deck do you use the most?

[Estariol]

The Thoth deck is my favourite but I started with Rider Waite. The wonderfull richness and complexity of the Thoth deck meant that I could only use the deck for divination effectively, after I had explored all of the ATU as inner plane doorways. I've heard good things about Wang's and Lon Milo Duqette.

I feel that there are very few effective 'esoteric' decks out there and far too many pretty, but pretty useless decks esoterically speaking. Of course they can still be used for divination but then so can a normal pack of playing cards. My partner uses the Osho Zen Tarot with astounding results.

[TheJedi]

The Thoth deck is my favourite but I started with Rider Waite. The wonderfull richness and complexity of the Thoth deck meant that I could only use the deck for divination effectively, after I had explored all of the ATU as inner plane doorways. I've heard good things about Wang's and Lon Milo Duqette.

I feel that there are very few effective 'esoteric' decks out there and far too many pretty, but pretty useless decks esoterically speaking. Of course they can still be used for divination but then so can a normal pack of playing cards. My partner uses the Osho Zen Tarot with astounding results.

I couldn't have said it better myself, Estariol. I absolutely love my Thoth deck, but it takes many, many years of study to unlock the mysteries of Crowley's symbolism, and I don't think I've even come close to "breaking the code" even after 20 years of working with it. The artwork by Lady Harris is absolutely astonishing, in my humble opinion, and probably the best I've ever seen in any tarot deck. I still use it as a meditative and learning tool, however.

I started with the Rider/Waite deck myself, as it was the most documented deck I could find and the symbolism is rather basic as far as a lot of the esoteric decks go. It's an excellent choice for anyone commencing a study of tarot, and I still use it quite frequently.

I recently came across a deck called The Archeon Tarot by an artist named Timothy Lantz. As you mentioned, it's more of a "pretty" deck than esoteric, based on his own inner symbolism rather than a particular teaching, but I am still very drawn to it. Given the years I've been working with the tarot, I already know the meanings quite well, so I don't think a lack of esoteric symbolism will affect me that much. I believe it's much more about what the card speaks to me at the particular moment, rather than what's actually printed on it, that affects the reading the most.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else had any experience with the Archeon deck and, if so, how it worked out for them.

Here's a few pics so everyone can get a look at a them:









I guess I should also mention there is a lot of female nudity in this deck, so I hope no one finds that one pic offensive. If anyone wants to check out the rest of the cards they can be found at:

http://www.archeontarot.com/cards.html

[Mohandas]

Of all the many decks, which one do you feel drawn to the most? What is your favorite deck and why?

I currently use the Rider Waite deck, and Osho Zen tarot. I like the meditative, insightful, gentle reminders of wisdom from the Osho Tarot. The Rider is of course a classic and should be in anyone's library of decks, good for beginners to get familiar with the symbology. I haven't used it in a while, but feeling drawn to using it again soon.


I'm interested in expanding my repertoire and looking towards the Thoth and for the more Pagan inspired deck I'd like to work with the Druidcraft Tarot. But there are so many... to be honest there are a lot I'd like to work with.

I received the Rider-Waite deck for Christmas when I was twelve years old and stuck with that for many years. When I was in my early twenties I discovered the writings of Crowley and went deep into the study of his life's work and still now use the Thoth tarot on occasion. As of more recent years I have been mostly using a deck which was out of print when I found it in a small shop in Amsterdam and I was unaware of it's existence before that. It is called The Hermetic Tarot and is designed by S.L. MacGregor Mathers. I believe that it is now back in print and available. These three so far are my decks of choice and I still use all of them at different times.
Mohandas

[TheJedi]

I received the Rider-Waite deck for Christmas when I was twelve years old and stuck with that for many years. When I was in my early twenties I discovered the writings of Crowley and went deep into the study of his life's work and still now use the Thoth tarot on occasion. As of more recent years I have been mostly using a deck which was out of print when I found it in a small shop in Amsterdam and I was unaware of it's existence before that. It is called The Hermetic Tarot and is designed by S.L. MacGregor Mathers. I believe that it is now back in print and available. These three so far are my decks of choice and I still use all of them at different times.
Mohandas

The Hermetic deck is also a Golden Dawn-based tarot, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

[Haruth]

Mohandas...

Can I direct you to post #8 of this thread...?

In anticipation....

Namaste

[Mohandas]

Mohandas...

Can I direct you to post #8 of this thread...?

In anticipation....

Namaste

Ah yes, thank you Haruth and please excuse me my friends for posting without having read the entire thread.

[TheJedi]

Ah yes, thank you Haruth and please excuse me my friends for posting without having read the entire thread.

Mohandas, I believe that Haruth was referring to his asking about the comparison of the symbolism between the Hermetic deck and that of the Golden Dawn's.

[Haruth]

Mohandas, I believe that Haruth was referring to his asking about the comparison of the symbolism between the Hermetic deck and that of the Golden Dawn's.

Yes, please....

I'd really appreciate any input regarding the relationship between the two decks.

Namaste

[TheJedi]

Yes, please....

I'd really appreciate any input regarding the relationship between the two decks.

Namaste

This is the best I could find as far as a visual comparison of the two. I'm not familiar with the Hermetic deck in the least but I would think that, since both Crowley and Mathers were both members of the Golden Dawn, the symbolism would, indeed, be very similar. The only differences would be in how each individual and his artist interpreted those symbols, of course. Based strictly on what I can see in these particular cards, though, I do see quite a number of similarities. Certainly, both are very much Kabbalistic- and Egyptian-based in their images.

The most obvious difference, of course, is that the Hermetic deck was strictly black and white. This deck was designed so the practitioner could color in the cards by him/herself, thus infusing the cards with their own personal power. I would really like to see this deck in full-color. I'm sure it would be quite amazing, as well.

One other difference I noted was that Mathers chose to utilize the King in his minor arcana, while Crowley utilized the Knight, instead.

Crowley also included an extra card in his deck, the Unicursal Hexagram, which he used as his magickal seal.

Edit: After a bit of research, I did find that Mather's work was the key inspiriation to all the personal tarot decks which were required of Golden Dawn members to create during the time period when the Order was at its peak, so I would say the similarities would be quite vast.




[IMG]http://www.*********.net/tarot/cards/_img/hermetic-01755.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.*********.net/tarot/cards/_img/hermetic-01756.jpg[/IMG]

I'll look a bit around and see if I can't find something more regarding this.

Oh, and a small FYI for those who don't know: Some Thoth decks contain 2 Magus cards and 1 Magician card, allowing the reader to utilize the one s/he was most comfortable with. I'm not sure why Crowley chose to do this, but for comparative purposes I chose to display the image of the Magician.

Edit: Give me bit, and I'll re-arrange and re-size these so we can get a side-by-side comparison of each. I think that would make things a bit easier.

[Clamhan]

I use the Druidcraft deck myself and have always felt a significant bond with them in both readings for myself and others.

I love the pagan symbology and the artistic detail.