Tarot

[poliphilo]

We've just placed an order for some Rider Waite Tarot cards. My daughter is writing this cracking book on Tarot and I've got a partial draft copy and want to be doing the exercises she suggests. We used to have lots of packs but they got lent and given away (which amounts to the same thing) and all we seem to have left- that I can access- is a set of the Mythics which resonated with me once upon a time- but I took them out and looked at them and thought, "No, this ain't me any more" and, as my daughter says, you've got to trust your intuition.

The Rider Waite are the great originals, the first  widely circulated esoteric pack- the fons et origo of all the rest. Also they're Edwardian and so am I (take that however you like- I'm not sure I can explain). The only alternative I'd be happy with would be the Tarot de Marseilles- for that authentic late medieval vibe, only the minor arcana doen't have pictures, just pips- and I can't read them- they're just pips as far as I'm concerned- and I'd have to have a book at my elbow- and that would fuck with my intuition...

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I have been interested in Tarot for a long time and have never quite been able to 'get it'. Would your daughter be willing to sell me a copy of that book when it's done? I kept my deck...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure she would.

She's still writing it and a publisher has it under consideration. When it comes out I'm sure I'll post about it.

She has a website at http://www.alicegrist.co.uk/

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I've only ever used tarot cards as playing cards; it's quite a lovely game, really - though as I understand it you're not supposed to read fortunes with a set of cards that have been used to play tarot...

It can really be quite fascinating to play cards with a completely different deck of cards than what you're used to.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ailz used to read fortunes with ordinary playing cards. No-one in our family is particularly precious about that sort of thing. Alice keeps her cards on the window sill with an elastic band round them and her toddler has been known to throw them round the room...

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I've never been read by cards, but tarot is a terribly good game... I recommend it!

I've had my hand read in New Orleans by a guy who was taught the trade by his mother. Rather cool, because he was very, very good. Perhaps more at reading my demeanour and personality than my hands, but never mind... Without believing in it, I still had a really good experience because we talked about what he "read" and it was quite therapeutic.Even if I don't believe in hand-reading he was, for sure, a gifted conversationalist who was able to pick up any clues I gave when speaking. And that was worth every dollar I paid him!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I haven't done anything with Tarot for a long while, but I used to read spreads- and even did it professionally when money was tight. I wasn't a natural but I got results. Alice says it's all about intuition, but for me it was mainly a matter of interpreting symbols. I got my best results when I was under pressure and didn't have too much time to think.

[dadi.livejournal.com]

This. I have about 10 different decks, which I love to look at.. but the only ones I do get "vibes" from and actual readable impressions are the RW ones. Those, I just have to take in my hands and shuffle a few times and ALWAYS something true and interesting comes out, even if I draw just a single card. I never, ever had that feeling with any others. Weird enough, I have the RW in Italian and in German.. while the German ones do "work", the Italian ones are infinitely more "mine".

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

AE Waite was a profound student of the occult and his artist Pamela Colman-Smith was a member of the Golden Dawn- and, well, they both knew what they were doing. Few other packs- if any- have so much knowledge and experience behind them.

I think this makes a difference.

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Fascinating post. I had a Tarot deck when I was a teen, but I don't remember the type.

I look forward to hearing of your daughter's book when it comes off the presses -- I didn't know you had a published author in your family.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Alice has had three books published. This'll be her fourth.