RWS; remind me why it's so great.

I read time and time again how fans of the RWS love it because even after studying it for ten, twenty, twenty-five years or more, people still discover new things, surprises and concealed symbols in its images.

But I've never been able to *get* this. I never see anything new in it.

Can anyone take me up on this challenge; could you post here and tell me of a detail you love that you think I've not noticed? Revive my love for the RWS as I have just dug out my PCS Commemorative set deck this afternoon thinking that maybe I'll spend a bit of quality time with it this week, next week, who knows.

But I can never spot new things in it. Please come forward and treat me to a celebration of why the RWS never ceases to surprise...

I'm happy I'm the first one posting, because I am not a fan of the RWS, I am a Thoth man. However, that being said, I think the RWS is wonderful, and clear, and in many ways just as complex as the Thoth. Although deemed an "easy" deck, I don't see it as such, and one can go as deep in the esoteric influences as one wishes, and I think there can always be more.

There's a whole thread on just this topic, Mr. Le Fanu!

rwcarter said:

There's a whole thread on just this topic, Mr. Le Fanu!

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Well, well, well. I had no idea. Thanks for that. An instant 9-page answer to my question. Perfect!

The real depth of the RWS Majors is found in Waite's discussion of them in PKT. For example, the section on Trump VI begins with a rather conventional description of the image. The real fireworks start in the final paragraph, in which Waite reveals that he holds a Gnostic view of the Fall of Man, which is totally heretical from the perspective of conventional Bible-based religions. Similarly, in the Trump XX section, he explains that, to him, the card is not really about the Biblical Judgement Day, but rather about an inward mystical experience (presumably gnosis). Concerning Trump 0 he states: "He [The Fool] is a prince of the other world......He is the spirit in search of experience." This is an accurate description of the main character in the hauntingly beautiful Gnostic poem, The Hymn of the Pearl.

Anyhow, a careful study of the RWS, with help from PKT, can lead to the world of Gnostic literature, and a fresh interpretation of familiar Biblical topics. There is practically an inexhaustible amount of material relevant to the deck. What I've mentioned barely scratches the surface.

Have you ever compared an RWS deck with Tarot of the New Vision?

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tarot-of-the-new-vision/

By looking at the cards from the two decks side by side, I saw elements in the original RWS I hadn't noticed before.

I have to say, the Tarot of the New Vision gave me a whole different way of thinking when I read cards, not just RWS.

Debra said:

I have to say, the Tarot of the New Vision gave me a whole different way of thinking when I read cards, not just RWS.

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Me too - I love that deck.

I do realise - after all I have said before - that the PCS Commemorative deck (U.S Games) is probably the clearest, sharpest RWS on the market right now for looking at just these kinds of details - like whether the King of Pentacles is treading on a hedgehog or whatever. You really can see the details. It's the nearest I have ever got to thinking that maybe those blobs in the back of the 7 of Swords are (perhaps) a campfire.

Le Fanu said:

I do realise - after all I have said before - that the PCS Commemorative deck (U.S Games) is probably the clearest, sharpest RWS on the market right now for looking at just these kinds of details - like whether the King of Pentacles is treading on a hedgehog or whatever. You really can see the details. It's the nearest I have ever got to thinking that maybe those blobs in the back of the 7 of Swords are (perhaps) a campfire.

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I think this is why I like the PCS Centennial, I like the colouring of it and details do seem to stand out. If I were to study the RWS then this would be the deck I would use.