I just got this deck last week with such high hopes since I never could obtain a Greenwood deck and I do love all things ancient, foresty and celtic...Unfortunately I hated it instantly and had to put it away without even looking at all the cards...
I am so put off by the way most cards have been redefined in meaning! They do not follow any known tarot system and that in itself is incredibly annoying. I really don't see the reason for it. As for the artwork, it was a huge disappointment for me as well. It seemed like many of the cards were in their first stages of drafting and were just left as is.....also the cardstock is so flimsy I wonder if it would hold up to a good shuffle.
A while ago I took them out again to give them another go, but it was no go indeed. I shall have to try to resell them at my flea market booth this weekend, although it saddens me no end. Thankfully I have a lovely pocket version of the Steele Wizard, Hallowquest, Legend and the Llewellyn decks to keep me company but it would have been nice if this deck, which held so much promise, would have been done differently.
Or perhaps it's just me?
I would really really appreciate it if you Greenwood fans out there could assist me in reconciling my RW mentality with this deck.... Please? (sniff sniff)
Just wondering--how do you deal with the drastic changes in card meanings? And, which deck is BBC?
Well to clarify something for I am not a Greenwood fan either, so to help you reconcile with this deck is to look at this way. first read my posts Time of Arrows, Time of Bows, Time of Stones, Time of Vessels.
Then split the deck into 4 groups, Majors, pips 2 - 10, Aces then Courts
Take your RW and Thoth split thoses decks the same
Start with the pips 2 - 10 and compare the cards IE: for starters the 7 of vessels ( mourning ) you will notice that the thoth 7 of cups ("Debauch" The lotus blossomes have turned themselves into tiger lilies and pollute the sea with their poisonous nectar "Crowley" speaks of a malarious morass, weakness because the balance is lacking causing a corruption flowing from within to the external = Like a death/Loss of self due to ..... In stead of water, greem slim issues from the tigerlilies and overflows, it is a wholesome reminder of the fatal ease with which a sacrament may be profaned and prostituted.) is more closely related, and the RW also speaks of loss therefore this deck does give you the flipside or in others words does enhance what the thoth and RW tell you. This deck is a wanderful mix of Both Thoth and RW combined in each card ( some cards are more Thoth and some RW, with an added touch of which time of year the cards fall under, this is where the Sabbats/Exquinoxs come into play that give the change/enhance meaning of the cards original meaning. (IE: 5 of vessel - love this card ) Estasy = when things are crappy in your life emotionally and feel like dirt, this card tells you to fill yourself with whatever makes you feel better dancing, music, sex lol whatever rocks your boat to get back to feeling emotionally balanced. Edited: the 5's I see as sitting on the fence you have 2 choices, so with the 5 of vessels you could just stand there an moop, dwel, cry over spilt milk, or achnowledging whatever the situtation is and start doing something about it to make your self or other feel better, so start dancing.
Then compare the Majors, for the only difference is Prudence (Reflection/Mirror) has been added, which is nice, for most every deck is missing this card, so inorder to have this card add and keep it a 22 majors she had to combine the Tower and hangedman.
Then get out what ever tarot book you have that has the horoscope spread read the meaning of each houses then look at the cards again. Get a more indepth book on astrology or internet read on just the houses only.
This is Where your court cards come into play and then your aces
The courts follow the times of year so all the courts in the suit of stones are from Nov 1 - Jan 31 so these card represent the horoscope signs of that time of year Scorpio to Aquarius
So take only your Courts and make a circle on the floor or large table following the thread I've list above you will then see that the courts are the houses, pretty niffty. you'll also notice that each of the four courts of each suit does the overlapping of the first 10 degree of decans ( 1, 2, 3 ) also the king and pages share their previous element and the nest element (cusps ) elements
IE: My daughter was born Jan 24 = Aquarius, she is the page of Stone which is half capricorn / earth and Aquarius / Air = Which so is amazingly her love this combo. The kings are the same the king of Stones is Scorpio, November 1 - November 21 = WATER and Sagittarius November 22 - November 23 ( cusp ) EARTH
IE: 5 of vessel - ( love this card ) Estasy = 5th house
The Aces represent the 4 seasons Winter, spring, summer, fall and of course the elements earth, air, fire, water
Then you can go around the circle adding in the pips to the houses under the courts.
Then read up on the Season of the year Sabbats/equinoxes. then go back on read my threads as listed above. then it will all click.
This is what I did to figure it out. and now I am very pleased to be the owner of this lovely deck. Take for its own, following the greenwood method didn't work for me, so I revamped it a tiny bit...lol
hope this helps