Wisdom of Avalon: Yay or Nay?

I went through the marker cards and selected those that seemed to be the most pertinent to me. I kept all but 9 of them, and this may change as I use the deck more.

I actually have been enjoying the readings so far, but again, I'm using some of my own interps, not always sticking to what the deck creator uses. I have to say that I hope to see more from the artist of the deck, hopefully paired with someone else. I think that if the material had more substance as Aulruna said earlier, the artist could have really taken the material to a whole new level. As it is now, the artist is what saves the deck from being a total loss.

I say this because I don't really see much of Avalon in the deck. The idea is a great one, but other than Merlin and the The Lady in the Lake I don't get a sense of anything really steeped in the culture for which the deck takes it's name.

Part of the failure for the deck is that the system isn't discussed. So perhaps from this we must postulate there is no system. The Sacred Marker cards are given no special instruction or status. Just that 21 of the cards, nearly half the cards in the deck are no more than pictures of keywords printed upon signposts in a forest. To me this is either laziness or they ran out of money to pay the artist and settled on a quick fix.

Perhaps at some later date the artist or the deck creator will come over here to the forum and clue us in as to what the idea there happened to be, but it is what weakens the deck, imho.

Many of the people posting in this thread are names I recognize and several of you are pretty good readers, so we can probably squeeze some good readings out of the deck using our own ingenuity and expertise. I read professionally and I use found object oracles often enough to take a deck like this out and get a fairly useful reading out of it.

It is just that when you dig into the deck and really look at the pictures you don't feel that the artist and the writer of the book were in sync. For instance the Wasp card is really a great example. Anger and retaliation, jealousy are the keywords. What we see is a gorgeous wasp flying toward it's nest. Now to me the picture is about homecoming, protection and return. I feel that if the deck creator was really meticulous she would have looked at that picture and requested a change....

Both Merlin and The King stand for Justice...we already discussed Butterfly, and as for Horse, I understand assistance, but delegating authority? What about swiftness, messages, strength. Dragon was given the job of Strength, but isn't dragon about mystery, challenge, perhaps even an opponent? Also wasn't dragon somehow linked to Arthur's claim on the land??? The magical breath of the dragon and the heritage that was Arthur's genetic claim to the throne?

Also I wondered why Stonehenge made no appearance in the system, no Druids, no mention of Ogham, the Tor or of the Chalice or Grail other than the beautiful cardback. The Mystery marker would have been lovely had they used the scene on the cardback.

If I had this deck to do over, I would have asked Marion Zimmer Bradley to create it with Gary Lippincott. Wonder what would have come of that union.

Nay for me i put it up for trade in the trading forum. I didnt connect to it at all sadly.

I absolutely LOVE this deck! I got an idea on how to read with them, from someone on YouTube*. This is how she, and I, read with them:

You separate the markers from the rest of the deck. Now you have 2 sets of cards. Shuffle and fan both out. Pick one card from the marker pile, and one card from the other pile. You will now have a marker to set the tone of the reading, give you a direction and a message. The other card will give you more information. Together they read beautifully. Try it! Works well as a daily spread too!

* http://youtube.com/watch?v=lhL3E-Kqgdo

Well, I did a ton of quick readings with this deck today and it's still only about half accurate (or less). I still feel no affection for it either, which surprised me.

Also, the back of one card is chipped now and appears to be peeling off, which I've never, ever seen happen before. Shame because I think I like the backs a lot better than the fronts.

Oh, well.

I like this deck but havent used it in a while, I normally just use my oracles as guidance cards I pull a few out here or there, I had a dream about them last night, perhaps its time I played with them again

I go this deck in a trade and figured I'd look it over and then give it to my daughter. She seems to enjoy oracles much more than Tarot. The first part of the deck is lovely but those marker cards are the pits. I decided to come over to this forum to see if anyone had nice things to say about this deck. I thought perhaps it was just my perception. I guess not. The majority of those who have this deck don't really love it.

I suppose I can still give it to my daughter as she might not feel the same way I do. But I don't think those marker cards are going to help her any as she has difficulty with pips. I think I'll try Sunflowr's idea. I want to have something to more to share with my daughter than what is in the book!

Hello, trade-buddy

At first sight, I hated them, too. But in the end, I actually did get a lot out of them - they're not as bad in a reading situation as you think when you just go through the deck.

I only traded it away because I don't connect all that well with Oracles and only want to keep a very few. It did read quite well for me.

I hope that you or your daughter get something out of it!

\m/ Kat

I have actually used the two pile system, and even taken the markers out totally and just used the picture cards. I have to say tho that the points I made in my previous post about the pictures, their meanings and the orientations still stand. The deck doesn't make sense.

I think the deck is sloppy. I don't blame the artist. I blame the deck creator and Hay House. To me this is a perfect example of throwing a deck out there and hoping it will make some money. Unfortunately, they did get my money. And I have to say that I am now suspect about the offerings from Hay House. I will be very careful about what I purchase from that label in the future.

Back at you Trade-Buddy!
I actually think my daughter will love the cards. She isn't into Tarot like her mom. lol So I think she will enjoy them. I hope you are not offended in any way! She might even just take the cards and frame them with dollar store frames to decorate her room. The artwork is pretty enough.

I had a thought about the marker cards. Perhaps a collage of what the user "sees" as the proper scene for each marker would be in order. Design each card yourself so to speak. If I were to keep these for myself I think that is what I would do. I'd either scan the card into Paintshop or I'd actually collage smaller images straight on the card. Just a thought. Of course, we all have concepts beyond what the writer gives us so I'm not to worried about what is in the book.

Finally I had thought about what I'd do if my daughter doesn't like them. (Which is unlikely.) I think I'd use them to decorate my Book of Shadows. Some of the images would fit quite nicely. And the others might be good for Books of Light and Shadow. Real meditation pieces. So despite my initial reaction I think they will find a good use, even if it isn't what they were originally made for.

I'm not in the slightest bit offended . I'm just glad that the deck will be made use of, no matter what form that use takes! Because it really is very pretty, all told.

\m/ Kat