I don't think I could go back to Rider Waite

Metafizzypop

I don't think I could go back to Rider Waite after using the TdM style with my Soprafino deck; it's just so much better.

The Soprafino is just so finely tuned into what's going on with me. I don't even need to ask a question and it will pin point exactly what's on my mind. I did a reading last night - first with the Rider Waite deck and then with the Soprafino - asking the same question; and the Soprafino reading was just so much better.

Sorry that I keep on saying "It's just so much better" LOL; I don't know how else to describe it. It just *is*.

The reading with the Rider Waite was so irrelevant and obscure that I put the cards away in the cupboard and said to myself "That's the last time I use the Rider Waite deck".

I think it's interesting how you can be so connected to/finely tuned into a deck and not others.

I think that one of the things that might be appealing about the Soprafino deck, and other historical decks, is the very fact that it is historical. When I hold a deck like that in my hands, I know I'm holding a piece of history. And when I use the deck for readings, it's like a voice is speaking to me from across the centuries. Even though modern decks are great, and have some spectacular art, they're still the new kid on the block. Those historical decks are older and wiser. They've been around the block many many times, enough to make a lesser deck dizzy.

I don't have the Soprafino (though I do find it a beautiful deck) but I do have other historical decks in my collection. And the feeling I get when working with them is different from working with newer decks, even when the modern decks have non-illustrated pips. There's a magic in those older decks. It's hard to describe. It's just a feeling.
 

Miss Woo

I think that one of the things that might be appealing about the Soprafino deck, and other historical decks, is the very fact that it is historical. When I hold a deck like that in my hands, I know I'm holding a piece of history. And when I use the deck for readings, it's like a voice is speaking to me from across the centuries. Even though modern decks are great, and have some spectacular art, they're still the new kid on the block. Those historical decks are older and wiser. They've been around the block many many times, enough to make a lesser deck dizzy.

I don't have the Soprafino (though I do find it a beautiful deck) but I do have other historical decks in my collection. And the feeling I get when working with them is different from working with newer decks, even when the modern decks have non-illustrated pips. There's a magic in those older decks. It's hard to describe. It's just a feeling.

Very well put. That's exactly what I was trying to say.

For me, there's no magic or wisdom in the Rider Waite. It's honestly like a set of playing cards to me.
 

PrincessPaulina

Personally, I get "magic" from whichever deck I use -- they all seem to have their own magical vibe. My theory is that the images accumulate a sort of energetic imprint from all the people that have looked upon and contemplated them.

The TdM certainly exudes a strong vibe of wisdom and experience, while in my opinion the RWS is very flexible and user-friendly in its simplicity -- the ultimate "basic" Tarot deck.
But newer decks also have "magic" -- I never cease to be surprised by the Paulina's uncanny knack for synchronicities!

I think picking up on this "magic" really depends on how much the reader likes the deck, whether or not they are inclined towards the artwork -- I am much more attuned to places/people/things which I have an affinity for, while actively disliking a person/deck acts as a natural block for my intuition.
 

Metafizzypop

For me, there's no magic or wisdom in the Rider Waite. It's honestly like a set of playing cards to me.

It's a little ironic, lol. The RWS was made to do divination with. It was those old historicals that got used as playing cards. But I guess a lot is in the eye of the beholder in the end.

My theory is that the images accumulate a sort of energetic imprint from all the people that have looked upon and contemplated them.

I think this is true, too. It might be how tarot cards get their meanings, more or less.
 

Richard

.....For me, there's no magic or wisdom in the Rider Waite. It's honestly like a set of playing cards to me.

LOL! Enjoy the honeymoon with the Soprafino. :) It may be the most beautiful of all historical decks.
 

3ill.yazi

And I'm on the flip side. I'm having a hell of a time learning the TdM, in part because the RWS has worked so well for me. But I've become entranced by the TdM and convinced by its history. But the cards don't quite seem to "work" for me yet. My RWS remains, as they say, "old shoe" for me in spite of what I've learned about its history and associations.
 

Owl Tarot

I agree totally. I just don't think that "anything goes" is appropriate for the Marseille pips. Without a meaningful structure the cards communicate no intrinsic message.

I would like to add something more here. I really found well thought your previous post about and especially this part:

However, I believe that total freedom on the interpretation of the pips is counter-productive. Otherwise, why use any deck? IMO there must be some system of interpretation of the pips. Otherwise, 'anything goes' depends entirely on one's intuition, which is unreliable unless one is a so-called psychic.

The more I learn about the deck I use the more I am able to know when my intuition ticks. If you have no structure to get some suggestions from, then I don't think you can necessarily realize what part of your reading is intuitive. I am not suggesting there exists one "true" card meaning, I am just saying that an (even subjective) intellectual basis and intuition work really harmoniously hand-to-hand in my case, at the least. If for you personally, f.e. Ten of Wands means oppression (your intellectual basis), then you will instantly notice your intuition at work when in a particular reading you get the idea it means control of the situation (just a random example). They are not necessarily opposites. Before the Golden Dawn, "traditional" meanings were the norm.

After it's revolutionary impact on the Tarot world through it's members and Spiritual spin-offs the new "Tarot fashion" is kinda like "anything goes, who cares what the creator of the deck/ the context of the symbolism/ the system the creator worked with/ the querent's opinion etc wants to say anyway", the other extreme of the spectrum. I do think it is easier since you don't need to put as much effort as you would if you read about the cards, mediitated about them, generally worked with them as a part of you and your life. I know we historically enjoy moving from one extreme to the other, but I personally enjoy a middle path combining together intellect, intuition, imagination, inspiration, love etc.

About the RWS deck, I personally think it depends on it's user, like any other Tarot deck. That being said however, and even while I do not use that deck (or any clone of it), I think that to form a holistic opinion about it, one should try to learn more about A.E. Waite. He was a member of the Golden Dawn who wrote history, for better or worse. Learning more about both him and his Order is really helpful to get where he is coming from. His success is apparent, since his deck has so many clones and is so popular that he did in the end achieve something in his life. Some may hate him for his success, but there he is.
 

Alta

Moderator note:

Hi all,

Somehow this thread turned into a discussion of Smith's impact on the RWS deck, so I have split those posts off to form their own thread in the RWS forum, here

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=4178948&posted=1#post4178948

The discussion here is the merits of the TdM and how the OP and others have progressed since beginning to use it, as I understand it.

Alta
Moderator
 

BSwett

!

I think picking up on this "magic" really depends on how much the reader likes the deck, whether or not they are inclined towards the artwork -- I am much more attuned to places/people/things which I have an affinity for, while actively disliking a person/deck acts as a natural block for my intuition.

I will have to disagree with this. I, for example, loooove the soprafino. I even trimmed it and rounded its corners (turned out perfect). In fact I have it in my bedside table right now, and I highly enjoy getting it out and looking at the cards, and taking in the historic talent of the Italians to make things beautiful and elegant. But it has no magic for me. I can't really read with it. It sits there quietly, just looking pretty, showing off its sophistication but offering no important thoughts or words. (Reminds me of some people I've met). Yes, I can have a great time getting my hands on it and getting inspired, but thats it....
Now gimme the Spanish fournier, or the Dodal and even the backs of the cards start talking to me. It's a different kind of connection that opens the gates of understanding, not just the looks...

To each his own.
B
 

Richard

I become so absorbed in the lovely imagery of the Soprafino that I cannot read with it. For me it is a splendid objet d'art but effectively sterile as a practical Tarot deck.