Just got my first TdM

UrbanBramble

I just got my first REAL TdM deck... I've been reading tarot for almost 20 years, I've read professionally, I've taught others to read... I've read with other decks featuring unillustrated pips (and assumed wrong that it was similar...) and WHOAH it is a challenge to switch over! :bugeyed:

I'm learning Lenormand too, and that was a steep learning curve for me. When I went back to Lenormand after practicing TdM for a while all of a sudden it seemed easy.

They actually seem to be similar in how I read with them, in terms of building continuous "sentences" from a row or block of cards.

I'm playing around with different reading methods, I have a really good understanding of interpreting using pip + number, but surprisingly the deck seems to fall flat when I do this. I'm working my way through Enrique's Marseilles Seekers thread and the deck seems to read a lot better when I ""read" the images visually. But I have to look and look and look... when all the cards look similar and I remove all previous knowledge of pip meanings this becomes a huge challenge. It's easier when I draw courts and major arcana but of course the deck is ONLY throwing pips at me. It's like I'm staring at tiny aliens that are really trying to get something across but I just can't quite interpret it.

Oh, for the record, I'm using Florny's Noblet. I love the cockiness and irreverence, the cards seem to be continuously telling me to lighten up and laugh already.

I had no idea what I was getting into. Exciting, but wow.
 

greatdane

Well Congrats UrbanBramble!

I hope you keep posting as you move forward with your new deck :).
 

3ill.yazi

I'm thinking of getting this deck. Let us know how you like it. I'm particularly interested in the card stock quality.
 

LaLaToro

Wow, right?! Haha! I'm completely new to tarot but I considered all my options before choosing marseilles. It was not what I expected! Though I feel a great connection with them, the differences between and something like say RWS (mostly detail and depiction) blow me away. And it never occurred to me that different decks would have different meanings. Ha! What a novice! I truly enjoy TdM and am overwhelmed with joy when I hold them. I'm excited for your new journey!
 

tedglart

Learning curve

I certainly sympathise. I struggled mightily before I started to feel comfortable with it. Reading with the TdM by focussing on the images rather than learned meanings requires a lot more concentration than working with the RWS, etc. But now a year or so after making the switch I find the RWS like a charming little toy in comparison. The TdM is a mighty metaphysical machine. There is really no short cut to working with the pips. Going slowly by practising with two card combinations and building up a kind of personal vocabulary for the images seems to be the only way not to be overwhelmed by possibilities. Reading with just the majors or a combination of majors, courts and aces (42 card deck), while practising by yourself with the pips, can smooth the transition. Studying the subtle emotional and symbolic differences between various TdM decks is a lovely bonus, like becoming sensitised to different versions of the same piece of classical music by different musicians. It changes you. Good luck.
 

UrbanBramble

I'm thinking of getting this deck. Let us know how you like it. I'm particularly interested in the card stock quality.

The card stock is thick enough that the deck is hard to shuffle, but I've found a way of shuffling them that is fast and doesn't bend the cards so in the end I think it will help protect the cards.

I would call it matte. Definitely not glossy. Sharp square corners but I know some ATers have trimmed it to round corners. The cards are small - a little larger than playing cards.
 

UrbanBramble

Wow, right?! Haha! I'm completely new to tarot but I considered all my options before choosing marseilles. It was not what I expected! Though I feel a great connection with them, the differences between and something like say RWS (mostly detail and depiction) blow me away. And it never occurred to me that different decks would have different meanings. Ha! What a novice! I truly enjoy TdM and am overwhelmed with joy when I hold them. I'm excited for your new journey!

Yeah, I've never been one to copy the RWS meanings and apply them to my cards. When reading with a Hermetic deck I use Hermetic meanings / influences. With Thoth I use Crowley's meanings. When reading with the RWS I use the images and storylines that go with them. Other decks I tend to go with the LWB. With unillustrated pips I read suits + numbers. With Marseilles... I have to do my research and practice!