Zephyros
I don't see how it can be, without all those layers, to say so is kind of "intuitive puritanism." The images on the RWS, which influenced every subsequent deck are in themselves layered and have a purpose and that purpose came before the images; the only neutral decks are the ones predating that, the old Marseilles decks. I find it interesting people would simultaneously acknowledge Waite's contribution to modern Tarot while dismissing everything on the cards and approaching the images as if they were created in a vacuum.
To each his own, of course, but it is wrong to say that all that stuff was simply "added on," unless one means added on to the Marseilles. Modern Tarot decks are a completely different animal.
To each his own, of course, but it is wrong to say that all that stuff was simply "added on," unless one means added on to the Marseilles. Modern Tarot decks are a completely different animal.