Tarot of the Spirit

agviz

I got this deck today and the imagery is compelling, but I can't figure out how to use the Tree of Life transparency overlay card. If I understand correctly, I can align the overlay card on top of any given card and see something in the artwork corresponding with that card's sphere in the Tree of Life. According to the LWB, all the one cards of a suit align with the first sphere, the twos align with the second sphere, and so on. So if I place the overlay on One of Fire, shouldn't I see something line up with sphere 1 (Kether)? I don't see anything prominent at that spot in the artwork. Or on other cards I've checked. What am I doing wrong? I've attached the One of Fire for reference.
 

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GlitterNova

Just received my deck as well! It's really gorgeous. It feels 'mysterious' enough to me that I suspect it will keep me interested and occupied for a while. Right now I'm happy with having just the LWB and not the full book, I'm afraid reading the full book might spoil some of the mystery for me! Perhaps when I am more acquainted with the deck I'll be interested in the book.

The only card that was a disappointment for me was the Devil. To me it just looks like a cubist version of the RWS Devil. They could have done more with it! I can deal with it, though :)

@Agviz, I think the LWB is saying that the Aces reside spiritually inside the first point of the Tree of Life, not that they actually physically line up with that point on the transparent card. It's a bit ambiguous though.

I've got a question as well for those who have the full book. Does it specifically say anywhere what the elemental associations of the court cards are? Just judging by the art I'm guessing that fathers=fire and brothers=air, but a confirmation would be nice since my own reading style of the court cards emphasizes elemental associations. Thanks!
 

Farzon

Initial thoughts on the deck, I really do not like the imagery of the Fire suit. I'm surprised by the choice of 6 pointed stars within circles, which is so near to discs and negates the energy of fire. The words seem to be a curious hybrid of Thoth and RWS.

But the good news for people ordering on Amazon.co.uk is that despite advertising the old original edition, I was sent the 2011 reprint. :)
Maybe because the six pointed star is the symbol of the macrocosm, too show that fire is nearest to the divine origin. Earth as the five pointed star ends the circle.
 

Farzon

Just received my deck as well! It's really gorgeous. It feels 'mysterious' enough to me that I suspect it will keep me interested and occupied for a while. Right now I'm happy with having just the LWB and not the full book, I'm afraid reading the full book might spoil some of the mystery for me! Perhaps when I am more acquainted with the deck I'll be interested in the book.

The only card that was a disappointment for me was the Devil. To me it just looks like a cubist version of the RWS Devil. They could have done more with it! I can deal with it, though :)

@Agviz, I think the LWB is saying that the Aces reside spiritually inside the first point of the Tree of Life, not that they actually physically line up with that point on the transparent card. It's a bit ambiguous though.

I've got a question as well for those who have the full book. Does it specifically say anywhere what the elemental associations of the court cards are? Just judging by the art I'm guessing that fathers=fire and brothers=air, but a confirmation would be nice since my own reading style of the court cards emphasizes elemental associations. Thanks!
Fathers are Fire, Brothers Wind. It's a GD-tradition deck concerning the Elemental Dignities.

The Tree of Life card.... it shows some geometric patterns in the Majors but I could not figure out the deeper meanings yet - that is, if there are any.
The Tower shows the Lightning Path for example.

It also aligns worth the mystery card which is said to "reveal a deep mystery of the universe" in meditation. Whatever this means...
 

earthair

Maybe because the six pointed star is the symbol of the macrocosm, too show that fire is nearest to the divine origin. Earth as the five pointed star ends the circle.

The use of six pointed star I can live with... (even though having the fire triangle in the ace effectively extinguished by downwards water triangle isn't consistent with 'force' for me!) what I'm having trouble with is encasing them in circles. For me this deck makes me appreciate the clarity and rigour of Thoth and the artistic freedom of Japaridze!

I think the big book makes more sense of the artist's thoughts...still awaiting replacement.
 

Farzon

The use of six pointed star I can live with... (even though having the fire triangle in the ace effectively extinguished by downwards water triangle isn't consistent with 'force' for me!) what I'm having trouble with is encasing them in circles. For me this deck makes me appreciate the clarity and rigour of Thoth and the artistic freedom of Japaridze!

I think the big book makes more sense of the artist's thoughts...still awaiting replacement.
But in most of the cards they are attached to wands anyway.

But you're right, the deck has a lot of personal meanings in it, which are opaque and hard to decipher. The book helps, but still you will have to find your own meanings.
 

agviz

...Agviz, I think the LWB is saying that the Aces reside spiritually inside the first point of the Tree of Life, not that they actually physically line up with that point on the transparent card. It's a bit ambiguous though.

I suspect you're right, but I'm having trouble making sense of the decision to do it that way.

The purpose of a transparency card (at least with others I've seen) is to show where one thing visually aligns with another thing. If there's only a spiritual reference and not a visual alignment, why not just make the card solid and perhaps color code the spheres and paths? By making it transparent, it makes me feel like something is supposed to visually align.

And the LWB does seem to imply that there is a physical/visual correlation to the Tree of Life. It says, "The Tarot of the Spirit cards were painted on Tree of Life diagrams," (pg. 6). I'm having trouble seeing that anywhere, but to be fair I haven't looked at all the cards yet. Also the LWB says, "By overlaying the Tree of Life on each card, you can see critical aspects of the card that were emphasized in the original painting," (pg. 7). There again I'm not seeing that.

Please don't let my focused comments on this one extra card make it seem like I'm not digging this deck. Ditto to what you said, GlitterNova, that the artwork is gorgeous and mysterious. I suspect it'll be a visually rich and intuitive opportunity to read with.
 

GlitterNova

And the LWB does seem to imply that there is a physical/visual correlation to the Tree of Life. It says, "The Tarot of the Spirit cards were painted on Tree of Life diagrams," (pg. 6). I'm having trouble seeing that anywhere, but to be fair I haven't looked at all the cards yet. Also the LWB says, "By overlaying the Tree of Life on each card, you can see critical aspects of the card that were emphasized in the original painting," (pg. 7). There again I'm not seeing that.

I don't see it either with the Minor Arcana. I do see it with most of the Major Arcana, though. The Hermit, The Hanged Man, The Magus, The Hierophant, The Wheel of Fortune and some others actually line up quite nicely with the transparent card. Either luckily or unluckily I know very little about Kabbalah, though, so the transparent card won't be much but a gimmick for me.

Speaking of, that's one of the things I like about this deck. It's got very obvious Kabbalistic and astrological influences (and maybe some sacred geometry thrown in there), but it's still enjoyable for those who know nothing about Kabbalah or astrology.

Also, I finally finished the LWB, and I gotta agree with Le Fanu about what I'm guessing is the tone of the full book. VERY new-agey and filled with affirmations about 'energy' and 'love' etc. Very little discussion about the actual physical images of the cards, which disappointed me. The tone of the LWB doesn't fit with what I feel to be the tone of the cards, which feels much more serious. I'll be passing on the full book for the foreseeable future.
 

earthair

Also, I finally finished the LWB, and I gotta agree with Le Fanu about what I'm guessing is the tone of the full book. VERY new-agey and filled with affirmations about 'energy' and 'love' etc. Very little discussion about the actual physical images of the cards, which disappointed me. The tone of the LWB doesn't fit with what I feel to be the tone of the cards, which feels much more serious. I'll be passing on the full book for the foreseeable future.

Before I sent it back for replacement, I was really enjoying the big book- it's got MUCH more in depth discussion of each card, the symbols etc than the lwb. You would like the book I think! Personally I liked the book much more than the deck...except the loved-up quasi-poetry, which is easier to digest if you treat it as musings that might stir up some new connections.
 

earthair

The purpose of a transparency card (at least with others I've seen) is to show where one thing visually aligns with another thing. If there's only a spiritual reference and not a visual alignment, why not just make the card solid and perhaps color code the spheres and paths? By making it transparent, it makes me feel like something is supposed to visually align.

And the LWB does seem to imply that there is a physical/visual correlation to the Tree of Life. It says, "The Tarot of the Spirit cards were painted on Tree of Life diagrams," (pg. 6). I'm having trouble seeing that anywhere, but to be fair I haven't looked at all the cards yet. Also the LWB says, "By overlaying the Tree of Life on each card, you can see critical aspects of the card that were emphasized in the original painting," (pg. 7). There again I'm not seeing that.

Ooookay... I think I get how to use the transparent card... :)
Some random examples=
Take Brother of Wands, align Knowledge over his head, and Kether is over the white area (crown , 7th chakra) and Yiphareth is over his 3rd, solar plexus.

Nine of Fire- put Kether over small hexagram in centre of big one at the top and Tiphareth aligns with the cone.

Mother of Wands- put Knowledge over her head and whole picture springs to life.

Ten of Fire- Align Kether-Binah-Chokmah triangle over the grey roof triangle.

Magus- Align Tiphareth over chalice.

Hanged Man- this is interesting because with him upside you can put Yesod over his head, and turn card upsidedown but keep Tree of life same way up...now you can align Kether with his head!

Some cards don't seem to work, but it's fun trying :D