Decks with Astrological Symbols

Rose Lalonde said:

It does, but they're different than GD. As the creator said in an interview here, "...I have had to listen to fellow Tarot professionals saying absurd things like "The Chariot is Cancer" and "The Devil is Capricorn..." -- (I'm not trying to start a fuss about it, just clarifying that Holy Light is not a Golden Dawn deck.)

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I wouldn't even think of dropping any kind of Etteilla-based deck on my wife!

Rose Lalonde said:

There's this "Golden Dawn Cheat-Sheet Decks" blog post I've referred to a few times.

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Thanks for the link. This covers most of the ones I knew about and a couple I didn't. I have Legacy of the Divine but wasn't aware of any astrological correspondences (probably because I don't use it). They may be too veiled for my purpose here. I think there may be some errors in it, though: regarding the Tabula Mundi, how much plainer can you get than the Mars and Capricorn symbols on the 3 of Disks? But the text says there are no astrological correspondences on the cards. Same with the Night Sun; I just looked at it earlier and saw astrological symbols in the corners.

For me, nothing is clearer than Tabula Mundi. Not only do the cards have the symbols, but it's reinforced in the art, since each minor 2-10 includes aspects of the art from the 2 majors associated with its decan. (e.g. the 9 of Wands, Sagittarius ruled by the moon, includes the sun and arrow as they appear in Art and the scroll and the lyre/bow from the Priestess).

ETA -- Just saw your TM info above. The courts don't have the symbols, which is what the blog post author was saying, I think, but the courts do have small illustrations taken from each of the 3 minors that represent their decans. I find they prompt my memory quickly. I know there's more at tabulamundi.com, but on a quick search I found this pic which shows it all for the Queen of Disks:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/41/a2/c5/41a2c5f68027022ffcc13451210d4aa1.jpg

Barleywine said:

My wife has worked with her Thoth Tarot for many years, but now that we're participating in a regional tarot group she sees other decks and wants to try something different. But she still wants to have the familiar Golden Dawn astrological symbols on the cards.

I have a few decks that would meet her needs, but she wants one of her own.

Tabula Mundi Colores Arcus (but she won't want to spend that much)
Liber T, Tarot of Stars Eternal
The Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot
The Magickal Tarot
The Night Sun (but I think it might be too dark for her)

The Haindl should but I don't see any, just hexagrams.

Right now I'm thinking the Liber T might be the best bet because it's basically an imaginatively redrawn Thoth with brighter colors. I don't have the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot, the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick, the Hermetic Tarot or Wang's Golden Dawn deck, although I see from the book that DuQuette's deck does have astrological words instead of symbols on it.

Are there any others that come to mind?

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Hermetic works the symbols into the art but is only black and white. It is one of my favorites though. Magickal is a great deck though a bit "dry" but fairly expensive now (maybe I paid too much but I paid over $100) and it does something weird with Justice/Strength if I remember right.

Also if the ($44-50) price for Tabula Mundi is too rich for her blood I will mention the oft overlooked feature of Rosetta ($20-26 in pocket size) is that the astrological sign and planetary symbols are worked into the artwork of every minor and court. Very subtly sometimes but always there in every one, and fun to look for. Many people miss that feature I think.

Rose Lalonde said:

There's this "Golden Dawn Cheat-Sheet Decks" blog post I've referred to a few times.

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What a great resource and so many cool GD decks. Though they are a bit unobservant when they say that the Tabula Mundi "court cards contain element of element but not astrological attributions". While not in actual glyphs on the cards they are there as image mnemonics as every court has visual elements of the minors from the three related astrological decans, Again a subtle feature not often noticed but that is helpful for astrological studies. One would notice it if the queen card in the sample there was shown next to the three decan minor cards of her astrological rulership. But I see you guys already knew that!

I also have an "astrology mandala" deck but I cannot really recommend it just because I found it rather dull and it has sat in a drawer forever.
She could always write her own symbols on a deck she likes, especially if it is an inexpensive mass market deck.

Barleywine said:

Thanks, Rodney! I see a couple of possibilities here. Even used, Mann's looks like it's out of my price range, though.

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Are you finding the black box first edition or the red box second edition?

You could always draw the symbols on a deck you like. I did this on my Ancient Egyptian deck (Barrett) in the title boxes

Ciro's Tarot of Dreams follows GD
And a wonderful deck to work with.

If your wife likes yellow...the Enoil Gavat

Babalon Jones said:

She could always write her own symbols on a deck she likes, especially if it is an inexpensive mass market deck.

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Excellent idea! I'm the calligrapher here, so I would probably do it.

The Hermetic has been on my own wish list for a while, but I doubt she would warm to the b&w presentation. She hasn't looked at my Colores Arcus yet; maybe that will change her mind.

rwcarter said:

Are you finding the black box first edition or the red box second edition?

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They are both on Amazon, and both seem pricey new or used. I haven't looked beyond Amazon, and I don't use eBay. But I would have to see the cards first-hand before I bought a non-traditional deck, which this seems to be.