Beginning the journey- a second deck

Booklioness

I understand what you're saying here, and it makes sense. But my experience has been different. For me, I find that delving into different decks, studying them side-by-side with my RWS or the Thoth and seeing how the images and artwork differ ... these things enrich my experience and deepen my understanding of Tarot. I don't think that working with different decks has slowed me down near as much as learning to use reversals right from the start. I will add the caveat that (as I said earlier), I did not start buying new decks till I'd already been studying and gotten a good basic understanding of the Tarot to start with. But I do find that different decks bring different nuances to a reading.

I am also a newbie to Tarot. I am like you, Trogon; I like to look at the same card from different decks side by side as I learn/explore. I am also in awe of the great amount of wisdom to be gleaned on this forum.
 

Wintermoon

Hi all. My first deck was the standard RWS deck 20 odd years ago. I bought it with Waite's Pictorial Key book and was getting some very good, intuitive readings with it but a) I didn't connect with the art and b) many of Waite's meanings didn't seem to make sense with the picture I was seeing. I ended up giving up tarot for a year because of it! But then a friend did a reading for me and I was bitten again... The friend suggested getting a deck where the art really sang to me and so I bought Legend the Arthurian Tarot by Anne-Marie Ferguson. I still love the art of this deck but it was too far away from the RWS that I'd become familiar with... So I ended up buying Nathalie Hertz's Fantastical Tarot and that was my deck for some years until it started to wear and I "retired" it. Nowadays I have a number of decks that I use for different purposes but the two I use most are Ciro Marchetti's Legacy of the Divine Tarot and Eric Dunne and Kim Huggens Tarot Illuminatii. I've realised over the years that I respond best to an RWS based deck, so in some ways I'm right back where I started! I've also come to the conclusion that I was at my most intuitive when I first started to learn tarot because I was responding to what I saw in front of me, rather than what I was reading in the book. Having said that, I have found reading as much as I can on tarot has been invaluable, particularly anything by Rachel Pollack. The Forest of Souls - A Walk Through the Tarot completely changed the way I work with tarot and is a wonderful book full of wisdom.
 

Trogon

I am also a newbie to Tarot. I am like you, Trogon; I like to look at the same card from different decks side by side as I learn/explore. I am also in awe of the great amount of wisdom to be gleaned on this forum.

I have to agree that A.T. is probably the single best learning resource about Tarot there is. And it's a fun and friendly environment which helps tremendously.
 

Morwenna

I started tarot back in the '80s, with books alone before I ever had a deck. And most of those books were illustrated with the RWS, so I got a lot of exposure that way. At least one book had images from several different decks, so I got a quick introduction to the variety out there at the time. But my first actual deck was a pip deck, which fascinated me but I didn't learn much with it till I got what I believe was my second deck, the Morgan Greer, which became my main deck for years, no matter how many others I bought later. At around the same time I got my mini-RWS, mainly just to say I had one, but it has become very useful particularly in recent years.

So most of my decks are RWS-based; a few are pip decks; and a few are different, I don't know what system you'd call them. They keep my brain working!

And how did I learn? Practice, practice, practice... even if just on myself or on fictional characters. Other people were convinced I was ready to read for others before I was.
 

VioletMoon

So, for me, studying a new deck usually means comparing it to my understanding of the images in the RWS system. But it also means that I'm pretty familiar with the imagery and basic ideas portrayed in the RWS.

In your case, you started with the Linestrider, which is also based in the RWS meanings. So is the Morgan Greer, so you've already got a good start on both decks. My advice (since you made the mistake of asking for it ;)) is that you spend a bit more time with your first deck. Make sure that when you look at a card, the basic ideas encompassed in the image come to mind, at least to some extent. When you feel fairly comfortable with that, get out that MG and start doing your comparative study with both decks.

With the last two decks I bought, my collection is now at 40. They are all decks I can use to read with. And yes, I will be buying more decks and I will use them for readings. Some decks I like to use for self-readings, others are great for anything, some are very direct, some deliver their messages a little more softly. They're all different and they all trigger my intuition in different ways. Oh, and if you start looking at some other people's profiles here on AT, you'll find that I actually have a pretty modest collection.

For me, the Tarot does involve magic. The cards themselves are paper and ink ... but the images have been based on systems steeped in mystery and magic. These images work within our minds leading our intuition, bringing in messages from our subconscious minds, and (for me) helping me to interpret messages brought to me by my own spirit guides. This does not mean you have to spend years studying the Kabbalah, or the mysteries of the Order of the Golden Dawn. But you don't have to lock it out either.

So yeah, my final piece of advice; go buy more decks. })

Thank you so much for all of your advice and ideas. I feel like I need to not "lose" my connection with linestrider to gain it with the MG, so comparative study is a great idea; I'm learning so much from this forum! The Linestrider does use the RWS, which is nice, but it's so non traditional so I think having a more traditional deck is a good idea. They each give me a different understanding of the meanings, which is so interesting. Haha, but more decks! Probably not any time soon, but I'm sure it'll happen!
 

VioletMoon

Hi all. My first deck was the standard RWS deck 20 odd years ago. I bought it with Waite's Pictorial Key book and was getting some very good, intuitive readings with it but a) I didn't connect with the art and b) many of Waite's meanings didn't seem to make sense with the picture I was seeing. I ended up giving up tarot for a year because of it! But then a friend did a reading for me and I was bitten again... The friend suggested getting a deck where the art really sang to me and so I bought Legend the Arthurian Tarot by Anne-Marie Ferguson. I still love the art of this deck but it was too far away from the RWS that I'd become familiar with... So I ended up buying Nathalie Hertz's Fantastical Tarot and that was my deck for some years until it started to wear and I "retired" it. Nowadays I have a number of decks that I use for different purposes but the two I use most are Ciro Marchetti's Legacy of the Divine Tarot and Eric Dunne and Kim Huggens Tarot Illuminatii. I've realised over the years that I respond best to an RWS based deck, so in some ways I'm right back where I started! I've also come to the conclusion that I was at my most intuitive when I first started to learn tarot because I was responding to what I saw in front of me, rather than what I was reading in the book. Having said that, I have found reading as much as I can on tarot has been invaluable, particularly anything by Rachel Pollack. The Forest of Souls - A Walk Through the Tarot completely changed the way I work with tarot and is a wonderful book full of wisdom.

It's so interesting the way we grow and change over the years. I feel like you have to be intuitive as a beginner because you have less knowledge. Once you start to rely on your knowledge you rely less on your intuition, I guess? I hope that I'm able to keep a good balance.
 

VioletMoon

I can understand what you are trying to express when you are not quite “clicking” with a deck! I think, to some extend we all have been there.
Use the Morgan Greer as a deck to learn the RWS system on.
Yes, compare these images to the softness and colour pallet of the Linestrider. Remember – the line strider walks a line – between reality and imagination, between what you see and know and what you sens in what your intuition tells you. Its images appeal to your intuitive, emotive brain, to nyances, inclinations and notions, while having to learn and absorb card meanings and the oftentimes similar images you will find on the MG and many other RWS decks will engage the analytical side of your brain.....
Good luck and have fun with it!
Thanks! I think the linestrider is really what drew me to want to learn tarot, because of the illustrations and ideas behind the deck. Whereas MG seems a little harder, and much more in your face and RWS aligned, which is good study for the book I have (Dusty White's).
 

Trogon

It's so interesting the way we grow and change over the years. I feel like you have to be intuitive as a beginner because you have less knowledge. Once you start to rely on your knowledge you rely less on your intuition, I guess? I hope that I'm able to keep a good balance.

Keeping that balance is very good. There are a lot of different ways of learning the Tarot ... well, learning in general for that matter. I expect there are people who have been able to just pick up a Tarot deck and immediately give a reading because they were that intuitive. For me, I started by learning basic meanings, then building on those basics using my imagination and intuition. You need to do what works best for you. In any case the Tarot is to me an endlessly fascinating area of study.

This has been an excellent discussion. Glad you started it.
 

VioletMoon

As a "child (well, young adult) of the '70s," I thought I would like the Morgan Greer better than I do. I use it, but the court card faces are just a bit too "in your face" for my liking. For strong, vibrant colors in the RWS tradition, I like the Albanao Waite (the Radiant is just a little too garish) and the Gilded Tarot, and for something more mellow, the Centennial RWS and the Robin Wood. I think, though, if I were looking for a deck with a similar feel to the MG, it would be the Connolly (despite its "kinder, gentler" non-threatening softness and it's occasional Christian allusions). These are all decks I use in my professional practice.

Thanks for the rec's. I'll check them out. I looked at Robin Wood but I was more dran to the MG. I'll have to take a look at the others you've mentioned when I'm ready for a third--- and that might not be for awhile!
 

VioletMoon

Hi all. My first deck was the standard RWS deck 20 odd years ago. I bought it with Waite's Pictorial Key book and was getting some very good, intuitive readings with it but a) I didn't connect with the art and b) many of Waite's meanings didn't seem to make sense with the picture I was seeing. I ended up giving up tarot for a year because of it! But then a friend did a reading for me and I was bitten again... The friend suggested getting a deck where the art really sang to me and so I bought Legend the Arthurian Tarot by Anne-Marie Ferguson. I still love the art of this deck but it was too far away from the RWS that I'd become familiar with... So I ended up buying Nathalie Hertz's Fantastical Tarot and that was my deck for some years until it started to wear and I "retired" it. Nowadays I have a number of decks that I use for different purposes but the two I use most are Ciro Marchetti's Legacy of the Divine Tarot and Eric Dunne and Kim Huggens Tarot Illuminatii. I've realised over the years that I respond best to an RWS based deck, so in some ways I'm right back where I started! I've also come to the conclusion that I was at my most intuitive when I first started to learn tarot because I was responding to what I saw in front of me, rather than what I was reading in the book. Having said that, I have found reading as much as I can on tarot has been invaluable, particularly anything by Rachel Pollack. The Forest of Souls - A Walk Through the Tarot completely changed the way I work with tarot and is a wonderful book full of wisdom.

Hey Wintermoon- The Legend tarot deck looks beautiful. I think I'm kind of in the same boat. It's like the RWS images don't call to me as much but everything is so centered around that system that using a different deck makes learning more of a challenge. Thanks for the book rec'. I've got a ton on my reading list (tarot and school) but I'll be sure to check it out.