Aquarian Tarot for beginner?

Maybe you'd like to try the book Spiritual Tarot with your deck? It's a nice book (was my first tarot book and I still like it), and it's illustrated with the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Morgan Greer and the Aquarian. The text always relates to all three images, what they have in common and where they differ.

I don't have the Aquarian but sooner or later, I'll buy the version in a tin, I think. It's such a classic - a must-have actually.

I love the Aquarian Tarot too!
I love it aesthetically (although *sigh* I really wish David Palladini had illustrated Strength with a woman instead of a Ron Swanson look-alike!) - all the Art Deco gorgeousness, and colour palette.

I find it reads ever so easily; one's intuition glides along the elegant, evocative, subtle illustrations. I've had several copies in my possession (I wear them out!) since the mid-80's.

At the beginning of this year I decided to pack away most of my decks, only keeping less than half a dozen to hand. The Aquarian was on its way into storage when I literally re-opened the container to get it out, and I've used it almost exclusively ever since!

I read professionally too and find that the illustrations suit any client - the deck might seem flat and empty but in my opinion, that's superficial. If you allow it, it's extraordinarily insightful.

There is something neutral about the Aquarian - expressionless and remote - and more and more I think this might be a key to its success. I have had enough of gurning decks forcing their emotion upon me.

It took me a while to love it but now I love it much more than that other 70s deck, the Morgan Greer. I like its coldness.

I think some decks overdo the emotiveness and I like the Aquarian for not being like that. Funnily I was doing some after dinner readings recently and decided to use the Aquarian, thinking it was beautiful and my partner said "you have so many beautiful decks, why did you get this one out?" And it surprised me as I always thought the Aquarian was a bit of a crowd-pleaser. I always like hearing non-tarot people's opinion!

I like the Aquarian a lot. I think it was the second deck I ever owned. I like the remote, quiet, and melancholy aspects. However, there are some Minors that are too quiet and remote, cards like the 2 of Pentacles or 5 of Swords, where all drama and excitement has been excised to the point where those cards seem bereft of meaning. I find this also true of the Morgan-Greer, which I believe took some inspiration from the Aquarian.

Lee said:

I like the Aquarian a lot. I think it was the second deck I ever owned. I like the remote, quiet, and melancholy aspects. However, there are some Minors that are too quiet and remote, cards like the 2 of Pentacles or 5 of Swords, where all drama and excitement has been excised to the point where those cards seem bereft of meaning. I find this also true of the Morgan-Greer, which I believe took some inspiration from the Aquarian.

Click to expand...

I agree, neither deck is what I would call "dynamic." I use the Morgan Greer in my professional readings, but only after the other decks I bring have been used and I don't have time between readings to thoroughly randomize them. I haven't been using the Aquarian professionally since I don't find it very talkative; it seems more meditative and best for personal use.

This is a lovely and soothing deck, reduced to the essentials. I like my standard deck a lot and recently ordered the tin version. The retro vibe works well with the small cards, just had wished for a borderless edition.

I didn't know the Aquarian came in a tin - I'll have to check it out.

i love the aquarian. i remember when my sister and i decided that it was time to learn the tarot (ages 12 and 14, i think?). we went down to our local metaphysical shop and the proprietress helped us pick out our decks - my sister selected the aquarian, and she still has the deck, 25 years later.

it's gorgeous, classic, and fairly straightforward... i will say that sometimes i find it a bit aloof, but often that just means that more consideration is required. i would also suggest reading with candlelight - the flickering glow makes those passive faces come alive!

Nemia said:

Maybe you'd like to try the book Spiritual Tarot with your deck? It's a nice book (was my first tarot book and I still like it), and it's illustrated with the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Morgan Greer and the Aquarian. The text always relates to all three images, what they have in common and where they differ.

Click to expand...

also, there are two other books that come to mind that use the aquarian:

~ tarot and you by richard roberts. it's basically a transcript of recorded readings, and is pretty insightful.

~ the windows of tarot by frederick david graves. what can i say? i love those vintage tarot texts that were written in the 70's...

The Aquarian deck is, I think, an excellent choice for a beginner's deck - just enough detail to be meaningful without too much clutter or extraneous detail. I also find it has a quiet yet deep energy which many respond to when doing readings for others.

VioletEye said:

other books that come to mind that use the aquarian

Click to expand...

Funny this should come up ... I recently reconnected with the Aquarian Tarot after finding a gorgeous, very gently used vintage copy on eBay a couple of months ago dating from the mid-80s (= no US Games copyright on the cards, which distracts me) and find that I've been using it more frequently than anything else in my collection. The softness and "aloofness" which others here have mentioned are what really draw me in.

But I think the main reason why I'm attracted to the deck is due to a memory I have of a book that started my interest in Tarot almost forty years ago which I checked it out of the library when I was maybe 10 or 11 (what can I say; I was a precocious and weird kid). It was sort of a primer on various divination methods - Tarot, astrology, palmistry, even tea leaf reading if I remember correctly - and the Tarot section was illustrated with cards from the Aquarian deck. They were likely the first Tarot cards I ever saw and I guess they "imprinted" upon me what Tarot cards "should" look like, because I've never found a deck that's attracted me as much since.

A few years after that in high school I ended up buying a standard Rider Waite deck because that's all that was available in the bookshop near where we lived. But I always had the Aquarian deck in my mind, so am glad to finally be using it on a regular basis and getting to know it better.

The best resource for the Aquarian deck is Criag Junjulas's "Psychic Tarot" (out of print now, but easy enough to find used copies of online - you can also purchase and download a PDF copy from the author's website), and I've reread it frequently after acquiring my own copy of the deck.

But I'd still love to know the title of the book which sparked my interest all those many years ago. I've gone down several rabbit holes over the years looking for it on eBay and in used bookshops without success, though I'm sure it will find me when the time comes If it sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know!