Which Tarot remains silent for you

Thoughtful

BG
Every now and then I take it out of its box, lovingly shuffle it, do a spread, look at it blankly for half an hour, then put it back in the box with a sigh. Maybe if I'm lucky one card will occasionally chirp up...usually one without any skulls.
Maybe I just don't ask it dark enough questions. :rolleyes:

Oh this made me laugh :laugh: l could just picture you with the deck spread out before you looking longingly for signs of life.
Actually l had that deck a while back and it did not speak to me either, so it went toot sweet to another home where l hope its now behaving itself.
 

MagsStardustBlack

If you have any interest in relating better to RWS, you might check out Tarot of the New Vision (LoScarabeo). Each card is drawn from "behind" the RWS figure, revealing an entire new scene which expands on the traditional meaning(s).
Oh cool, must check this out! I love my Pamela but it has taken me a long time in bonding :) but I love this idea of a story behind the image so I'm off to look now - cheers ;)


Just looked and Omg super cool must have, for study purpose of course šŸ˜
 

bonebeach

I first learned on the Universal RWS, when I was 12. That deck and I were fiiine for well over a decade and then suddenly I couldn't make heads or tails out of ANYTHING with it... I tried a few RWS clones and nada. Got into some other very different decks, clicked with those, and THEN went back to the RWS via the Aquarian Tarot and the Centennial...and both of those read great for me now...but I suspect it's one of those things that will come and go in phases. I have to say that I vastly prefer the Centennial; I find it pleasing to look at and handle. And the Aquarian is different enough to not feel like a clone, but rather a deck in te RWS tradition, and that keeps it fresh.

It's not silent for me, but I confess that the Dali tarot isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had plenty of warning from the folks here, but I HAD to have it. If I used it as a majors only deck I'd be fine, but I want to use the minors too and it's...challenging. Probably the most challenging deck I'm willing to deal with.

Although I did just order a Thoth, so we'll see if that takes the silent cake...

edit: I have the mini Centennial in a tin, not the full size one.
 

EmpressArwen

I've never used the RWS but a deck that was mostly silent (or felt negative when it did speak) was anna.k. I have no idea why because I loved the art work (except for the Empress) but it just never vibed with me. I ended up passing it on to someone who would appreciate it. It was a huge bummer.
 

The Happy Squirrel

Same here. But because the RWS is used as a reference point for almost all beginner's guides, I decided to use the "International Icon" tarot and the "Tarot of the New Vision" as reference. I often use the International Icon with the book from the New Vision and that seemed to work well.

I now have the PCS deck in tin, as I like to imagine that it might be the closest thing to how Pamela C Smith might have designed it originally although we will never know. I just don't think the garish colours the deck has been printed for decades is how they are suppose to look like. Nevertheless, this PCS in tin will only be a reference deck. As many here, I just can't connect with the images.
 

Nemia

I learned about the RWS dominance in English speaking countries only when I discovered tarot sites on the Internet. I met the Thoth first - how do others from German speaking countries remember their tarot socialisation before the advent of the Internet?

Accordingly, I never saw RWS as any kind of gold standard, and I bought my PCS set only two years ago. I still prefer the Morgan Greer and other RWS-based decks...

Decks that are completely silent? The Blake is like a mountain I didn't climb yet - and I know the view from there must be great, but I didn't climb up there yet. Margarete Petersen - great art, does nothing for me in readings. Shadowscape - some great readings with it, at other times, nothing. Holy Light, Holy Grail - I hardly use them, just look at them, like the Blake. They have potential, though, it's only me who has to jump in.

I traded away the Jungian and Art in Life, two decks that didn't. Say. One. Word.

Reliable and always spot on: Thoth. Nothing else comes close.
 

Carla

I used to hate the Rider Waite. But then I learned it's a great deck. I now have the Universal Waite, the regular Rider Waite full size (two of them), the Rider Waite pocket size, the Rider Waite mini, and I've just ordered the Radiant Rider Waite in a tin and the one in the tin that's commemorative. I actually use them and can't wait to get the ones in the tin that will be here Thursday.

There's a Radiant Rider in a tin?? Where? Please direct me to this treasure. :)

ETA -- Found!
 

kx5

I never bought the RWS deck, even though it's a great basic deck to learn indeed. Since I knew that as a beginner I should opt to find a deck that connected with me, and that appealed to me personally, upon seeing the RWS illustrations I chose to avoid it... That is, the colours and overall illustrations of the RWS look terrible to me... The colour yellow seems to be eerily prominent, but it happens to be my least favourite colour. Every card looks like it's so old that the colours have worn off (in a very anti-climatic way), and the actual persons are drawn in a very 'traditional' way, they don't have anything particularly captivating, stimulating and imaginative about them.

That said I've never truly used the RWS, so this all is just my theory about it.
 

FLizarraga

I learned about the RWS dominance in English speaking countries only when I discovered tarot sites on the Internet. I met the Thoth first - how do others from German speaking countries remember their tarot socialisation before the advent of the Internet?

Same here. Only I met Marseilles decks first, being from a Spanish-speaking culture.

The RWS has always felt like a chore, something that needs to be learned simply because there are superb books on it --Pollack's, for instance. The Thoth, however, which came later for me, is always a joy, even though the more I learn about that deck, the more I feel that I'm only scratching the surface.

Kat Black's Golden has never spoken to me. I enjoyed looking at the art, but couldn't read with it at all.

Funny, how different we all are (thank goodness!). For me, this is my comfort, meat and potatoes, everyday deck. I know every nook and cranny of it, and it still manages to surprise me.

But there are plenty of decks that are closed to me. The Golden Tarot of Botticelli is a good example. Stunning.... but silent. Like looking at art slides. Shadowscapes, same thing --plus it was like looking at the slides from the wrong end of a telescope. And the Wild Unknown, so dear to so many people.

I'd been having trouble with the Golden Dawn Magical until a few years ago, when I pulled the deck out and asked it very bluntly what the problem was. The answer it gave me opened up this deck to me, and in a slightly unexpected light too. I guess, sometimes it takes a shift in perspective and/or tastes, as it happened to me many times.

That happened to me with the Baroque Bohemian Cats. So beautiful, yes, but... cats in baroque gowns? Seriously?

Until I took it out to trade it away, but decided to do a serious deck interview with it first. And I was FLOORED. Now you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.....
 

Yelell

It seems I'm the exact opposite. I've loved the RWS from the beginning. It made sense and felt comfortable to me, and I love yellow :) I've also come to love the TdM, visconti and 1jj and the like, but the Thoth deck .... Nothing. I knew when I bought it that I didn't relate to it, but I had convinced myself I was somehow obligated to connect with it. I just can't. The images are a jumble to me. They might as well be blank cards. I should have listened to myself to begin with, instead of trying to force it.