Golden Dawn deck, but not Waite...

Are there any decks from the late 19th, early 20th centuries that have Golden Dawn teachings but not developed by A. E. Waite?

I like Waite, but I'm wondering what a deck would look like without his caution and filtering.

treedog

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-dawn.shtml

Well, there is of course the obvious Thoth, which is a lot more faithful to the original Liber Theta descriptions than the RWS, although perhaps different in spirit.

Possibly the most accurate GD deck available is Robert Wang's deck, with the highly imaginative name of Golden Dawn Tarot. However, the artwork is not to everyone's taste (it certainly isn't to mine) but I'll get it for study purposes someday.

There is a new deck, published by Lo Scarabeo, the Initiatory Tarot of the Golden Dawn. Its drawings are cartoony and scenic, but what is interesting about it is that it is not based on Waite, the artist having no knowledge of previous GD interpretations.

The Hermetic is also interesting, and my deck of choice for comparing the Thoth to pure GD symbolism. A very strange deck, black and white, strange artwork and all in all a somewhat perverse feel to it, it is nevertheless magnificent.

I don't know of any Golden Dawn decks that go back as far as you are asking.

I recommend the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot, which was painted in the 1980's. It is also in the link in the above post.

You could take a look at the B.O.T.A. deck, too, which goes back a few decades.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laird_of_kiloran/sets/72157627762963837/

The Builders of the Adytum, (BOTA) by Paul Foster Case. He used the GD correspendences along with a few original offerings.

It is early 20th century.

Interestingly I don't see it in the list of packs here.

Edit, oh here it is.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/bota/

Comparing decks, indeed.

closrapexa said:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-dawn.shtml

The Hermetic is also interesting, and my deck of choice for comparing the Thoth to pure GD symbolism....

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Everyone's suggestions are well taken. As most surmised, I'm not looking for the ultimate deck, or to switch decks, but to compare the symbolism, underlying meanings and the way I resonate persoanlly. I'll check out the decks mentioned.

And also, thanks for not letting me narrow it down to a period of history.

treedog.

You could also look at Papus' deck- not the newer one, but the one modeled after the actual cards in his book. That would qualify as a pre-RWS Golden Dawn deck.

It is very interesting- a mix of Golden Dawn and Etteilla.

Golden Dawners had to make their own decks, using instructions presumably provided by S. L. "MacGregor" Mathers. Israel Regardie (a Golden Dawn initiate) and Robert Wang (the artist, also an occultist) sort of reenacted this scenario, resulting in the Golden Dawn Tarot Deck. It is a bit crude, but its very crudeness brings it closer in spirit to the Tarot decks which might have been produced by typical Golden Dawn initiates, many of whom probably had no artistic training or experience whatsoever. It is indeed faithful to the Golden Dawn instructions, and it is the only such deck of which I am aware.

The Golden Dawn system of correspondences are incorporated into several other decks, but they deviate considerably from the original Golden Dawn Tarot conception.

LRichard said:

Golden Dawners had to make their own decks, using instructions presumably provided by S. L. "MacGregor" Mathers....

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LR, As usual your comments are helpful. I'm checking it out.

Also, about "Papus," I might need a little more info to do a better search, or a link.

treedog said:

LR, As usual your comments are helpful. I'm checking it out.

Also, about "Papus," I might need a little more info to do a better search, or a link.

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Thank you, td.

I am not sure, but I think that the Pappus is pre-GD and uses the Levi attributions, which are, with a single exception, 100% different from those of the GD Tarot.

LRichard said:

Golden Dawners had to make their own decks, using instructions presumably provided by S. L. "MacGregor" Mathers. Israel Regardie (a Golden Dawn initiate) and Robert Wang (the artist, also an occultist) sort of reenacted this scenario, resulting in the Golden Dawn Tarot Deck. It is a bit crude, but its very crudeness brings it closer in spirit to the Tarot decks which might have been produced by typical Golden Dawn initiates, many of whom probably had no artistic training or experience whatsoever. It is indeed faithful to the Golden Dawn instructions, and it is the only such deck of which I am aware.

The Golden Dawn system of correspondences are incorporated into several other decks, but they deviate considerably from the original Golden Dawn Tarot conception.

Click to expand...

I've seen people argue in both directions that Wang's Golden Dawn Tarot is more true to the original texts than the Cicero's Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot. I will for sure study both decks but I find them too ugly to use. Cicero's drawings could have made more effort and I just can't get my head around Wang's proportions, where half the characters have legs that are too long for the body - they are very wooden and many of the faces look dead to me. But there are many things I like about Wang's tarot besides all that. However, I have looked at Regardie's original tarot majors that Wang based his designs on (presumably), as depicted Regardie's The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, and I actually prefer them. It's a shame they weren't reproduced in colour and slightly larger. Or even issued as a deck! Not sure if the originals still exist but presumably there were available for scanning when the book was first released so it is likely they are. Not sure if they are his actual originals or redrawn but anyway I do prefer them to Wang's from what I can see.

It is a shame someone doesn't reissue the Classic Golden Dawn Tarot - the old B/W deck. That looked rather good.

I am a fan of all the other GD influenced decks mentioned above though.