switching from RWS -TdM.

Richard

I don't want to derail the thread, but I have a question relating to the discussion. What exactly are the "RWS meanings?" Whatever they are, I don't think I ever use them, not even with RWS.
 

Freddie

I use the Golden Dawn system for all of the decks I read with. It makes the most sense to me and it is quite complete with Astrology/Qabalah correspondences as well.



Freddie
 

kell

I was (and am) more drawn to the TdM than to the classic RWS deck. However, when I started learning Tarot, most of the good books I found were pure RWS, so I studied those, and eventually came to appreciate Smith's deck.

Eventually, I found some good Marseilles books, so I have ended up making up my own mishmash, particularly for the minors.

I choose decks depending on my mood, so it depends. Sometimes it's RWS, sometimes it's TdM, and sometimes it's Thoth.

Do you have any Marseilles books you'd recommend?
 

herself

I'm another who reads with both. And like Sulis said, I read totally differently with each. Sure, I hold the standard majors meanings (and aces, and courts) in my mind as I read the TdMs, but invariably other details are what stand out more and so colour/inform the reading.

They just feel so different. Reading a TdM deck is a sort of lateral-thinking exercise; like my new favourite author (Ben-Dov) says, "everything is a symbol". With RWS, it's more like reading from a book: most of the meaning is there, plain to see. You have to work for it a bit more with a TdM deck, but I find the process to be just that much more exhilarating.

Not that I'd ever switch from one to the other; they both have their interesting qualities!!
 

herself

Do you have any Marseilles books you'd recommend?


"Reading the Marseille Tarot" by JM David

"Looking at the Marseille Tarot" by Enrique Enriquez

"Tarot - The Open Reading" by Yoav Ben-Dov
 

FLizarraga

Do you have any Marseilles books you'd recommend?

This is not much of a list, but it's a start:

http://www.judesmetaworld.com/2014/05/marseilles-tarot-where-to-find-resources_23.html

There is also Lee Bursten's book, which is sadly out of print. It came with Lo Scarabeo's Universal Tarot of Marseilles. He talks about it here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=53181&page=1&pp=20

And, after publishing his book, Lee came up with a simpler but very solid system, which he shared here at the forums, but I can't find the thread now... :(

ETA: Never mind, I found it: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=2902763
 

ivanna

The RWS was my only reading deck for years.. years..years. All the other decks I got that I would read with were RWS based as well. I collected all types of decks including a sizable collection of Il Meneghello historical decks. These decks in their hand made boxes with supple matt card stock were decks I handled but never read with, yet they had a draw for me. It's not that I found the art particularly evocative or firing the imagination but rather drawn to the history of the deck.
I began to research how people use the deck on here and in the meager number of books published in English. They grew on me more and more. I began to experiment with them reading for friends and soon get very comfortable with them. It took about a year of solidly working with different styles to find the one that worked for me but now it's my go to style for predictive readings. The TdM is a very down to earth type deck to read with. It had to be. People didn't want to hear about their 'soul path' or be told to 'embrace your inner Queen of Swords" they wanted to know real life answers and that is what this deck gives me.
I gave a class on how to read with it and a lady there asked to be given a demonstration by seeing how her health was going to go. Without her saying anything I told her she was going to need to have a surgery in her shoulders or abdomen and that while it looks as if she has gotten two different opinions she felt more comfortable with the first so she should look into that more. She was floored (as was I to tell the truth) at how dead on it was. I do carry my RWS with me for people that want that style of reading but I'm a TdM man all the way now
And were you can see that a woman will need surgery on her shoulder? Thats very impresive
 

kell

Thank you, Flizarraga and Herself! I will check these titles out...
 

swedishfish612

What I'm finding both intimidating and exhilarating about the TdM is that cards don't have a standard set of meanings. How I read 5 D'Espee yesterday is not how I read it today. It might've been a stern warning yesterday and today it is a positive message that gives me hope.

There was a time when I just wasn't ready to embrace the TdM. I looked at the cards and thought, "How boring. No scenes on most of the cards and a limited color palette? No, thank you, not for me!" But now I see the cards as being elegant and beautiful, and full of mystery and meaning for me to unravel. I can imagine working with one deck for years and not getting tired of it. With my RWS decks, after a week or two, I'm ready for something new to play with. That's to my detriment, I'm sure, because I never become a real expert with any of my decks.

I'm having great fun with TdM, but it will be a long, long time before I feel like I'm not a newbie, I think.
 

nisaba

For those using both systems at the same time, why you choose one deck or another? Depending on your mood?
When I read for clients I have a few different decks on the table for them to choose from: an ancient Italian style, a Marseilles, a Thothian style, a RWS clone and one other. I have the same Major Arcana card visible on all of them. The client is asked to choose which image they like the best, then I work with that deck.

So I'm using not just those two types of decks, but a few different types of decks, and I'm quite happy with that. It keeps my skill levels up with all styles of deck, instead of letting me go stale on one kind of deck or another.

So many questions, but I started with TdM and I never got any RwS deck in this time.
Thank you!!!
Excellent. Now you've worked with both, get yourself a Thoth-style deck and an Ancient Italian deck and familiarise yourself with those as well. :)