Native American Tarot by Magda Gonzalez

Grizabella

Native American tarot by Magda Gonzalez

Does anyone else have this deck? I'm surprised to see it still in print. I got two of them when I first started with tarot, but I never used either one so I sold one. Now I've got the other one left, but the card stock is real stiff because I think it must have been one of the first ones they printed. The corners are more rounded, too. Anyway, I dug it out today and was wishing I hadn't sold the other one that was thinner and less laminated card stock because it was easier to shuffle. Does anybody use this deck?

This is not the LS Native American deck, just to clarify.
 

Elven

Hi lyric :)

I have had this deck for years too :) Im not sure about the thinner card stock, but I really like the one I have. I started taking it Tarot Cafe - so if people wanted me to read with this deck for them I could - but no takers as yet - but I have just started to read with it again - to brush up on the meanings. I love the art work. Do you have the big book, Star-Spider Woman Speaks? I found it easier to understand with the book :D

Blessings
Elven x
 

Grizabella

Yes, I have the book and it's true that it does make the deck easier to understand.

I also have the Vision Quest and the Medicine Woman tarot. Of the three, the Gonzalez Native American one is the best, in my opinion. I'm of Native American descent and I think the Native American by Gonzalez is probably the least New Age-y and most respectful of Native American tradition. The Sacred Path cards and Animal Medicine cards are total New Age and I have those, too, given to me by a friend. Those were the ones that got me interested in mainstream tarot. The danger I see is that people who aren't Native American may think any of the decks has NA spirituality in it. None of them do and none ever will because 1) Native American spirituality is so complex and so varied among tribes and among clans in the tribes and 2) Native Americans cherish and hold close their spiritual beliefs and practices and would never share those secrets at all openly or indiscriminately like in a tarot deck, especially since tarot hasn't and never did have anything to do with Native Americans. They only rarely will share those secrets even with anyone not of NA descent at all.

Anyway, I'm a little off on a tangent there. I'm interested to see if there are any others of us who use the deck at all, since I just pulled it out today and started going through it again. It might be interesting to start a study on it in the study section.

Oh, and yes there's a difference in card stocks in a lot of the decks. Maybe it's in the differences in subsequent printings. Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg---I've got two decks of that, one with stiff heavily laminated stock and another with thinner stock that's flaking on the edges. I had a thinner Ancestral Path before I traded it off (wish I'd never done that!), but the first one I had was thick and hard to shuffle. I also traded that one a long time ago. Now I've gotten yet another one but it's also thick and hard to shuffle, unfortunately. (I got it on eBay for $6.50 after a trade with Catlin for one fell through. Lucky me! :D) Anyway, there's a difference and I wish I had the thinner card stock versions of the ones I have.
 

Grizabella

Native American tarot by Magda Gonzalez

Having responded on the " favorite undervalued decks" thread where I mention the Native American tarot, I got it out today along with the book for it and I'm impressed again with how well-researched it is as shown by the extensive bibliography in the back of the book and the amazing amount of other information the book contains. Information I've found to be quite accurate, even if it's necessarily brief and in some cases has to be kind of general.

In the back sections are included scents associated with Major Arcana cards (including the scent of a butterfly!), and colors, meditations and affirmations for them as well.

There's a section on visualization exercises one can do.

An appendix on the relationships between the Major Arcana cards is included.

Another appendix on universal correlations among the Major Arcana---totems, Native American symbology, plant, stone, tool of focus, musical key, shamanic journey, meditation point, chakra color, Aztec dieties, Aztec day signs; Pueblo kachinas, spirits and deities, Quiche' Mayan; classical Greek, Roman and Egyptian deities; alchemy, color, planet, Hebrew letters, Old and New Testament, Middle Eastern figures, Roman Catholic saints, Afro-Brazilian, Dahomey, Haitian Voodoo, Raiatean Tiki, runes, Celtic deities, Arthurian legends, Norse deities, Tibetan book of the Dead, Chinese gods, and I Ching is in there.

There are also quite complicated spreads I've not found anywhere and, of course, detailed information and meanings for each of the 78 cards.

If you have the deck, I heartily encourage you to get the book that goes with it. Amazon usually has used copies for sale quite cheaply. I think I got mine for about 99 cents plus postage a few years ago.

It's a rich deck and takes quite a lot of study to really appreciate it fully, but if you're into Native American stuff, then you won't be disappointed. I'm glad to see the deck is still in print.

The art work is hand done and colored with colored pencils----it's kind of "busy" on both the fronts and backs of the cards, but it's a small deck easy to handle for small hands. The "business" adds to its richness if you read intuitively.

Came back to add that I just checked Amazon and they have used copies starting at 45 cents. Good deal! :)
 

December Fairy

Is there another book beside the one that comes in the box set?
 

Grizabella

I don't think she ever put this out as a boxed set. I've only ever seen the book Star Spider Speaks sold separately. There's a LWB that comes with the deck but then the separate larger book is the one that's for sale used on Amazon for anywhere from 45 cents on up. The do have the book new also.
 

Elven

Glad you wrote up about the book lyric - it is great! I just wanted to add that I think the LWB is a work in itself - one of the most comprehensive Ive come across. No fold out insert here - plenty of well written information. But the big book is a must - really informative and a good read without the cards.
I like the colours used in this deck for the cards too :p

Blessings
Elven x
 

Grizabella

Ooops, made a post here that I meant to put in the underated thread. :p
 

December Fairy

I looked up the book on Amazon. The link to Amazon from here goes to a deck and book. So I was not sure if it is the same book. I thought it sounded like a set.
I will see, I ordered. :) The few of you talking about make it sound like a great deck to have. ;)
 

Grizabella

Wow, you're right. I didn't know they ever sold it as a set. I checked out the link from here, though, and there it is. :)

I think you'll really enjoy it. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes out of print one of these days because it's been in print quite awhile and I don't think it's all that popular. But it's quite a deck and if you have the patience to take the time to really study it, it's very rich. Let us know how you like it when you get it.

My only regret with mine is that I have what's probably a first edition and the card stock is stiff. I wish I had gotten it new because I know the newer ones are thinner stock and easier to shuffle. The one I have isn't terribly stiff, just stiffer than I like. I'm a "thinner-stock" person because of a condition with my hands.