Llewellyn Tarot vs Llewellyn's Classic Tarot

Yellow

Does anyone have both the Llewellyn Tarot by Anna Marie Ferguson and the more recent Llewellyn's Classic Tarot by Barbara Moore and Eugene Smith?

Which of the two would you recommend?

Thank you!
 

Shade

While they are both Rider Waite based but the similarities end there. The Llewellyn is based on Welsh mythology whereas the Classic is much more simplified without having a theme other than "Tarot"
 

Sigrdrifa

I have had both decks and have sold both again.

Llewellyn has some gorgeous artwork in the majors. Compared to this the minors seem somewhat sketchy. Each card is associated with a person or theme from British mythology, I'm not too familiar with that so I had a hard time understanding the deck. It comes with a book though, so if you're willing to spend some time with that I think this deck would be a nice choice.

Llewellyn Classic follows RWS tradition strictly and is easy to read, so that could be a good reason to recommend it. I found the people in the cards look too much like each other though. That bothered me more than I thought it would.
 

Beancrew49

Being a proud owner of the LLewellyn Tarot, I should mention that the borders are very big. I mean, very big. I trimmed the borders off my deck. This made the cards very small (This deck is seriously all borders), and it forced me to memorize them all since the names of the cards came off too. The artwork and the mythology is fantastic though, so if you don't mind borders or you don't mind trimming, then I would recommend it. I have the Classic coming in the mail, so I can return to this thread to comment on that in the future.
 

decan

I have had the Llewellyn Tarot by Anna Marie Ferguson and I agree with what other people said.
Plus there is a very feminine touch with this deck you can be comfortable with or not.
The major arcana follow legends more than the meanings we know, and in some way this deck has its own system and structure, but I found it uneasy to read. I no longer have this deck.
I don't have the other one.
 

Luna's Crone

i got the classic to have the book. LOL love them books. other than that no borders and they are ok. i can read them.

was thinking on getting the llewellyn.
 

Yellow

Thanks very much everyone, that's very helpful. It sounds that the Llewellyn veers off a bit too much into Welsh mythology at the expense of traditional RWS symbolism. I guess that's always the dilemma with themed decks. It is a beautiful deck of course, so I'm still both tempted and undecided! I just don't want to buy a deck for the sake of it if I end up not using it.
 

Beancrew49

Thanks very much everyone, that's very helpful. It sounds that the Llewellyn veers off a bit too much into Welsh mythology at the expense of traditional RWS symbolism. I guess that's always the dilemma with themed decks. It is a beautiful deck of course, so I'm still both tempted and undecided! I just don't want to buy a deck for the sake of it if I end up not using it.

I say that if you're drawn to the artwork, then get it. It is basically a RWS. The only major difference is the Devil, who becomes The Horned One, which is not a big difference at all. I found the Welsh mythology actually improved my understanding of RWS symbolism and meaning because the companion book tells the story of each card in detail. These are the same archetypes as RWS, but with a Pagan twist, which allowed me to view the same RWS images from a different perspective. I think some of the Pagan mythologies actually illuminate some of the cards in a more relatable manner.

To me, the border is a bigger deal-breaker, but once I trimmed my deck and saw how small the cards became (smaller than playing cards) I knew I had the most beautiful travel deck possible. The suit of swords in this deck has to be the best swords suit I've seen.
 

Yellow

I say that if you're drawn to the artwork, then get it. It is basically a RWS. The only major difference is the Devil, who becomes The Horned One, which is not a big difference at all. I found the Welsh mythology actually improved my understanding of RWS symbolism and meaning because the companion book tells the story of each card in detail. These are the same archetypes as RWS, but with a Pagan twist, which allowed me to view the same RWS images from a different perspective. I think some of the Pagan mythologies actually illuminate some of the cards in a more relatable manner.

To me, the border is a bigger deal-breaker, but once I trimmed my deck and saw how small the cards became (smaller than playing cards) I knew I had the most beautiful travel deck possible. The suit of swords in this deck has to be the best swords suit I've seen.

Thanks Beancrew, that's good to know - maybe I need to learn a bit more about Pagan myths. Strangely, I generally don't mind borders. Even in decks like the Stella's Tarot or the Spiral Tarot with their obtrusive borders, I usually prefer to keep them.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts when you get the Llewellyn's Classic Tarot.
 

HOLMES

hmm

it is of course what artworks appeals to you !

then again there has been a couple of decks over the years I thought I would love the artwork , then when I got the deck in person it didn't appeal to me.

I prefer the classical tarot over the llewellyn tarot .

the characters are more easier to see , the images are brighter..
meanwhile in the llewlyn tarot , I found myself trying to read the other titles on the cards,, it was blocking me for I didn't know who they were, the writing is hard to read.
so for me the Llewelyn is too small, too much titles.

I even prefer legend , Arthurian tarot over the llewellyn for the artwork is bigger, the titles is more defined and it seems the artwork is a little closer.

now I love the classical tarot for it reminds of the good old morgon greer by how close the imagery is.
the only criticism could be that there isn't as much symbolism despite the beautiful artwork as there could be in the llewllyn tarot.

my own advice is really to get both if you can afford it,, then you can trade away the one you don't like it.