kx5
Not being very experienced with the Tarot, let alone the different kinds of decks, when still a beginner, and disliking the RWS intensely, I bought as my starting deck one of those decks in which the Minor Arcana cards had no illustrations on them, just pips. For the first week I was totally confused, even attempting to learn the meanings of the cards by reading the book that came with the deck, but as we all know, such books aren't particularly helpful most of the time. Then, I realised that all I had to do was to imagine the RWS illustration corresponding to the card. So with the Two of Swords (which means literally two swords on my card), I'd have to bring the picture of the blindfolded lady holding the crossed swords. This way, I'd remember the meaning of the card, study it, embellish it and eventually interpret for the sake of a reading.
I thought this method was satisfactory, till some time later. I learnt about more decks, who had their own illustrations for the Minor Arcana. For every deck, although the main meaning of the card was more or less the same, there was a different illustration. The different illustrations on the same card in different decks added different dimensions and different possible interpretations to the very same card. So for example, the figure in the 4 of Cups doesn't look intimidating to you in the RWS. In another deck, if he's dressed in dark blue and this colour is subconsciously associated with bad things in your brain, the card's otherwise mundane interpretation now has a special darker hue, since it rings some nasty bells in your mind.
As much as you can elaborate on the meaning of the same Minor Arcana card in every deck because of these differences in illustration, doing the same with a deck that only has pips in it is difficult. Although most of the time there is a little drawing that might give you a lead, my deck, for instance, only has clouds if this is a card of the suit of air, or fire if it's wands etc. No hint at all.
My question is, is it orthodox to picture the RWS corresponding card in my mind every time I draw a pip Minor Arcana card? What do you usually do to be able to work with a pip Tarot Deck?
I thought this method was satisfactory, till some time later. I learnt about more decks, who had their own illustrations for the Minor Arcana. For every deck, although the main meaning of the card was more or less the same, there was a different illustration. The different illustrations on the same card in different decks added different dimensions and different possible interpretations to the very same card. So for example, the figure in the 4 of Cups doesn't look intimidating to you in the RWS. In another deck, if he's dressed in dark blue and this colour is subconsciously associated with bad things in your brain, the card's otherwise mundane interpretation now has a special darker hue, since it rings some nasty bells in your mind.
As much as you can elaborate on the meaning of the same Minor Arcana card in every deck because of these differences in illustration, doing the same with a deck that only has pips in it is difficult. Although most of the time there is a little drawing that might give you a lead, my deck, for instance, only has clouds if this is a card of the suit of air, or fire if it's wands etc. No hint at all.
My question is, is it orthodox to picture the RWS corresponding card in my mind every time I draw a pip Minor Arcana card? What do you usually do to be able to work with a pip Tarot Deck?
