The Three of Cups - Tarot Discussions

[Dys Astyr]

This thread is for discussing tarot, pretty much however you feel like. Talk about different decks, different cards, problems you've had as a reader, milestones you've reached as a reader (or collector). Really, I just wanted a place to talk tarot since I've seen a few other readers on the boards.

I've got two things to get us started. First, I'm currently using the Vertigo Tarot and was wondering if anyone else had used it? How did you like it?

Second, do you use tarot in your writing? I used to use tarot as a writing tool, but fell out of the habit. I recently used it to help with a story post I was stuck on and it made me remember how much fun it was.

[Oniya]

I do use Tarot myself - not typically as a writing tool, but I can see that being done.  I'm partial to the artwork of the Thoth deck, myself, although we do have a few different decks around the house.

[Dys Astyr]

I don't own a Thoth deck, yet. I plan to get one eventually. After seeing some videos of people comparing different versions of the same card on YouTube I've justified my desire to collect all the decks by having it be for study purposes. I know there are some fundamental differences between the Thoth and the RWS style decks, and I'm not really sure how I feel about those... Card VIII in the Thoth deck is Lust instead of Strength right? I think that my give me an twitch of anger every time I saw it. But I guess I won't know until I get the deck.

[Mathim]

I kind of wanted to learn a bit about them so I could model a video game character's abilities around them but never got around to researching it. Still a fascinating idea.

[Oniya]

That is correct - although it's XI.  Many pre-RWS decks have Justice and Strength swapped as well.

Crowley does get a lot of heat for being the 'dirty old man' of occultism (Pretty well-deserved, I have to say.  I mean, look at his Devil card sometime.  There's some serious adolescent thought processes going on there.)  The deck behaves for me pretty well, though.  There was one time when I was in a VtM live-action game (playing one of the Romani), and I did a couple of readings in-character.  The Storytellers were quite impressed with how well the deck fit in with things they'd already planned behind the scenes.  ^^

Mathim - you might want to take a read through Piers Anthony's 'Tarot' series.  You'll get a bit of background history, and some basics about the card meanings in a fairly neat package.

[Dys Astyr]

That's something else I probably wouldn't like. I rather enjoy the sequence of XI - XVII, I think it flows really well.

That's cool that you got to use the cards in the game! I never thought about using them like that. I bet it could be really fun though, to have a character reading cards and actually do a reading, then work that into the plot. When I have used them for writing I just draw three cards and use that to inspire what is happening. Sometimes it's the meanings and sometimes it's just the imagery. I think though, that the idea of having the reading in the story would be way more awesome.

I actually used to have a really bad love/hate relationship with tarot up until about a year ago. I wanted to read the cards, but I just couldn't get it. I'd get a deck, fight with it for a few weeks, sometimes even a few months, before finally giving up in disgust.

I just started with the Vertigo about a month ago and so far it's going well. It's really tempting to think that if I would have tried to work with this deck when I bought it (the card stock is really thin and I was afraid to damage it) that I could have gotten started a long time ago. Hindsight is deceptive though, objectively I don't think I would have had a good experience with it if I had used it right away.

[Oniya]

See, I'd taken you a bit more literally - I was thinking of something like posing the question of 'what happens to [character?]', and doing a simple three card spread, whether it's past-present-future, or one of the other 'quick read' layouts.  I also think that different decks 'speak' to the reader in different ways.  A deck that works for you will 'make sense' where a deck that doesn't will be hard to grasp.

[Dys Astyr]

I'm really bad about launching into things without explaining them all the way. I should work on that.

Right now I only have two decks I get a long with. I occasionally will pull out another deck and see if I've gotten enough XP points to make it work but end up having to pull the same cards out of my go-to deck for it to make sense.

Part of me feels like the Three of Swords should be the Three of Swords should be the Three of Swords, no matter what. At the same time another part of me thinks that the different decks can really change what each card is saying, even if the imagery is only slightly different.

[Oniya]

The Three of Swords might not be the best example - as almost every deck I've seen shows a standard 'three swords piercing a heart' motif (although sometimes the heart is less stylized, and a few showed a figure with three swords through its chest).  The Hudes Tarot http://www.janetboyer.com/Hudes_Tarot.html has an interesting take on the Death card, however, including a butterfly to represent the transformation aspect that the card typically embodies.  (Fun fact, the Greek words for 'soul' and 'butterfly' are the same - psyche.) 

[stormwyrm]

I have a Thoth deck, and while the Major Arcana are interesting to look at, the the Minor Arcana, well, to put it mildly, make my eyes bleed. As such I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable using the Thoth deck for anything. I’ll stick to the Rider-Waite-Smith deck unless I can find a nicer one. I mostly use it just as a writing aid myself, sort of the way Philip K. Dick was said to have used the I Ching while writing The Man in the High Castle.

[Dys Astyr]

The Three of Swords might not be the best example - as almost every deck I've seen shows a standard 'three swords piercing a heart' motif (although sometimes the heart is less stylized, and a few showed a figure with three swords through its chest).  The Hudes Tarot http://www.janetboyer.com/Hudes_Tarot.html has an interesting take on the Death card, however, including a butterfly to represent the transformation aspect that the card typically embodies.  (Fun fact, the Greek words for 'soul' and 'butterfly' are the same - psyche.)

I suppose that's true. My other favorite deck's version is near identical to the RWS, except for an eye in the middle of the heart. I think that small change really makes a big difference in the feel of the card though.

I think the most interesting Death card I've seen is in the Day of the Dead tarot, where all the people are skeletons. Except for death, which is a pregnant woman. (Definitely the version of the card that horrifies me the most. )

I have a Thoth deck, and while the Major Arcana are interesting to look at, the the Minor Arcana, well, to put it mildly, make my eyes bleed. As such I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable using the Thoth deck for anything. I’ll stick to the Rider-Waite-Smith deck unless I can find a nicer one. I mostly use it just as a writing aid myself, sort of the way Philip K. Dick was said to have used the I Ching while writing The Man in the High Castle.

Are the pips not illustrated? I've wondered how it would be to read with a deck that was half un-illustrated cards.

[Oniya]

https://78nightsoftarot.com/blog/the-minor-arcana-thoth-tarot/

They are illustrated, but the art style is definitely something that won't appeal to everyone.  I don't mean this in a wholly negative way - some people like Picasso, some people like Degas, some people like Rembrandt.  Lots of bright colors (Wands especially, but Swords has a pervasive green that's a bit on the 'neon' scale.)  I'm rather partial to the Pentacles suit, though, especially the court cards.

[Dys Astyr]

Wow, you could definitely space out staring into some of those.

Tarot decks are even harder than just art, because there are 78 different pictures to like. Most of the decks I own I only really like a handful of the pictures and can't really stand a large chunk. They always put the coolest ones on the box, it's almost false advertisement.

[Oniya]

Wow, you could definitely space out staring into some of those.

I find this to be an advantage sometimes. 

[Dys Astyr]

There is actually a deck I want to get specifically for that. The Wyzard of Odd deck, which I believe may actually use the Thoth system rather than RWS. Maybe Thoth is the way to go when you want to zone out on tarot?

[Oniya]

That's definitely an interesting deck.  I do like the photorealism it uses - I was expecting something more Escher-like for some reason.

Here's one that you probably haven't encountered:  http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/watcher-angel/ 

(Enochian things intrigue me.  A departed friend of mine once said I was getting off on the math of it.)

[Dys Astyr]

It wasn't what I was expecting either. Pleasant surprise. The man who created it is also really nice. I used to bug him with questions on social media and he was always very helpful even though I haven't yet been able to squeeze another deck into my budget since I found it.

This deck is definitely new to me. I like the (and this is going to sound rude but I mean it in a good way) early-2000ish art style. Makes me a little nostalgic. I also like the black borders, I think that's something more decks would benefit from. Harsh white is very distracting.

[AmberStarfire]

I also have a copy of the Thoth deck, though the deck I use the most is the Mythic Tarot. The meanings behind the cards are centred around Greek mythology and I like its artwork as well. It's a good, solid deck to work with and I've found it's the one I keep going back to reading. It seems to have a much wider range of applications than some decks.

Other ones I have are the Goddess Tarot, Osho Zen, the Medicine Cards and I have a few other ones. I also read the runes and have worked with bindrunes before.

[Dys Astyr]

The Mythic Tarot looks interesting, is Persephone on one of the cards? She is my favorite.

[AmberStarfire]

Yeah she is. Her story comes through in a few of the cards. She's on the High Priestess card. Her mother Demeter is on the Empress card. Hades is on the Death card.



There's some more information on them and the stories here:
http://www.donnafisherjackson.com/services/tarot_cards.html

[Dys Astyr]

Ooohhh, that's the perfect card for her too! Standing between worlds. I'm gonna have to get this deck now. Yet another one for the ever growing list.

[Imogen]

I use a fairly unknown deck called "Tarot in de Herstelde Orde" or Restored Tarot in English, by Rob Docters van Leeuwen. The restored Tarot makes use of two additional major arcana, called 'Intuition' and 'Truth'. The pictures have the look and feel of a Rider Waite deck, which - for me - made it easy for me to start using it.

More information (in English) can be found here. That site offers a nice review and also has some pictures of the cards.

Apparently the link is broken... I got to the site by doing a google search on "Tarot in de Herstelde Orde Engels". I hope that works!

[Dys Astyr]

That link is not working for me, it just takes me to an error page on Aeclectic. :/ Way to get me curious and then leave me out in the cold.

[Imogen]

That link is not working for me, it just takes me to an error page on Aeclectic. :/ Way to get me curious and then leave me out in the cold.

Eep! Sorry!

Well, this is weird. I can't get a link to work, but when I use google search I get there just fine. I used "Tarot in de Herstelde Orde Engels" as keywords. It's the top link.

[Oniya]

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/herstelde-orde/


Does this one work?  It looks like your original link had some kind of parameter that might be specific to your session.