Images, themes, or System?

I've noticed many wish list, or decks that have already been purchased, often cover a wide range regarding what system they may use (as in Marseilles, RWS, Thoth). So....do many of you collect or read based on images alone? Do you always use a particular system with a particular deck? Do you basically have your own system and are just drawn to themes (fairies, alchemy, hermetic)? When choosing a deck, not for collecting, but reading, do your tastes run the gamet?

GD

greatdane said:

So....do many of you collect or read based on images alone?

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Well, that would apply to oracles. I'm a tarot gal so I rely on tarot structure.
Strength... VIII or XI... ? --> I want Justice at VIII now
Wands for Fire and Swords for Air or vice versa... ? Wands = fire, Swords = air
Court cards à la RWS or à la Thoth... ? RWS, the Knight shagging the Queen sounds too twisted ;-)

greatdane said:

Do you always use a particular system with a particular deck?

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Well, I'd say I always use the same illogical intuition-based messy system, which is probably why I have trouble with so many decks that you must stud in depth in order to get the most of them.

This also answers to your next point :

greatdane said:

Do you basically have your own system

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greatdane said:

(...) and are just drawn to themes (fairies, alchemy, hermetic)?

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Most definitely. I tend to go for Pagan, not even Wiccan.
My next challenge is to pimp a Tarot de Marseille of some kind so that I can input all the nice Pagan things I feel like without Golden Dawn twists. It took me many years and one deck to understand the Hierophant in a way that makes me comfy: thank you Ellen & Tarort of the Crone!!!!

I cannot relate to heavy hermetic or esoteric decks, as I am way too lazy anyway to study them. Seriously, I think that we all as living beings carry the light and Holiness in us and we can access it by being honest and true to our nature. I don't think it takes complicated initiation into any tradition to access this holy part of yourself. By turning inwards you find the special magical part of you that connects you to the rest of the Creation, nobody can teach you how to find that part of yourself.

greatdane said:

When choosing a deck, not for collecting, but reading, do your tastes run the game?

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That is complicated... Of course I will not buy something that doesn't graphically/artistically appeal to me BUT i have sometimes bought decks based on rave reviews and popularity. Some worked very well (Robin Wood, brilliant for learning minors) and some just flopped (Gilded among others).
Sometimes I go back to decks I first liked then ditched away then grow to like even more than the first time
Altogether, I'd say my tastes have evolved, I know better what I am after, what I need but also what works best. This means that some decks I would have bought based on their beautiful artwork (like the Thayer), I know I can pass since I will never be able to read with them. I save myself the trouble of buying/trying/getting frustrated/feeling guilty/trading away ;-)

Nice thread, nice questions
Now I am more decided than ever to find a suitable TdM to pimp Thanks GD!!!!!

I think it is well nigh impossible to stick with a system if - like me - you'e a fan of Lo Scarabeo decks. Now I don't like all Lo Scarabeo decks, but what I think is wonderful is that they try to make us stop thinking exclusively in terms of systems and just look. There are always a few cards guaranteed in any deck which cannot be shoe-horned. I like this more & more. I love the Tarot of the 1001 Nights much more than I used to. And the Brueghel. And the Medieval. And the Durer. And Tarot of the Origins and the Dark Grimoire. The list goes on.

There is a sense of a loose system at work (usually RWS) but with enough cards to make you stop in your tracks and rethink and maybe consider "difficult". With most LoS decks you really have to learn how to look and think. And a lot of people don't like that. Much easier to flop back into a comfy system with tick boxes.

I am drawn to decks primarily by the artwork, which is why I now have almost as many oracle decks as Tarot decks. My preferred "themes" at this time are whimsical/nostalgic/cultural. My Tarot decks are mostly RWS style but there is some Thoth influence (Vision Quest), TdM influence (Le Tarot du Chat, Lo Scarabeo deck numbering) and other pre-GD era too (Vacchetta). I read with a combination of RWS/Lenormand/other schools (where applicable), imagery and LWB - whatever works!

There are some people who read using *just* images & no trad meanings & they do so very successfully. And there are some who don't like illustrated pips & say their intuition flows better without the images to distract the process. Myself, I'm a book person. I've always got a book of some sort in front of my nose. (No porn jokes here. But I'm editing a really good one right now about M/M that's man to man.) I want to learn each & every stinkin' meaning for each & every card that's ever been thought of, to my detriment. It's not possible, nor does it really matter. I don't own any of the earlier decks, although I've been trying to talk myself into getting a Marseilles, because of the art. I do not like woodblock. And I don't like art that's been put together by someone who doesn't know how to blend with PhotoShop-to me it's very amateurish. Someone recently made a comment about what I like, well, based on what I have, that hadn't occurred to me - I like pagan style images & they're right. Although I don't limit myself to it, I didn't even realize it actually, because the Whimsical definitely falls out of that category. And Ciro's decks couldn't be labeled pagen either, & I love them. I really don't know how to predict whether the art will catch my fancy or not. Maybe someone else will enlighten me further.

Le Fanu said:

With most LoS decks you really have to learn how to look and think. And a lot of people don't like that. Much easy to flop back into a comfy system with tick boxes.

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I like them too. But I have the Celtic & can't get over the woman washing in a bloody river in The Sun - even the creator's explanation doesn't make sense to me. I wish that card would be redone, I'd use the deck, & that's the ONLY deck I've ever thought that of.

Thank you ALL!

I've read all your posts and enjoyed reading your thoughts immensely.

I know we all approach tarot in different ways and for different reasons.

I already know my style when approaching the cards and what I wish to gain. I'm sure some things will change as I move along my path, but I don't believe my basic approach or goals will.

You have confirmed what I already felt, that each of you has really thought so much about how you approach tarot, how various systems or decks or cards affect you, and I find it fascinating reading.

Thanks again for your input and perspectives.

GD

I started out on RWS so that is sort of my foundation, when all else fails. I do tend to read the image first. If I go blank, then I may go back to RWS meaning for a jumping off point.

In my collection, I have grouping of kinds of decks I like:
I have a pretty good Lo Scarabeo collection, and while i don't like everything they've done, knowing something is LS will make me look closer.
I love my Marseille decks, which brought me to seek out other historicals.
In oracles, I like Lenormands, Gypsy fortune telling cards, sibillas.

But I will pick up a deck that doesn't fit into these groupings, if I am drawn to the imagery.

SOmetimes I'm not sure what draws me to a deck, or why I feel I need to have it. Enochian is very weird to me. Very different. I don't use it, cause I'd really need to study, but I do like to look at them.

I don't know why I had to get Sharman Caselli last week, but I am glad I did.

And since I am probably rambling now, I will stop.

I forgot to add, that essentially interesting/accomplished artwork is what draws me to a deck regardless of system or theme or images.

I have to say that if the artwork is just abysmal I won't go near it. And there's no point trying to convince me that all this is subjective, there's some terrible stuff out there done by people who are definitely not artists. I would be embarrassed laying shoddy artwork out on the table for a reading, essentially because there really is no need to. In my experience, most people I read for make some comment on the artwork despite knowing nothing about systems or symbolism.

Good point, Le Fanu

So many people seem to be "jumping on tarot bandwagon" because there is such a large market and they know some will buy their decks. For those that must have every deck, no matter what it looks like, ANY "art work" will do.

GD