Tiggy-cat
It seems like they can't all have radically different meanings, otherwise things would all be atrociously confusing!
is there really a great difference in meanings from one deck to another?
SunChariot
That depends on a number of things. One of them is how you read. We all read differently. I don't think any two readers read identically. For example I take 90% of the meaning from the card images and only about 10% or less from set meanings. As the same card in different decks will naturally feature a different image, each image will speak to me differently. Add to that that, I read the imagery quite spontaneiously do the same image in the same card can say very different things to me at different times.
As for if decks themselves have radically different meanings, each deck has part of the heart and soul and personality and life beliefs of its artist and creator embedded into it. Each deck creator is an individual with a unique way of seeing the world, so that will come out. No one would create a deck that were identical to one that already existed. There would be no point to that.
Some decks are more similar in artwork and meanign to others. All the RWS clones for example. Some decks can be very similar in theme and artwork.
Then there are some very unique decks that do not fit into any mold and are unlike any others in theme or meaning. In some many or most of the Majors have been renamed and reinvented completely with no connection to any other deck. The Osho Zen fits into that category for example.
It's not really confusing. I have developed my own way of reading over time wtih is what works best for me personally. But for the really unique decks I still reference the books for them when reading. Eitehr that or you would have to learn them VERY well
Babs
Zephyros
Like SunChariot said, there are several different answers for this question. None of them are the only answers, but there are sevaral ways to look at it.
Firstly, I'm assuming you mean, well, 90% of decks that are readily available, and if so, it is important to remember that there are only a few main decks, with other re-imagining them to suit the artist's purposes. Most decks are based along the lines of the Rider-Waite-Coleman deck, which has been the most popular for many decades. While most artists stay withing the symbolic "language" it speaks in, anyone with a paintbrush can do anything they want with it.
So, in that sense, there aren't fundamental differences between most decks, although different decks can come with wildly different worldviews. One decks has rainbows and unicorns, the other has devils and fire.The cards are so readily interpreted by just about anyone, that there is no limit to the way they can be depicted. There is only one deck.
On the other hand, there are indeed decks that follow quite different systems and would seem quite alien to anyone approaching them from an RWS point of view. One that seems to be a poster-boy for this is the Thoth (although I would have some reservations) but others are the Enochian Skrying and many, many others.
So the answer is no. And yes.
Firstly, I'm assuming you mean, well, 90% of decks that are readily available, and if so, it is important to remember that there are only a few main decks, with other re-imagining them to suit the artist's purposes. Most decks are based along the lines of the Rider-Waite-Coleman deck, which has been the most popular for many decades. While most artists stay withing the symbolic "language" it speaks in, anyone with a paintbrush can do anything they want with it.
So, in that sense, there aren't fundamental differences between most decks, although different decks can come with wildly different worldviews. One decks has rainbows and unicorns, the other has devils and fire.The cards are so readily interpreted by just about anyone, that there is no limit to the way they can be depicted. There is only one deck.
On the other hand, there are indeed decks that follow quite different systems and would seem quite alien to anyone approaching them from an RWS point of view. One that seems to be a poster-boy for this is the Thoth (although I would have some reservations) but others are the Enochian Skrying and many, many others.
So the answer is no. And yes.
gregory
Nothing is CONFUSING - run with what you see. And to answer your question - take out a few different decks, pull the same card from each, lay them out and you will see the answer to your question.
More to the point - where meanings DO differ, the power of tarot (!!! !!!) will make sure you pull the cards from the deck you use that will deliver the right message. If you get two readers doing the same reading (we tried this here as an exercise) because of variations in the READER, they will pull different cards - and generally get much the same message. I think the same goes for different decks.
Now, if you read based only on the meanings you have gleaned from one book - you will be in trouble. As closrapexa said, different systems clearly vary - and yes, so do different decks.
And to answer your question - take out a few different decks, pull the same card from each, lay them out and you will see the answer to your question.More to the point - where meanings DO differ, the power of tarot (!!!
!!!) will make sure you pull the cards from the deck you use that will deliver the right message. If you get two readers doing the same reading (we tried this here as an exercise) because of variations in the READER, they will pull different cards - and generally get much the same message. I think the same goes for different decks.Now, if you read based only on the meanings you have gleaned from one book - you will be in trouble. As closrapexa said, different systems clearly vary - and yes, so do different decks.
Zephyros
I actually never know what to answer these questions. On the one hand, gregory, I could see your answer as too much love and light and whatnot, if it weren't that you were absolutely correct. On the other hand, how cut and dried can one (I) be?
I have some major gripes with some decks, only because they chose to portray a sun instead of a moon and a comma where a point should be, and I feel it changes not only that card, but the whole deck. It's always a quandary as to how "bookish" one can be in answering questions like these, and the answer is always relative.
I have some major gripes with some decks, only because they chose to portray a sun instead of a moon and a comma where a point should be, and I feel it changes not only that card, but the whole deck. It's always a quandary as to how "bookish" one can be in answering questions like these, and the answer is always relative.
gregory
I don't do love and light 
But how can anyone say these two cards mean exactly the same thing ? This reminds me of an excellent thread some years ago now.
The first which everyone will know at once has its grounding in a society which no longer exists, and is at least in part about the white man taming the poor savage. That worldview was valid when the card was created; it was accepted wisdom then - but we have moved on.
The second is more about equality and the strength to be found in working together and recognising each other's strengths and weaknesses.
And on another tangent entirely this one just shows brute force, end of - though you COULD argue, I suppose that the dragon has already BEEN tamed...
I really do think whatever it is makes tarot work makes sure that we each pull the cards we need to get the right answer. The experiment we did, all reading for the same question, was fascinating that way.
But how can anyone say these two cards mean exactly the same thing ? This reminds me of an excellent thread some years ago now.
The first which everyone will know at once has its grounding in a society which no longer exists, and is at least in part about the white man taming the poor savage. That worldview was valid when the card was created; it was accepted wisdom then - but we have moved on.
The second is more about equality and the strength to be found in working together and recognising each other's strengths and weaknesses.
And on another tangent entirely this one just shows brute force, end of - though you COULD argue, I suppose that the dragon has already BEEN tamed...
I really do think whatever it is makes tarot work makes sure that we each pull the cards we need to get the right answer. The experiment we did, all reading for the same question, was fascinating that way.
Zephyros
Well, not exactly the same, but still having the same root. The strength of the RWS is that you can learn (however you learn, whether through books or personal meanings or whatever) one and then pick up another one and use the language you already know to explore it more.
Strength may be different in the cards you showed, but the root is still there, whatever meaning you may attach to it (an animal and a woman). Would Samson pulling down the pillars have the same meaning? What about a picture of slaves building something? I could see both as strength, but not Strength. The root is there, because usually the RWS decks made, as radical as they may portray themselves, don't really depart that far from the original (to which, again, one can find pros and cons, but it is also a sign of its lasting popularity).
In any case, I think it really does depend on who you're talking to. There are some Thoth snobs who would say "all those RWSs look the same to me) while there are some Marseilles aficionados who would laugh at all of us and say "lol, little pictures, they all seem the same to me."
What I cannot condone, however, is (not speaking about you gregory!) is the tendency to go too far, and spit in the well you're drinking from, as in "meh, those white male Golden Dawners, I know more about the RWS/Thoth/everything than they do because I am (insert pop Tarot author's name here)".
Strength may be different in the cards you showed, but the root is still there, whatever meaning you may attach to it (an animal and a woman). Would Samson pulling down the pillars have the same meaning? What about a picture of slaves building something? I could see both as strength, but not Strength. The root is there, because usually the RWS decks made, as radical as they may portray themselves, don't really depart that far from the original (to which, again, one can find pros and cons, but it is also a sign of its lasting popularity).
In any case, I think it really does depend on who you're talking to. There are some Thoth snobs who would say "all those RWSs look the same to me) while there are some Marseilles aficionados who would laugh at all of us and say "lol, little pictures, they all seem the same to me."
What I cannot condone, however, is (not speaking about you gregory!) is the tendency to go too far, and spit in the well you're drinking from, as in "meh, those white male Golden Dawners, I know more about the RWS/Thoth/everything than they do because I am (insert pop Tarot author's name here)".
Thoughtful
This is an interesting thread.
Having used different styles of modern decks l find that however you read them they come to the same general conclusion but from a completely different slant. Much like people who see an event, one will see it from one angle another from a completely different aspect, its still the same event. So you really can't go wrong, this is what makes the tarot so fascinating and why l never get bored giving readings.
Incidentally l read that the older Tdm tarots have different meanings, l only use a Tdm now and use some of the conventional meanings intuitively, plus whatever l pick up from the card itself. It works for me.
Having used different styles of modern decks l find that however you read them they come to the same general conclusion but from a completely different slant. Much like people who see an event, one will see it from one angle another from a completely different aspect, its still the same event. So you really can't go wrong, this is what makes the tarot so fascinating and why l never get bored giving readings.
Incidentally l read that the older Tdm tarots have different meanings, l only use a Tdm now and use some of the conventional meanings intuitively, plus whatever l pick up from the card itself. It works for me.
gregory
Just a sec:
No animal.
No animal unless humans are animals too.
No animal here either.
And what do you say about pillars ?
All these say STRENGTH to me.
Well, as I say - I can see a multitude of things as Strength.
To all this I agree. I cannot abide rigidity. Tarot - and destiny - are fluid, at least to a degree.
Marlo
I would say they all have the same main meanings, but the atwork adds some differences to them and so does your feelings about a deck compared to another.
I often compare tarology with pottery. You've got your raw material (the clay and the cards), but the outcome will depend on your experience, inspiration, frame of mind and your purposes.
I often compare tarology with pottery. You've got your raw material (the clay and the cards), but the outcome will depend on your experience, inspiration, frame of mind and your purposes.
