Mythic Deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Jan 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

AquarianGoddess	01 Jan 2002
Hi All, Just received The Mythic Tarot deck as a gift and wow, is it nice! It came with the book and the cloth. This is my first "real" deck, as I began with a generic deck. Now, if I can just learn how to read the cards, I'll be set. AG

Kalin	01 Jan 2002
The Mythic is my primary deck. I also love the book. In fact, I loved the mythological background stories so much I bought a hardcover copy of Bulfinch's Mythology. There is also a workbook you can get for the Mythic deck. Kalin :)

witchywoman	02 Jan 2002
Hi there, The Mythic deck was my first deck and is the only deck I read with. I've been using it now for about 5 years or so. I absolutely, absolutely love it. AG....I'm sure you will get much enjoyment out of the deck. I too have developed a love of the mythology behind the deck. I always feel excited when I think that someone else has all the joy ahead of them that I have had with this deck. Enjoy ww

arizonagirl	02 Jan 2002
Like so many others, I have several decks and the one I use most often is Robin Wood's, but . . . every now and then one of the other decks calls out to be used. I really enjoy the Mythic Tarot. The richness of the meanings always delights me. I must admit that I have to refer to my 'cheat sheet' since I don't use it often enough to have the meanings committed to memory. I found the book that came with the deck to be unusually well-written.

amyel	03 Jan 2002
I received the Mythic Tarot as my first deck in 1987. It's still the only one I use, and I have tried others (Celtic, Renaissance). I found that this deck really helped me connect with the message each card was trying to provide. It helped that I had a great love of Greek mythology before I received this deck. Have you seen the Mythic Tarot Workbook"? I liked this, too, especially when I was just starting out. Essentially, it is a book with each of the major arcana depicted and then you spend time meditating on the meaning and symbolism of the card and color it in. Really a nice way to "get to know" the deck. One of the things I love best about this deck is that there is no separate meaning for reversed cards. I really like the idea that each card has a positive and negative, but that it depends on the situation, placement and person. As I told one person recently: "The Empress, depicting motherhood, is a pretty scary idea to someone who deosn't want children"! Amyel (still trying to get my intro post in the new members section - to no avail...)

Eibhlin	04 Jan 2002
I've been using this deck for a while and I find it excellent. For those who have this deck, can you tell me the astrological sign represented by the Knight of Wands? I usually interpret him as Leo but the symbol on the card has a lion with a figure holding a bow and arrow coming out of its back! The Knight of Wands has been popping up everywhere in my spreads at the moment so I'd appreciate if you could let me know!

amyel	04 Jan 2002
Quote: Eibhlin (05 Jan, 2002 01:45): I've been using this deck for a while and I find it excellent. For those who have this deck, can you tell me the astrological sign represented by the Knight of Wands? I usually interpret him as Leo but the symbol on the card has a lion with a figure holding a bow and arrow coming out of its back! The Knight of Wands has been popping up everywhere in my spreads at the moment so I'd appreciate if you could let me know! I just looked this up in "The Mythic Tarot Workbook" [juliet sharman-burke], and they have the Knight of Wands listed as a Sag. So that would make some sense to me that you might have interpreted it as a Leo - I find Leo's & Sag's can both be rather firey! BTW, this book has the Queen of Wands listed as Leo. I'd mentioned the workbook in my first post (above). From memory, I thought it only had the major arcana listed in it, but it actually has the full deck. You just can't color in the minor arcana or court cards.

Eibhlin	04 Jan 2002
Many thanks for the info Amyel

Lilliana	04 Jan 2002
I really like this deck. It manages to be non-threatening without appearing too *cutesy* I suppose I like it because I love classical mythology. Even though I don't agree with some of the choices the author has chosen for each card, I still find it nice to use. Haven't got the book that goes with it, which would probably help. Lilli

Madonna	14 Jan 2002
Quote: amyel (05 Jan, 2002 02:21): Quote: Eibhlin (05 Jan, 2002 01:45): I've been using this deck for a while and I find it excellent. For those who have this deck, can you tell me the astrological sign represented by the Knight of Wands? I usually interpret him as Leo but the symbol on the card has a lion with a figure holding a bow and arrow coming out of its back! The Knight of Wands has been popping up everywhere in my spreads at the moment so I'd appreciate if you could let me know! I just looked this up in "The Mythic Tarot Workbook" [juliet sharman-burke] , and they have the Knight of Wands listed as a Sag. So that would make some sense to me that you might have interpreted it as a Leo - I find Leo's & Sag's can both be rather firey! BTW, this book has the Queen of Wands listed as Leo. I'd mentioned the workbook in my first post (above). From memory, I thought it only had the major arcana listed in it, but it actually has the full deck. You just can't color in the minor arcana or court cards. ~Hello. My book called "The Tarot Handbook " by Angeles Arrien says that the Knight of Wands can represent any of the 3 fire signs of Sag. Aries or Leo. Explains why it shows up so often.I find this to be true with my cards. ~Madonna

Tess	19 Jan 2002
hi everyone, I also have this deck and find it a bit 'deeper' than others, very interesting and thought provoking, I only use it for special friends. anyone else do this?

witchywoman	20 Jan 2002
This is the only deck I use to read with. I have used it myself - as a learning process, for about 5 years. I find that the best readings I do are for people who have fairly significant issues in their lives ie. deep emotional issues, or they are trying to make major decisions. I love the deck. I've tried reading with others but just can't seem to do an accurate reading. I once did a reading for a woman who claimed to be psychic. I handed her the deck to shuffle and she immediately began crying and put the deck down. She said she could feel all my pain in the deck. This makes sense to me as the times I'd turn to the deck (to learn) I'd be in the middle of one crisis or another. It makes the deck very special to me because I feel like all my 'experiences' are in their, waiting to help others. Perhaps this has diverted a bit from the topic but the deck is very special to me, and I enjoy hearing about others who have had a good connection with it also. ww

divinerguy	20 Jan 2002
Quote: Eibhlin (05 Jan, 2002 01:45): For those who have this deck, can you tell me the astrological sign represented by the Knight of Wands? I usually interpret him as Leo but the symbol on the card has a lion with a figure holding a bow and arrow coming out of its back! I follow the Sagittarius reasoning, but on a more mundane level. The constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) and Sagitta (The Arrow) are both represented on the card. While Sagitta is not known as a zodaical entity, it still gives a pretty good clue on the correspondence. Gary

Scorpion	20 Jan 2002
Just bought this deck (along with Moon Garden and the Goddess Tarot - and I'm eyeing up the Templar at the moment - I'm in danger of becoming a collector at this rate!) and find it very clear and easy to work with - though I am rather disappointed with the quality of the cards, which are extremely thin. I guess I bought it more for the background mythology than the artwork, but so far I've been unable to find the book to go with it, although I've got the workbook. Can someone out there with the book let me have the details please so I can put it on order? Many thanks.

amyel	20 Jan 2002
Quote: LouiQ (21 Jan, 2002 01:06): Just bought this deck (along with Moon Garden and the Goddess Tarot - and I'm eyeing up the Templar at the moment - I'm in danger of becoming a collector at this rate!) and find it very clear and easy to work with - though I am rather disappointed with the quality of the cards, which are extremely thin. I guess I bought it more for the background mythology than the artwork, but so far I've been unable to find the book to go with it, although I've got the workbook. Can someone out there with the book let me have the details please so I can put it on order? Many thanks. Hi LouiQ. You're the second person whose mentioned they didn't have the book. I've only ever seen the cards as a set wit the book, so this is a surprsie to me. The details on the book I have (which came with the cards, so hopefully it's valid!) is: Full Title: The Mythic Tarot: A New Approach to the Tarot Cards Authors: Juliet Sharman-Burke & Liz Greene Publisher: Methuen Date first published: 1986 Like I said, this is the info' in the book that came with my cards. I hope it is all still valid. At the very least, the authors won't have changed.

Scorpion	21 Jan 2002
Brilliant, thanks Amyel: that should do the trick!

Kalin	21 Jan 2002
I've been using this deck for going on five years and agree the cards are thin. I think Mythic deck is published under a Simon & Schuster imprint. For some reason it seems the bigger and more mainstream the publishing house, the thinner the cards. Tarot cards seem like they are of a better quality when published by a new age publishing house. Kalin : )

goddesscarlie	05 Jan 2005
Hi everyone! I'm resurecting this thread. I bought this deck today and in is beautiful! I don't know as much about greek myth as I thought I did though ;) THe good news is I love history and can't wait to learn. I saw this in the shops today and I just had to get it. I had seen just the cards there before, but this time I saw the box set with the book and cloth for half price!! For anyone interested, here is a link to get it half price... QBD the book store (it is an Australian site)

Fudugazi	05 Jan 2005
The Mythic was my absolute favourite for many years, and I still love it, and Dionysos is still my favourite fool. If you want to know more about Greek myths, then the best source is still Robert Graves' Greek Myths. For the suits, since they follow four famous myths, you can refer back to some Greek literature - the swords refer to Aeschylus' Oresteia, which Ted Hughes translated superbly. All the other myths linked to the suits appear here and there in Greek literature, in various forms (there are variants of the myths, of course). Both the Illiad and the Odyssey will give you pleasure as well as being a good place to see the gods and humans at work, including a number of the characters in the Mythic deck. Happy discovery!

purple_scorp	05 Jan 2005
goddesscarlie wrote: For anyone interested, here is a link to get it half price... QBD the book store (it is an Australian site) I have the Mythic workbook but I don't have the deck. Go figure??? I've been searching for the deck on E-Bay, hoping to grab a bargain but I kept getting outbid. But hey, thanks for the link to the book store, goddesscarlie. There's some great stuff there. I found an Oracle deck that I'm really interested in. Hmm, it's too late for Christmas and too early for my birthday. cheers purple_scorp

similia	05 Jan 2005
I really liked the Mythic too. It was the first deck I was able to really use, despite having tried a few before that. I found it very easy to learn, and the artwork easy to relate to.

sharpchick	20 Jan 2005
purple_scorp wrote: I have the Mythic workbook but I don't have the deck. Go figure??? I've been searching for the deck on E-Bay, hoping to grab a bargain but I kept getting outbid. But hey, thanks for the link to the book store, goddesscarlie. There's some great stuff there. I found an Oracle deck that I'm really interested in. Hmm, it's too late for Christmas and too early for my birthday. cheers purple_scorp I got my deck at Barnes and Noble. . . . you might want to check there if you have a store locally.

purple_scorp	20 Jan 2005
I don't think we have Barnes and Noble in Australia, but thanks for the tip, anyhow. purple_scorp

The Mythic Deck thread was originally posted on 01 Jan 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.