OshoZen Tarot Deck.. Thoughts, Opinions, Experiences??

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

New2Tarot	25 Mar 2002
Hey guys, I'm considering a few tarot decks to purchase in the coming weeks, these are the Secret Tarots by Marco Nizzoli, Sacred Circle Tarot, and the Osho-Zen tarot. What are your experiences, thoughts, or opinions on the Osho Zen tarot specifically??? Is it a good deck to read with?? Seeing how it somewhat differs from a traditional deck.. what are the differences and the learning curve? Anyone who has the deck or has had experience with it please contribute! Thanks, New2Tarot

cjtarot	25 Mar 2002
Hi, I have the Sacred Circle. It is the main deck I read with now. The pix seem to shift. (they look differnt every time to me - I'm not crazy,,they don't atually move). I also have the Osho Zen. I love this deck for self exploration. I could not see myself reading others with it.. To me it's exploring your inner self. (I also have the deck in a beautiful red w/ gold bamboo bag..I have a thing about the deck and the bag I store them in working together..) My advise..buy what talks to you... Cj

rostie	25 Mar 2002
i have two decks from the ones you named: secret tarots and the osho zen. i recently bought the first one and i must say it's a beautifull one but i didn't worked with it yet. the osho zen i adore! it is so clear, it always says the things that you need to know, cristalclear. but yes it is different from usual tarot, it's more for selfexploration. honestly, i prefer this one above my other tarotdecks because i'm not so interessed in what will happen but more what are the problems in my life now, what am i not seeing now, what am i not understanding about myself and my osho zen gives me always a clear answer. it helped me alot about how i am, how i react, how other people see me, how i had to change to become happier. it learned me to see things back in perspective, myself, my life, this world and that was it i needed. ( i had so many problem with who i was, i hated myself, now i love, respect myself again after all those terrible years.) the pictures are beautifull and very intuitive, very strong. even if you know not much about tarot, this one is easy to learn. it was my second deck i bought and it is the one i most use and trust and understand. the spread with it are very good, very helpfull. and the booklet that goes with it is very well written. i must admit i first didn't like the pictures, i found them to colorfull. it was because of this forum i gave it a try and looked again to it. some of the pictures had then a strong affect on me and i decided to buy it, i was so frightened if i opened it i would be disappointed, but no i loved from the minute i opened it! hopes this helped you!

Jewel	25 Mar 2002
Quote: Originally posted by New2Tarot I'm considering a few tarot decks to purchase in the coming weeks, these are the Secret Tarots by Marco Nizzoli, Sacred Circle Tarot, and the Osho-Zen tarot. I am not familiar with the Secret Tarots by Marcho Nizzoli, but I do have and have worked with the Sacred Circle and Osho-Zen. Of those 2 I would personally recommend the Osho-Zen. If you can look back at old threads we have had several discussions on both of these decks. The Osho-Zen, although different, is very easy to work with. The artwork is evocative and intuitive. My personal experiences with this deck has made me come to view it as a different perspective of traditional decks ... a Zen perspective on the same thing. This for me has made me really love this deck and to highly recommend it. The cards have key words on them which is also quite helpful. The suits although named differently do fall into the elemental categories, and the court cards are really different but make sense in their own way ... this deck really frees my mind some how. There is one extra major arcana which is Osho himself, you can take that card out of the deck if you want, many here who work with the deck do (It does not alter numbering or anything) The Sacred Circle is beautiful but it is also quite different and more complex to learn compared to the Osho-Zen deck. If you are pagan and have a great understanding of Celtic holy sites, traditions and religions then it will be easier to learn this deck. If you do not have the knowledge but do have the interest the book that comes with the deck is pretty good, but will take time. Hope this helps.

silvereye	25 Mar 2002
I have the Osho Zen Tarot. I think it should not be a tarot deck really as there are so many changes so if you're into traditional tarot and hate any modified versions then this might not be the deck for you. For instance, you may notice that the Major Arcana are treated like Minor Arcana, the difference is quite small. This is not a deck for divination.

kayne	26 Mar 2002
I have the Osho Zen and when I first got it, I thought - Wow! This will end up being my most useful deck! But... as it happens, I got the World Spirit not long after and that is the deck I am using most now... It differs a lot from a regular deck which is fine... The pictures are really fantastic and the meanings are really obvious in them which I love. I think the main reason I don't use it as much as I expected is the whole 'Osho Zen' philosophy... I just don't really feel comfortable with it. I don't know if the values and ideas behind it are match my ideas and values, and as this is a core aspect of the deck... You get the idea. I suggest having a good look at the Osho Zen website and if you like the philosophy, go for it! The illustrations are great (and it is a good one for the collection... :p )

truthsayer	26 Mar 2002
i agree that the osho zen doesn't feel like a true tarot deck to me. the pictures are quite compelling tho. my main beef w/ the deck is that the master card gives me the creeps and i have take it out of the deck. i haven't used the deck in a while b/c i want to separate how i feel about the master card from an otherwise good deck. the sacred circle is a complex deck. it would help to be familiar w/ celtic paganism and mythology to read the deck. whenever i tried to read w/ the deck i tend to get so engrossed in reading the mythology in the book i lose track of my reading. for now, it's a study deck for me. i considered buying the secrets tarot once. i got to look at the whole deck at a bookstore and it just didn't speak to me. something about it seemed disjointed or out of synch but that's me. it may be the perfect one for you.

Moongold	18 Dec 2002
Just to add to what others have said, the art work is beautiful and evocative. You can almost read this deck intuitively right from the beginning. Some of the graphics are breathtaking. I love the Zen philosophy but I've taken out the MASTER card, as others mentioned. You don't need it. Things seem to correspond not too badly with the conventional Tarot. The Court cards are the most different. I've used it for personal readings but also for readings for friends in other countries. You can download all the images from the Internet and past them into a Word document with your interpretations. People who don't know Tarot find it easier to respond to the Osho Zen images - At least that is my experience. The deck is very good for personal readings. There is something quite gentle and immediately positive about the Osho Zen that I really like. I find Rachel Pollack's Shining Tribe tarot similar in this respect. As someone earlier said, choose the one that you feel most drawn to, and best wishes. Moongold

Aerin	20 Dec 2002
I have the Osho Zen. I love the feel of the deck (very gentle) and most people find it non-threatening. The card meanings do relate to traditional meanings, but with a Zen twist e.g. the Sword Court card meanings are negative because of its anti-analysis/ intellect slant. I find it has added to my understanding of the meanings for my other decks, and as has been said it is a good deck for self exploration. I also have the Sacred Circle. I really like the deck and find it easy to read with intuitively, except that a couple of the majors seemed differently labelled from a traditional deck (so I just changed the meanings around to suit me). They are very different decks: for me they complement each other rather than being an 'either/ or'. Aerin

DeLani	28 Dec 2002
I suppose it's OK to resurrect old threads... I got this deck for Yule. I actually love this deck. It seems they have taken the essential lesson we need to learn from each card, then distilled that lesson into a gorgeous picture. I have decided to keep the Master card, as if it were the Hierophant (with all good & bad associations), and I really like having the "No-Thingness" card - it's a wild card, like the Wyrd rune. So I guess I'm keeping all the cards, but my personal system switches the numbers of the Master and No-Thingness. I find the Aces stunning. I also love the Queens. I just can't get over it!!!

Scorpion	29 Dec 2002
Hi, DeLani! Yes, I agree this is a fantastic deck. The meanings are just so clear to me and the artwork is beautiful. The book is very readable and clarifying on the subject of Zen. I hope you have many happy readings with it!

The OshoZen Tarot Deck.. Thoughts, Opinions, Experiences?? thread was originally posted on 25 Mar 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.