Haindl Tarot & Rachel Pollack Handbook

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

divinerguy	17 Jul 2002
I've had Rachel Pollack's Haindl Tarot Handbook for some time now, and I just bought the Haindl Tarot deck today. If you haven't seen the artwork on this deck, you're really missing something special. Here's a link .... http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/haindl/index.html And here's a review ... http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/haindl/review.html For those who read with this deck regularly, is it an "all purpose" deck, or should it be reserved for special situations? Thanks for your help,

truthsayer	17 Jul 2002
i've had haindl and pollack's book a couple years now but i just can't get into this deck. the iching and runes added just make it more of a headache than i find it worth to learn. the minors leave me flat-they seem more like pips than illustrated cards. i keep it b/c the art is quite interesting and what i like artistically. i just don't find it a readable deck. i like "out there" decks but this one is too out there for me. personally, i think it's a deck that you'll need to work w/ frequently to get in tune w/ it's special frequency. if you save it for special occasions, i think you'll have a difficult time reading it. it's a deck that requires lots of TLC in order for it to speak its truth to you. if you are familiar w/ multiple divination systems other than tarot that would be in your favor also. best of luck. if you figure out a way to make contact w/ this deck, i'd love to hear how you did it. maybe it'll help me.

Laurel	18 Jul 2002
I always used the Haindl as a "study" deck and for meditational purposes, rather than readings. It proved very good for both which led to more coherent readings with other decks. Laurel

HudsonGray	19 Jul 2002
I've got the Haindl too, and it's rather difficult to work with. I have to be extremely specific on the questions or I don't get an answer at all. Maybe I got spoiled with the Robin Wood, where you can be more general or just do a 'tell me about--' reading. This one seems to want some fine tuned control going on it. At least for me it does.

the hermit	19 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Laurel I always used the Haindl as a "study" deck and for meditational purposes, rather than readings. It proved very good for both which led to more coherent readings with other decks. Laurel I'm with you Laurel. The deck was a gift and I've used it to meditate and love it, but it's just too intense for me to do a reading. I really like the art and symbolism but my senses just get totally overwhelmed when I try to do a spread with it. Don’t have the book.

divinerguy	19 Jul 2002
Interesting comments. It sounds as though this deck makes people uncomfortable at times. I'm going to try and make a go of this deck for a couple of reasons. I'm an iconoclast from the base of my soul. I don't mind making people squirm a little bit if it helps them better understand themselves. My own efforts at art study were met with the realization that I'm just not very good. However, I can see what's good in other artists, and Hermann Haindl's art work is some of the best out there. I think its a good thing for a deck to make a reader feel a little sqeamish. Tarot readers need to grow too.

Dark Inquisitor	19 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by divinerguy My own efforts at art study were met with the realization that I'm just not very good. That never stopped anybody before! You just re-categorize yourself as primitive, outsider, post-modern , or interpretive whatever. As long as you invent a language to go along with your style, no one will question you! I just got the Haindl and I love the different cultural representations. I don't necessarily pay attention to the artist's personal meanings, I just overlay the traditional meanings on whatever cards I'm using. Heresy, probably , but I think you could go mad trying to pick up every nuance of different art decks. I think it stretches your brain every time you get a new deck with different representations, even if you don't get all the meanings right away. Tarotphelia

rubes	19 Jul 2002
The Haindl deck is visually magificent, which is why I purchased it originally - well, also thinking I could read with it. When I bought R. Pollack's books, I thought it might even make it easier. But, alas, I find this deck doesn't make much sense other than being some darn gorgeous art work. I adore his paintings, and I wish they were on my wall. I remember wishing *I* had painted them. Somtimes I think we believe we have to "work with" a deck more, that we're not getting it, that it must be awfully *intense*, that it needs further study, when really it's just not done very well when it comes down to it, at least in terms of tarot paradigm, if that's what you're looking for in a deck. I don't know......this is just my 2 cents. I'd rather just stare at it and enjoy it for what it is than try to make it fit in to a structure it just wasn't made for. rubes

the hermit	19 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by rubes The Haindl deck is visually magificent, which is why I purchased it originally - well, also thinking I could read with it. When I bought R. Pollack's books, I thought it might even make it easier. But, alas, I find this deck doesn't make much sense other than being some darn gorgeous art work. I adore his paintings, and I wish they were on my wall. I remember wishing *I* had painted them. Somtimes I think we believe we have to "work with" a deck more, that we're not getting it, that it must be awfully *intense*, that it needs further study, when really it's just not done very well when it comes down to it, at least in terms of tarot paradigm, if that's what you're looking for in a deck. I don't know......this is just my 2 cents. I'd rather just stare at it and enjoy it for what it is than try to make it fit in to a structure it just wasn't made for. rubes Well said! The art IS intense on this deck, and though often filled with 'classic' tarot symbolism if you look long enough, deep enough and hard enough I just get so caught up in the sheer emotions that I see in all of the art! That's why I DO just stare at it, meditate, and enjoy it.

Phoenix	26 Jul 2002
I plan on setting my other decks aside, and studying this deck almost exclusively.

The Haindl Tarot & Rachel Pollack Handbook thread was originally posted on 17 Jul 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.