New deck - the Osho Zen

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jenny-Li	14 Jul 2002
Hi all! After spending an hour in the metaphysical bookstore the other day, and still leaving empty-handed, I finally bought myself a new deck yesterday: The Osho Zen Tarot - in a department store, what about THAT!? (It was in the first bookstore too, but at $37, that was waaaay too much for me, yesterday I found it for $27, now that I can accept!) So - how many of you have this deck, use it, love it? Tell me, tell me, tell me! I've only just had a look at the cards and realise it's a tricky one to shuffle, it won't riffle and it most certainly won't bridge (yes I do that, I haven't ruined a deck yet!) and the cards are so slippery new I can't even shuffle them without them going down in biiig chunks. Ah well, it'll get there. As long as I get rid of the SMELL, I'll be fine about it. Anyone has any ideas for a smelly deck? It smells like a new deck, only the smell is more intense than with any other new deck I've had... whew! :( So, what do you think about this deck? How do you use it? If you meditate on a card here, do you just use the card, or the lesson around it too? (Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm terrible at meditating, and being so bad at it, I do too little of it, thus not getting any better...) Can you use it for readings? There's a lot of cards in this deck that I love, and of course others that I don't like so much. I hope I'll find a way to work with it, because I think even if I don't buy the whole Zen teaching, this deck might be very useful in lerning some basics! Light & love, Jenny :)

wavebreaker	14 Jul 2002
This is one of my favourite decks, but one with a personality! ;) I find it fairly easy to use for readings. The images really speak for themselves, so most readings read like a picture book. It can be pretty harsh at times, telling you the truth without beating around the bush. I'm not always in the mood for that, and if not, I use another deck. But sometimes that's exactly what I want. I mainly use it for my own readings. I have used it for somebody else's reading once or twice and that worked too. But I did ask the querent before if they were ready for this deck. I don't have any trouble shuffling it, I'm just glad it's a bit smaller than most decks, so I can at least handle it better. But I agree that the cards are a bit slippery, so I do sometimes end up with half the deck all over the place... ;) I don't meditate on the cards, but I do like to go through the deck and look at the wonderful artwork. Have fun with this one! Have you tried doing a new deck spread with it yet?

jmd	14 Jul 2002
In addition to the forthcoming responses, there have been around five threads which discuss the Osho Zen which you may also be interested to search for and read. The latest thread - prior to yours - is here.

Jenny-Li	14 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by tarotlady I don't have any trouble shuffling it, I'm just glad it's a bit smaller than most decks, so I can at least handle it better. But I agree that the cards are a bit slippery, so I do sometimes end up with half the deck all over the place... ;) Have fun with this one! Have you tried doing a new deck spread with it yet? Yup, I just picked up the cards from all over the floor...! They are slippery, and since they are brand new and haven't been shuffled very much, they may be less soft and flexible now than they will be once we've spent some more time together! No, I haven't done a new-deck-reading with it yet, will do though. That's gonna be interesting, not least given your opinion of it being so "harsh". But that'll be useful too, I need that from time to time...! Thanks! Jenny :)

Jenny-Li	14 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by jmd In addition to the forthcoming responses, there have been around five threads which discuss the Osho Zen which you may also be interested to search for and read. The latest thread - prior to yours - is here . Ooops. I should have looked first, I'm sorry! :( Jenny :)

jmd	14 Jul 2002
Don't be sorry - I only posted the link and mentioned the threads for ease of reference - I hope it adds to the current discussion, not take away!

Marion	14 Jul 2002
Hi Jenny-Li, Osho is the only deck that I have trouble shuffling. I have had it around a year, and use it, not always but frequently. And I have very long hands, and I still have trouble shuffling it! It just will not riffle well, the cards fall in 'chunks' as you mention. I like this deck, and it has a different flavour than other decks. To me it is a very lay-it-on-the-line psychological decks. I keep in a bag I made of an old pillowcase my grandmother gave me which I used and used and it finally couldn't be used as a pillowcase any more, so the cotton is now as soft as silk. I could hardly begin to list my favourite cards in this deck. The 8 of clouds (swords) with the anguished woman with spectral hands tearing at her brain, 8 of wands showing a long hill-side painted 'bones of the dragon' style (presumably for walking away on), and for some reason I just love the Lovers cards, with stars gleaming through their hair. I love so many of these cards. Now some I do not like as much, either because I do not like the art or I think that version is limiting to the meaning. The variation in the art style is odd, but I do not find it jarring. I trust you will get as much enjoyment and thoughtful moments with this deck as I have.

Starfish	14 Jul 2002
The Osho-Zen is a beautiful deck. It is a deck I would purchase for the meditation value alone! Congratulations to you on your new deck. I love the colors and vibrancy - lovely choice. :T7W Starfish

Diana	14 Jul 2002
edited

Kyrielle	14 Jul 2002
It's one of my newer decks, and I want to read with it, but every time I pick it up I end up going through it and gazing at the pictures. By the time I'm finished, there's no time to do a spread! -- Kyrielle

Kirali	15 Jul 2002
I just saw the Osho Zen in B&N the other day but resisted to buy it... I wonder how long it will stay there because if I see a deck still on the shelf more than 3 times when I visit it, I seem to buy it.. then again it was on my wishlist a while ago.. hmmm.. sorry to get sidetracked. I hope you enjoy it Jenny! :) For smelly decks, I like to leave them by an open window and let them air out for a few hours and that usually takes the smell out. have fun :)

Marion	15 Jul 2002
New deck smell... right, forgot to mention that. My new Ancient Egyptian Tarot had quite an odour, but is disappeared within a day or two. Just leave them out, as suggested.

Jewel	15 Jul 2002
Regarding the smell of the deck ... I believe there is a thread in the Talking Tarot forum where this was discussed. Sorry I cannot remember thread name, but you might want to see if you can locate it. It had some interesting and useful info.

Jenny-Li	15 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kirali I just saw the Osho Zen in B&N the other day but resisted to buy it... I wonder how long it will stay there because if I see a deck still on the shelf more than 3 times when I visit it, I seem to buy it.. Yes, there are always those things that gets you in the end, no matter how well you've fought the battle of resistance... For me it was finding the deck in an ordinary department store, where I least would have expected it... It sort of snuck up to me and caught me by surprise, forcing me to buy it!! Jewel: Yes I do recall that thread now that you mention it! I will try to look it up, but actually after having it out as Marion and Kirali suggested for a couple of days, it's not so terribly bad anymore, I think it'll be OK! All of you: Thanks for all your comments and views on this deck! So far I haven't made a new-deck-reading with it yet, but I like it more and more each time I go through it, I guess I'm just a bit tense around a deck I don't know. It was the same thing with the Robin Wood when I got it, it didn't quite feel "right", but now I do practically all my readings with it! Light and love, Jenny :)

wavebreaker	15 Jul 2002
As for the smell: I once put some powder on the cards of my Glastonbury because they were sticky and difficult to shuffle, and the scent of the powder stuck to the cards for quite a long time. So you might want to try that. Although, with the Osho Zen cards being already very slippery, you'd better watch it when you shuffle them afterwards, better close all the doors and windows! :D

Jimilyn	15 Jul 2002
Kyrielle, I can understand how you get so lost in the artwork that you have no time for a reading. These are beautiful cards! I bought a deck for a friend, and it was sooooooo hard to mail it off. :D Maybe a deck will make it's way to me. I first saw this deck at the site where you can get online readings with it. I absolutely fell in love...and this was before I even started learning to read. Someday.... Jimilyn

Lightlike	19 Jul 2002
I like the smell of new decks but then that's just me but I don't remember my Osho smelling at all. I love my Osho but sometimes it can give harsh answers, it doesn't beat around the bush. I think its good that its honest and harsh but sometimes it hurts so much that I can't really deal with the answer right away. I have to let it sink in and think about it later when I'm less defensive and more objective about the situation and/or question. Enjoy your Osho its a really good deck.

hyperborea	19 Jul 2002
I have them for about three years now and I think they give the best overview of the situation us seekers are in at one given moment in time. The pictures are beautiful and they also show which direction one can take. However dark card I draw it always lifts me up...I ussualy draw just one card - as an answer to a situation I am in - what is the situation telling me...or I do the spread of four for a relationship... I truly like these cards - more then I do Marseille tarot - I think that one is more for the physical world, whereas the Osho are more the inner world... enjoy them...may they bring you lots of happines. greetings hyperborea

napaisti	19 Jul 2002
I love my Osho Zen, but I don't use it very often for readings. It has to be the right sort of reading, usually for self-exploration or for questions that are VERY internal. I also love just looking through the cards and seeing what draws me. I learn a lot about myself that way. I have to agree with Lightlike and Diana in that the cards can be brutally direct and honest. They also don't like being asked about material things (at least mine don't). Have fun with the courtship phase. That to me is sometimes the best part. And then there are the times when you get really lucky and lasting relationship forms. I look forward to finding out what kind that will be for you. be well, napaisti

debins	21 Jul 2002
I also like the Osho Zen Tarot deck very much. My thoughts on its directness and it being best for personal reflections are that it seems according to Osho that ALL of our experiences are really about our own interior lives anyway, that exterior factors are just an illusion, a projection of our own making. (Anyone know more about this and care to post links, titles of books, etc?) Whenever I use the Osho deck and ask about something or someone outside myself the answer always has to do with me. Osho always asks me to take care of myself and my own spirituality. Very, very interesting. Namaste, Debins.

Lee	21 Jul 2002
Yesterday I cut the keywords off all my Osho Zen cards. I hadn't been using this deck, but it's really a whole new deck without the keywords. It really opens it up. -- Lee

Jenny-Li	21 Jul 2002
Lee: I see what you mean, I'm not to fond of keywords on cards either, but... I'm too chicken to let a pair of scissors or a knife near my cards!! All of you: Thanks for all your input on this deck, I haven't had time to do many readings with it yet, but the one I did and posted here felt very "right"! Debins: I think I'm with you on the feel of this deck, it tells you the lesson and the perspective in all situations, where we get ourselves lost and what's real and what's not... Light and love, all of you! Jenny :)

Lightlike	21 Jul 2002
I'd be so afraid they would never talk to me again if I were to cut them up like that if the keywords bothered me but they aren't unbearable to me.

hyperborea	22 Jul 2002
Hello Debins, you are so right about the illusions and our projections...there are a lot of new age books which all write about the same thing. I started with Budhisem which opened my eyes in this way - I read a book by Lama Zopa Rimpoche - Door to Satisfaction. but if your read any book written by Dalai Lama you will get the same message. I aslo recommend a book by Walsch "Communication with God" - three books which explain 10 illusions we leave in - and that the funny thing is that we invented them all in order to discover who we are - we are born whole and start moving away from that wholiness just to get back to the starting point - I find this amuzing - and at times stupid. I aslo recommend this awesome web page http://www.emmanuelandfriends.com/frames.html which gives a bit of different persepctive on life and what is happening in the unverse. I am experiencing different life for the past 7 years and from my experience most of the stuff is true.....BUT is your experience that counts. And do not search too far- you are already that, that you search! blessings Hyperborea

debins	22 Jul 2002
I'm checking these things out now! Namaste, Debins.

napaea	23 Jul 2002
I LOOOVVVEE this deck! this was my very first deck, because it was so beautifully done, and the RW deck just glared at me with bright colors that reminded me of flashing neon lights. ewww I have used this deck for 4+ years, and am only now really starting to use others regularly. I guess I can see what everyone is saying about it being harsh at times, but I always try to walk away from those cards with a "ok, what can I do to help this out?" thought. I just don't like the swords sometimes! so i'll be like, ummmm, no this doesn't really mean illness, it means I'm too stressed and COULD get ill. (pollyanna mindset) The Osho deck has given me phenominal readings with others. I don't know if its the art, or the energy of the deck, or heck, me! I get every kind of information: jewelry people have, dead people visiting, personal information of the sexual type, who has to pee, who should use silk sheets instead of cotton. It's pretty crazy and very interesting. I hope this deck brings you loads of joy. I love mine very much!

All Is One	23 Jul 2002
Hey Jenny_li and all: I also just got this deck. so far I have just not had time to do much with it, so your thread was great input for me. I resisted buying this one...no "hook"~ all substance. I almost felt it was a deck that I needed and was resisting because the childish part of my nature was stubbornly insisting on the Fantastical and the Giger .... OK- not so childish~ perhaps I struggle with the shadow more than most. This was a white light deck for a dark person (me) and I have high hopes for it and myself both. I am reading the book FIRST w/the OZ~ which I have to admit is a totally new approach for me. Taking everything said into mind and heart, I read on...

Moongold	09 Aug 2002
Hello Friends, After a hectic week, I spoilt myself by buying an Osho Zen deck which was on sale. And I've spent the last couple of hours looking at it and reading the book It is fascinating, isn't it? Had a very interesting new deck spread with it. I am being very careful as I'm still learning the RW symbolism, although mainly with the Morgan Greer, which I really like also. There are some traditional and unusual spreads in the back of the Osho Zen book. Doing one of these the remarkable Trust card appeared (Knight of Water). Isn't it breathtaking? I could just look at it for hours! It seems to me that this Deck is, in some ways, easier to interpret than the more traditional ones. What do you think? Another thing that occurs to me is that reversals would not be appropriate. It seems refreshing to have a look at a Deck which is so different, and yet similar to the traditional Tarot decks. This Deck is quite relaxing but I have a feeling that it should not be taken for granted. Love to all, Moongold

Marion	09 Aug 2002
Hi Moongold, Although I usually do reversals, I do not do them with Osho Zen. It just does not seem appropriate to me. I do not think the book comments on reversals either. And the cards are breathtaking, I love this deck!!

Moongold	09 Aug 2002
Does anyone know where to get a scan of the COMPLETE Osho Zen deck? I have found all the Major Arcana and some of the thers but not the full set. Tarot.com doesn't have them either! Nor Tarotgarden. I did a reading for a friend in the US and want to e-mail her the images so that she can actually see the origins of the reading. Many thanks, Moongold

wavebreaker	10 Aug 2002
On this website you can find images of all the cards, except for the Fire suit (don't know why...).

Mlle Lenormand	10 Aug 2002
I absolutely love this deck too and yes it can be very confronting, but I feel that sometimes we need this to grow. Moongold: I agree, that Trust card is mesmerizing isn't it! I did a reading for myself and got a card that I just couldn't relate to...pulling my hair I asked for another card to help me 'understand' it. Yes, you guessed it..I picked up the "Understanding" card. It was also relevant to the problem.

wavebreaker	10 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mlle Lenormand I absolutely love this deck too and yes it can be very confronting, but I feel that sometimes we need this to grow. Which is exactly why I love this deck too! I'm not always in the mood for it, sometimes I prefer the much gentler Glastonbury, but when I'm really at a loss for advice, I just take out the Osho Zen and ask it to tell me the truth. And it always does. Often, it's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I know it's what I needed to hear and I'd better listen to it! ;)

Kaz	10 Aug 2002
the only q you can ask this deck is tell the truth, it wont answer any other q for me, it tells you exactly what you need to know , whatever you ask it. kaz

Violet Gargoyle	10 Aug 2002
Must.....not.....add.....more.....to....wishlist......need....bread.....

Krystianx3	15 Aug 2002
Jenny, I was a student of Tina Michelle who taught me a little about this deck. I personally don't read with it. I keep it because the author's interpretations are very deep and insane at the same time. I love the artwork. They are a little tricky to shuffle. Overall it's a wonderful deck. I just have a feeling that it's not the one for me. It's hard to read reversed meanings for this one, if you do that. Every card is already a negative card, and the lesson within it is to pull yourself out of that negativity in some way. That's my interpretation anyway. Let us know how it goes for you. Krystian...

All Is One	16 Aug 2002
K: what you said helped me "get it"...the book was something I approached with such devout and sincere intent... The author does literally (really- look up insane) have a deep truth and a totally insane vision. I don't know if anyone saw my "52 pick-up" spread that I put on a thread recently - I don't think I can find it myself...but I used the swirl method and a 52...well, 78- card pick up sytle. And...I also_gøt the Trust card ...twice- once in a reading for me w/ the "pick-up" and then in one for my friend who I'd never met. This is what I can contribute at this early moment w/ the OZ deck: Guy Budd, the guitar wizard and flannel-clad oracle of my town (his 2nd album is on my web site under links...he wrote "Existential Kamikaze") asked what I was up to lately. I said (he was doing a "plow" on my living room floor at the time- so I was speakiing to the posterior) "I 'm mostly just waiting for some tarot decks to arrive- I ordered a zen tarot deck." He flipped out of it gracefully (at 50) and shot me the Merlin on the Mount look. Then a pause...and"Hmmm- a zen tarot deck...well- that could well be a box ......with nothing in it." This from the Man...who does not like the word Zen to be overused. (His Tone Poem "Existential Kamikaze" is being taught in the local Cal Poly Univ classes by Jim Cushing- a Prof friend of his, and when I told Guy, he got upset. Seems this song/tone poem is a meditation he shares orally and not otherwise....sample on the link if you are interested- I have not tried the sample, but the song is a total experience) <http://www.guybudd.com>

Jenny-Li	18 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kaz the only q you can ask this deck is tell the truth, it wont answer any other q for me, it tells you exactly what you need to know , whatever you ask it. Thanks for your input, all of you! I have used this deck a bit, and I do always get good answers, useful answers. I'm not sure I agree that the answers are harsh, but that may be because I usually ask about how to HANDLE a specificsituation, not what's going on with it. Therefore I always get a code of behaviour which is very "Zen" and therefore in itself very calming and "detaching" - they make me realize that I am not my problems, they are just a part of my path. Kaz, you put it very well, and I couldn't agree more, questions don't always work with this deck, it tells it's story and that's it! Thanks all of you, once again! Light and love, Jenny :)

All Is One	19 Aug 2002
It's true~ I am still... for whatever reason- not comfortable w/this deck. Call me what ever- I can't get there. But this is perhaps (i am not convinced at this point) a good sign...the Thoth took 1-2 yrs to work it's Will ... I feel weird w/this deck. I love the Fantastical- it is the comic Thoth...for those that know the Thoth and like to get abit dramatic and spikily silly...but it works. The OZ is skewed and I have more troubles with if than I ever expected so~ at the risk of being tarred and feathered it almost seems sarcastic, or pretentious at times in comparison to other decks with better art and fewer maj`or concepts. But I do appreciate Zen principles ...and, as I have admitted- tend to throw myself into the wave of absolute Being and Not Being as a natural social disorder I was self-diagnosed with along time ago Zen is to know how it feels not to feel... and I am not there ... ~a

Kaz	19 Aug 2002
hmm, sometimes some decks just don't work for you. it can be sarcastic, but in my opinion with a smile, that's why i like it so much :-) give it some time, otherwise trade it away.... fantastical by nathalie herz? yesss, love that one as well. kaz

Jewel	19 Aug 2002
My experience with the Osho-Zen has really not been all that different than with other decks I connect with. I love the artwork and the answers I receive are very in keeping with the Raider Waite meanings but with a Zen twist, providing me with a point of view that I had not quite fully explored. I find the deck honest but not harsh. Personally I really like this deck a lot both for reading and meditation.

The New deck - the Osho Zen thread was originally posted on 14 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.