Sacred Circle Deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

LeoLady	24 Jul 2002
Hi Guys! Can anyone tell me anything about the Sacred Circle deck for a beginner? Or have I (yet again) got another deck that's a bit too complicated to read. Am scouring for a deck that 'speaks' to me, but not having much luck so far. I have currently: Celtic Dragon Tarot (nice pics - too hard to read) Dragon Tarot - Nice art - too hard again Russell Grant Astro Tarot - nice but a bit to astrological, although appealed to me to start with Sacred Circle Tarot (just got..no opinion yet) Hanson-Roberts (like the size, easy to wield but having problems using intuitive readings - maybe not destined to read at all!) Unicorn tarot - waiting for currently Lord of the rings - on order, been a fan for a long time

Sorceress_Jade	24 Jul 2002
I don't know anything about sacred circle, but going off your name... take a look at the Thoth deck Use Acelectic, Wicce.com and there are some cards here too www.geocities.com/sorceress_jade/thoth.html Other than that, most beginners start with a Waite deck, or a waite clone. Of the actual Waite decks I feel that the Universal Waite is the best. Just personal opinions though.

Phoenix	24 Jul 2002
It just depends if you like a Celtic Pagan feel, because this deck is full of it. I personally love the deck. There is just one thing I don't like about it. In the majors, she calls the High Priest card the Druid, but the meanings for that card fit with the Magician. And the Magician card had been re-named the High PRiest, but the meanings for that card fit with those of the High Priest(Hierophant). Good luck with the deck!!!!

truthsayer	24 Jul 2002
of the decks you have i'd rate the hanson roberts as the easiest to read. HR happens to be my favorite reading deck. this is strange to me b/c this deck never really called to me. if you work w/ this one, pulling a daily card and journalling what you see then you should start feeling more of a connection to it. some say don't read books about the cards. my suggestion is get a book to just get an idea how others see the cards. just remember just like every body has a nose, everyone has a different opinion what each card means. in the end you choose the meaning you feel is right. there is no right or wrong. i had the celtic dragon but traded it. the reason i couldn't read it is that dj conway switches wands to being ruled by air and swords are fair. most books go w/ the tradition of wands=fire and swords=air. it seems she switches #8 and #11, too but this doesn't bother me as much b/c this position has been an ongoing controversy for over a century. if you are a beginner then it's easier to learn off a deck that's more traditional. it doesn't have to be a rws or a rws clone. it just needs to have some consistency that you can follow from deck to deck or know how to deal w/ if a deck isn't consistent w/ what you've learned. it's good to learn a lot of decks but it can be overwhelming in the beginning til you build your confidence up. i don't know too much about the dragon or astro tarot. i think the unicorn may be easier for you to use but most people who used it have complained that they art wasn't as great as they had hoped it to be. can't remember complaints about readability. the lord of the rings deck isn't consistent w/ the books. some of the cards don't match w/ how i would perceive the card.for example, gollum as the fool. i think that sam gangee or his friend-what's his name would be better. another example, hobbits are known for being barefoot and their hairy feet. the deck has them wearing shoes. i've never been able to read this deck. i think LOR was meant to more of a game than tarot deck kind of like the mage: the ascension deck. i think mage is more readable than LOR. personally, i was disappointed in LOR. they seem to be more of a story telling deck than a tarot. sacred circle: i think this deck would be readable w/ committed work. it's not a rws or thoth based deck. i tend to use those 2 as a measuring stick. the problem w/ this one is understanding the images on the card and how they work w/ the mythology they are based on. i've had this one 3 years but i've decided i'm not giving up on it. it's a beautiful deck and i think i will understand it eventually. i really need to do a card a day journalling w/ it. i think it would come to me then. i hope this helps. please ask about any thing you don't understand.

Keslynn	24 Jul 2002
I think that the Sacred Circle could go either way. Personally, I think you might be better off with a Waite or Thoth derived deck for a beginner, and Sacred Circle (as truth pointed out) is really neither. Also, although the minors are "moody minors" and do convey some sort of feel, they're still pip cards. I still consider myself a beginner, and I have some problems with pips. I also have some problems with the reordering of the majors. On the plus side, the artwork is stunning, and I do find that the cards convey a definite mood, making them easier to read. I think if you worked at it, you could definitely have a very good relationship with the deck. I love the explanations of Celtic culture and myths! The downside of putting so much work into this deck when you are a beginner is that you might have trouble with RWS clones or Thoth based decks if you switch later or go back and forth. I have a copy of the Sacred Circle but really haven't had time to delve into it enough to make it a reading deck for me. It's a shame because I do love the art so much. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do more with it. I hate to see it just sitting there on my shelf. Best of luck. :) Kes

Thirteen	24 Jul 2002
I have Sacred Circle and I can tell you, firmly and clearly, NO--it isn't good for a beginner. Why? Because the cards are mixed up (some cards are in the wrong order in Major Arcana) and some are missing or radically changed. Bad for a beginner because you won't know what's different--and that could keep you from understanding other decks--and/or confuse you when you read books on the tarot. Get a RW deck to learn on. That will allow you to use most decks and read most books. Then you can move onto SC and KNOW what they changed and understand why and what the symbols they use mean and all that. If SC is the deck that "speaks to you"--meant to be YOUR deck, it will be there, ready for your use, till you're no longer a rank beginner, but able, instead to really use and understand it.

Helruna	24 Jul 2002
I have to agree with Thirteen, for a beginner the Sacred Circle might not be the best as, like she already mentioned some of the cards are in "mixed up" order in this deck and therefore to start with might be confusing as most books go with the Rider Waite sequence of cards. Otherwise, I like my Sacred Circle, but the Minors actually do not have scenes like the RWS-clones (I think the Hanson Roberts is a good choice too, BTW), so you have to study this deck a bit more. It is a good deck, but for a beginner... I think you'd be better off with the HR. BB, Helruna

LeoLady	25 Jul 2002
Hi Guys! Well, first of all, the sacred circle deck is HUGE, as in the cards are very big, and very difficult to handle for me, although i do like the art work. Think will have to wait til I've learned a bit more with my HR deck, as the cards are smaller and easier to handle. I haven't actually got the unicorn deck yet, so watch this space! Thirteen: I printed out your interpretations of all the cards and have pasted them into a book for ease of reference as I loved your story telling with the fools' journey. Many thanks for posting all of that of this web site, have found it invaluable when I want to clarify a particular card!

cjtarot	25 Jul 2002
Hi, Hate to say it, I absolutely love my Sacred Circle deck..I connected and read with it. The thing is..I didn't start with this deck. I learned on the Universal Waite deck (Rider deck with prettier colors). The Sacred Circle is more a intuative deck - the pictures tell the story, not the "card meanings". You also have to read the book that goes with the Sacred Circle..it tells you what you are looking at and why it is relevent in the picture. My advise is to start with the basic (Waite - don't do Throth) and learn everything you can..then try the Sacred Circle. I am gonna post on ways to learn tarot..take a look see..my way of learning is different..basically, I have no memory and had to find a simple method. Blessings Cj

mondk	25 Jul 2002
The Sacred Circle is #1 on my wish-list right now!! I learned on the Dragon tarot, which was horrible, in my opinion, to say the least. Since I learned on "hard decks", now I absolutely can't read the RW decks...they just seem too plain to me and too easy!!! LOL...if that makes any sense! So if you are someone who would rather learn "the hard way" go for it!! Out of all of my decks that I have now that I would have rather chosen to learn on...I would have to say my Winged Spirit or the Whimsical deck would have been much easier, comparable to the RW deck anyway. Then, as you become more advanced, there are the lure of the various oracle decks out there...then the runes!! There will always be temptations at this forum I do believe. :-) Blessings, M.

Red Emma	25 Jul 2002
For me, the jury's still out on Sacred Circle. I've had it about six months, and while it's readings are usually pretty accurate, I still sometimes have trouble understanding its messages. I started Tarot with the Motherpeace deck, being that I'm a hard core feminist. After that, Daughters of the Moon. Since I used the Motherpeace books and DOM books for intrepretation, I did quite well. Right now I have about nine decks, and the only ones I can really count on are Motherpeace, Daughters of the Moon, and the Herbal Tarot -- since I'm also dabble in herbal medicine. (I have no wish to be a medic, but herbs and their medical uses are endlessly fascinating). As for handling ease, you're right. The size of the Sacred Circle makes it very hard for many women to deal with. About the best was for me to shuffle them is to sort them into piles of seven, then merge the piles. Goddess Bless, Red Emma

LeoLady	26 Jul 2002
The only reason I was drawn to the sacred circle deck was the 'druid' card. I've long been a fan of fantasy books (dragonlance and terry brooks shannara series) and it just 'jumped' me. However, the cards are very hard to wield but I'm gonna read the book that came with it to see what occurs. Thanks peoples! P.S. Am now getting a collection going of decks as I'm still searching for the 'one' deck (excuse the pun LOTR!) Does anyone have any recommendations besides the Rider-Waite decks and H/R? I really don't like the R/W decks at all. Ta muchly in advance x

Sulis	26 Jul 2002
Hi Smuttyangel I know exactly what you`re going through. You need a deck to learn with that you can relate to and actually like but it also needs to be based on the RWS deck so that you don`t get confused. I really don`t like the artwork in the RWS deck and so I used the New Palladini to learn with. It`s not exactly a clone but almost. I then had a longing for a pagan deck and so got The Wheel Of Change Tarot which is absolutely gorgeous but the card meanings differ so much from RWS that I`m going to leave it until I`m a more experienced reader: One for the future though. I`ve just got The World Spirit Tarot, it didn`t appeal at first because the images I`d seen seemed really dark (in colour not atmosphere). It is RWS based and it`s very easy IMHO to read intuitively with because the imagery is just so rich. I think that this deck would be a good one for a beginner, the New Pallandini could be worth a look as well. www.worldspirittarot.com www.aeclectic.net/tarot/newpalladini/index.html Brightest Blessings Crystalmynx xx

Starfish	26 Jul 2002
SmuttyAngel - Of the decks you currently have, I chose the Hanson-Roberts as being the one that is best for a beginner. For me personally, I didn't like the RW at all - the images did nothing for me, so my very first deck (which will always hold a special place in my Tarotholic heart) was the Robin Wood. RW based (a good thing to use since so many of the instructional books use the RW as their example deck) with a pagan flair and gorgeous images. I really connected with this deck. Let us know what you decide. :TKIP :TKIC :TAW Starfish

Keslynn	26 Jul 2002
You might also want to check out the Spiral Tarot. It's a smaller deck for easy shuffling. I have found the images to be quite intense and inspiring. Althought it is RWS based, I can read it so much more easily and intuitively. You can check out pictures of the deck on Aeclectic or you can see the full deck at Tarot.com (they have a feature called Browse Decks). If you're not interested in picking up many more new decks (though your resolve won't last long with this bunch - myself included!), then I recommend your Hanson-Roberts for learning on, at least if you want some background in the traditional meanings, which Sacred Circle won't really give you. :) Kes

Thirteen	26 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by smuttyangel Thirteen: I printed out your interpretations of all the cards and have pasted them into a book for ease of reference as I loved your story telling with the fools' journey. Many thanks for posting all of that of this web site, have found it invaluable when I want to clarify a particular card! *blush*blush* You're very welcome. Always delighted to hear the the basics are still on the job.

DarkElectric	26 Jul 2002
Hi Smuttyangel! When I first started out, one of the decks I got was the Morgan Greer. I didn't really like the R/W either. M/G is a nice deck, I like how it's drawn. I don't find it intimidating for a beginner, and it has a lot more "Oomph" to it than the R/W. I also love the spiral deck. I reccommend it as well. A far cry from R/W.

kayne	27 Jul 2002
I love the artwork and ideas behind the Sacred Circle but when reading, it doesn't really speak to me... I think if it was my only deck and pursued it, and learnt all the interpretations according to the creator of the deck I could really like it, but I have other decks I prefer...

The Sacred Circle Deck thread was originally posted on 24 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.