Inner Child vs Whimsical Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

undine	13 Aug 2002
Erm. :) Where should I begin. I am considering buying a tarot deck and apart from the Zodiac Cards I have, which in themselves are no true Tarot deck, it will be my first. So far only 2 decks have actually caught my attention: the Inner Child Cards and the Whimsical Tarot deck (that will tell you a bit about my personality, hehehe, though I'm 26 going on 27 and should probably be ashamed of myself for loving fairytales this much ;) ). The thing is, I noticed these decks use the same image for different cards (I'm remembering the Puss in Boots, Aladdin's genie, Rapunzel, etc...), so buying both is probably a bad idea, not to mention the price... Does anyone care to post their opinions? I wish you would, I'm a bit lost here :) Thank you! Undine

Lee	13 Aug 2002
Hi, Undine, welcome to Aeclectic! :) Don't feel lost, you'll be finding your away around swimmingly in no time. There are two schools of thought that you'll find expressed here, and they're both valid. One says that if a beginner finds a deck they really connect with, they should go with that deck no matter what it is, because the fact that they feel a connection will help them in learning the deck. The other school of thought is that if you're a beginner and you're interested in Tarot in general and not just that particular deck, you would be better off starting with a deck which is in the mainstream. The Rider-Waite deck is what many of the Tarot books out there are written towards, so you could use that, or there are several decks inspired by Rider-Waite imagery which you might also use, such as Universal Waite (same deck with nicer colors), the Robin Wood (with a Pagan feel), the Morgan Greer, or the Hanson-Roberts. You might feel particularly drawn to the Hanson-Roberts, which is a good deck for beginners because although it's very faithful to Rider-Waite imagery, the art style is more gentle and fairy-tale-ish. Good luck on finding your first deck... -- Lee :)

jmd	13 Aug 2002
I have never owned the Whimsical, so prefer not to comment on it. As for the Inner Child deck, it is a truly gentle and beautifully conceived deck. Fairy tales hold deep spiritual truths, and though I personally favour Marseilles decks when it comes to the fundamentals of Tarot, I would always encourage each person to get that which they are drawn to. I certainly believe that you will be profoundly pleased with the Inner Child... and that you will also want to obtain other decks!

undine	13 Aug 2002
That was more or less what I expected... I only came across the Inner Child Cards a couple of days ago; as for the Whimsical, I've been considering it for a few months now. If it's true that everything happens for a reason, I know now why I didn't buy it... although it still appeals to me. I'm still worried about the uses they have for the fairy tale characters - how they use the same character for different cards. I'm not familiar with tarot cards meanings and I'm afraid I'll mix it all up... Undine

HOLMES	13 Aug 2002
each tarot artists has their own opinon andtheir own opnion. for example in the whimisical i was frankly suprised to see the scarefcrow as the fool instead of dorthoy herself. and santa claus as the emperor. and in the innerchilds card the earth child 21 one card was awesome to my way of thinking for i saw the child soul just before it is born waiting for the birth there been much dscussion on it . the innerchilds being kindof varnishy is hard to shuffle eh? eheh i think the main point to consider is how they change the traditional tarot meanings. the innerchilds card changes the swords of strife into the swords of truth for example claiming that the major arcana energy has moved into the minors and therefore it has all transposed. one difference is the minors of the inner is divided up into cups with mermaids, cyrstals with gnomes, wands with faieries, and swords and little boys. while the whimiscal tarot hasa fairy tale like for example eight of swords is rip van winkle. wow we are the same age:O) i turn 27 on sept 8. here is my advice 1. embracete the innocence and love of both decks and do the spreads that camewith each deck to rediscover your inner child that part of you which some o us may offorgotten in these diffuicult times. 2. if you like to compare the cards with the whimisical besides the innerchilds you will greatly benefit with a notebook to write down the same meanings. 78 days 3. mediateon each card as if you were in the picture, or talking to the figure, this will take 156 days. every day some say do a daily draw 1 card to see what lessons it applies to the day, yet somesay 3 card draws will do . 4. at the end of it all you wll understand more about the innocence of fairy tales, (no need to look in the darker means that are in some fairy tales and how they were converted during the years) and about the tarot in general. more inportant though you will not be caugt in the 1910s dogmas that comes with the rider and the thoth , decsk usally recomended to beginner yet in a sense you would be as all tarot comes from a source. so it would be diliuted into the this style.

truthsayer	13 Aug 2002
undine, imho it would be best to start w/ the whimsical if this is your first tarot deck. the reason is that you should be able to follow books using the rws w/o much difficulty. while i love the inner child, to me it's not a true tarot. i consider it more of an oracle. hands down it's more beautiful than the whimsical but i think starting w/ it would confuse you more about tarot than help. it goes a step beyond tarot and the only book you'll be able to use to learn is the one that comes w/ the set. this won't prepare you very well for really learning tarot. you may be able to take what you learn of tarot from the inner child and transition it to more traditional tarots later on or it will make it far more difficult. my gut reaction is the inner child will work exceptionally well for what it was designed to do but you won't be able to relate this deck to many things going on the forum b/c we all tend to use more traditional/conservative decks like the marseille, rws or a clone, and the thoth. i am a huge mary hanson roberts fan so i can highly recommend any of her 3 decks: whimsical, hanson roberts and universal waite. her decks are gentle and compassionate. even childish at times but little or nothing in them is distressing. i recommend inner child, too but not as a tool to learn tarot.

truthsayer	13 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by undine Erm. :) So far only 2 decks have actually caught my attention: the Inner Child Cards and the Whimsical Tarot deck (that will tell you a bit about my personality, hehehe, though I'm 26 going on 27 and should probably be ashamed of myself for loving fairytales this much ;) ). Undine please don't be ashamed for loving fairy tales! have you ever read any of carl jung or joseph campbell/s work? campbell spent his life studying fairy tales and mythology. there's a lot to fairy tales that teaches us about tapping into the universal consciousness via the archetypal symbols of fairy tales and myths. i think you should be praised. i love fairy tales and myths, too and i'm 40. i don't think it's childish at all. i even teach a class on self discovery thru understanding fairy tales and what they mean at the archetypal level. for example, cinderella is about the victom/rescuer archetype. the ugly duckling is about learning to find your inner beauty. i think studying archetypal psychology is a very important aspect to understanding what tarot is all about. in fact, you may have a jump start on us once you learn to use what you know about fairy tales relating to tarot. a book you might really enjoy that combines fairy tales and myth and tarot is by alexandra dickenson. it's called something like self-discovery thru symbolism. anybody remember the exact name?

raeanne	13 Aug 2002
I have both the Inner Child and the Whimsical. Personally, I prefer the Whimsical for several reasons. The Inner Child cards are huge! They stick together and are basically unshuffable (is that a word?). But, I could work with that if I had to. The main difficulty I have with the Inner Child is the colors are way too bright! I am a sensitive. Sounds, colors, motion, etc. that are normal for most people are like screaming to me. The colors on the Inner Child deck can be heard miles away! I mean they are VERY LOUD colors. Scream in your ear at the top of your lungs LOUD! If I prop the card up and stand back 10 meters, I still have to plug my ears. The Whimsical deck is done in pastels. The softer colors make it much easier for me to spend time with each card. The Whimsical is also smaller and easier for my small hands to handle. Do you intend to use either of these decks with children? If so, remember that many children are also sensitives. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is on the rise because our society is over-simulating naturally sensitive children. Earth tones or pastels are much more calming and soothing for children. The Whimsical deck would, IMO, work much better for most children.

undine	13 Aug 2002
You were all most helpful (as I was expecting, having done some reading around the forum before I posted ;) ) truthsayer - you're right, I shouldn't be ashamed. I have never studied Jung's work but I remember reading a book (at least part of it) by Bruno Betelheim "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales" and I loved it because it felt true to me. raeanne - for now I don't intend to use the deck with children. It's just for me. A friend is helping me now to interpret the characters in the cards before I decide to buy one of the decks. But your posts here were truly most helpful (but hey, don't let that stop anyone else from posting if they want to, opinions are always most welcome) Later, Undine

fairyhedgehog	13 Aug 2002
I agree with Raeanne, the Inner Child cards are far too large for me. I don't like the feel of them either - they remind me of a cornflake packet :( I don't get on with all the Christmas Imagery, either. Some of the pictures are very beautiful, though. It is sold as a deck/book set which pushes the price up. If you decide that you do want this deck, and you live in UK, I am trying to trade mine. The Whimsical are mainly fairly obvious fairy tales, although I looked a couple of them up on the net. The meanings are for me mainly easily accessible from the pictures, and in line with one of the 'traditional' Rider Waite meanings. It's a standard sized deck, easy to shuffle, and great fun. It is surprisingly easy to do serious readings with it. The Hanson-Roberts was my first deck - it is quite small, like normal playing cards - and fits in with all the standard meanings. I really like it. (I agree with truthsayer about all Mary Hanson-Roberts' decks :) ) Anyway, I hope you find a deck you really like. Love and light, FH

undine	13 Aug 2002
I know - I posted to your thread :D But alas, I don't live in the UK... check the other forum though... Thanks for the info - I still don't know what to do, to be honest... I guess deciding what to do is part of the fun too!

Violet Gargoyle	13 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by undine truthsayer - you're right, I shouldn't be ashamed. I have never studied Jung's work but I remember reading a book (at least part of it) by Bruno Betelheim "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales" and I loved it because it felt true to me. Later, Undine No shame here, I just got my BA in Folklore (and I might say I am a tad older). I also have the Uses of Enchantment. It's a really interesting perspective. Might I also throw in a couple of other things to your reading list? "The Morphology of the Folktale" by V Propp "The Forest in Folklore and Mythology" by Alexander Porteous "The Interpretation of Fairy Tales" and "Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tale" both by Marie-Louise Von Franz. Plus all those Pantheon Collections...... I got the Whimsicle and the IC rather close to each other on purpose, mainly because I wanted to see the archtypes that were chosen for both. (Comparing the fools, comparing the magicians, etc, etc) But being the folklore loving nut that I am, I think that was more influenced by my line of study than for the cards themselves, at least for this case. As far as choosing which one to get first, I would say whichever deck comes the closest to clicking in your mind.

RedWood	13 Aug 2002
by Bruno Betelheim "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales" I just got his book from my library for 50 cents..I to am thinking of a fairy tell deck now.. Truthsayer the book you mentioned is--Following Your Path...I have been workign with that book..and like it..I like the stories it gives to help understand the card.. I just looked at the INner Child cards..>bout fell off my seat..not the deck for me... Whimsical..I dont really like either...argh.. Good luck Undine

The Inner Child vs Whimsical Tarot thread was originally posted on 13 Aug 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.