Vision Quest or Ancestral Path
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Sulis |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Hi
I feel drawn to both of these decks but just don`t know which one I feel drawn to most? I want a deck can read with which stays close to RWS meanings. I have quite a few large decks and would like one which is not too large to shuffle as I have very small hands. Does anyone have both of these decks, which one would you consider to be the most usable?
Love and light
Crystalmynx xx
|
| Pollux |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Ehr... I again sweetie! *LOL* :D
Seems like our tarot-holic lives are somewhat entwined. ;)
Well, BOTH are quite biggish, and, whilst Vision Quest is more long-n-narrow, Ancestral Path is more squary.
Secondly, they both are very nice but they are quite quite different.
Vision Quest is far from RWS, especially in courts and minors, I think we could define it a Thoth clone(or at least I have done so so far :P *LOL*). Ancestral Path on the other hand is plain RW in different flavours - you might know already how the suits are arranged, anyway they briefly are:
Cups - a quick representation of the Arthurian (Western) Myth
Discs - Native American settling / I can't think of the tribe right now (Iroquoi?)
Swords - Middle-age / Edo times (?), japanese creation myth
Wands - Ancient Egypt
Some majors are striking and innovative (like the Hanfed MAn, or the Fool) but traditional anyway.
I find Vision quest is soft and coloured, and consistent in a way - Ancestral Path is rather... inconsistent, mostly for the artwork and the different suits (sometimes minors look much better than Majors).
I think both would be good decks on a general basis, but in your case it's quite difficult.
1) Both are largish.
2) If you *really* want to go with RW then the choice is ANcestral Path, obviously
3) If you can make the RW point a secondary one, THEN GO WITH VISION QUEST STRAIGHT AWAY! I like it much better *LOL* :P
|
| Maan |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Hi crystlamynx
I have hade both decks.I traded the ancestral path because i did not feel anything and the vision quest was a misprint and i'm STILL waiting for agm to send me a replecement!
I see the vision like Pollux as a Toth based deck.Although it has nothing from the "darkness" the toth has in my eyes. Its beautiful, light and deep i think. The one thing that i noticed rightaway is that the animals on the cards are carefully chosen to fit the meaning of the card.
I think its an easy deck to read with.
The ancestral path has also beautiful artwork. Its a bit darker and the fact that the suits have each a different theme bothered me a bit in the beginning. I could never read with it but lately i'm thinking maybe i was not ready yet and i'm thinking of getting me an other copy.
One think strikes me from the ancestral path.
I once did a reading and i lay out the ancestral to compaire. It was a cc and the centre card was two of cups ( king arthur and guinevere ) the cross card was knight of cups ( lancelot). I would have never sene this as a negative cross but with this deck i did. The couple was so very happy on that two of cups and what crossed them LANCELOT.. who would disturb there happiness and lead them to an unhappy end!
|
| Jewel |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
I also have both of these decks, don't really use either one. If you are looking for a multicultural deck then the Ancestral Path might be interesting to you, the Vision Quest has a Native American focus. I do not find the Vision Quest to be Thoth based, guess I just have a hard time connecting Crowly and American Indians within the same framework ...
|
| Teal |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
I definitely recommend the Ancestral Path. I have both and the Ancestral Path is by far the most eloquent deck. I don't consider it a dark deck at all------just profound. Vision Quest has beautiful art work in a kind of "cute" Hansen Robertsish way, but the Ancestral Path is definitely the one you'll get the most visual cues and multi-layered meanings out of. Not to mention that the art work is breathtaking on the Ancestral Path and just pretty on the Vision Quest. Another plus for the Ancestral Path is that you can get the bigger book for it-----which I recommend you do-----while there's not a bigger book for Vision Quest that you can get.
|
| Teal |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Oh, as to size, the Ancestral Path is going to be better for your small hands, but even though the Vision Quest is a little longer, it's quite easy to shuffle. I have very small hands, too. On the Ancestral Path, the cards are more stiff so you have to get used to them and break them in, but after that, they're the best for small hands. Although I do have to say that the Vision Quest, being not as stiff, isn't bad for small hands to shuffle, either.
|
| Maan |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
I'm sorry Teal but there is a bigger book from the vision quest. They are selling the vision Quest as a deck book set here in the Netherlands.
I don't know of the book is any good BTW cause i don't have it
( yet )
|
| Teal |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Wow! I read somewhere that they didn't make a bigger book with it! I couldn't find it on internet searches, so I believed that. I hate to ask a stupid question, but is the book available in the Netherlands written in English? If so, I'd love to get a copy of it!
Where is the Netherlands, exactly? I'm terrible with geography.
|
| Maan |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
I don't know if the book is in dutch i will try to find it out for you.
The Netherlands is in europe ;) beneath us is Belgium and on the east there is Germany where at the caost right accros england if you like swimming ;)
|
| Teal |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
Aha! I get the picture now! So actually, the Netherlands is what we call Holland? Or am I still off? At any rate, I get the picture of where you are now.
Want a laugh? I was picturing that you're where Newfoundland is----or at least where I THINK Newfoundland is------or is that Nova Scotia? I don't know!
|
| firemaiden |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
...and a few more names for the Netherlands in case you lose it again:
Holland
Niederländer
Les Pays-Bas
Place where the Dutch live
I have the Ancestral Path and I really love it. I like the way each suit tells more or less a story. The art work is indeed very rich.
|
| Summerdream |
14 Jan 2003 |
|
I own both the Ancestral Path and Vision Quest tarot and both have beautiful artwork. They are both fairly easy to read with and I highly recommend them both. They are 2 of my favorites!
Blessings,
Momof3girls
|
| juice |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
I just got the vision quest so all I really know about it is that it is beautiful and the pictures on first pass through seem to stick to standard tarot meanings. I couldn't tell Thoth vs. RWS in meaning since that can be very subtle in some decks. I had just gotten Southern Tribes at the same time and that one is pretty but gave me the feeling that a RWS clone had been put in buckskins with lots of soft chalk colors. The pictures in vision quest look like they all could be sitting around restaurants and hotels as southwest style art with Native American scenes to me. The LWB isn't all that little. It's over 100 nearly card size pages.
I have large hands so I had to get out both decks to feels the size for small hands. If you insist on shuffling the cards long ways Vision Quest is almost too long for me. There is not a lot of flex in them for shuffling sideways so you'll have to work the cards a bit first. They're between 2.5 and 3 inches wide. The Ancestral Path are both shorter and wider. They're made from a solid card stock which is a bit stiff for shuffling. But I don't apply much pressure to a deck since they are so hard to replace for free. :) I can shuffle either lengthwist or sidewise with these. A friend of mine said they were a bit too big for her small hands. This friend liked the size of the tarot Nova I had just given her but might not insult a gift. The Ancestral path are about as wide as playing cards are tall and would shuffle sidewise just fine, once you get over the initial stiffness.
Ancestral Path is sitting snuggly on my top ten list. The art is fine paintings taht are almost photorealistic style. The tower card is awesome. Death is coming to shore in a ghostly ship while a child is playing with a skull on shore.
|
| Diana |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
crystalmynx: I would say buy the Vision Quest. The Ancestral Path is beautiful, but it's just a very original (albeit well thought out) copy of the usual Rider Waite type decks.
The Vision Quest connects the earth and the sky, the four cardinal points and the material and spiritual.
Have you ever felt the earth beating beneath your feet? And known that that beat is the same as your heart?
It will show you things you never knew existed.
I should use it more often. You know why I don't? Because it's a little like treading on sacred ground. And I don't like doing that too often, for fear that my feet are not clean enough.
|
| fairyhedgehog |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
No Diana, it's not fair I was really not going to add any more decks to my wishlist. Now look what you've done :D
|
| Sulis |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
Originally posted by Diana
The Vision Quest connects the earth and the sky, the four cardinal points and the material and spiritual.
Have you ever felt the earth beating beneath your feet? And known that that beat is the same as your heart?
It will show you things you never knew existed.
Well Diana, I was having trouble but your beautiful words have just made the decision a lot easier (the Vision Quest was winning anyway - I love the colours).
Are there any sites on-line where all the cards can be seen?
Love and light
Crystalmynx xx
|
| truthsayer |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
i definitely vote vision quest ahead of ancestral path. diana's description of it is very apt. it feels sacriligious to use VQ as an everyday deck. i don't agree that it's a "cute" deck or that it is like the thoth. comparing VQ to the thoth is like comparing an apple to a potato. thoth is intense both in color and meaning. VQ is beautiful and pastel. a gentle deck that i like very much. i could use VQ with more ppl than the thoth. as far as the ancestral path goes, i'm not comfortable with how the suits are broken down into different cultures. i could read it but the transitions seem smoother with the VQ.
just my 2 cents!
|
| Pollux |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
Truth, I was not likening the feels and atmosphere of the deck.
I was merely trying to say it is not RW-based, but seemingly Thoth-based.
Not as cuteness or blackness, but simply as structure. :)
|
| truthsayer |
15 Jan 2003 |
|
pollux,
i'll try to dig out both decks b/c i want to understand where you are coming. for me, VQ is more rws oriented than thoth but i don't want to argue. now i must explore in depth for myself. perhaps my failing to understand is some discrepancy between translations words mean in english and italian culturally? you know, what cute means to you might mean something else for me?
|
| Sulis |
16 Jan 2003 |
|
Thanks for all of your replies, I tend to agree with Truthsayer about The Ancestral Path; I too think that I would find the breakdown of the suits into different cultures a little wierd. I`ve just ordered the Vision Quest, apparantly it could be OOP soon, could only find it on a few small sites. One of the sites I looked on compared the minors to one of the Golden Dawn Tarots, I`ll have to see if I can find a link. I can see where Pollux is coming from with his comparison to Thoth though. Can`t wait for my deck to arrive, I`m really excited about this one.
Love and light
Crystalmynx xx
|
| Pollux |
16 Jan 2003 |
|
HEY sweety I was sure you would have taken the RIGHT choice! ;) *LOL* :* :* :*
So, now... What deck are WE going to get next? I think we must get the next one together... (and yep, I am going to get Stone Tarot sometime in the future! :D YAYA new deck added *LOL*)
I was thinking of getting the Nigel Jackson, but that will only happen in a couple of months maybe (money conditions *LOL*). I would love to get it together with you, so take your time to look through it and see... }) *LOL*
|
| Sulis |
16 Jan 2003 |
|
Originally posted by Pollux
So, now... What deck are WE going to get next? I think we must get the next one together... (and yep, I am going to get Stone Tarot sometime in the future! :D YAYA new deck added *LOL*)
I was thinking of getting the Nigel Jackson, but that will only happen in a couple of months maybe (money conditions *LOL*). I would love to get it together with you, so take your time to look through it and see... }) *LOL*
Pollux you really are a star, guaranteed to bring a smile to my face :). I was just looking at the Nigel Jackson today - it`s HUGE - apart from that though it`s definately a maybe *LOL* }) ;) I really do need to study the decks I`ve got at the mo and raise some badly needed funds.
Love and light
Crystalmynx xx
|
The Vision Quest or Ancestral Path thread was originally posted on 14 Jan 2003 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.
|
