Arthurian deck by Matthews and Gray

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 04 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

fairyhedgehog	04 Feb 2003
I've just recently bought this deck which I've been wanting for a long time. I was pleased to get it at a reasonable price complete with book and journal. However once I got it home, I was rather disappointed at some aspects of it. For a start, the packaging - the cards stick if I put them back in their box and I was worried that I had damaged one card getting it back out again. So it is yet another deck that needs a bag to hold it. It's such a pity as the set would look great in its heavy cardboard sleeve :( So now I'm looking at Tarot Totes website again. I suppose there are worse things :) Anyway, I have very mixed feelings about this deck. The pictures are nearly all incredibly beautiful. It's like looking at the hills near Brighton, where I grew up, and my heart lifts to look at them. But Gray isn't very good at portraying old age - she just adds wrinkles. Compare the Washer at the Ford with eg the Queen of Pentacles in the Ancestral Path Tarot. One is an old woman - the other is just a woman with lots of lines on her face. The same applies to the 'crone' in the Cauldron (no. 14). I love looking at most of the pictures but I don't see how I could read with them. I tried a 3 card spread, and it was so lovely to look at. But I couldn't for the life of me make a story out of it. Has anyone else got any thoughts or ideas on this deck? I've looked through the study groups section, but I'm not really after following a whole meditation course.

Aerin	04 Feb 2003
I do love the deck, but I only got to grips with it when I started to 'enter' the cards. I was very surprised by how much I picked up intuitively from mentally stepping into the landscapes, and when I read with it that's what I do. Oh, and the 3 card daily spread is really good for geting to know the deck: Split the cards into majors, courts and minors. Ask 'Who will be my teacher for today?' (Pick a major) Ask 'Who will be my guide?' (Pick a court) Ask 'What will be my experience?' (Pick a minor) The Hallowquest book is well worth getting even if you don't want to do the course: the legends and the card descriptions help to bring the deck to life. Oh, and the layout using the whole pack is a wonderful exercise (you can do some of the exercises you fancy regardless of doing the whole course or not). Most of the meanings are Rider Waite related, which gives a starting point as well Aerin

Lee	04 Feb 2003
I agree with Aerin, the Hallowquest book is worth getting even if you don't do the meditations. I got a lot of insight into what the authors had intended for certain cards from that book, especially some of the minors and courts. -- Lee

WolfSpirit	05 Feb 2003
I have this deck but I never use it for readings - I find it a very quiet deck, I like a deck that's a bit more lively for readings. I think I could use some of the cards for meditation, but I already use the sacred circle for meditation... And the washer at the ford...somehow that card frightens me, must be the expression on her face. I think I'd rather have a grinning skull :P

truthsayer	05 Feb 2003
i have the hallowquest book and the arthurian tarot course book when i bought my deck last summer. imho i believe the deck was created more for meditation than reading. unless you meditate on the reading. it's not a deck for quick readings. i agree that it's good for quiet contemplation and self-discovery exercises. maybe the hallowquest but there's also the quicker-tarot for self discovery by nina lee braden would also proove helpful.

The Arthurian deck by Matthews and Gray thread was originally posted on 04 Feb 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.