New deck purchase!!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Apr 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Trogon	14 Apr 2003
Okay... I broke down... couldn't stand it any more!!!! Tarotholism has struck again... (Dang those withdrawls are !!!) I'd saved up my nickels and dimes (and a few quarters - U.S. of course) and journeyed to the local New Age shop (Crystal Magic in Flagstaff, AZ) to peruse the decks on display. Well, actually... it didn't take a lot of perusing as I'd already decided what my next purchase would be.... The Haindl Tarot!!! In this deck, the card that first caught my eye was Death. I'm a bird watcher, and when I see what looks very much like a Northern Cardinal on the Death card... well, that was a deck I had to have! The LWB indicates this bird is supposed to be the head of a Peacock... BUNK! The bill is ALL wrong as is the crest and the lack of white facial markings. Anyway... birds are featured prominently in several other cards as well, such as a beatiful eagle on the Ace of Stones. This deck is a little bit of a departure for me, not in that it is (I believe) Thoth based, but rather the type of illustrations on the Minor Arcana. All of my other decks have had more "thorough" illustrations? These Minors are more "moody". However, I think this deck will definitely help me to be more intuitive... So far... I love this deck. Thanks to all who've recommended it in the past...

divinerguy	14 Apr 2003
Haindl's deck, on an artistic basis, is both new and quite dark. Lots of northern European symbolism, Parsifal and all that stuff. I enjoy the deck because its very subtle. This is not a beginner's deck by any means, and I think it would take some devotion to be able to use it as a daily reader. I hope you got Rachel Pollack's books for the Haindl, because they help explain what the artist was trying to accomplish. Have fun,

Trogon	15 Apr 2003
I'm hoping to divinerguy... Unfortunately I just missed it at my local used-book store. I'd been seeing the book on the Tarot shelf for 3 weeks... kept puting it off. Went back the day after I got the deck and it was gone... LOL...

Khatruman	15 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Trogon I'd been seeing the book on the Tarot shelf for 3 weeks... kept puting it off. Went back the day after I got the deck and it was gone... LOL... Ahhh, bummer... that's my kind of luck. It might be worth it to check out half.com to see if a set of the books comes up. I have gotten some great bargains there lately. I found the book for Tarot of the Spirit for about $4. In any case, congrats on the Haindl. It is a very deep deck and you will find layers of meaning in the cards for many moons to come.

Aoife	15 Apr 2003
Hi Trogon, I'm so pleased you're pleased! I think this deck is just wonderful too. But I'm not sure I agree it's dark - challenging certainly, intense sometimes, but so richly layered and well worth the effort. There's something very cohesive about the images, and any spread of more than one card seems to create a whole greater than its parts. It has yet to fail to induce an intuitive response in me. I've found Rachel Pollack's accompanying books invaluable. There's a lengthy commentary and analysis for each card, and I've found the divinatory meanings she attributes to be very positive and affirming. I can't wait to share experiences..... Eve

Trogon	16 Apr 2003
Khatruman... thanks for the idea about checking with half.com... I keep forgetting about that place... :rolleyes: Eve... I agree that this deck is not dark... not dark at all. The first reading I gave with it was very intense and very helpful (I hope!) for the client. It certainly brought out a lot of things which she seemed to be needing at this time. I referred to the minors as "moody" as it relates to conveying mood and ideas without the kind of detailed illustrations seen in the RWS style decks. There was a good discussion of "moody minors" early in January; http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10554 I'm considering posting that first reading with this deck (well, second actually, if you count my "new-deck" reading). As I said it was pretty intense, really triggered my intuition as well as flowing very well. It was also interesting in that it was a 5-card PPF and the timing was very different than what I usually get with this spread.

darwinia	16 Apr 2003
This was my second deck and I chose it for the art which I have never found dark at all. Rachel Pollack's books are great--her take on The Lovers card in the Haindl is one of the most touching I've ever read. As well as the beautiful Death card, I find the Aeon card to be fabulous. I also like his aces, they are lovely. The court cards too are very inventive and i like them, particularly the East Indian ones. My only dislike is the Stones suit which I find unreadable. Using Pollack's book on the minors and just using your knowledge about this suit in general will help. I suppose it's rather like the unillistrated pips of more classic decks. Maybe I don't like it simply because it lacks colour? I think that's probably why, but it does have some appealing textures. I had a gentleman make me a walnut pencil case style box with chip carving on the top for this deck. It looks wonderful nestled against the dark walnut. I think it's one of the most splendid art decks out there, so I'm glad you are pleased with it.

Cerulean	16 Apr 2003
Does anyone like the two sets of books or the newer companion book by Rachel Pollack with this deck? Or do you like to read it out of the box? Thanks, Mari H.

darwinia	16 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mari_Hoshizaki Does anyone like the two sets of books or the newer companion book by Rachel Pollack with this deck? Or do you like to read it out of the box? I have the two books, and I prefer that. I've never actually read the LWB as I bought the books before the deck came.

Khatruman	16 Apr 2003
The Haindl is also one of my favs because of its depth philosophically and the wonderful books on it by Pollack. I also admire his use of runes and i-ching in the deck. The thing I just discovered, though, is that Joseph Martin's Quest Tarot is more or less a Haindl clone. Fascinating that, where there are several Waite-Smith or Thoth clones, rarely is a deck a clone of another newer one. Perhaps clone isn't entirely accurate, in that it implies duplication, but there are MANY inspirations in the Quest deck to the Haindl, in fact Quest does rely on Haindl's rune and i-ching designations. I obtained this information from tarotpassages, to give credit where credit is due: Quest Review. My next step now is to line up the Haindl and Quest to see how they correlate. I think this will give more depth to the Quest for me, to be able to use Pollack's books perhaps even as I use the deck. I find that Martin's book tends to be more on a psychic, practical divinatory level where I am looking for deep introspective and philosophical readings.

Cerulean	16 Apr 2003
design and symbology. I also heard that J. Martin actually memorized the Haindl and associations---I think he wrote that in a thread. I've not investigated the Quest as much as many here, but I did buy one of his astrology cards that gave astrological assignments to the Quest cards in a similar way to books written by Mary Greer. Are the gold tones in the Haindl a reminder to you also of the Quest cards or the other way around? Sounds like a fun project. I'll watch for what people say. Mari H.

The New deck purchase!!! thread was originally posted on 14 Apr 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.