What a nice present!

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

Moonchaser	04 Sep 2003
I happened to get married last Saturday and on the Thursday before my wife to be gave me a little wedding present. It consisted of the Merlin Tarot, the Dragon Tarot, the Mythic Tarot, the Ancient Egyptian Tarot and the Thoth Deck. Wow! Was I pleased. Well, now I am spoilt for choice, enough decks to keep me happy for years, the only thing is which deck is most compatible with me. I have only been interested seriously in tarot for about 6 months so I am only a beginner. I must say that the Ancient Egyptian images really appeal to me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Lee	04 Sep 2003
Dear Moonchaser, you are a lucky guy! :) All opinions about decks are completely subjective, of course, but here's mine: I'm not familiar with the Dragon Tarot. In the U.S., the Mythic Tarot is only available as a deck/book set. If what you have is the set, then personally I think this would be a good place to start because the book that comes with it is really excellent. The Ancient Egyptian appeals to me a lot personally. The card meanings dovetail nicely with the Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth traditions, and I think it would be a nice deck to use. Thoth has a lot of admirers, and if you can find a good book to use with it, you'll have lots of pleasure out of it for years to come. In fact, many Tarotists feel the Thoth deck is the absolute pinnacle when it comes to Tarot decks. There are several books which take totally different approaches. Here are some: Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley: a great book but somewhat obscure for a beginner. Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien and New Age Tarot by James Wanless: very New-Agey approaches, these have more appeal to me personally, but they're not for someone who really wants to read with the deck as Crowley did. The Crowley Tarot by Akron and Hajo Banzhaf and Keywords for the Crowley Tarot by Hajo Banzhaf and Brigitte Theler: A good approach which is closer but not completely faithful to Crowley. The first book is more thorough, the second is shorter and more accessible, in my opinion. Lon Milo Duquette is about to publish a book about the Thoth deck. He's an excellent writer, and if I wanted to learn about the Thoth deck I would get this one. I think it's due out in a few months. As for the Merlin Tarot, the Minor Arcana are completely unillustrated (that is, they don't have scenes), and they follow a non-standard pattern for meanings, also the Majors are renumbered into a different order and some are renamed, so I think I would advise a beginner to put this one aside for a while. Have fun! :) -- Lee EDITED TO ADD: Of course, some people use their decks with no books at all, just pick up the deck and start playing with it. It's up to you!

Trogon	04 Sep 2003
Moonchaser! Wow! What a wonderful gift! No wonder you're marrying her... ;) I only have a couple of those decks. The Mythic Tarot I got from a friend who didn't care for it, but liked my Unicorn Tarot - so we traded. I have yet to really study this deck, so I can't really say much about it. I also have the Dragon Tarot. And while I haven't done many readings with it (yet), I do really like it. I feel it is a very "down to earth" deck and should be very good for readings on money matters and health. I would think it would also be a very good one for readings for pets. But then again... most any deck will probably work just as well for those types of readings... :D

Astraea	04 Sep 2003
Congratulations, Moonchaser -- and what a nice present, indeed! The Thoth is one of my favorite decks, and the Mythic is in my collection, too (don't know much about the others). Have a wonderful life with your bride, and a great time exploring those decks!

MeeWah	04 Sep 2003
Moonchaser: Congratulations & blessings on the occasion of your marriage & your instant Tarot collection! I have the Mythic deck/book/spread cloth set, the Ancient Egyptian deck/book set & a Thoth. The Mythic has an book which provides the story for each card's image & supports the mythological theme. The deck works well for readings. The AET is one of my favourite decks of all. It is visually stunning with many details & works wonderfully as a reading deck. The book includes card descriptions, meanings, qabalistic correspondences & more. Am still relatively new to the Thoth but find its images fascinating.

Diana	04 Sep 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moonchaser I happened to get married last Saturday Hi Moonchaser! And welcome to Aeclectic. I don't know about any of the decks you have, but I just wanted to congratulate you on your marriage. I laughed when I saw that you had just "happened to get married last Saturday". Yes, life is full of surprises, isn't it? :laugh:

Cerulean	04 Sep 2003
Based on what Lee said, I'm not certain if you are a girl or guy, but congradulations! There is an Egyptian deck, if from Lo Scarabeo, will have a separate book out---but I think you are talking about the Clive Barrett set? If so, beginners and advanced alike will enjoy it. The others are fun and friendly, with a little asides on Thoth and Merlin. Merlin as a book/deck set lacks an out of print book by RJ Stewart published by the Aquarian Press if you want more than the information in the set. Thoth can lead you down many creative paths and there are many versions of the Thoth deck. Does your Thoth deck have a white or blue or green or lavendar box? Believe it or not, the sizes and color variations sometimes make a difference to people. I've seen all versions and it still amazes me about the variation. Best wishes in all new things, Mari Hoshizaki

Baby Owl	04 Sep 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lee As for the Merlin Tarot, the Minor Arcana are completely unillustrated (that is, they don't have scenes), and they follow a non-standard pattern for meanings, also the Majors are renumbered into a different order and some are renamed, so I think I would advise a beginner to put this one aside for a while. I have the Merlin Tarot also, and I would agree with Lee's comments. Baby Owl

truthsayer	04 Sep 2003
i have all these but the dragon tarot. i think the mythic would be the best deck for a beginner. particularly if you are familiar with greek mythology. the symbolism is pretty clear and the cards uncluttered with superfilous info to learn. next i think the ancient egyptian is pretty straight forward and readable. particularly if you are familiar with the rider waite smith deck. an interesting twist with the AE is that there thoth symbols included on nearly every if not every card. i know b/c i went thru the deck looking for thoth symbols. third i like the thoth. it's not a deck of illustrated minor arcana like the first 2. plus aleister crowley and lady freida harris were into a lot occultic symbolism. some i get and some i don't but you don't need to know a bunch of esoteric knowledge to read it. it does help to study the thoth. the merlin is a special breed of tarot. rj stewart has created a tarot within the faery tradition. there's lots to learn to really understand this deck underless you are already familiar with Celtic and Faery traditions. i have 2 of his books that i have glanced at but not read yet. one is called "earth light: the ancient path to transformation rediscovering the wisdom of celtic and faery lore". the other book is called "magical tales"-a book of his short stories based on faery. i don't know if these books will help me understand the merlin tarot but i do appreciate its lovely art.

Moonchaser	05 Sep 2003
Thank you everyone for your very helpful comments and congratulations. And Mari I am a guy! My Thoth deck is the green box, the cards are quite large, I can just about shuffle them and my hands are not small. It only has one magus, I believe there are decks that have 3 different ones. I really believe that I am drawn to both the mythic and the AE. I know a bit about greek mythology and egyptian gods so these themes are really interesting to me. I really like the art in the merlin but as everyone says this deck is not of the standard tarot format so I will save the study of this one for later. I have only tried reading for myself and my wife, although she says that she has some friends at her place of work that would like a reading. I don’t feel confident enough to try that yet. Maybe when I am a bit more experienced. Anyway thanks again.

darwinia	05 Sep 2003
I just bought the small US Games deck in the lavender box with the 3 Magician cards. Lovely deck. I balked for months because of Crowley's reputation but the man can certainly write and the artwork by Frieda Harris is as lovely as people told me it would be. Great deck! I've been studying it with someone else and we've been having a ball discussing it and going off on tangents about castles, time, dolphins and semantics. I hope you enjoy it.

Scorpion	05 Sep 2003
Hi, Moonchaser! I'd just like to add my congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of your marriage. That's certainly some wedding pressie - you obviously got the right gal! Of the decks you mention, I've got the AET and the large Thoth. The latter is a recent acquisition and I'm waiting for the Duquette book to come out (in either November or December, I believe) before seriously tackling it. I'm an avid fan of the AET as I find it very clear and easy to work with. I've always had a fascination with Egyptian things - I was old enough to go to the Tutankhamen exhibition at the BM (back in '72, I think it was) and it was fantastic. I'm sure you'll enjoy all your new decks and that people here will be only too happy to give help and advice if you feel you feel you need it. Look forward to seeing you out on the boards.

Moonchaser	05 Sep 2003
Hi LouiQ, Yes, I too am old enough to remember the Tut exhibition at the BM. Queued 5 hours to get in but it was worth it. Then in 1989 went to Egypt and did the thing. Pyramids, Abu Simbel, Valley of the Kings and Karnak. Totally awesome. So you can see why I am drawn to the AET.

The What a nice present! thread was originally posted on 04 Sep 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.