Gill or Magickal, but no Servants of Light

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 31 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Cerulean	31 Jan 2004
I've gathered threads on this, because I saw a book only of the Servants of Light, no deck, available on abebooks.com. But periodically the Magickal Tarot by Anthony Clarke comes up , so I was trying to read reviews. If it turns out someone buys the book, that's fine--but could you post to this thread to add information? Wicce.com said that the Magickal or Gill will do as well...if you have one or the other and want to comment, that would be great. Also, I can add to this thread. I'm gathering reviews next...below is Aeclectic.net threads. ----------------------------------------- Gill Threads: Gill: Convince me http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4366&highlight=Gill+Tarot Reading: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1377&highlight=Gill+Tarot Gill Joy http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1377&highlight=Gill+Tarot Loving My Gill Deck http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5186&highlight=Gill+Tarot ------------------------------- Magickal Tarot by Anthony Clark: Nothing? ------------------------------ Servants of Light Tarot People wanting the deck and asking questions--typical thread: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8213&highlight=Servants+of+Light

Cerulean	31 Jan 2004
decks and links to reviews, including Gill and Magickal and others... http://www.advancenet.net/~jscole/tarotgoldendawn.htm She also recommends Paul Barlow's Supertarot.com and has an online book on related subjects. I'm still exploring.

Rusty Neon	31 Jan 2004
The Gill is nice to look at (especially for the keywords and the four Golden Dawn colour scales, and its unique deck design concept). As for the Servants, it's fun to own that deck since (pending possible reprint) it's rare. However, in the end, neither of those two decks adds anything to my understanding of GD/RWS/Thoth tarot. The Gill and Servants decks just add visual variety. (I've seen scans of the Magickal, but I don't see it giving any additional understanding either.) Hence, paraphrasing your quote from wicce, the RWS and Thoth "will do as well", probably better. :) In terms of visual appeal, I prefer Gill over the Servants. I've noticed the upcoming new LoScarabeo release, _Liber T --Tarot of Stars Eternal_, a deck based on Crowley's Thoth, but with illustrated pip cards. That deck may end up on my acquisitions list.

Cerulean	31 Jan 2004
Thanks Rusty! It's actually the Eternal Stars Tarot that inspired me to look and see if there were other decks out there that pulled from Thoth and Golden Dawn...Gill or Magickal might help me, as I am unable to determine if it was Clark's art or Gill's art that makes the S.O.L look so appealing. I think it's because S.O.L. is unavailable, that is part of the charm. I have the Thothlike Via, but as I posted before, I just ended up decorating it. To me, it is a beautiful art deck and the courts are wonderful...I play with it a little. My Thoth is a nice, complete art deco deck with a creative flavor, but I associate it with my very nice poetry teacher... What I like at first glance about the upcoming deck from Lo Scarabeo is it has that dreamlike feel of the Dante, but hints at different depths...which I would very much appreciate, especially as it touches on decanates. So I may end up looking for the Eternal Stars instead of yearning for the S.O.L (which can stand for sorry, out of luck in terms of finding a good copy). Best, Mari H.

Rusty Neon	31 Jan 2004
Hi Mari ... I find that, in terms of GD-inspired decks, I ultimately always go back to the RWS and Thoth. They may be boring poetry teachers, as you say, but if you have patience, they can show as much as -- and actually more than -- the always appearing new alternatives . I find that the RWS and Thoth basically say it all, as far as the GD-inspired decks go. The new alternatives are just other artist statements. For real alternatives to the RWS and Thoth, I go for Tarot de Marseille. I had the Servants book and was lukewarm to the deck's concepts, yet I still bought the deck/book set (used, with some cards slightly water-damaged) because it was at the store at a good price and I couldn't not buy it.

The Gill or Magickal, but no Servants of Light thread was originally posted on 31 Jan 2004 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.