What is Happening Here?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Satori	30 Aug 2004
I just loved the Death Card. Saw it on a scan, right here on AT. So I ordered one from TarotGarden. Well I love it. I love it. And I see some folks think it is a baby deck, a beginners deck. But I love it.... It has a simplicity that is so refreshing. The colors are cool, bright, but not overbearing. Am I slipping backwards? Looking to rely on keywords? I don't have any decks with keywords....except for this one...... Why do I love The Gill Tarot so much? I don't know diddly about Kabbalah either, but maybe with this baby I'll pick up on it..... I think this is one of the coolest decks I've seen. And I've been scouring the various sites checking out decks in and out of print. What is going on here?

fyreflye	30 Aug 2004
Maybe you're really a fish.

Rusty Neon	30 Aug 2004
I think the Gill Tarot is very cool. Each of the pips uses the respective Golden Dawn colour scale colours and has a distinctive design. Reminiscent of a stack of varied greeting cards.

Satori	30 Aug 2004
Hi Rusty! Thanks, I remember now you saying you were having some really great readings with the Gill.....can't remember where tho.... And fyreflye, I am part fish. Love the water and especially humpback whales....they sing you know. :D

Rusty Neon	30 Aug 2004
By the way, I bought this deck in spite of the look of its Death card. ;) In fact, I prefer the minors in this deck over the majors.

jema	31 Aug 2004
I love Gill! It is in my top 5 decks and I used it a lot in comparative readings. And you are right, it is a cool and very refreshing deck and crabs love it too - not just fishies;-) I am also just a tiny little bit more fond of the minors then the majors. The cards that make me think the Gill is useful for beginners though, is not so much the keywords as it is how it pictures the Court cards! It is a deck that makes the courts easy.

Imagemaker	31 Aug 2004
And unrelated to anything else, I love the backs of the Gill.

Alta	31 Aug 2004
I think that the court cards in the Gill are excellent. Really like this deck.

Sulis	31 Aug 2004
I don't think it's a beginners deck - I think it's quite Thoth-like. The Thoth uses keywords and you don't hear many people calling Thoth a beginners deck do you? Who's to say what decks are 'beginners decks' anyway? I had this deck and traded it away as I didn't use it too much - I think it's a lovely deck though :) and thought it was a shame that I had a copy sitting in a drawer. The courts are very good. I like the Majors too - The High Priestess, The Star and The Empress I seem to remember are very beautiful. I'd just go with what you feel Elf - you've been searching for your deck - maybe you've found it - it's not always a logical decision ;) Here are some images here on AT http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/gill/ Enjoy your deck Love Sulis xx

Trogon	31 Aug 2004
Naw... I don't think of the Gill as anything like a beginner's Tarot deck. As to who decides what is a beginner deck, well... I'd say it was the "beginner" who buys themselves a deck to begin with! ;) Then again, perhaps the publisher can decide that it's a beginner's deck, as in "The Beginner's Tarot". Though this uses a Marseilles deck which I don't consider a "beginer's" deck either. :D Anyway, I do like the Gill Tarot. And I do agree, it is very a Thoth-like deck, though I personally prefer the Thoth over the Gill. As to why you love the Gill Tarot so much... only you can answer that. And, in fact, I think you did answer it pretty well in your post. ;) Quote: Originally posted by elf I just loved the Death Card. Saw it on a scan, right here on AT. So I ordered one from TarotGarden. Well I love it. I love it. And I see some folks think it is a baby deck, a beginners deck. But I love it.... It has a simplicity that is so refreshing. The colors are cool, bright, but not overbearing. A pretty good explanation of some of why you love it... so far... I've been tempted by this deck several times, but there is something that always puts me off of it for some reason. I'm not too sure "why" yet. It might be the colors used? Or, perhaps, the renaming of some of the cards... hmmm... In anycase... congratulations on the new deck! I hope you have a long and fruitful life together... er... wait... that's my wedding blessing...

Ravenswing	31 Aug 2004
This one is a real good one. But if you want to REALLY get in touch with it, slice off the boarders. It frees the images and they spill out into one another... fly well Raven

darwinia	31 Aug 2004
I think I almost like the Minors better in this too. They are so fresh and illustrative and things just pop out in readings because you have to sit and listen. One of the other members here (cough) referred to this as the Sesame Street deck when he bought it after I raved about it, so I kept sending him little digital graphics of Grover, Big Bird and the gang superimposed on cards saying stuff like "Don't hate us." I then switched to superimposing them on the Rohrig, because he had encouraged me to buy the Rohrig and I felt turnabout was fair play. So Grover ended up inside the cave of Oppression on the 10 of Wands and the King of Wands has this little white space in front of his face so I put the words "I love Sesame Street" there. He still hated the deck and eventually traded it, but it remains one of my favourites. He traded the Bosch too!! I mean really.

Satori	31 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Rusty Neon By the way, I bought this deck in spite of the look of its Death card. ;) In fact, I prefer the minors in this deck over the majors. Hey, what's wrong with that beautiful Death card? Um...I just love his wings.....please, not a word to the husband, he thinks my tarot thing is weird enough..... ;)

Satori	31 Aug 2004
Thanks, Sulis, Marion, Trogon, Darwinia, Ravenswing, Imagemaker and Jema! I also love the backs of the cards. I like that sentence, "...and I see men as trees walking..." ....and I am coming to love the minors, they show me something new every time I look....the pentacles are still evolving for me, not used to just circles of color, but I'm beginning to see the pentacles as the currency of the Universe. Not just dollars, euros, marks or yen etc., but the currency we traffic in that is of the earth and the spirit...and that is way cool. I think this is it folks. My deck! I have this tickly feeling in my belly when I'm working with the cards, and I just love holding the pack! I have small, square hands, my fingers are rather short. And shuffling some decks is a challenge for me. But even the deck size fits in my hand nicely. Not too long, so I can shuffle the way I like to....with thumb on the bottom and middle finger on top. I don't have the Thoth, and I just haven't ever wanted it. My girlfriend has one of the large, greenish decks, and I went thru it once a couple of years ago (she lives in Finland, I was visiting) and I kept thinking, what is all the fuss??? I've since seen the more colorful deck and see that it is really stunning, but still, no call to me.... So this deck is Thoth-like. Interesting. How will I clean the house today with this deck calling to me?

Imagemaker	31 Aug 2004
Quote: I'm beginning to see the pentacles as the currency of the Universe. I love this statement! It helps me to see the message of any pentacles card more clearly.

wildchilde	31 Aug 2004
Darwinia this is hilarious!!! :laugh: I would love to see your "Sesame Street Deck" ! any chance you still have the photos you could email me??? Quote: Originally posted by darwinia One of the other members here (cough) referred to this as the Sesame Street deck when he bought it after I raved about it, so I kept sending him little digital graphics of Grover, Big Bird and the gang superimposed on cards saying stuff like "Don't hate us." I then switched to superimposing them on the Rohrig, because he had encouraged me to buy the Rohrig and I felt turnabout was fair play. So Grover ended up inside the cave of Oppression on the 10 of Wands and the King of Wands has this little white space in front of his face so I put the words "I love Sesame Street" there.

Satori	31 Aug 2004
Yes, Darwinia, post links, I'd like to see this too... good idea, now if you could just reveal who it was that got the deck ..... ?

Ace	01 Sep 2004
Gil tarot! I was wondering when that deck would show up! I have it too Elf, and I love it. but I really can't read with it but I would sit at psychic fairs next to a woman who did and drive her crazy with starting at her deck in a celtic cross layout. I wasn't listening into her reading, just I couldn't get enough of her deck. But I can't read with it. Maybe I need to dust it off and try....

Satori	01 Sep 2004
Ace, dust it off and stop saying you can't read with it! I'm on my way to bed after sitting at my table flipping cards for myself. What a deck. I can't get enough of it either. I got it as a set so I have the book and I admit that I'm glad I do. If only because of the kabbalah reference material. Give it a new go and take your time with the cards. My reading tonight has taken my breath away. Never have the court cards been so easy to understand for me. And I was getting them all over the place. Remember that the Universe wants you to grow, wants you to have what you are attracted to. It will put anything in your path to help you along the way. Trouble is some of us are such good manifesters we get ourselves into trouble with pulling in goodies we just aren't ready for yet. And I don't mean just tarot decks! So now that you've been on AT for a while and you are accessing such great info your Gill will probably read for you like magic. I hope so anyway. And I encourage you to experiment with it against other decks you can read.....so lay out the same cards of a spread in 2 decks and compare them....see where you have the blocks in understanding.... Off to sleepy beddy by! Good luck with your Gill!

Satori	01 Sep 2004
I read for a friend with my Gill today. Brought her to tears. At one point turning over a card I said, "When MA releases this (and pushed aside the 3 of Swords/sorrow card) what will she gain? And flipped the next card into the vacated position it was a 4 of Wands/completion. She gasped and looked at me and said, "Did you know that was coming?" And I just smiled and said, "No, I didn't. Now you see why I love the tarot." We spent about 40 minutes with the reading while our kids played in loud circles all around us. Even with interruptions and noise and bedlam breaking out everywhere, we had a reading that was focused, soothing and lovely. I think we are the luckiest people anywhere we readers.

The What is Happening Here? thread was originally posted on 30 Aug 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.