Tarot of India

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

Sophie-David	30 Dec 2004
Does anyone know of a Tarot depicting images of the divinities and everyday life in India? The deck would not have to be in English.

SongDeva	30 Dec 2004
The Buddha Tarot would be a start, though the minors are pips.

Sophie-David	30 Dec 2004
Thank you SongDeva I just discovered an older thread that discusses Tarot in India here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=12874 The Roots of Asia Tarot also looks interesting. David

BlueLotus	30 Dec 2004
There are at least a couple of decks that are exclusively Indian . These are Tarot of the Rishis and Tantra Tarot. Many decks depict some Indian divinities and culture in their major and/or minor arcanas ( particularly the wands suit ) such as the Goddess tarot, Kazanlar, Haindle, Roots of Asia, and Osho Zen.

Sophie-David	30 Dec 2004
Thank you Feebie It looks like Tarot of the Rishis was exactly what I had in mind, but from a search of Google, Amazon and Tarot Garden it appears that the deck is not available yet. :( David

Paul	30 Dec 2004
Sophie-David: If you swing towards the Tarot de Marseilles type decks, please check out Tarot du Roy Nissanka, which is a TdM-meets-India style. Just do an internet search for various sites. Here's one link -- an AT review.

Sophie-David	30 Dec 2004
Hi Paul Thanks for the reference! I rather like the artwork in the Tarot du Roy Nissanka, but I'm afraid its got to have more blatantly expressive minors to get my intuition in gear. :) Since the Tarot of the Rishis appears to be unavailable, it looks like Roots of Asia is my current number one choice, followed by the Buddha Tarot. David

RedMaple	30 Dec 2004
Sophie-David wrote: Hi Paul Thanks for the reference! I rather like the artwork in the Tarot du Roy Nissanka , but I'm afraid its got to have more blatantly expressive minors to get my intuition in gear. :) Since the Tarot of the Rishis appears to be unavailable, it looks like Roots of Asia is my current number one choice, followed by the Buddha Tarot . David The Buddha Tarot is beautiful and inspiring. Although it does start off in India with the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, the minors are based on the Mahayana concept of the mystical Buddha who is all-present, and therefore present in the four directions, plus the Buddha of the center, which is represented by the Trump cards. The cards are thought of as a mandala, and can be arranged as such. So it is a spiritual landscape, rather than an Indian landscape. I love the Buddha Tarot, but would not consider it so much an Indian deck as a Buddhist deck. I also have the Goddess Tarot. The suit of Pentacles is associated with the Indian goddess, Lakshmi. It is beautifully illustrated. Lakshmi is also the Fortune card, and Sarasvati is the High Priestess card. I find this a wonderful deck to work with, if you are interested in the Divine Feminine. But it is not exclusively Indian. Tell me more about the Rishi deck. I also like the artwork of the Roy Nissanka, but like you, would prefer illustrated minors.

Sophie-David	30 Dec 2004
RedMaple wrote: The Buddha Tarot is beautiful and inspiring. Although it does start off in India with the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, the minors are based on the Mahayana concept of the mystical Buddha who is all-present, and therefore present in the four directions, plus the Buddha of the center, which is represented by the Trump cards. The cards are thought of as a mandala, and can be arranged as such. So it is a spiritual landscape, rather than an Indian landscape. I love the Buddha Tarot, but would not consider it so much an Indian deck as a Buddhist deck. Hello RedMaple I am fascinated with Robert M. Place's insights and experiences at http://www.thealchemicalegg.com/ but unfortunately I just don't seem to click with the art work in Buddha Tarot. It was the same with the Alchemical Tarot, I liked the theme and the approach, and I really wanted to like the deck, but just found the art - disturbing. RedMaple wrote: I also have the Goddess Tarot. The suit of Pentacles is associated with the Indian goddess, Lakshmi. It is beautifully illustrated. Lakshmi is also the Fortune card, and Sarasvati is the High Priestess card. I find this a wonderful deck to work with, if you are interested in the Divine Feminine. But it is not exclusively Indian. Yes, I am familiar with the Goddess Tarot, my mentor used it for my second reading and it is her favourite deck. I do like the Goddess deck, but find it is a bit too feminine - I'm susceptable to being seduced by the feminine and pulled out of balance. :) But I do like Kris Waldherr's work and will likely buy The Lover's Path since it feels more balanced to me. RedMaple wrote: Tell me more about the Rishi deck. I also like the artwork of the Roy Nissanka, but like you, would prefer illustrated minors. All I know about Tarot of the Rishis is what I saw here: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tarot-of-the-rishis/ and here: http://www.tarotpassages.com/rishisvsb.htm This was much closer to what I had in mind, a deck of Hindu divinities and myths - but, alas, apparently unavailable. Although Thai rather than Indian, the artistic style and subjects in Roots of Asia are very appealing to me, so at the moment this deck is looking like the best bet: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/roots-of-asia/

RedMaple	31 Dec 2004
Sophie-David wrote: Hello RedMaple All I know about Tarot of the Rishis is what I saw here: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tarot-of-the-rishis/ and here: http://www.tarotpassages.com/rishisvsb.htm This was much closer to what I had in mind, a deck of Hindu divinities and myths - but, alas, apparently unavailable. Althought the images at AT are interesting, the information at the other link had some serious inaccuracies. I would never see Kali-Ma as the Devil, for example. Although Thai rather than Indian, the artistic style and subjects in Roots of Asia are very appealing to me, so at the moment this deck is looking like the best bet: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/roots-of-asia/[/quote] This does look like a beautiful deck. The Haindl also uses images from India for its suit of Wands, I believe. You might check out his artwork. There's also a thread on the Haindl where you can read about the Queen and Princess of Wands on the General Forum.

Sophie-David	31 Dec 2004
RedMaple wrote: Althought the images at AT are interesting, the information at the other link had some serious inaccuracies. I would never see Kali-Ma as the Devil, for example. As one who knows almost nothing about the Hindu divinities - I was hoping a topical Tarot deck would be a good way to learn - which one would make a better Devil? RedMaple wrote: The Haindl also uses images from India for its suit of Wands, I believe. You might check out his artwork. There's also a thread on the Haindl where you can read about the Queen and Princess of Wands on the General Forum. I seem to be having an attack of Goldilocks syndrome:), but the Haindl seems so dark and jumbled to me...

fyreflye	31 Dec 2004
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Sophie-David	31 Dec 2004
Thanks Fyreflye! There are more details on Tarot Gitan at Tarot Garden here: http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?search_type=blob&pageenter=0 This is a monochrome deck containing Hindu images in 38 cards: 22 Majors and 16 courts. Tarot Garden classes the deck as "Out-of-Print". There are several French sites that list the deck for sale however, this one has an English language section: http://www.lamaisondutarot.com/c194491p16342907.2.html At a price of 35 Euros this converts to a base price of about $60 Canadian, before delivery, i.e. $50 US before delivery. This is a bit steep for what appears to be an inexpensively produced deck. I will have to think this one over...

The Tarot of India thread was originally posted on 30 Dec 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.