difficult time relating to my new Gilded Tarot...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Atcandela	11 May 2005
I received my new deck about 2 weeks ago. I was VERY excited to receive it. But I got busy and ended up getting not opening the deck until a few days ago. When I did I wasn't as excited about the deck as I hoped. I was working with the deck again last night organizing the cards by Major,Minor, Aces, numbered, and court cards and finally did a quick 4 mode reading. I take 1 random card (after shuffling these 4 groups seperately) from each section (major, minor, etc..) and read them as follows: Who (represents court cards), What (#(2-10 card), Why (Major Arcana), Where (Aces) This was a general reading with no direct question involved..just having the card sensing what energy has been with me, etc.. What I got was WHO (Queen of Wands - Leo) which was interesting as I've been interacting with a few Leos recently, WHAT (2 of Pentacles), WHY (Lovers) another interesting card as I'm wondering if one of these Leos will be turning into some form of a deeper relationship, WHERE (Ace of Cups) which is where my emotions feel like they've been. I'm now looking to do the same reading with my original Tarot (Rider Waite) and see what I come up with. I think the issue I'm having with the new Gilded deck is if it will read similar as the RW. By this I mean if the GD will pick up the same energy as the RW has been when doing my own readings. How does everyone adjust to a new deck? I think as the Gilded is such a powerful visual deck I may have been intimidated by it, which is unusual as that's what drew me to the deck. I recall looking at the deck's images and thought it to be "very odd". Maybe it's just me! :) I appreciate any thoughts on this... with thoughts... "A"

satinangel	13 May 2005
Hey there! I am a fellow Gilded deck user....I was completely enchanted by the deck when I first saw it and knew I had to have it. I did have quite a reaction though when I received it....it utterly overwhelmed me...to the point that I didn't even want to shuffle it. After a week or so of "looking through" the deck, I decided to give it a go... Took my time with it...lots of time...now I absolutely LOVE it! I find my readings with it seem to be quite accurate and the cards quite simple to interpret! Why not jump over to the Study Group threads and find the Gilded groups?? There's nothing formal going on, but some discussion of the cards. You might find it beneficial! I hope that you start feeling more comfortable with this deck!!! ~SatinAngel~

elysgrl	14 May 2005
The Gilded deck was the very first deck I bought. I saw it here on AT, the first night I stumbled onto this site and thus into Tarot, and went out and bought it the very next day. I thought it was utterly beautiful (and still do), and I did my first few weeks of readings with it. I didn't really think in terms of connecting with the deck; I was a complete newbie and was dazzled by the Tarot in general. Then I found the Robin Wood deck. Suddenly I understood about connecting with a deck, and realized that with the Gilded I felt a certain emotional distance. They imagery is lush and gorgeous, but something about it leaves me a little cold. I have trouble in particular relating to the court cards, which is kind of strange, because the faces are meticulously drawn and full of expression. I don't know what it is--maybe the mechanistic feel of some of the cards? Maybe the fact that many of the figures are floating in space rather than grounded on the earth? A perfect example is the 10 of Swords, in which the swords are hovering in the air above the person's body. Call me crazy, but when I draw the 10 of Swords, I want to FEEL those swords in my back, LOL. Anyway, now the Gilded is the deck I carry around with me and use to read for other people. Everyone is always impressed by its beauty and rightly so. But for myself, I use my beloved Robin Wood. Denise

SunChariot	16 May 2005
Well my answer is that each deck is unique and has it's own personality and many of the moral values of it's creator embedded in it. I have 12 decks now and no two read alike. They will all answer questions I ask accurately and leave me with a sense of awe and wonder about Tarot, but each sees it from a different point of view, a different focus. They have personalities, some are better at answering certain types of questions, others are better with other types of questions. Like friends. I choose the deck I use according to the viewpoint I want. Like if I have a question about my lovelife I will usually use my Lover's Path deck. As for how you can adjust your reading style to suit each deck, the short answer is that I don't. The method I use is works equally well with any deck. And all my readings have been very accurate for me. I don't learn the meanings for any given card, which can vary greatly from deck to deck. All I do is analyse the imagery in the card pulled, analyse it as a poem, by how it feels, symbolism of the whole and it's parts. ...I do read the book with a deck once before starting, but I do not rely on it. After I have done analysing and feeling what applies to the question and what feels like part of the answer and what doesn't, I do look quickly at the book for additionaly ideas... Anyway, its not everyone's method, but it works great for me, and it works just as easily with any deck at all. And no your new deck will not likely see things in the same way as the old one, but it will be full of its own unique wisdom all the same.:-) Bar

ThePlayerOfGames	18 May 2005
I hated gilded tarot when it first arrived and I looked through it! It has grown on me though so I suggest just persevere with it, read the blurb a few times and come back to it every now and then as it is a very nice deck. It just didn't have any instant appeal for me at all, I love it now though!

Alta	18 May 2005
I like the deck, however like many decks with complex imagery, you really have to work with it a while and become comfortable with the cards.

FaerieStorm	22 May 2005
Atcandela- I can see where you're coming from with the Gilded. I was excited about it too, but I have found that I don't connect with computer/digitally created decks--they seem to lack the soul that many other decks seem to have. For instance, The Gilded--though it's very beautiful and expressive--doesn't have the soul-energy that the DruidCraft has. I'm not knocking the deck--I think it's great and very precise; it's just doesn't "vibrate" for me.

Emeraldgirl	23 May 2005
There's a lot hidden in this deck it takes time to digest it all. I was a little overwhelmed when I first looked at this deck it was so pretty and I was feeling kinda self concious about reading with it (what if I'm not good enough to do justice to these lovely images?) but after a few readings it was fine :)

The difficult time relating to my new Gilded Tarot... thread was originally posted on 11 May 2005 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.