Tarot artwork.. expressionism or impressionism

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jun 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

MystiqueMoonlight	25 Jun 2002
Throughout we have all discussed the various aspects of different decks. This one is great because of it's historical accuracy or that one is best because of it's beautiful artwork. I have a collection of Tarot (as do it seems most of us :) ) which reflect something more to me than just the artwork. Over the years I made the mistake of buying decks simply because they looked pretty or because someone has suggested that they are "a nice deck to work with". These decks slowly were handed over to people generally with less reading or intuitive experience. Yes I say less intuitive experience because it seems in this era of mass production most decks really seem to conceptualise the belief of the artist, especially in the case of the minors which are most vulnerable to this. The RW cards depict the minors as Waite himself believed them to be. Instead of 8 swords he visualised a blind folded and bound subject surrounded by 8 swords, thus producing a card with his own interpretation of that numbered suit and so on. In most cases this can limit the reader to only "seeing" that card in a specific way depended on it's layout position and the way the artist created it. Traditionally minors may have only been represented with the number of swords, pentacles, cups or wands as denoted by the number of the card. Perhaps this may lead the reader into a more intuitive approach of reading. What is your opinion on this??

catlin	25 Jun 2002
Maybe I am a bit off-topic now but I found out that I have a different interpretation of the cards depending on the deck I use, eg. it makes a difference to me in my reading if I use RW or Legend Arthurian or another deck. However, I found out that I do a kind of "translation" into RW when I read with the Marseilles or another deck with plain pips. I don't need this kind of translation with the Thot or the Fairy Wicca.

MeeWah	25 Jun 2002
Since I began reading cards with a regular deck of playing cards before acquiring my first Tarot deck (the RSW), I would state that personal experience seems to indicate that using decks with non-illustrated minor arcana/pips leads to a more intuitive process. I also think the process is assisted or enhanced with some type of association or correspondences, such as a knowledge of the basic meanings of numbers. This does not fault those decks with illustrated minors, as they can also assist in prompting further exploration of possible meanings. A card need not prompt the same meaning each time & that applies to picture cards as well. That in itself can be seen as an aspect of the intuitive process or the development of same.

Emily	25 Jun 2002
I've only really studied with the Rider Waite and clones but I find that I do need the pictures on the minors. I have a deck, it came as a book and deck set - no name on the deck, and I thought it was a R/W clone but once opened the Minors just have pips on - I hit a complete brick wall when I tried to use this deck, I don't get any inspiration at all in just looking at pip cards. My primary reading deck is now the Spiral and these minor cards are easy to work with, like the Rider Waite. Perhaps when I am more experienced at reading I would be able to use minor pip cards but I'm not draw to these type of decks at all.

MeeWah	25 Jun 2002
Emily: Would the deck & book set you refer to be the Sasha Fenton Tarot? A similar one is the Jonathan Dee Tarot published by Barnes & Nobles. Both have non-illustrated pips. BTW: If you are looking to unload it, please let me know!!

truthsayer	26 Jun 2002
i am a very visual person so i find imagery stimulating to my intuition. i've also loved all kinds of symbolism as long as i can remember. the main reason i don't like plain number cards is that i have a mental block to numbers that has nothing to do w/ tarot. i have gail fairfield's excellent book "choice centered tarot" but can't seem to make the break from images to numbers. in the past 2 years i have been working to ease my number block b/c i want to use the renaissance tarot eventually. until then i prefer decks w/ images. as far as images go, i can't really find a a constant theme in the decks i choose. some imagery is good for reading. others just for meditation and study. i like both abstract and linear, emotional or intellectual decks. i hadn't really thought of it b4 but the idea of how smith and waite were able to VISUALIZE an image on a number is pretty incredible to me. do you realize the depth of understanding of numerology that would require? IMMENSE!! i know it's over my head! i have a new appreciation for the ws since visualizing numbers is so difficult for me.

Emily	26 Jun 2002
Hi MeeWah, Its the Jonathan Dee one, small purple book with cards - it is a nice deck and he uses R/W interpretations but I found that I couldn't work with the pip Minors - but I would find it hard to let go of a tarot deck, sorry lol

MeeWah	26 Jun 2002
Emily: The study of Tarot is an evolving one. As such, your interests will evolve, too. Thus, I recommend keeping this set as you may have use of its qualities later.

The Tarot artwork.. expressionism or impressionism thread was originally posted on 25 Jun 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.