card meanings vs deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

bighairymonster	09 Jan 2004
Might not be important, but have always wondered about the relation b/w card meanings and the deck itself. For example, would interpretation of a Rider-Waite 3 of cups be different from a Brugel Tarot 3 of cups? I've never really bothered to look at the decks' LWBs because I mostly have the overall meanings in my mind. But is anyone like me - just using whatever deck I feel like and having no regard for its book that accompanies it? Anyone get what I mean? :)

LadyMedusa	09 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by bighairymonster Might not be important, but have always wondered about the relation b/w card meanings and the deck itself. For example, would interpretation of a Rider-Waite 3 of cups be different from a Brugel Tarot 3 of cups? I've never really bothered to look at the decks' LWBs because I mostly have the overall meanings in my mind. But is anyone like me - just using whatever deck I feel like and having no regard for its book that accompanies it? Anyone get what I mean? :) I think so ... I wouldn't exactly say "no regard" since I do read the lwbs and companion books (when I get them). I think with every book I read, I adjust my meanings a bit as I add new information. The lwbs in my head are frequently subject to revision. When switching between decks, I have noticed that cards from some decks tend to be very similar, and some tend to be very different in the interpretations. LadyMedusa

Moonbow*	09 Jan 2004
I do read the LWB - some are very good. Others not. Many decks vary in some of the cards. I used to try and make one meaning for a card fit all decks, but I now go by the picture more. I think to read intuitively this is whats needed. Its no good knowing the meaning of a card if the picture doesn't fit it. Moonbow*

maya	09 Jan 2004
to me most of booklets are thin to lowminded. but there are some which are outstanding, though. same with decks. many are incorrect. some are outstanding, some in the middle range. so, to me first counts a proper deck which speaks to me.– then the reading is comprising four different basics for me: 1. the question 2. the symbols or pictures 3. my knowledge of interpretation 4. the energetic content within that given moment to give a final answer: i see it is always changing with the deck cause every deck has its own language and charge. but the basic archetypal meanings will be there, whatsoever as long as the deck is correct.

Emily	09 Jan 2004
I must admit with the Rider Waite clone decks, like the Diamond, or the Radiant - the close clones - I've never read the LWB's. I don't like the LWB that comes with the Original Rider Waite, it always seemed to be negative so I tend not to read other Rider Waite LWB's either. I think the only one I've ever read was the one with the Thoth and that was when someone mentioned an incantation that was interesting lol Most of the decks I have come with companion books or I use books like 'Tarot Plain and Simple' or '78 Degrees of Wisdom' and symbol dictionaries.

CreativeFire	09 Jan 2004
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by LadyMedusa I wouldn't exactly say "no regard" since I do read the lwbs and companion books (when I get them). I think with every book I read, I adjust my meanings a bit as I add new information. The lwbs in my head are frequently subject to revision. When switching between decks, I have noticed that cards from some decks tend to be very similar, and some tend to be very different in the interpretations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I find the same thing in regard to "adjusting the meanings and adding new information" (and also insight), so I always make a point of reading the lwbs when I get a new deck and/or book. Also have found cards in some decks have very much the same meaning but have also found, particularly with the non RWS decks, that the cards and images can be totally different and sometimes a bit difficult to make the association. So now read more intuitively using the images and symbols on the cards - agree with Moonbow - "Its no good knowing the meaning of a card if the picture doesn't fit it. " CreativeFire

Thea Lynx	11 Jan 2004
Hi Bighairy....... I used to worry about using the exact meaning that the author of the accompanying book gave for each card. But then I started seeing relations back and forth between Thoth style and Rider style decks. For example, in my Thoth deck, the 2 of Swords is subtitled "Peace" but the Rider explanation is anything but that. I have found that the Thoth meaning can run the full gamut of things associated with Peace (trying to keep the peace, being at peace, inner peace, balance, yearning for peace, loss of peace) etc, etc, especially depending on whether or not the card is dignified or ill-dignified (which I am just starting to study and understand). So the Rider figure, so tense and determined to keep the balance/peace complements the Thoth meaning as well. I have had personal readings where altho I am using a Rider style deck, the meaning given for a Thoth type card seems to fit - so I go with what feels right. This is a big step for me as I had originally felt that there was no way I should deviate from what a particular author said about a particular deck. Now I have learned that it is the message, not how it is given, that is important. Having accepted that, I look at a card, its relationship to other cards and let the meaning flow into my mind. I have never been disappointed. Thea

Thirteen	11 Jan 2004
First, ignore LWBs. There are some that are good, but they're few and far between. Often, companies will put out the same LWB for two very different decks and poor beginners scratch their heads over how, say, a very happy looking card could mean something so gloomy--and vice versa. On the other hand, books that go with such decks--written by their creators, can often by insightful. I don't mean you should have a book for every deck. As has already been wisely pointed out, a Rider clone may have meaning so similar that there's no point in reading the book. I wouldn't, for example, bother with a book for The Robinwood Deck, as for all its differences, the card meanings are still very Rider-Waite. HOWEVER, if you were to get, say, The Ancient Egyptian Tarot, I'd very much recommend reading the companion book in that case, as the author explains his choice of, for example, Thoth on The Magician card. In that case, explaination of the imagry of the card, if not the meaning, can help expand on what you already know as the interpetation for the card. In a nutshell: if your deck is a Rider clone, and something like 80-90% are, then 3/Cups is 3/Cups is 3/Cups. BUT if the deck is a Thoth clone (and there are those out there) OR if the deck has very special imagry (focuses on Arthurian legend, Greek gods, Celtic lore), then reading the book that comes with it could very well expand and deepen, if not alter the meaning of that 3/Cups for you, the reader.

maya	12 Jan 2004
hi Thirteen, i pretty much agree with your answers. it is indeed good to read the sheets when dealing with decks which are standing on their own grounds. but what about decks like the »servants of the light» one? there is so much more to understand when being part of the tradition.

Agathe	12 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* I do read the LWB - some are very good. Others not. Many decks vary in some of the cards. I used to try and make one meaning for a card fit all decks, but I now go by the picture more. I think to read intuitively this is whats needed. Its no good knowing the meaning of a card if the picture doesn't fit it. I do the same. Many meanings that I was given during the course do not always go with some situations I see in the cards and then I rely on the pitures, the LWB and also my intuition. Blessings, Agathe

EarthAngel2911	14 Jan 2004
I almost never read the LWB, unless it's a short version of a companion book. And then, why would I read the LWB? I will have bought the companion book! (I am big into companion books! I like to see where the creator/artist is coming from.) As far as whether the card meanings are the same from deck to deck, I guess theoretically they should be, but then why would we need all these tarot decks? ;) I find myself always referring to my "mental" deck when reading, even from decks that are not RWS clones. But does that really enhance my readings? I don't think so. If I'm going to read from my "mental" deck, then it almost makes the variant deck I'm using unnecessary. Might as well pull out my Universal Waite. But I don't think it really has to do with the actual "meaning" of a specific card. I think a different deck may have the same thread of that tradition meaning, but the different imagery may pull out a facet of the traditional meaning that you would never have seen in your RWS deck. I believe that each card holds a neutral, positive, and negative meaning. And it's our job to ascertain which to emphasize in a reading, whether it be from reversals, elemental dignities, or intuition. For example, it takes me great effort to look at the RWS Seven of Swords and see much more than thievery. But in another deck, the artist may not have focused on that aspect at all, but rather on the more positive aspect of that card. Anyway, I'm digressing, I think. (It's getting late and I'm getting tired! :) ) I don't really think that LWBs help much with decks whose illustrations vary quite a bit from the standard. But if it's a deck with a companion book that has it's own system, then I think the companion book would be indispensible. Maybe that's why I have trouble with some of the LS decks. Maybe I'm trying to make reading decks out of art decks, but some of Lo Scarabeo's decks are so thematic, with such varied systems, and no companion book, that I can't make heads nor tails out of them! Oh, well, sorry for the ramble! Just my $.02. :D Karen

Star Spirit	14 Jan 2004
Generally, I use my own meanings. I've recently acquired new decks, with books, but rarely look at the books. They can be useful, however, if certain cards seem quite...non-traditional to me. Then I will compare the book's meaning to mine and see where I can draw the connections and find the differences. My meanings are never solid though. Cards often look "different" to me every time I read, so I try to read what I see.

The card meanings vs deck thread was originally posted on 09 Jan 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.