confused...thoth, TdM, secret tarot...i m having a headache

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jul 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Alrisha	25 Jul 2004
i bought my very first deck few year ago (RWS), and there's no chemistry between me and this deck. i lost interest in tarot quickly. recently i started reading books on tarot again and bought a few more decks. first the world spirt which i like a lot, then the golden tarot which i found boring and not stimulating to me (sorry to all the golden fans out there) just like the RWS. btw my nigel jackson is gathering dust somewhere in the drawer. then i bought the TdM, large swiss thoth and secret tarot. o man...i love these 3 decks! i think i clicked! the problem is, these 3 decks are based on 3 different systems and i don't know if i could study all 3 of them at the same time. should i pick one to focus on? what should i do?

Eco74	25 Jul 2004
Comparing three systems while learning them all from scratch could cause the whole learning process to take.. pretty much forever. Not that one is ever fully learned, but learning one deck well enough to use freely in readings and then doing a comparative study with the remaining two seems like a better way to go. Atleast, that would be my gameplan... And you can still enjoy the artwork of the remaining two decks and while sitting there, enjoying the artwork, you just might get little insights to the alternate decks too even while just focusing on learning one of them. Happy studying. :o)

firemaiden	25 Jul 2004
The Secret tarot is basically a re-working of the RWS, however, certain of the images are homages to the Marseille. (The empress in particular). Not separate systems, really....

jmd	25 Jul 2004
From my perspective, to use the three (or even more) and see their similarities will probably highlight their important Tarot aspect, as opposed to the way in which the respective artists decided to deviate and include their personal touches to the deck. By all means include all three - this is one way, in my view, in which the peculiarities of a single deck do not mask the essential characteristics out of which Tarot arises.

Cerulean	25 Jul 2004
Take one tarot for one week. Use that week to read reviews of the deck, look at any study groups, ask questions....in other words, focus on it one or two weeks at a time. You said you liked the World Spirit. Return to that one for one week. I would next try the Secret Tarot. Justice is eight and Strength is 11, but the pictures on all the different scenes should be helpful. Try it for a week and see if it feels good as well. You might from there decide to check out the TDM and the woodcut style of art. If it doesn't seem to work right now, go ahead and put it on a shelf for another week or two until it calls to you. Next try the Thoth and see what works. I think there's plenty of threads, reviews and other things on those decks here and on the net...so taking some time to explore each one in it's turn could be fun. Just give each a little time to sink into your thoughts and please, relax with yourself. Have a great summer study! (It's summer in the U.S.) Regards, Cerulean

Umbrae	25 Jul 2004
My advice. Go slow. Sounds like you're in Tarot Overload. There is nothing wrong with reading with ONE DECK! There is nothing wrong with reading with ONE DECK! Three Systems? Learn one. Learn it well. Then move on - and only if you want to. Not because somebody says you should, or 'gee you could learn more'. We are all wired different. Do what feels right for you.

hyatt	25 Jul 2004
I think Cerulean has the right idea. Take a deck a week or two. There is a great Secret study group that really needs some fresh comments that I participate in and then you could move onto the Thoth study group and then TdM. Each of your decks have study groups so you can do your personal study or readings etc. and chime in on threads and see what others are talking about. I hope to see you in the Secret study group!!!!

raeanne	26 Jul 2004
Hi Alrisha, Different strokes for different folks. If you are linear minded, I would suggest that you learn one deck at a time. This would be more in line with your natural thinking process. If you are an omni-directional thinker, then comparing and contrasting all three decks together would work better. I am an omni-directional thinker and usually have several books out at one time. To a linear thinker, the omni-directional method seems chaotic. To an omni thinker, the linear method is limited and restrictive. If it seems to make more sense to you to study one deck at a time, then go that route because you are probably linear. If you want to compare, contrast and study all three decks together, then that's what is right for your omni-directional mind.

ambermoon	26 Jul 2004
Alrisha, I am also new in the ways of the Tarot, and I also have a few decks in the house. I'm blending the linear and omni-directional approach, in the sense that I have chosen a path and imagined a destination, but I am in no hurry and am not averse to diversions and side trips. Going is an important part of the journey, sometimes more important than getting there. The Goddess Tarot resonated so strongly with me that it is my primary focus of study, and the only deck that I am reading from. For me, this deck is serene, pure, wise, and very strong. Does any one of your decks feel this way to you? Or if not with such clarity, does one feel comfortable or a bit more YOU? But I look at my other decks as supporting material, wise friendswith their own points of view, here to round out my journey and keep me company, but not to set me too far off my path. If they are really contradictory, I'm just saying to them, "OK, I hear you, but I'm not there just now." My Visconti Sforza is the historical background, the roots of the card. My Enchanted Tarot is well dressed, with a dreamy yet worldly tale to tell, a Tarot bedtime story for me. I also felt a practical need to have something aligned to the RW, representing the modern roots of Tarot symbolism, but I just can't relate on a personal level to the RW or any of it's very close visual derivations. I have the Hanson-Roberts filling this need, though it's a bit sticky-sweet in large doses, even though it's a whole wheat, honey and natural sweetness, with lots of substance. Can you find the same niche purpose in some of your decks? How I am going along the path is this: I am reading a single card as the theme of the day, drawn the night before and journalled at the end of the day, just before I draw the next day's card. In parallel, I am going through the deck in order, journalling about the meaning of the card in my life, and how the images on the card speak to me, and how the parallel cards in the other decks add their voices to mine. I'm not setting a time limit on this and am moving at an irregular pace, two cards one day and sometimes a week or more on a single card. Wishing you a great journey. ambermoon (edited to untangle a phrase or two)

SilverWing	26 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Alrisha i bought my very first deck few year ago (RWS), and there's no chemistry between me and this deck. I had a deck several years ago that I just didn't like. It seemed to be a very negative deck. So I took it with me to the grocery store one day with the intent that it would find whoever it should be with. I sat it in a cart before I went in, when I came out it was gone. I did go and buy the same deck a few months later. This deck I still have and love.

Alrisha	27 Jul 2004
raeanne, i m thinking omni-directional approach on the majors and linear approach on the minors.

Alrisha	07 Aug 2004
Just a little update...I think I am gonna stick w/ the Thoth tarot for now my passion for this deck grows each day as I learn more about it. Currently reading a book by Don Milo DuQuette called "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot". I store the cards in a cigar box with silk to protect the cards and scented them w/ rose oil so they smell fabulous hehehhe. The large AGM Thoth fits perfectly in the box. Time to read few more pages before i go to bed =)

Cerulean	07 Aug 2004
And for a change of pace, later, you can try one of the others. Best wishes. Cerulean

Aun	07 Aug 2004
No question! :smoker: Greetings from another Thoth freak....

JulieG	08 Aug 2004
And me! I adore Thoth also - such a powerful and alive deck. I personally use Thoth as my main but also use RW (Universal and Original). I have just got myself that gorgeous Golden Tarot too. I think most find connections with a certain deck or perhaps with several. But that's the important thing - feeling the connection. If you can't work with a deck don't worry - just try others until you feel that connection. Thoth and RW are quite different decks and many decks are derivatives of RW and Thoth anyway so you generally find similarities quite easily - it's just that the artwork can vary drastically: some decks with artwork that aids interpretation vividly, others wich fail miserabley. So approach Tarot from two perspectives....(1) Learn about Tarot basics in general. Some books use only RW/Thoth or another deck as it's working example but that doesn't mean the book is useless. Be open about what you glean and what sources you use - all can be useful. (2) pick a standard deck and stick with that as your learning deck, doing seperate study on that deck speficially. So effectivelly you are learning Tarot from two angles: Tarot as a whole and then your chosen initital deck as a seperate matter - intergrating the two as you go along. Beyond that, I'd recommend Thoth and/or RW as your standard two decks, but feel free to purchase and use other decks which take your fancy: just remember most will be derivatives of RW/Thoth anyway so you can easily transpose your Tarot knowledge from one deck to another. Lastly, if you truly are baffled right now (and it happens with Tarot - it's such a complex and deep oracle tool) pick just one deck you DO feel at ease with and stick to that until you feel more fluent and confident. Thoth is fab but it's quite mystical and can be hard to learn, but heck - many have gone straight to it from scratch with great success.

The 78th Fool	21 Aug 2004
Hi Alrisha, Just a quick tip - Do read Rachel Pollack's "Complete Illustrated Guide to the Tarot". She uses cards from many different types of deck to illustrate her teaching. More than any other this book has really helped me to get to grips with the differences between the main strands of tradition and I now feel just as comfortable reading from a Thoth based system as I do from a Rider or Marseilles. Give it a go! Chris. xx

The confused...thoth, TdM, secret tarot...i m having a headache thread was originally posted on 25 Jul 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.