Navigators Tarot of the Mystic Sea

Anne_23

I am new to reading. As in, less than a week. I was buying sage and drawn to the tarot section. I picked up this deck and read a line on the back about giving meaning to dreams. Looked at a few others and this one didn't want to leave my hand. Additionally, the artwork and symbolism called to me. I have vivid, long, symbolic dreams which are difficult to interpret so I thought I would give it a try. Thus far, incredibly helpful and accurate in aiding my personal interpretation. By nature I'm incredibly pragmatic so tarot helps me get deeper and tie to intuition overriding the intellectualizing side of me.

My second purpose with reading is to understand a twin flame relationship. Have found this deck to be far more somber and negative in tone. For example, Six of Cups warns of being distracted by earthly pleasures when one's intention is to connect to their higher self. The 10 of Cups warns of hedonism when too much abundance is had and shows an island with a willow of lonliness surrounded by murky waters. Not certain this is the best deck for relationship readings....though my twin is a Scorpio so perhaps it is appropriate for his nature. :)

Opinions on this deck and advice for a new reader? An old friend who has been reading for a long time suggested I give meaning to the cards myself. Though have read advice otherwise stating the symbolism on the card should be carefully heeded as to not bias the reading.
 

rwcarter

Welcome to Aeclectic, and to tarot Anne_23!

I love the Navigators deck. I think only Le Fanu has more copies of the deck than I do.

My advice to a newbie is to pick a deck that resonates with you, and it seems like the Navigators does. But you should understand that it's a non-traditional deck in many ways and if you ever want to move over to a more RWS-style deck, you're going to have to unlearn a lot of things. Her Majors go from 21 to 0 for example as she goes down the Tree of Life, while most decks go up the Tree. She also changed the order of the Majors around.

Do you just have the LWB that comes with the deck, or did you happen to buy the set with the much larger companion book? She also wrote three novels based on the cards.

I've written my own study guide for the deck, which I guess I never got around to putting up on Aeclectic in the form of Study Group posts. The Study Group can be found at Navigators of the Mystic SEA. I've taken her info from the companion book and blended it with my own study of the imagery/symbolism (which the book is good about detailing). I'm very slowly incorporating the info from the three novels into that study guide. Once that's all complete, I'll put it all in the Study Group.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions about the deck.

Rodney
 

Le Fanu

I love the Navigators deck. I think only Le Fanu has more copies of the deck than I do.
:D Oh yes - I love this deck too - dare not admit how many copies I have.

This is such a compelling deck, full of vivid landscapes and odd tensions. I honestly think that this is a great deck for relationships as so many of the cards feature more than one figure so you get a sense of interactions and - as I said - tensions. I have always found the deck fabulously readable. The book of course is excellent and if you plan to dig deeper into this deck, you'll need it. But it needs to be consumed in bite-sized pieces as it is really rather dense (but useful). I have the novels and don't find them very accessible. I honestly think the companion book and your intuition are the best guides.

I love talking about this deck, and discovered it after rodney had done his study group posts so never contributed there, but any questions you have, fire away. Just reading your post made me want to go and get it out again and read with it! You know a deck is going to work for you if the restructuring and renamed cards effortlessly work for you without any mental reorientation. This system holds together perfectly. It doesn't even feel different to me.
 

Anne_23

Yes, I have the set with the book. I tried to start reading it an was overwhelmed but also fascinated by the symbolism.Absolutely love the art work and want it in my house.

I did also buy the RW easy deck, partially so I could compare the cards to Navigators and learn the differences as I go along and also, I'm guessing I may want a more traditional deck at times. Thus far, I haven't used it much as Navigators just works.

This study guide will be a good place to start as well. Thank you!

(discussion of repeating cards split off into a new thread)
 

rwcarter

Moderator Note

I have split the discussion of the repeating cards into a new thread over in Using Tarot Cards (where repeating cards specifically and card interpretations in general are discussed) - Navigators Tarot Repeating Cards
 

EmpyreanKnight

Just got a new copy at a very nice price too, and yeah it is a very beautiful Thoth-based deck. Too bad the companion book is wildly expensive, I mean cmon $80+?
 

Lisa Myobun

Just got a new copy at a very nice price too, and yeah it is a very beautiful Thoth-based deck. Too bad the companion book is wildly expensive, I mean cmon $80+?



aquestionmark was willing to sell me theirs for much less than that. I was feeling pinched though so didn't take it... you might connect up with them..? I have an ISO thread going for the companion book on "Tarot Trading."
 

Anne_23

I purchased mine from a local metaphysical store for $60 with deck. It was the last one. I will keep an eye out for others in the area.
 

EmpyreanKnight

aquestionmark was willing to sell me theirs for much less than that. I was feeling pinched though so didn't take it... you might connect up with them..? I have an ISO thread going for the companion book on "Tarot Trading."

Oh, my apologies, I completely missed your reply. I already have a sturdy pile of Tarot and Lenormand books in my to-read table, so I'm not really angling for a copy of the Navigators companion book right now. But thanks for your gracious offer, Lisa. :laugh: