Newbie here, do I have to learn on Rider waite?

GlamGemini

I'm new to tarot as well, and am not learning on a Rider-Waite deck. When I went shopping the gentleman who helped me led me to the tarot deck section and told
me to take my time and choose a deck that resonated with me. He said that if I didn't like the deck I wasn't likely to work with it. I chose the Afro Brazilian Tarot Deck by Alice Santana, which I love so much, and look forward to working with every chance I can!


Oooh thats lovely. I must look it up online.

I must say I've been really loving the look of the Cosmic Tarot, just drawn to the pictures. After reading up about it afterwards, I was intrigued to learn it is based on the golden dawn type stuff, which is astrology related and i'm well versed in astrology. So i have bought the app and am currently playing on it a lot.
 

GlamGemini

What is great about this community is that there are no tarot police here 😄 All types of readers are welcomed.

I don't think you necessarily need a rider Waite smith deck, unless you plan on reading books about tarot that refer to it. In that case, it can be useful to refer to.

On the subject of not relating to the rider Waite smith artwork, I used to feel the same way until I got the centennial tarot commemorative set. It has a book about the artist and her work, and after reading it, I found myself loving the artwork. Not saying this is a requirement, just that it was a nice thing to happen.

I must say the Centennial one is really beautiful, if thats the one you mean? It looks very vintage and lovely.

Yes no tarot police thank goodness!
 

Gwynydd

Yes, that's the deck I mean 😊
 

Emeraud

Oooh thats lovely. I must look it up online.

I must say I've been really loving the look of the Cosmic Tarot, just drawn to the pictures. After reading up about it afterwards, I was intrigued to learn it is based on the golden dawn type stuff, which is astrology related and i'm well versed in astrology. So i have bought the app and am currently playing on it a lot.

Nice! It sounds like you and your deck are well suited to each other :)

I think the Afro-Brazilian Tarot deck's imagery is beautiful- rich colors, some cards are rather detailed. They give me a lot of room to explore, as an intuitive reader. It is my first and only deck at the moment, so I have no basis for comparison LOL

I like pictures- I'll follow your example and look up Cosmic Tarot online!
 

Nemia

The Cosmic is a great deck IMO. The idea that Hollywood stars have become archetypes of our time really speaks to me. And most of the people in the deck were stars before the "celebs craze" with paparazzi etc - Garbo or Ingrid Bergman are so much more than their biography or stardom, they stand for a certain way of being a woman, a person. Some of Lösche's choices are really inspired. I have identified most of them plus a painting by Bougereau and a ballet scene - I should open a thread about them? No time today but I will do it.

ETA: I've said already a number of times that IMO people who pooh-pooh the Cosmic and think "what a gimmick to glue celeb faces on the tarot" get the artist's intention wrong. We don't use the expression "cult movies" (in German Kultfilme) for nothing.
 

Barleywine

The Cosmic is a great deck IMO. The idea that Hollywood stars have become archetypes of our time really speaks to me. And most of the people in the deck were stars before the "celebs craze" with paparazzi etc - Garbo or Ingrid Bergman are so much more than their biography or stardom, they stand for a certain way of being a woman, a person. Some of Lösche's choices are really inspired. I have identified most of them plus a painting by Bougereau and a ballet scene - I should open a thread about them? No time today but I will do it.

ETA: I've said already a number of times that IMO people who pooh-pooh the Cosmic and think "what a gimmick to glue celeb faces on the tarot" get the artist's intention wrong. We don't use the expression "cult movies" (in German Kultfilme) for nothing.

I agree; this one is on my wish list. I appreciate the art for its own sake and probably won't spend any time trying to puzzle out who the stars are. But I'm sure there will be subconscious recognition of many of them simply because I've watched the old movies.
 

Dogs&Coffee

Hello!

Am a newbie here, and very new to Tarot. I've a couple of decks, mythic tarot from years ago which never gets used, and I've just got the Celestial Tarot, which is really right up my street with all the astrology as i've been into astrology for years and it really speaks to me.

However, I'm panicking as I'm wondering do I have to learn on a rider waite deck first? would that be best? Yet I just can't get anything from RWS, the pics don't do anything for me at all.

Help please! Also i'm finding tarot apps really good and really helpful in my learning as well which is something i didn't expect.


As a newbie myself, I've been learning on RWS based decks. I like the Revelations Tarot especially because the imagery and reversal imagery is easily interpreted.

While there are many kinds of tarot, I think it would probably behoove any newbie to have a grasp on RWS, as many decks are based on it. That being said, you don't have to use the old school RWS to start. Pick one that speaks to you. :3
 

Herodotus

I learned with the RWS. I was aware of its popularity going in, but I picked it because the artwork genuinely did speak to me (actually, Jimmy Page's use of a modified Smith Hermit is what spoke to me). If someone came to me for advice on picking their first pack with no idea where to start, I would absolutely suggest the Rider pack.
With that being said, though, there is absolutely no reason you can't start somewhere else, and if you've already got a deck that speaks to you, then there is no better place to begin.

But you already know this, because I'm like the 40th responder to this thread.

In case you're wondering, my second was a TdM and my third was the Thoth. I purposely built my collection around these "classics". I call them the Pillars of my collection (to use Kabbalistic terms, the TdM is the Pillar of Mercy, the Thoth is the Pillar of Severity, and the Rider is in the center - but that's just how I view them), and everything else in my collection more or less fits comfortably around these three pillars (alright, there is an outlier or two).
 

Barleywine

In case you're wondering, my second was a TdM and my third was the Thoth. I purposely built my collection around these "classics". I call them the Pillars of my collection (to use Kabbalistic terms, the TdM is the Pillar of Mercy, the Thoth is the Pillar of Severity, and the Rider is in the center - but that's just how I view them), and everything else in my collection more or less fits comfortably around these three pillars (alright, there is an outlier or two).

Hmm, I always found those TdM pips rather merciless . . . :) In my books, the Middle Pillar is the Pillar of Mildness, which seems to accommodate the RWS nicely between the other two.