The more I see it, the less I like it.

Teheuti

You might be surprised by how much other authors have mined Waite's book for his descriptions of the cards - almost word-for-word. His chapter on the Secret Tradition is brilliant, but I understand that most don't have the patience to get past his off-putting style.
 

donnalee

You might be surprised by how much other authors have mined Waite's book for his descriptions of the cards - almost word-for-word. His chapter on the Secret Tradition is brilliant, but I understand that most don't have the patience to get past his off-putting style.


I understand he is widely quoted and that there may be insight in it in many places, but I find the murk and criticism of other people's theories in the book, plus some of the major arcana stuff, to be too...oh, self-inflating, self-serving, as opposed to clear of ego. Do you know what I mean? Some of the work is great and indeed has contributed tremendously to tarot in the last hundred+ years, and much is still used, and he *still*, to me, sounds like someone I'd rather not listen to in person. YMMV.
 

Teheuti

I agree that his way of putting down other authors is unnecessary, mostly untrue and unpleasant. It's mostly found in his Bibliography. But Part II: The Doctrine Behind the Veil, which includes the individual card meanings and his brilliant chapter on "The Tarot and Secret Tradition" have little of that. I see his negativity as a flaw in his character (maybe the result of high-functioning Asperger's?).
 

GlitterNova

I've found that within the last month or so, I've started thinking the opposite of this thread title. My miniature deck collection feels nicely rounded and the only thing it's missing is a goold ol' RWS. The more I've looked at other decks, the more I've come to appreciate the artistic qualities of the RWS. I think seeing the Llewellyn Classic tarot made me realize this. There's nothing wrong with that deck per se, but looking at it made me realize how much I mentally rely on the iconic images of the RWS. Maybe it's because I've been studying a busy deck lately, but the nice and simple depictions of the RWS feel pleasantly refreshing.

Note: when I say 'simple', I mean aesthetically simple, not symbolically simple :)
 

lefty

(sorry for the off topic post)
 

rwcarter

Moderator Note

That is interesting !

But first ... what do you mean by : " but it was always intellectual" ? ? ?

Is that in relation to the 'pathworking' process, in that pathworking is a more 'mystical / imaginative' process rather than an 'intellectual' process ?

Or :

That Pixie's images are less 'intellectual' (being more 'romantic fantasy tradition' ) and hence stimulate your imagination better and allow you to enter an 'alternate pathworking state' of consciousness ?
This is not the thread to answer those questions. But please feel free to start a new thread in RWS to have that discussion. :)

rwcarter, Moderator of Rider-Waite-Smith
 

rwcarter

Moderator Note

This may not qualify as I'm using the Universal Waite, but I just keep being blown away by the depth of meaning in the cards and the breadth of symbols in the images. I'm studying this deck deeply because of the "Things I missed ..." thread. I'm also looking to see if anything really is missing from the Universal Waite when compared to one of the other editions-- so far, nothing. Pixie's drawings have given me a way climb into the cards. I've tried meditating on, or pathworking with, the images on other decks but it was always intellectual.
Again, this isn't the thread to discuss what is/isn't missing from the Universal Waite compared to the Rider Waite. As the Rider Waite would be used for comparison, such a thread would be welcome here. General discussion about the Universal Waite should occur in the Tarot Decks forum though.

rwcarter, Moderator of Rider-Waite-Smith
 

Chrystella

I received my Rider-Waite as a gift when I was about 16 from someone who is very special to me. It had been her deck and so I loved it from the start. Over the years, I drifted away from it as I discovered other beautiful decks and I kinda thought the same thing, that the Rider-Waite paled in comparison to some really gorgeous and artistic decks out there. Last year, I picked up my old Rider-Waite again and suddenly found it just as special as the day it was given to me. I've been working with it almost exclusively lately.
 

AnemoneRosie

It's taken me a really long time to figure out why I feel so alienated from this deck. I've had it for 16 years and, while I have loved Tarot since before someone gave it to me as my first deck, I've pretty much disliked it from the get-go and it's only within the past year that I can put my finger on why:

As someone who is neither Judeo- nor Christian in their heritage this deck just makes baffling little sense! I don't care about what the B and J mean on the Priestess' towers. They have no meaning to me because neither the Torah nor the Bible are my heritage nor am I an occultist. And that's just one example. This deck is chock-full of symbolism which is why it became so relevant and why it continues to be so. However, all of those symbols are Jewish, Christian, or Occult. And if none of those three traditions resonate with you then this deck is essentially meaningless and instead just an unending series of rote memorization tasks.

I found myself drawn to the TdM from the get-go but as a young teen I really lacked the means to get decks on my own. I used this deck that I hated for three or for years before giving up. I just could not get it to speak to me. Now I know why. I do wonder if the fact that the woman who gave it to me (a reader herself) was Catholic by heritage has something to do with it.