What do you love most about RWS?

MagsStardustBlack

Hi Folks!

I have just received my first ever RWS deck, the 'Pamela Colman Commemorative Set'. I know next to nothing on the history of this deck but i know that some may say it is one of the most widly used classic tarot deck. I am so looking forward to finding out all about it and starting hopefully a long interesting study of the deck.

My question is to all you RWS students out there who have come to have great respect and appreciation for these cards and their history 'What do you love most?' Is it the art work, a particular card image, a particular piece of history, a little fact, something that is just 'so interesting', or the life of Waite or Smith, what is the best bit of crack you have found out so far????

I guess i feel it is such a huge subject and i'm at the begining, i would love some replies to give me food for though, points to consider for study ect.... an RWS brainstorm....

Many thanks

Mags :.)
 

Barleywine

What I like best about it (which I've said elsewhere here) is it's main "claim to fame:" the minor cards have visual cues or "hand-holds" that assist in pulling yourself into each card's meaning, unlike unillustrated pips. Of course, it does require that you absorb the encoded symbolism to a certain extent, but certainly doesn't exclude other interpretations. This makes it very fluid to read with, especially when inspiration and intuition falter. There is always something to latch onto and wrap a narrative around to get a stalled reading going again.
 

MagsStardustBlack

What I like best about it (which I've said elsewhere here) is it's main "claim to fame:" the minor cards have visual cues or "hand-holds" that assist in pulling yourself into each card's meaning, unlike unillustrated pips. Of course, it does require that you absorb the encoded symbolism to a certain extent, but certainly doesn't exclude other interpretations. This makes it very fluid to read with, especially when inspiration and intuition falter. There is always something to latch onto and wrap a narrative around to get a stalled reading going again.

Oh thanks Barleywine for sharing with me :.) Oh i had no idea about the 'visual cues'! assisting in pulling the reader into the card - that is fantastic and fascinating! I'l notice that now when i look through my new deck tonight when the house is quiet. So you are refering to the symbolism, so is the symbolism originate with RWS then? I wonder if it was the 'Arthur' guy who came up with the symbolism for the card images and meanings?
 

Barleywine

Oh thanks Barleywine for sharing with me :.) Oh i had no idea about the 'visual cues'! assisting in pulling the reader into the card - that is fantastic and fascinating! I'l notice that now when i look through my new deck tonight when the house is quiet. So you are refering to the symbolism, so is the symbolism originate with RWS then? I wonder if it was the 'Arthur' guy who came up with the symbolism for the card images and meanings?

It's Waite's take on the Golden Dawn system, to the extent that he felt permitted to reveal it. But you should be aware that he felt honor-bound by his oaths of secrecy not to directly divulge many of the esoteric teachings, so you're kind of on your own to tease some of it out, with help from other more recent interpretations. Crowley, Wang, the Ciceros and others who have taken on the GD system have been less chary of direct revelation. I don't suppose it matters much for divination, though, since all of the decks work for that in their own way.
 

MagsStardustBlack

Very cool! So the symbolism in the cards and what it means was supposed to be kept secret from everyday people :.o I expect the Golden Dawn was a magical society? As I say I know nothing and I have just started reading the old threads on the topic. So for you the 'cues' the symbols are the best bit! I can't wait to start to study them! :.)
 

Barleywine

Very cool! So the symbolism in the cards and what it means was supposed to be kept secret from everyday people :.o I expect the Golden Dawn was a magical society? As I say I know nothing and I have just started reading the old threads on the topic. So for you the 'cues' the symbols are the best bit! I can't wait to start to study them! :.)

Yep, the granddaddy of magical societies in the so-called Western Mystery Tradition at the end of the 19th century. Its repercussions are still being felt today, for better or worse depending on your outlook. I like the symbolic "cues" in the RWS illustrations because of the interpretive vistas they open up for the imagination to inhabit.
 

MagsStardustBlack

Aw wow, I need to find a thread about The Golden Dawn so I have a basic knowledge to build on - where to start aarrrr! And I think I'll take a few day to get a feel for the deck. Then pull a daily card to ponder in a relaxed approach. I mean the symbolism in a single card could be endless lol - an object, a position of an object, an element, a figure - expression posture position??? A cloud a tree a cup - endless. I can see why this is your fave' aspect of the RWS.
 

Barleywine

Aw wow, I need to find a thread about The Golden Dawn so I have a basic knowledge to build on - where to start aarrrr! And I think I'll take a few day to get a feel for the deck. Then pull a daily card to ponder in a relaxed approach. I mean the symbolism in a single card could be endless lol - an object, a position of an object, an element, a figure - expression posture position??? A cloud a tree a cup - endless. I can see why this is your fave' aspect of the RWS.

If you go looking for Golden Dawn, you will find that it's still alive today in a later incarnation. You could do worse than pull up "Liber T" from one of the free websites. It's where both Waite and Crowley started from when they initially developed their approaches, but Crowley went ahead and published the whole thing in his Equinox periodical.
 

MagsStardustBlack

Thanks Barleywine. I'll take your pointers and do some research into it - Oooo exciting :.)
 

Barleywine

Thanks Barleywine. I'll take your pointers and do some research into it - Oooo exciting :.)

And thank you for the dialogue :). These forums definitely have some lively minds!