Alta
Yes, I did. It was the only deck around in 1971 when I started on this winding path. That deck plus a 'cook-book' sort of guide book. Also read the Pictorial Key.
Did you start with RWS?
SharonS
Yes this was my first deck. I was in a book-store one day at the mall when I was 10 and seen it. That was it...had to have it to start with!
~SharonS
~SharonS
frelkins
no I've just never been able to connect with it. As 13 once said its meanings seem so "downbeat." I appreciate the arts & crafts style Pixie had but I just can't get into it.
thorhammer
Solitaire* said:I didn't. I fought it for a long, long time. But finally I realized that if I was going to REALLY learn, I was going to have to get an ugly ol' RWS and learn with it.So then is when I learned the most about tarot. Once I did that, it's been wonderful from there. I still have the RWS deck, but I don't use it anymore.
Minus the long, long time (forgive my grasshopper-ness, Sensei!) I was the same. I didn't like it at all. When I first laid eyes on a TArot deck, it was the Shining Woman, and I bought it, although I was 16, not working and at a Catholic all-girls boarding school! I guess it's basically RWS in its approach, but soooo different from any other I've seen. I feel so lucky to have been broken in by that particular deck.
Solitaire* said:
I feel the same way, but I dont' think it was a childhood thing. I feel more like it's a collective unconscious thing! I have a Universal Waite, and it has taught me a lot, but I don't like it. I keep it for learning purposes, but I don't think that will last long. I almost never use it, and I've only had it for about a month! Since all my other decks except the Rohrig are at least loosely based on RWS, I don't think I need the actual thing. I've got the PKT and 78 Degrees, if I want to be reminded of just how creepy I find the pictures.
\m/ Kat
Vetch
[Hiya, Thorhammer ]
Argh, it took me some time to find this branch of the forum! Please excuse, have written some of this before in another thread.
Pamela's deck was my first; bought it in my later teens. I think my next one was the Thoth, because Crowley was Coolness among us initiated...
My tarot-journey from there on was long and winding and not very successful at the time. Very good for the vendors though. Because Pamela's deck, being the one that 'everbody' had, seemed insufficient for Me The Initiated, I bought deck after deck, book after book, and never did I feel comfortable, confident nor satisfied, neither with the cards nor with myself using them.
I really can't say why and when I finally decided to return to Pamela. But it made 'click'. I think there are two books which helped me: Carol Bridge's "Tarot of the Medicine Woman" (not sure if the title is correct, in German it's "Das Tarot der Medizinfrau"); but most of all Jean Feer's "Towards a reclaimed Tarot".
I don't agree on everything Jean Freer writes (especially not with her interpretations of certain 'male' cards as the Emperor, the Hierophant and the Kings), but on a whole her book was like an epiphany, a real revelation to me.
And the final understanding I needed was provided by my temporary spiritual teacher HGA; she explained those 'male' cards in a way I could relate to.
So the ground was prepared, and my own way of using Pamala's deck has beautifully flourished from that soil ever since.
]Argh, it took me some time to find this branch of the forum! Please excuse, have written some of this before in another thread.
Pamela's deck was my first; bought it in my later teens. I think my next one was the Thoth, because Crowley was Coolness among us initiated...
My tarot-journey from there on was long and winding and not very successful at the time. Very good for the vendors though. Because Pamela's deck, being the one that 'everbody' had, seemed insufficient for Me The Initiated, I bought deck after deck, book after book, and never did I feel comfortable, confident nor satisfied, neither with the cards nor with myself using them.
I really can't say why and when I finally decided to return to Pamela. But it made 'click'. I think there are two books which helped me: Carol Bridge's "Tarot of the Medicine Woman" (not sure if the title is correct, in German it's "Das Tarot der Medizinfrau"); but most of all Jean Feer's "Towards a reclaimed Tarot".
I don't agree on everything Jean Freer writes (especially not with her interpretations of certain 'male' cards as the Emperor, the Hierophant and the Kings), but on a whole her book was like an epiphany, a real revelation to me.
And the final understanding I needed was provided by my temporary spiritual teacher HGA; she explained those 'male' cards in a way I could relate to.
So the ground was prepared, and my own way of using Pamala's deck has beautifully flourished from that soil ever since.
Cari
I am using the RWS deck because I find it easier to learn with. Hopefully when I get comfortable enough I can use other decks. I've seen some beautiful ones out there!
earth starr
I love my Rider Waite cards and they're great to learn with, really teaching the symbolizm in the cards.
There's lots of decks I have seen that have caught my eye (especially since joining this site lol) but i will always come back to my RW.
There's lots of decks I have seen that have caught my eye (especially since joining this site lol) but i will always come back to my RW.
All Is One
I had my mother's copy of the RWS and her copy of the Aquarian much later (which I had trouble reading with at first but found truly lovely.)
Did all of you have any experience with the different printings of the RWS being more to less of a degree offset on the color printing?
Of the two decks of RWS I inherited one was super pulpy and cheap and had all the color outside of the lines as if the printer were drunk as hell when he made the deck. It made it almost impossible to use the deck and I finally took that version and began making notes on the backs of the cards as it was too tortured to work with.
I've seen a few like that around since then and wondered if anyone else had come across the wretched things.
Did all of you have any experience with the different printings of the RWS being more to less of a degree offset on the color printing?
Of the two decks of RWS I inherited one was super pulpy and cheap and had all the color outside of the lines as if the printer were drunk as hell when he made the deck. It made it almost impossible to use the deck and I finally took that version and began making notes on the backs of the cards as it was too tortured to work with.
I've seen a few like that around since then and wondered if anyone else had come across the wretched things.
Starling
Smith-Waite
I've bought other decks, but this is the one I use.
I've bought other decks, but this is the one I use.
Orlando
Aquarian Age
My first deck (which, happily, I still own and use) was Palladini's wonderful Aquarian Tarot which I acquired around 1970/71 shortly after its first appearance and I was still a child. Although I moved on to the RWS, I still often use the Aquarian--largely for the sheer beauty of its images.
My first deck (which, happily, I still own and use) was Palladini's wonderful Aquarian Tarot which I acquired around 1970/71 shortly after its first appearance and I was still a child. Although I moved on to the RWS, I still often use the Aquarian--largely for the sheer beauty of its images.
