Llewellyn's Classic Tarot

daphne said:

Can you please give some examples of better books by her?

Click to expand...

I never saw the fool's dog app book - but good books by her include
Tarot Spreads and Tarot for Beginners.

and for companion books - Mystic Faerie, Mystic Dreamer, Steampunk, Book of Shadows, Hidden Realm, Gilded (the one CALLED Gilded; the one with that deck, in the box called "Easy Tarot" is by Cassandra Eason and isn't nearly as good.), Vampires of the Eternal Night, Shadowscapes, and Silver Witchcraft, which I haven't read yet.

I value ALL of them. They are all very well done; readable and useful.

ETA @ MissDivine - I too value loads of books. I just said that I reckon this set will be worth getting for the book alone - I suspect it will have interesting Waite-related info. And even if it doesn't, I think it will be a valuable help with using the original Waite/Smith deck.

Melia said:

I like this deck. Thanks for sharing the links. I don't love the card back design, but I don't dislike it. Could anything be worse than those horrid, blue tartan backs? The only card I dislike is the moon; otherwise I think it's a good, 'classic' RWS deck, and it's one I will purchase.

Click to expand...

I feel the same way about those blue tartan backs, Melia! Yuck.

I actually find Llewellyn's Classic Tarot quite aesthetically pleasing, from what I've seen of it online. It is probably something I'll eventually pick up, but it's not something I'm going to rush out and snatch off the shelf. For the moment, I will be content with my Radiant RW, which I've grown quite fond of.

Le Fanu said:

I've seen this around - the Fools Dog app has been available for some time.

I just ask myself WHY? Really. I mean why? Why on earth does the world need this? All that effort. All that paper. For something which is basically pseudo-everything-that-has-copied-the-RWS-since-whenever

Click to expand...

It is simple, why they made the deck. They want a Rider Waite Clone they can use in their books instead of using the actual Rider Waite and paying for it.

Lee said:

My apologies if there's another thread on this -- I sought but did not find. I'd be surprised, in fact, if there's no previous discussion on this deck. It was created by Barbara Moore and illustrated by Eugene Smith.

Aeclectic entry: Llewellyn's Classic Tarot

Amazon link

And a good video review by Angelo Nasios.

Apparently the deck has just recently become available.

It's a fairly close RWS clone very much in the fashion of the Sharman-Caselli and Morgan-Greer decks. In fact, I can spot influences from both those decks.

In looking at the scans, I was initially put off a bit by the art -- I would have preferred something a little more polished. And yet, taken as a whole, the images have a certain personality to them.

It looks like a good deck for when you just want a fun, relaxing, RWS-like experience but without the RWS stiffness -- perhaps good for storytelling, creative exercises, or simply practicing linking cards together, but clearly not for serious Golden-Dawn-related study. It lacks the precision and draftsmanship of the Sharman-Caselli but seems better-informed (i.e. perhaps better communication between the creator and the artist) than that deck.

I ordered it.

Click to expand...

Thank you for posting my video!

I got the Fools Dog app, to check the cards and book out. The book is ok and some of the cards are really nice, for instance the Ace of Cups, and the Star. But some of the other cards bother me to where I won't be paying 30+ dollars for it.

The Moon.. normally associated with feminine energy, so why is there a man's face in the moon?

Six of Wands.. Everyone looks so sullen. Is this a joyous victory or a funeral?

Actually quite a lot of the faces of these characters look a bit weird.

Lastly .. The six of cups.. Who is that shrouded creepy figure off to the distance?

Hmmmm

EightWands said:

The Moon.. normally associated with feminine energy, so why is there a man's face in the moon?

Lastly .. The six of cups.. Who is that shrouded creepy figure off to the distance?

Click to expand...

The moon card is my least favourite card in this deck. But, I don't understand the issue you have with the 6 cups in this deck, as there is a figure in the distance in the RWS 6 cups too.

Melia said:

The moon card is my least favourite card in this deck. But, I don't understand the issue you have with the 6 cups in this deck, as there is a figure in the distance in the RWS 6 cups too.

Click to expand...

Not really an "issue", as I'd buy the deck if this was the only thing I was bugged about. In the RWS, the guard isn't shrouded, and he's not staring at the kids. He's facing the property. I just get a bit of a creep vibe from this particular guard, silly as it sounds.

The Moon card is what bothers me the most.

ETA: I love the backs. Apparently I'm in the minority.

What bothers me with this deck is its close resemblance to other tarots - too many to mention. A tarot reader's digest - three pretty girls from the Lo Scarabeo, a strong Empress and a light footed Fool from Anna K. and so on...

Maybe I'm wrong or unfair but this seems to me like a tea bag that is used for the xth time. Not to my taste.

I'm in the minority too because I really like this deck. The major reason is it has no borders. It shuffles like a dream and the pictures are so much nicer then the RWS...I dont even mind the backs.

I received this deck a few days ago and have done several readings with it. It's funny how physical cards compare with scanned images -- sometimes the scans make it look better, sometimes worse. In this case I have to say that the images look better in person than on scans. Even the card backs look better -- still not my favorite but certainly acceptable. The artwork looks more polished on the actual cards.

I have to agree that several cards seem to deliberately echo other decks, as folks have mentioned above, and this is mildly distracting. Other cards, though, seem completely original.

It's a very pleasant deck to read with, as I suspected it would be. Except for the occasional aforementioned unoriginality, there's nothing jarring here that will take you out of your reading. (Although the more-dynamic-than-usual Hermit might seem a bit alarming at first -- he looks like he's about to climb right out of the card and onto your hand). The artwork, while suggestive, seems to gracefully step out of the way so that you can stroll into your reading without being stopped in your tracks by heavy-handed artwork.

I don't mind about the Moon card -- I like it when deck artists do some playing around with genders. Besides, they do call it "the Man in the Moon"!

Overall, the deck this reminds me most of is the Morgan-Greer, because of the borderless-ness and the bright, strong colors (and the similarities in several of the images). The Morgan-Greer has a stronger personality of its own, but for many of the cards I prefer the Classic, which tends to follow RWS-like meanings more closely.