Pros and Cons Thread #3 - Enabling and De-Enabling

Nemia said:

I feel the need to splurge on ONE of these decks. They're both beautiful, I can't decide.

I'm a star gazer and the Cosmos Tarot seems to fit the bill admirably. It's based on real constellations, celestial bodies and astronomical phenomena. It's a tarot and oracle together, something I've always wanted to try.

BUT it's a collaborative deck, and while I can "feel" some of the cards very well, others seem totally "off" to me. (I must have looked at that website I don't know how many times!) And I can't remember many people here telling us how they love this deck. Maybe I have overlooked it? There's pretty little echo of this deck.

So lovely ATers who own this deck, how does it read? how do you connect to it?

The Uusi Pagan Otherworlds is breathtakingly beautiful, I love the theme, and I see many people really love this deck and work with it.

So what would you recommend? what do you have to add? I can afford only one (actually NONE but let's forget that...), so which should it be?

Click to expand...

No question, get Pagan Otherwords!!! I see Light Grey gets passed around, but I have yet to see someone get rid of PO.

Nemia said:

I feel the need to splurge on ONE of these decks. They're both beautiful, I can't decide.

I'm a star gazer and the Cosmos Tarot seems to fit the bill admirably. It's based on real constellations, celestial bodies and astronomical phenomena. It's a tarot and oracle together, something I've always wanted to try.

BUT it's a collaborative deck, and while I can "feel" some of the cards very well, others seem totally "off" to me. (I must have looked at that website I don't know how many times!) And I can't remember many people here telling us how they love this deck. Maybe I have overlooked it? There's pretty little echo of this deck.

So lovely ATers who own this deck, how does it read? how do you connect to it?

The Uusi Pagan Otherworlds is breathtakingly beautiful, I love the theme, and I see many people really love this deck and work with it.

So what would you recommend? what do you have to add? I can afford only one (actually NONE but let's forget that...), so which should it be?

Click to expand...

I adore the Cosmos Tarot & Oracle, it's in my top ten and I have a whole lot of decks. The production values are stunning, the artwork is gorgeous and it's an absolute bargain for what you get. There are two cards I really don't like (Temperance & Page Of Earth) but the gold, embossed constellations tie the collaborative art together beautifully. I've used this A LOT and there isn't a hint of wear on the deck.

The thing to bear in mind though, is it's very much its own system. Some of the meanings happen to tie in with traditional systems but most won't. I have managed to read it successfully as a RW but I'm an odd ferret most of the time I use it as an intuitive deck or as an oracle, using the guidebook interpretations. It's a beautiful deck and I love it enough to want a backup copy (only 2 others have made that list), but really it's more of an oracle.

Edit: To answer the actual question I connected to it deeply and it reads great for me all three ways I read with it, as long as I'm clear which way I'm going to use it before I shuffle.

G6 said:

I never picked up the Fountain, but I felt the same way about it as you describe above that there seems to be a certain sterility about it. The collab or "lab" production approach is a good point. Some people say it's a great reader though, so I might try it at some point if the opportunity makes sense for me at the time.

Click to expand...

I like it a lot. It's coolish, but I've not found it cold. I read with it after my Gran died and I needed something soothing and gentle and not too gritty or dark. I found the vibe from it very comforting as the cards it gave me were honest, totally relevant, very beautiful and also validating of what I was feeling. I don't think online scans do it justice and it handles much better as a physical deck. Laying the cards out together gives me a really clear feeling for a reading as the colours and lines work together to paint a picture, but it's more than just a pretty deck. The people portrayed are very realistic. The fact that they look like real individuals rather than having generic features is I understand off-putting for some people, but for me this gives the deck a real depth and humanity that it's easy to overlook. I don't think it's ever going to be one of those decks that packs a massive punch or socks it to you 'no holds barred'. But I can honestly say that in my readings with it, it's definitely not sterile or uncommunicative, it's been very evocative and has made an impression that has lingered.

fountain

G6 said:

I never picked up the Fountain, but I felt the same way about it as you describe above that there seems to be a certain sterility about it. The collab or "lab" production approach is a good point. Some people say it's a great reader though, so I might try it at some point if the opportunity makes sense for me at the time.

Click to expand...

for me the 'sterility' you mention is exactly why i love the fountain so much. it only gives me soft nudges in a couple of possible directions, without being glaringly obvious in its imagery about how they think you should interpret the card. what a breath of fresh air among all those themed decks with 'in your face' scenes or with signs, symbols and correspondences in every possible nook and cranny, that only let you wring out a more than vaguely useful message by great mental and intuitive force...... (sorry for the rant, i guess there is a reason for my growing interest in tdM based decks)
i have been using the fountain for a monthly spread i am developing based upon a book (only in dutch, sorry) about living in sync with the cycles of nature. the author has created and tested a 5 layered system, based upon the I Ching, which i have been using for a while now and i am trying to see how Tarot can build upon and add to this system. the fountain is perfect for this kind of work, i love using it and it indeed reads wonderfully, even within a completely different method of divination. so as far as i am concerned, we need more decks, like the fountain, that lend themselves to very personal and deep reading.
i wouldn't know about reading for others though, i only do that incidentally and always let the querent pick the deck, which is never the fountain, lol, go figure.....

Fountain Tarot

My other issue is that it's photo based and I usually find those too specific to the point of distraction. It really depends for me how manipulated the photos used are in the final product. I have the same hesitation with the Starchild Tarot not quite sure if the photo/photo manipulation would be a deal breaker or not.

Nemia said:

I feel the need to splurge on ONE of these decks. They're both beautiful, I can't decide.

I'm a star gazer and the Cosmos Tarot seems to fit the bill admirably. It's based on real constellations, celestial bodies and astronomical phenomena. It's a tarot and oracle together, something I've always wanted to try.

BUT it's a collaborative deck, and while I can "feel" some of the cards very well, others seem totally "off" to me. (I must have looked at that website I don't know how many times!) And I can't remember many people here telling us how they love this deck. Maybe I have overlooked it? There's pretty little echo of this deck.

So lovely ATers who own this deck, how does it read? how do you connect to it?

The Uusi Pagan Otherworlds is breathtakingly beautiful, I love the theme, and I see many people really love this deck and work with it.

So what would you recommend? what do you have to add? I can afford only one (actually NONE but let's forget that...), so which should it be?

Click to expand...

I really want the Cosmos deck. When I first saw it, I instantly wanted it, then talked myself out of it. Then I got a reading with it and it was sooo good and then I re-looked at it and I don't see any downsides like I did before. I have Pagan Otherworlds. It's a very nice deck. Not one I've connected with super well yet, but I have hope for it in the future. Actually I'm looking at some readings I did with it about six months and they do seem pretty accurate, so maybe I connected better than I thought I did at the time.

Thoughts on the Thelema Tarot? Usually decks like this do not appeal to me at ALL. But for some reason I've felt drawn to it since I first saw it over a year ago and I still find myself looking at it. It seems like it would be easy to read. What's your experience with it been like?

G6 said:

My other issue is that it's photo based and I usually find those too specific to the point of distraction. It really depends for me how manipulated the photos used are in the final product. I have the same hesitation with the Starchild Tarot not quite sure if the photo/photo manipulation would be a deal breaker or not.

Click to expand...

It's not photos, just very realistic oil paintings based on real people. I agree with you otherwise, that's why I passed on the Starchild.

So... getting intrigued by the Haindl Tarot. Wondering about folks' experiences with it, and also whether y'all think getting a vintage copy makes a difference here (seems like these are readily available on eBay)... thoughts?

Mythical Goddess Tarot

RavenOfSummer said:

This is the deck I'm asking about, just to be clear since there are quite a few Goddess decks!: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/mythical-goddess/

Opinions? Pros? Cons? Likes? Dislikes?

Click to expand...

Just bumping this question on the Mythical Goddess to see if anyone has thoughts they'd like to share on it

Sasuraibito Tarot

I know this is a fairly new indie deck, but if anyone has any pros and cons for it I'd love to hear. I'm curious about the cardstock, as glided decks seem to be either hit or miss vis-à-vis the cards tearing each other up or not.