Help me find a deck for meditation, contemplation, journaling, and healing

From your description of your needs/wishes/expectations and even before I saw the list you made, one name jumped to my mind: "Oh! that's a job for the Songs!" i thought.

I see weaver already gave the thumbs up to this deck as well. The Vision Quest is gorgeous, minors are based on Thoth, if i remember properly. But i never spent as much time with my Vision Quest as with the Songs, which is much more untraditional and warm, imo.

One last thing, if you decide to go ahead, keep in mind there are two versions of this deck, the regular-size and the mini. The mini edition colors are much more vibrant and in accordance with original artwork by Dwariko.
Off to get my own mini out and play a bit with it, now, it's been a while ;-)

It's nice to have you with us again, 2_Journey, and nice to hear that Life makes you smile and keeps you happily busy

K

I love The Wheel. Lots of thought went into it and you can get a lot out of it.

You might also consider Osho Zen Tarot--or the Tao Oracle.

2_Journey said:

Ooooh, the Vision Quest is gorgeous! I had never seen it before. If I can get past the Native American theme, it might work perfectly. I love the minors.

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I know what you mean regarding concerns about the deck's Native American theme. While I very much prefer working with multicultural Tarot decks, I am not a Native American woman and so, at first blush and despite the deck's attractive artwork, I wondered if it would be a good fit for me. I need not have worried. So much of the deck's focus is rooted in finding positive ways of living in harmony with our environment that despite my initial concerns, I no longer view Vision Quest as a deck with a narrow or specific theme. The deck's accompanying booklet is fantastic, too! (It is basically a book that has been squeezed into a booklet format.) Very positive and insightful, it provides a lot of food for thought. As an aside, Vision Quest is currently my favorite deck for use in my daily morning meditation draws. That is my favorite use for this deck though I have also used it when reading for others.

2_Journey said:

Does anyone know if it is OOP? Amazon says "ships in 2-3 weeks," which I sometimes think means, "out of print but we haven't updated our database yet," lol. Lovely deck that I would never have considered. Thanks for the recommendation!

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As I understand it, AGM simply doesn't enjoy the wide reaching mass distribution here in the States the way some other non-US publishers do. Thus, when one of their deck titles run out here, it can take a while before replacements turn up despite the fact that the deck may very well still be in print. It is possible that is what is currently happening with the Vision Quest deck.

I hope these thoughts are helpful!

You might also consider the Fifth Tarot:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/fifth/

Kissa said:

From your description of your needs/wishes/expectations and even before I saw the list you made, one name jumped to my mind: "Oh! that's a job for the Songs!" i thought.

I see weaver already gave the thumbs up to this deck as well.

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Once again we are on the same page, Kissa!

The Songs for the Journey Home's companion book basically takes my breath away. Catherine Cook and Dwariko von Sommaruga are profoundly wise women, I think.

weaver said:

We are on the same page, Kissa!

The deck's companion book basically takes my breath away. Catherine Cook and Dwariko von Sommaruga are profoundly wise women, I think.

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Another vote for the Songs for the Journey Home here. I've met Dwariko a few times and she is lovely. For journalling I think this deck is perfect.

A deck which I think could be wonderful for meditation is the Ananda

I'll cheerily back up all the votes for the Songs - it is a wonder, that deck, an absolute wonder. But you MUST get the companion book with it!

If it proves too difficult or expensive to procure, then the logical Plan B would, of course, be my beloved Wheel of Change - it is such a profound deck, with everything that you mentioned. I trimmed mine because I hated the colour-coded borders, and it's made the cards the perfect size. It is truly lovely, truly. Cards like the 8 and 9 of Swords, the 5 of Wands and the Princess of Swords take my breath away.

Good luck choosing! Please let us know which way you decide?

\m/ Kat

The Tarot of Transformation is simply gorgeous - absolutely beautiful: brimming with positive, gentle, comforting, inspiring, feminine energy. I use it a lot for meditation, self-developmental transformation, journaling & comfort. It's the wise, caring mother, aunt, cousin or godmother I never had! <Rushes to shelf to get it out right now before bedtime.>


eta: I really love the Wheel of Change too. It's just so relevant & meaningful to me.

Oh my goodness!! I came back from work and this thread just grew and grew! Thank you all for your wonderful replies. I'll try to respond to everyone.

Grizabella - Pearls of Wisdom looks like such a fun deck! I haven't seen it in great detail before. It looks almost too busy for me. Maybe in person it is less so because the cards are bigger?

Nevada - Tarot of Transformation is another one that's been on my radar. The borders look so big though! Do they detract from the images, I wonder?

Kissa - Hi Kissa. Another vote for the Songs I see. I already have the mini, which is so cute but almost too small to use as a regular deck. If I were to use it for my purposes, I would need to invest in the larger version for sure.

greycats - I had the Osho Zen and gave it away. Some of the cards felt like they were from an entirely different deck. But I had never heard of the oracle. I'll have to look it up. Thanks for clueing me in to a new deck!

weaver - The Vision Quest is officially on my wish list! I generally tend to steer clear of Native American theme decks for cultural reasons. I'm taking a Anthropology of Native North American class now (back in school - one of many exciting changes going on now!) and I keep reading about how Native American culture has been misinterpreted, misused, misunderstood. But I think this deck seems not to be so Native American based as nature-based, with mythlike people inhabiting it. And the booklet sounds like a good read as well.

bodhran - I gave the Fifth Tarot a look several months ago and didn't like it. Don't know why. Then I clicked the link you provided and -- wow! The minors! The majors! I think I might be in love! Surely the entire deck can't be so amazing. And -- a fifth suit. That would certainly be something different.

avalonian - I know almost nothing about the artists. I'll need to swing by their website soon before my wish list gets too much longer.

Le Fanu - Another deck I hadn't considered. I actually had never heard of it before. Some of the cards are lovely! I will have to keep my eye on that deck for sure.

thorhammer - I know what you mean about the Wheel of Change! Such a lovely, lovely, unexpected deck. I bought mine purely out of interest, and sometimes those cards still take my breath away. But -- I've worked with it extensively before. (Trimmed mine too. Horrid borders.) I think for my purposes I want to use a deck that feels as new as I feel right now. I'm not sure, though, because it is nearly perfect for my purposes.

Starshower - Hmmm...another vote for the Tarot of Transformation. I may have to give that deck another look. I had originaly discounted it because of the large borders. Hmmm. Will have to study it further.


Thank you all for your wonderful responses. I will need to think this over. I am sensing I may invest in a few decks and decide which ones to work with more exclusively after working with them for a little while. I will definatley let everyone know what I decide once I've decided.

Short list so far:
Vision Quest
Fifth Tarot
Songs for the Journey Home (if only I could find an affordable full sized deck/book set, this would be perfect!)
Circle of Life

More research before I can discount them: Tarot of Transformation, Ananda, Tao Oracle.


Ooooooh! Deck shopping! However will I cope?!