ivanna
I was also considering about getting a Golden Universal, but thos pieces of gold missin in the pent don't like me at all. Seems bad quality.
The more I see it, the less I like it.
I was also considering about getting a Golden Universal, but thos pieces of gold missin in the pent don't like me at all. Seems bad quality.
rwcarter
Moderator Note
The Golden Universal should be discussed over in the Tarot Decks forum as that deck has no direct connection to AE Waite or Pamela Colman Smith and therefore is not appropriate for the Rider-Waite-Smith forum.
The Golden Universal should be discussed over in the Tarot Decks forum as that deck has no direct connection to AE Waite or Pamela Colman Smith and therefore is not appropriate for the Rider-Waite-Smith forum.
bogiesan
>> Originally Posted by ivanna
I bought a Rider White month ago or so. I think is a fabulous deck to start and learn, but from some days ago, the more I look to the deck, the more I find it horrible. Ugly. Simpy, poor technical drawing, ugly colours. Even the blue sky of the star is ugly.
Does it happened to you?
Is the cheapest deck I think I have, so is the one I take with me on my bag, and is with me at the office, just in case I need it. But each time I find it more and more ugly. Total disconection with the deck.
<< I felt the same way, I actually do not and probably will not ever buy a standard RWS deck but I do believe it's important to have that style deck in my collection!! Anyway the cure for me was The Golden Universal by Lo Scarabeo
(Sorry if this has been said before, I've not gone back through the many pages of this thread. )
The original Waite-Smith deck must be regarded in its historical context. In addition to the economic and social circumstances surrounding the job's commission and execution, one must consider the printing technologies available at the time, the tools at the artist's disposal and her skills with them. There is also the question of the artist's style.
IF the Waite-Smith doesn't work for you, you should place it aside or, better yet, give it to a new tarot friend. You can always get another copy, edition or derivative deck later if you find yourself drawn back to Pamela's work.
Thoughtful
When l first got into tarot believe it or not l had not heard of the RW l had bought Kat Blacks Golden Tarot. Coming onto this wonderful forum l learnt about all the decks available including the RW, so l decided to invest in the Original Rider Waite. Like you l thought what an ugly dull deck, why is it so popular. I did buy several other Waite decks but still could not connect to them and l gave them away. Having bought different RW clones which l enjoyed and still enjoy using, l felt a calling to get back to the RW and bought the yellow box (which l know some of you do not like.)
The colours in this deck really pop for me although not garish. Certainly not that old drab colouring that did nothing for my intuitive reading. I have been enjoying studying these cards together with Robert Place's book The Tarot History, Symbolism and Divination and also Teheuti's book.
I have a new found respect for the RW so l would say, never say never, when you are ready they will call to you again. It's interesting why this should be so. l now love it and see so much more within its images, it speaks to me now and instead of just looking at me blankly and refusing to co-operate we have become friends. I am so pleased that at last l can enjoy and read with it.
Maybe it only gives its secrets up as in 'when the pupil is ready the master appears' who knows
journeyinghome
I'd be here for hours if I listed all the things I don't like about the RWS. However, I'm one of the many who feel it's worth having at least one in your collection - and I do like the colours of a 1970s one I acquired earlier this year (it's in a small collection I have to pass down the generations). Whilst it doesn't enthuse or inspire me, I do appreciate that modern tarot now would look very different indeed, if it weren't for the RWS.
I think someone else mentioned about the cards being like stage sets - I agree with this - it all is very "staged". It makes everything feel somehow fake, false, deceptive, to me. Perhaps I'm just odd and don't "get" the deck :/ *scuttling back to my Marseille cave now*
I think someone else mentioned about the cards being like stage sets - I agree with this - it all is very "staged". It makes everything feel somehow fake, false, deceptive, to me. Perhaps I'm just odd and don't "get" the deck :/ *scuttling back to my Marseille cave now*
Richard
I agree that for most people it is not worth trying to understand the RWS. It is full of all sorts of occult, astrological crap, and Waite apparently didn't pay Pamela enough for painting the images, and who in hell wants to read Waite's turgid prose to find out what the hell is going on with the deck's symbolism anyhow? Toss it out, and get Hello Kitty.
Meanwhile there may be a few oddballs who fancy that they find a guide to enlightenment in these ugly cards. Lord, help them escape their delusion.
Meanwhile there may be a few oddballs who fancy that they find a guide to enlightenment in these ugly cards. Lord, help them escape their delusion.
Thoughtful
Do you put yourself in the category of oddball LR, as l see you have an interest in the Rider Waite decks 
You will not rain on my parade l have come to love it, l have always wanted to connect to this deck now l have.
Yes its a pity and a total shame that PCS wasn't paid the money she deserved. I honour her memory by learning all l can about her visionary artwork in this deck. Robert Place mentions in his book that Waite left her to draw the artwork thus allowing her to present her own impressions and interpretations as to what each card represented, Waite just put forward a very few ideas. She was l hear very intuitive and psychic and l hope to read more into the ideas and impressions of the images she drew rather then Waites astrology etc. (or crap as you put it!).
I have not read anything Waite himself wrote so l obviously cannot comment, though interestingly enough Place does amend a few of Waites errors.
When l can afford it my next purchase will be the newer Pamela Colman Smith Anniversary deck, so there
You will not rain on my parade l have come to love it, l have always wanted to connect to this deck now l have. Yes its a pity and a total shame that PCS wasn't paid the money she deserved. I honour her memory by learning all l can about her visionary artwork in this deck. Robert Place mentions in his book that Waite left her to draw the artwork thus allowing her to present her own impressions and interpretations as to what each card represented, Waite just put forward a very few ideas. She was l hear very intuitive and psychic and l hope to read more into the ideas and impressions of the images she drew rather then Waites astrology etc. (or crap as you put it!).
I have not read anything Waite himself wrote so l obviously cannot comment, though interestingly enough Place does amend a few of Waites errors.
When l can afford it my next purchase will be the newer Pamela Colman Smith Anniversary deck, so there
Thoughtful
I held your view for quite a few years but when the call comes you have to answer it
Like you l did not "get" the deck and wondered why everyone was so enthusiastic about it. It just did not inspire me at all, and as l said earlier it just looked at me blankly. How or why this changed l do not know. I would also go back to my 1JJ and buy the newer clone decks also, so l understand you scuttling back to the known and loved.
Yes they are stage sets which was very much Pamela's forte and work. They do not inhibit or worry me in the least.
Maybe one day you will get the call also
Teheuti
Because PCS said almost nothing about the deck and never refers to Tarot elsewhere, it is easy for people to make up what she thought and did. Place is not an expert on this deck, nor on Waite, and himself has many errors in his discussion of the deck - including the method of printing, which is totally wrong. The rest of Place's book is excellent, but please don't use it as a guide to the Waite-Smith deck. Most of his insights on the cards can be found in earlier books.
Waite states very clearly in two places that he spoon-fed Smith carefully with several cards. He wrote quite a bit on Tarot before and after this deck, and he references many of the unique card symbols in his other writings because they are central to his whole philosophy. The astrological hints are to the Golden Dawn system of correspondences - not to some made-up "Waite's astrology."
Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin will be coming out next year with a book on this deck that is based on extensive research into that year in Pixie Smith's life, including the source of many of her images, especially in the Minor Arcana (which she illustrated much more on her own).
Richard
I am Le Mat, the prince of oddballs.Do you put yourself in the category of oddball LR, as l see you have an interest in the Rider Waite decks
That's the best there is! You can get the deck (Smith-Waite Centennial) without the books and stuff, but the extra goodies in the set are scrumptious.......When l can afford it my next purchase will be the newer Pamela Colman Smith Anniversary deck, so there
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