Gypsy Palace Tarot

velvetina

It was my birthday last month - :) - and I was given the Gypsy Palace tarot.

It's not a deck I'd have chosen, but I've been looking through it, checked out various YouTube videos and have found myself warming to it. I think its the colours - its such a contrast to my beloved Tarot Noir and reminds me in that respect of another loved deck of mine, the Sacred Rose.

I've never used such an abstract tarot. I'm happy enough with pip cards, that's different. Over the years, I've acquired sufficient knowledge to read with pretty much any deck, but this seems, in these early days of acquaintanship, that the Gypsy Palace seems to be a very different kettle of fish.

Those who have it, how do you find it reads? Does it just spark off intuitive reading? Can you extrapolate meaning from the images? Is there a system, even if it is just the artist's own?

The proof of the pudding is in the eating of course, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to use it in a reading. I'm quite excited about it really - would love to read your opinions, suggestions etc.

Thank you :)
 

The Happy Squirrel

I trimmed mine off their titles and everything else leaving only the artwork. It has been interesting!
 

MissChiff

I'm having trouble with this deck myself..... I draw a lot of blanks... I'm not sure why.
 

velvetina

thank you Happy Squirrel - I'd seen that about the Devil, and it's interesting, but made me think that we're being left to our own devices, encouraged to make our own connections with the images.

I don't have an issue with that at all, I just wondered how successful (or unsuccessful) this approach was proving. I'm really interested in these kinds of decks that I suppose I regard as transitional....between the symbols we've all learnt in our cultures and the symbols we devise for ourselves. I'm beginning a new study of the Kabbalah, and I'll be really having to begin at a primary level with it and erase my own ideas for the duration!

I suppose another question regarding the Gypsy Palace is my trying to figure out whats what...for example, looking at the 5 of Cups..what is happening there? Is it a fox/duck/human figure coming in, going out? Of course it doesn't really matter, because your own interpretation is important but nonetheless...its more like tea leaf reading in some cases!

So MissChiff, yes, I'm puzzling over it too and drawing a lot of blanks! I still think it's gorgeous though!
 

feynrir

On drawing blanks - Something you can try

[...] I don't have an issue with that at all, I just wondered how successful (or unsuccessful) this approach was proving. I'm really interested in these kinds of decks that I suppose I regard as transitional....between the symbols we've all learnt in our cultures and the symbols we devise for ourselves. I'm beginning a new study of the Kabbalah, and I'll be really having to begin at a primary level with it and erase my own ideas for the duration!

I suppose another question regarding the Gypsy Palace is my trying to figure out whats what...for example, looking at the 5 of Cups..what is happening there? Is it a fox/duck/human figure coming in, going out? Of course it doesn't really matter, because your own interpretation is important but nonetheless...its more like tea leaf reading in some cases! [...]

I'm a pretty flexible reader. I think in cases like you are describing, it's fine to take a look at a figure (or something that may appear to be too abstract to be a figure!) and really meditate on it for that time, during that moment, for that particular reading. And then asking, "What is this to me right now? Do its colors or shapes remind me of other ones in the spread?" Super simple questions. And they'll definitely yield answers. :)

Even though the meaning you draw out in this way will be so one-time specific, you'll be surprised at how you remember what the card meant before to you, the next time it shows up!

I like this deck because the same image can become very different from reading-to-reading. This means I definitely haven't cultivated a "system" for the deck (yet), but why bother? I like its malleability just fine :D :D
 

velvetina

yes, Feynrir...like using tea leaves or a crystal ball, each time unique yet with the possibility of drawing upon a source of previous experiences.

There's that murky space between oracle and tarot again!
 

The Happy Squirrel

I personally avoid the tea leaf reading approach, but would rather take the approach of viewing art pieces where the intention and point of the view of the artists during creation matters. This is certainly why I wouldn't want to go too wildly with my own interpretation with this deck. Personally. With that write up about the devil, all I need is read it once, and that card became so powerful every time I see it. Personally, I think this is a deck which will never reach its fullest potential without a handbook. If there is a need for a handbook in any deck, this one is it.