Can you feel the love...?

[Flaxen]

A whole week has passed since my last post to time to gush anew!

I'm currently deeply impressed by a deck I bought on a complete whim: Sol Invictus:The God Tarot.

I spotted it in my favourite metaphysical shop in London and thought 'I haven't seen this anywhere else, I'll buy it and see what it's like. If I don't like it, I can sell it on AT.'

Well, I'm not going to be selling it anytime soon. It's extremely well-researched with a wide coverage of pantheons - yes there are one or two gods I would love to have seen but you can't have everything. An excellent balance to all the goddess tarots out there!

[Chiska]

I shall now gush.....

I used my birthday money (thanks MIL!!) to buy a copy of the BBCats, 1st edition (thanks rachelcat!).

I have NEVER spent so much on a deck. Ever! But, kitties??!! And gregory said it was a great deck and all that. And if gregory said a kitty deck is worth having, well....

Of course, the deck arrived during the worst part of my recent illness. I was all bummed out because it just looked so blah. But really, that was just the bacterial lung infection talking. Everything looked, felt, smelt, tasted blah.

This weekend, I have been playing with it. One thing that jumped out at me was the 10 of Pentacles. What a different image that was!! Here were these two cats and their fine house! Why! They have EVERYTHING!! But what's this? This pensioner sitting in his rocking chair, a wrap around his shoulders. He is part of the image, but yet so far from it. He holds his memory in his paws and his ears are pinned back. He is not happy. But his little face says more than just not happy. He isn't angry, he is mournful and disappointed.
Where is his queen from days gone by? He sits alone, forgotten.

This card made me love this deck!

So gush gush gush....

[Madame Squee]

Gushing over the Jasniak Polski Tarot: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/jasniak/

OMG!!!

I love Polish Tarot decks anyway, but this one has never failed to provide me with the perfect answer. It's uncanny how the cards flow together and address one another. Whole sentences form themselves... I just watch.

I don't know how I'll ever be able to put it aside long enough to pick up something else.

[KafkasGhost]

I don't remember when I acquired this deck and it wasn't my first deck, but it has always seemed to have been with me: UNIVERSAL FANTASY.

I had a collection of over 75 decks. Only 3 remain. This is one of them and, by far, my favourite deck, no exceptions.

I can pick it up at ANY time (even after almost a year of not using tarot) and it still speaks to me like a wise friend. I never feel estranged from it. I can always be in the mood for it. I can use other decks and I don't feel like I'm betraying it.

I can read for myself with it. Read for others with it. I never tire of its swirly, airy, dreamy, swimmy images. I see the same/reassuring, or new/enlightening messages each time I read with it. It grows with me as I grow. It accommodates my moods. It stays in great shape despite my aggressive shuffling style. The colours resonate with my psyche. I love its departure from RWS, but it still retains respect for RWS.

I'm almost dehydrated now...

[Le Fanu]

Time for this week's gush...

The MAJORS ONLY Tarocchi d'Arte of the III Millennium Tarot. Those magical majors on bigger, better quality card and with no borders or multi-lingual titles.

I love how their rich blueness fills the cards. This is the most ingenius set of majors in terms of composition I have ever seen. I love how the cards really do fill each corner (see Temperance and The Devil) and use very clever techniques for maximum drama.

I have, over the last few months, been thinking more and more about ways of reading with majors only. Only after I started feeling more comfortable did this fabulous deck drop into my lap (I had always just used it with majors taken out of the 78 card deck).

There is something so bizarre and hypnotic about these images and yet they feel - to me - like the Majors striped down to their very essence with very few unnecessary flourishes.

I now have a Majors Only deck in my Top Five!

And with heartfelt thanks to delizt who let it go from her collection.

[Tansey Ella]

That has varied a lot over the last 6 years. I very much like the Quest deck. It was my "go to" deck for sometime. I like the spelling and yes/no feature. I also like Osho Zen. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.I like the Deviant Moon a lot. It is not mean but will tell me the unvarnished truth while still being friendly. I like the 78 doors very much and right now it is the deck I use a lot. It seems to like me a lot and is honest with me, but is very gentle with me. I would give it a hug if I could.
There are other decks I use, but those are the main ones. I own a lot of decks but some I have never used b/c they either feel unfriendly or I cannot understand the reading at all. Odd how one deck can speak in a way I totally get it, and another may be saying the same thing, but I feel clueless.
Ha anyone else felt like some decks like you and just understand you and would give you a hug , and other decks are sort of mean and uncaring or just rude?
Also every now and then I use my NOVT deck as it gives me a bit of a chill, you know?

oh forgot, Waking the Wild spirit. I just love the happy playful mood of the cards, obviously the maker is the same. A truly fun deck. also another fun deck is Vanessa. It just too cute.

[SloughSister]

Feeling the need to gush about my dear Javanne, that no one else seems interested in. Although I love the bright-and-dark earthy colors, and I love its quirky art, what I MOST love about it is its ten zillion references. They are just so old and primal and not familiar to me.

Each card has at least 5 components, some more like 10. And each one I get to figure out for myself, or decide to go read the very-readable book. And each card's symbols go together to tell a story for that card. And then, trying to make a reading out of multiple cards ... well, I think there's something like 600 symbols for me to interpret the meaning, or my meaning, of, so I think it'll be a while before I get cogent readings.

I know that that learning is not all that different from other decks, but in other decks, I have plenty of cultural and societal references to draw from. Here in the Javanne-world, there are swirlings upon swirlings of new and different ideas and meanings and combinations.

So in the meantime - I sinking deep into the mystical muck and ooze of all those symbols.

[jema]

First I gotta say that reading this thread made me go and pick out my Klimt tarot and yes... it is wonderful. I have to pick it up more often and do actual readings with it.

But I really came here to gush over Tarot of the Spirits that even though it is not the prettiest kid in my little tarot-playpen, it never fails to amaze me with how clear it is, how it is so connected to me and how it makes me feel clever!
And the companion book is so good it sometimes makes me cry a little...

[MusicalPisces]

So I got the shadowscapes deck not too terribly long ago, and I must now gush about it because I'm kind of obsessed. This deck is SOOO incredibly beautiful!!! The reason I fell in love with it and wanted it in the first place was because the pictures were absolutely gorgeous. And they're so detailed too. I feel like I each time one of the cards pops up in a reading, I get something different out of it, some little detail that speaks to me that I didn't see before. And I read so well with this deck. The pictures and ideas in the deck are so fluid and it makes my readings a lot more fluid. I'm new at tarot so I'm still trying to learn all of the cards. But with this deck I feel like even if I get a card I don't really know very well, the pictures themsevles reallly speak to me, before I even consult the book that goes along with it. All and all, I'm pretty much completely obsessed with this deck and I'm SO excited that my boyfriend got it for me!!!

[HearthCricket]

Just stumbled on to this thread. One of the best I have seen in ages!

Dear Medieval Enchantment,

You, with all your lovely pastels, subtle artwork & your mysterious flaunting beauty, captivated my heart when we worked solitary together for a month one glorious June. Shall we spend another month together this summer and renew our romance over candlelight and Nag Champa?

xo
HC

Dear Gilded Tarot,

Lovely deck depicting another world of another's creation, why are you so familiar to me? And where were you when I started tarot? Shall we dance through all of Ciro's decks together in preparation of his Oracle of Visions release and will you rejoice with me and spill your words of wisdom into my soul on the day I place you side by side?

xo
HC

Dear Sacred Rose,

Sweet curious deck, with your alien eyes that I never noticed until people here insulted your art, you still put a gleam in mine, dear faithful friend! My first tarot deck that truly led me into reading, you held true during my first 2 days of professional reading and I still hear clearly the wind chimes and chanting monks on the day I bought you, so many readings and decades ago.

xo
HC