Is my deck a THoth inspired one?

I hope this is the place for this, im not sure where else to go, as most people in the Tarot section dont use my deck.

I use Tarot of Vampyres, by Ian Daniels, and i can't help but notice that my deck is different from everyone else's. the reason i think its based off of the THoth deck is because Strength and Justice are reversed from their RW numberings, and the pages are replaced with Daughters, which i think is Princess in the classic thoth deck. ASide from that, i keep seeing more elemental associations than my cohorts in the forum are, and i dont know if thats just because of me, or if my deck is based off a a deck that emphasizes those things.

Does anyone know anything that can help me? Are there any other differerences in interpreting Thoth decks vs RW decks?

I can't speak particularly authoritatively on this one as I don't know the Vampyres deck in details but many people have commented on a certain Thothness in this deck. I definitely remember finding the Two of Wands very Thothy in its imagery; the warrior gripping the spear in a pose of "Dominion". Also the 7 of Cups, if I remember rightly, references the green slime...

The deck is probably a bit of a mixture, more RWS than Thoth I think...

thanks. its hard to talk with people about readings when im not entirely sure we're dealing with the same cards. lol

Do you know of any major differences between the sets, interpretations-wise?

I don't know the Vampyre deck, but Justice VIII and Strength XI was the usual order before the Golden Dawn folks reversed them, in order to position them on the Tree of Life in such a way that Justice corresponds to Libra and Strength to Leo. Waite used the Golden Dawn revised numbering, as do most of the RWS clones. Crowley went back to the historical pre-Waite numbering for the Thoth.

You may find it useful to look at the Golden Dawn decks also, they are the basis of the Thoth and the RWS and often will clarify these sorts of developmental questions. I like the Cicero's Golden Dawn Magickal Tarot myself

While the majors of the Tarot of Vampyres are more RWS the minors are definitively more Thoth like, court cards included. Ian Daniels though gives more positive spins to the cards than Crowley and put the other meaning for the reversed aspect. There are also some light quaballah elements on the cards, for the Eights per example, which is Hod, all the eights have a male vampire on the cards; for the Sevens, which is Netzach and Venus and our instinctive nature, all the female vampires, which could represent Venus too, are mixed with their animal suit creating an hybrid of sort.

The Four of Grails is a good example of a more positive spin on the card Luxury with this happy couple, but at the same time seeing this woman imprisoned and in a submissive attitude shows that the more negative aspect of luxury is not that far away on the card.

The Five of Grails, disappointment, has a reversed pentagram like on the Thoth card. For the Six of Grails, pleasure, we see a vampire enjoying her cup of blood. On the Seven of Grails, debauch, we see an intoxicated vampire. On the Eight of Grails, indolence, we see a vampire who has lost everything and who doesn't care about anything anymore. One of my favorite cards, the Two of Skulls, is change, we can see the yin-yang aspects directly on the card, it's mesmerizing. The Three of Skulls, work, shows a vampire weaving, and to Ian Daniels she is the one who weaves life and the universe to be. The Four of Skulls, power, shows indeed a knight who has earned by battles and blood his domain and his position.

And I could go on and on...

WolfyJames said:

And I could go on and on...

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Please do Now I want to get the deck....

Grigori said:

Please do Now I want to get the deck....

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YES PLEASE PLEASE DO!

I've only been using this deck for about a month and there are SOO many things about it I find fascinating! Like:
The towers depicted on the Tower bear a striking resemblence to the one on the 2 of Scepters, while the vampyre on the Tower looks very similar to either the vampire on the 2 of scepters or the Lord of scepters himself

The Magician and Priestess are the couple on the 9 of Grails

The queens are the only cards, with the possible exception of the 4 of grails, that show anyone smiling (note that an open mouth kiss or enjoyment of blood is not smiling), with the exception of the queen of knives, who appropriately doesnt smile

Thats just a few things. I find the art even more telling sometimes than the inherent mystical meanings

Grigori said:

Please do Now I want to get the deck....

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Rotflmao...I was thinking exactly that!

Grigori said:

Please do Now I want to get the deck....

Click to expand...

Stormdancer said:

Rotflmao...I was thinking exactly that!

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I just figured this morning that I should have uploaded images of the deck, it was really late here, or really early, so I have updated my previous post with a few cards to see how you find them. And since I just woke up and I haven't eaten breakfast yet I might add more cards just later in the day.

Zechariah13 said:

The towers depicted on the Tower bear a striking resemblence to the one on the 2 of Scepters, while the vampyre on the Tower looks very similar to either the vampire on the 2 of scepters or the Lord of scepters himself

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Well, Ian Daniels is an illustrator so some cards of the majors have appeared in previous publications. I've managed to put my hands on just a few and so far the only minors I've seen before is the Prince of Skulls. It's obvious with him using the golden dawn colors for the suits that he really created the minors specifically for the deck. For the majors it's harder to say.

I have not see the Tower elsewhere so far. The thing with the Tower is that it's Mars and the Two of Scepters is mars in aries, and since it's the first card it's also the most powerful, the most energizing, in the Wands which is the highest element. So the Two of Scepters has that martian fiery war-like energy.