Initiatory Tarot of the Golden Dawn

[Professor X]

I bought this deck last week and I am linking up with it very well.

I am keeping a notebook on each card as I write down what I pick up from each one.

Today I did my notes and impressions for the Wands suite.

I got a big time rush from the artwork and the images. The energies of the cards were very very intense. The energies of the artwork duplicates the energies that Wands is suppossed to represent.

Of course to truly understand this deck you need to know what the Golden Dawn felt about the symbols they used in the Tarot. Otherwise you would never get the full meanings.

The Golden Dawn tarot cards represent higher spiritual and mental principles than regular tarot cards do. A lot of it deals with the hebrew alphabet and the tree of life which is beautifully integrated into the artwork.
The cards can indeed be applied to more mundane matters without a doubt. But the primary meanings are more esoteric and occult.

I recommend this deck to anyone who is interested in more occult themed decks.

 

[Le Fanu]

I think this deck is hilarious and I love it.

Im not sure how easily these rather pompous Golden Dawn themes sit side by side with all the bursting boobs and "oops! My clothes fell off!" maidens in distress. I've said before, I think this deck shot itself in the foot by having too many bouncing, comic boobies and heavily buttoned-up po-faced men. I can't really take it seriously, but - hey! - I do love it. Great energy, very fiery and very dense artwork; really busy, full of fireworks!

Oh but it's so funny... I'd never get rid of mine

 

[Professor X]

I think this deck is hilarious and I love it.

Im not sure how easily these rather pompous Golden Dawn themes sit side by side with all the bursting boobs and "oops! My clothes fell off!" maidens in distress. I've said before, I think this deck shot itself in the foot by having too many bouncing, comic boobies and heavily buttoned-up po-faced men. I can't really take it seriously, but - hey! - I do love it. Great energy, very fiery and very dense artwork; really busy, full of fireworks!

Oh but it's so funny... I'd never get rid of mine

You dont get it. All that stuff has meaning to the Golden Dawn, even the women with no clothes on. It all symbolizes something.

I will say once again it is a occult themed deck. It is not to be taken in the same vein as these other Tarot decks. The more you know about the Golden Dawn and their teachings the more meaning you will derive from the deck.

 

[Wendywu]

I gotta say I agree with Le Fanu. For GD stuff I stick with the Classic Golden Dawn deck by Richard Dudschus. I appreciated the way it was done in collaboration with Pat Zalewski, and used William Westcott's original court cards as it models for the courts. Also it used Felkin's originals from Whare Ra Temple as the models for the majors. The fact the deck is based on the old cards makes it far more satisfying than the LS deck.

http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?search_type=blob&pageenter=0


I even prefer Wang's GD deck to the LS flying boobs... and for almost flat art that one can't be beaten.

The new Ra Horakhty deck looks interesting and has also been produced in collaboration with Pat Zalewski, but best of all and firmly on my wishlist is the Nick Farrell deck. His website and books are always worthwhile, and his standards are of the highest.

I quite like the Cicero's GD deck and would never get rid of it, but the Dudschus deck is as close to the genuine old article as one can get. The lack of symbolism in the deck is remarkable, and illustrates that one is meant to know and not be jarred into remembering the deeper meanings of the cards.


ETA I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Le Fanu's understanding of the deck - his reading deck of choice is the Thoth ......

 

[Professor X]

.

I quite like the Cicero's GD deck and would never get rid of it, but the Dudschus deck is as close to the genuine old article as one can get. The lack of symbolism in the deck is remarkable, and illustrates that one is meant to know and not be jarred into remembering the deeper meanings of the cards.


ETA I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Le Fanu's understanding of the deck - his reading deck of choice is the Thoth ......

What a lot people on these boards dont understand is that everyone doesnt think or react like they do. YOU may not like the imagery but everyone else may not feel that way. Personally I am VERY VERY sensitive to images and colors. Vivid artwork speaks to me directly and it really helps me to translate what the cards mean. Dismissing the deck based on the fact that "boobs" are shown shows a total lack of understanding of the concept they were trying to convey.

Like I mentioned before this is not everyones cup of tea. You have to be really into the occult side of things to understand the deck or get anything out of it. I assure you their is a lot of hidden meanings in the cards that people wont get. I know this because I link up with the images. Anyone who doesnt link up with the images or see the real value would miss what the deck is trying to convey thus defeating their own viewpoint of dismissing the deck.

Personally I think a lot of the decks people buy are useless, but if THEY get something out of them it is valid for them. What I think of the matter doesnt mean much because it is benefiting THEM not me. Thus if this deck benefits me because I see the value of it beyond what others may think the same applies.

 

[Wendywu]

I don't mind nudity at all - the Classic GD deck has probably more nudity than the LS one. I think it's the style in which it's done.

Maybe, after many years of specifically GD/occult oriented study, one does understand but still prefers a different deck......

and that's fine If the LS deck does it for you - that's wonderful.

post edited by rwcarter, co-Moderator of Tarot Decks, as meta discussion

 

[rif]

I don't think anyone is criticizing your appreciation for the deck; nor the fact that the deck has a lot of female bosoms on display.

The comments are more about the fact that the bosoms are rendered in a hyperrealistic, "comic book" fashion. Not to mention that asset-tacular Star!

Wang's deck has breasts on display too, and nobody here has ever blinked an eye (that I've noticed).

I like the drama of the Magician in this deck; and I find the 6 of Swords (the girl carrying the severed head) to be especially haunting.

Here is an older thread about this deck too, if you're interested: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=96883

OT a moment: Many of your posts have talked about your sensitivity to imagery and colors, and the "energy" you get from a deck. This is something I'd be interested to hear more about, if you ever feel like sharing; perhaps in a future thread. It almost sounds like the energy is a physical part of your readings. I'm curious about this. It puts me in mind of people who've talked about experiencing synaesthesia through the tarot.

 

[Professor X]

OT a moment: Many of your posts have talked about your sensitivity to imagery and colors, and the "energy" you get from a deck. This is something I'd be interested to hear more about, if you ever feel like sharing; perhaps in a future thread. It almost sounds like the energy is a physical part of your readings. I'm curious about this. It puts me in mind of people who've talked about experiencing synaesthesia through the tarot.

Ok I will explain.

I am extremely sensitive to everything around me. The thoughts people think,the things people say and do etc etc. Everything people say and do creates a type of energy and I pick up on that. I am heavily intuned with the psychic side of things and that is the vibrations that I function on.
These are primarily receptive abilities. I recieve things and translate them based on what is sent out. Basically the energies of whatever environment I am in greatly affect me.

I never thought to relate this to synaesthesia because I never heard that term until I found out that Pamela Coleman Smith used that to do her artwork.
I would assume that is how she made the RWS deck.

Thats is how I link up with the decks. Like I mentioned in my original post
I got a rush off of the energy of the wands suite in the deck. I felt a little drained by the images on the card,kind of like I had to come down after feeling the energy.

I started using the Tarot regularly in September and I noticed it is developing the ability even further so I am getting more potent with it. Its sort of like what a bodybuilder does. One day they work legs,the next they do arms etc etc. They work on building up each body part. Well the RWS deck used my abilities in one way and now this GD Deck is developing them in another way.
The images on the cards can indeed physically affect me and stimulate my interpreation of them.

I havent done the Swords suite yet ,it is the last one I have to look at and sense a meaning from the cards. Once I do I will start my readings with them.

Perhaps I should do some research on synaesthesia.

 

[Greg Stanton]

Personally, the Golden Dawn in general is pretty funny to me. All those pompous ceremonies, the ugly ritual tools and banners, the fake Kabbalah, etc. Not to mention Mather's lifting whole bits from The Magus, errors and all, and thinking nobody would notice. And arbitrarily using parts from the Picatrix to define the meanings of the pips (hey, he had give SOMETHING to his followers that they hadn't read before). Yup, the Golden Dawn is pretty funny.

Which is probably why I appreciate this deck on a far deeper level than any of you Love the boobies. And the fact that the art looks like a mid 80s comic book. Appropriate, I think.

 

[Le Fanu]

First of all, I love this deck.

Secondly, I love the Thoth too and think that I'm relatively familiar (for want of a better term) with Golden Dawn teachings. No expert obviously, but enough to make a fairly/reasonably/vaguely informed judgment.

Of course we all have different tastes, and it is always amusing and interesting to hear different opinions . I love some absolutely rubbish decks, but I don't care

Also, there is a side of the GD teaching which is quite pompous. I am not saying that you are pompous (let me get that straight), but a comment like this...

Like I mentioned before this is not everyones cup of tea. You have to be really into the occult side of things to understand the deck or get anything out of it. I assure you their is a lot of hidden meanings in the cards that people wont get. I know this because I link up with the images. Anyone who doesnt link up with the images or see the real value would miss what the deck is trying to convey thus defeating their own viewpoint of dismissing the deck.

...reminds me of that "gentleman's-secret-club-which-only-the-initiated-can possibly-understand" that characterises a lot of late 19th Century/early 20th Century GD teachings.

But did I say I love this deck?