Inaugural Intensive Deck Study (IDS) Support Thread
Myrrha
Sinduction said:
I can see how it would be hard to switch decks for something like that, especially when you are still learning.
sapienza said:I meant to mention earlier that just in case you didn't know, there is a study group for the Cosmic Tarot. It's got it's own forum. I'm not sure if it's very active but it might be of some help. I'm hoping to post there myself when I've finished this IDS as I'd like to spend some more time with this deck myself
That would be a good way for me to do the card-study part of my journaling. It might be motivating and I could just copy/paste to my email journal. I'm so thrilled about this study. Card for today is the Eight of Wands!
--Myrrha
fluffy
teomat said:I’m not ‘officially’ doing the IDS, although I have been using the Tarot Classic exclusively for 4 weeks now. Yesterday however, I switched to the Halloween deck (I need a more friendly face for a while
Something I’ve realised whilst doing my own studying is that you can only study a deck IF there’s something there to study. I don’t have the Liber T, but it obviously seems to have a consistent and well thought-out structure behind it, which if you research, will add to your readings and make you appreciate the deck more. The Ancient Egyptian deck (which I do have) was also based on research and study by Clive Barrett.
If a deck is designed with an underlying structure or thought process, then when you start doing an IDS on it, you can see patterns emerge between the cards. For example, I’m using the Halloween deck, which at first seems very shallow, but with closer study actually shows that some thought went into it’s design. The pages all have a ghost motif, the knights an imp, the queens a pumpkin and the kings a bat. Each relate to the elements (water, fire, earth and air), and therefore (in a subtle way) relate to elemental attributions. It’s perhaps a trivial little tidbit (especially compared to the intricacies of the Liber T, RWS or Thoth), but it makes the deck more ‘deep’ to me – it shows that the designer put some effort into their creation (and did their own research) and therefore it’s worthy of closer examination.
On the other hand, a deck which is just a random selection of images thrown together doesn’t really seem to have anything in there to study. When you try to journal a card from such a deck and come up with all possible meanings you get from the imagery, it can feel somewhat ‘empty’ to know that actually, there was no specific intent behind the image choices.
I’m not trying to dig at the Bosch or any of the other IDS choices – they are perfectly readable decks. But if the goal here is to do some real study of a deck – to learn all the intricacies and patterns within it’s structure, but then you realise that the deck you have doesn’t actually have any – then it’s ultimately a fruitless exercise. You get bored of it and look to another deck.
Or then again, you learn to separate the wheat from the chaff in your collections.
(ETA: I don’t mean to sound nasty or rubbish your IDSs – or make you feel that what you’re doing is pointless. It’s not. All the above is just some ramblings from my own study experience
I completely agree with everything you say. I have tried to stick with the Bosch, but have discovered that it has no underlying structure per se. The images themselves are very interesting and form part larger pictures drawn by Bosch (actually these are not even the originals of bosch, but the artist of the decks impressions). Similarly while I do not want to rubbish the deck, as you said it is very difficult to "study" something when there appears nothing to study other than my own interpretations of the cards. I initially thought that there would be a structure based on the paintings of Bosch as these were all allegorical in substance and christian, but I found out after reading a book about the artist and his pictures that the cards do not follow this structure.
Therefore after a long ramble I have decided for the final time that I am changing my deck to the Liber T which will take a lot of study (a lifetime so I've heard) and apparently pays back this study tenfold.
Love Fluff
ps. Thanks everyone for being so supportive of me while I flitted from deck to deck
xx
pps. welcome myrrah
lilith_in_tree
thorhammer said:Yeah, me too *sigh*. Although I'm not online, coz I can't be because of my puter dying and all
I've been "journalling" (the definition of this varies wildly for me, with every card) sporadically, as some of you know, with cards that "chase" me. Mostly, it's been with the Minors (and no Courts, as yet) - but yesterday I was drawn to The Moon, which is far and away my favourite card in this deck, so powerful and challenging and raw. It had a great pertinence to my current state of mind, that of running away from myself and "shallowing out" almost like a stagnant, lazy and pointless river. I actually meditated with the card, entering it and moving through it in a very powerful experience that made me feel a great deal freer than I have for a long time . . . and although last night I was home alone (which since going out with my boyfriend has been a source of terror for me despite years of living alone) I slept like a fossil, and had no fear of the dark and unknown outside things that go bump in the night
Shutting up now.
\m/ Kat
Quoting this because I've been in the same frame of mind as you Kat--there must be something hinky going on with the planets or something, because this past week has been crummy.
I've also been a champion of wasting time, have been stubbornly turning away from myself and feeling listless and stagnant both with my Tarot study and my writing--I skipped a few days of journaling, and that was not the best plan of action. But I journaled with the Empress yesterday, and it was nice to think about such a peaceful, loving card--it was like she was telling me to relax, not be so tight within myself, to try to have a more serene and welcoming attitude with myself, if that makes sense.
Anyhow, I'm still here, and hoping the coming week goes a bit better!
Emily
fluffy said:
Hi Fluffy,
The Liber T is a great deck to work with, it works with your intuition so on the days that you just can't fact a full indepth examination of the cards you draw, you'll be able to read the cards at their most basic and you'll still get so much out of it. I love this deck for the way it has opened my intuitive side up, I didn't even know I had an intuitive side and I've only been working with this deck for 7 months. I learn something new each time I turn a card over.
I'm really pleased that other people are using this little jem of a deck too.
sapienza
Fluffly, I'm glad you've made the decision to change decks as you were clearly unhappy with the Bosch. I think the advice from teomat was spot on and so there is no reason to feel like you've failed or anything. I think you should be congratulated for really sticking with the deck to make sure before just jumping to a new deck. I think that is a real achievement in itself. I'm very proud of you anyway
I wish you all the best working with the Liber T. Do you have it yet or is it still in the post? It's good you'll have others here working with the deck for support and there is so much more info on the forum to help you this time.
Enjoy
I wish you all the best working with the Liber T. Do you have it yet or is it still in the post? It's good you'll have others here working with the deck for support and there is so much more info on the forum to help you this time.
Enjoy
Silverlotus
Argh, all this talk of the Liber T makes me lust after it. But I will stay true to my Steele Wizard.
I've finally managed to get two cards done, now that my little one is finally getting into a routine. (He was 11 weeks old yesterday.) I'm finding a good deal in these cards. They are much, much more than a RWS clone. Interestingly, the first card I worked on was one of the additions: the Maiden of Pentacles. And while I'm no longer a Maiden, I saw so much of myself in her. (I consider the Pentacles "my suit" since I am very stereotypical Taurus.)
I will admit to having the Liber T on backorder at Tarot Garden. And I strayed a bit when my Gaian arrived. No reading with it yet, but I can't wait to give it a try.
I've finally managed to get two cards done, now that my little one is finally getting into a routine. (He was 11 weeks old yesterday.) I'm finding a good deal in these cards. They are much, much more than a RWS clone. Interestingly, the first card I worked on was one of the additions: the Maiden of Pentacles. And while I'm no longer a Maiden, I saw so much of myself in her. (I consider the Pentacles "my suit" since I am very stereotypical Taurus.)
I will admit to having the Liber T on backorder at Tarot Garden. And I strayed a bit when my Gaian arrived. No reading with it yet, but I can't wait to give it a try.
arcana17
I ordered the Liber T too. It's going to be extremely hard to only check it, and not use it while I'm studying the Thoth.
The IDS is a great idea, I really enjoy using and studying the Thoth, I did not even want to look once at my Universal Waite. Up to now, I'm mostly reading intuitively with it, but the Book of Thoth starts to open some doors; the more I look at the images, the more I want to know about them.
The IDS is a great idea, I really enjoy using and studying the Thoth, I did not even want to look once at my Universal Waite. Up to now, I'm mostly reading intuitively with it, but the Book of Thoth starts to open some doors; the more I look at the images, the more I want to know about them.
PeterS
arcana17 said:
I agree. For years I have used nothing but a Universal Waite deck or a clone of it and loved it. Now that I am engaging the Thoth system I am not really tempted, yet (knock on wood), to return to the RWS model. The two systems clearly share a Golden Dawn background but they are different in personality and using the Liber T even more so.
Peter
Scion
I'm SO psyched to see all the Liber T love. 
Who woulda thunk?
Those of you who are just encountering it, you might go back and search the threads from when this deck was released; you'll be amazed at the harsh reception it found and the hostility about the images themselves. Until relatively recently the deck was headed out of print...
The time wasn't right or something, I s'pose... and now the Stars Eternal have finally aligned.
This deck literally transformed wthe way I read and the things I study. In a very real sense it changed every other Golden Dawn based deck irrrevocably. Hell, for this IDS the Liber T tricked me into writing a BOOK! Who knew? Sneaky little beast.
Silverlotus, just so you know, Llewellyn still has some Liber Ts in stock... a while back they were on sale for $10. Who could resist an offer like that?! So keep your eyes peeled and you can find one at a very reasonable price.
For the Thoth IDSers I've been flicking to the Thoth when looking through the LIber T as part of my own IDS, and it really does change the way you see Lady Harris' paintings... but if you're being strictly monogamous, working directly with the Thoth will make the Liber T bloom when you get to it. And to those of you who are IDSing with other decks, just know that the Liber T is waiting patiently for you to come play. LOL
Scion
Who woulda thunk? Those of you who are just encountering it, you might go back and search the threads from when this deck was released; you'll be amazed at the harsh reception it found and the hostility about the images themselves. Until relatively recently the deck was headed out of print...
The time wasn't right or something, I s'pose... and now the Stars Eternal have finally aligned. This deck literally transformed wthe way I read and the things I study. In a very real sense it changed every other Golden Dawn based deck irrrevocably. Hell, for this IDS the Liber T tricked me into writing a BOOK! Who knew? Sneaky little beast.
Silverlotus, just so you know, Llewellyn still has some Liber Ts in stock... a while back they were on sale for $10. Who could resist an offer like that?!
So keep your eyes peeled and you can find one at a very reasonable price.For the Thoth IDSers I've been flicking to the Thoth when looking through the LIber T as part of my own IDS, and it really does change the way you see Lady Harris' paintings... but if you're being strictly monogamous, working directly with the Thoth will make the Liber T bloom when you get to it. And to those of you who are IDSing with other decks, just know that the Liber T is waiting patiently for you to come play. LOL
Scion
