Friday, February 10, 2012

Tarot Decks Part I

This is just a few thoughts I have on beginner's first tarot decks. First find a deck that really speaks to you; this is IMPORTANT. If you don't have a connection with or like the deck, you won't use the deck and readings will probably be really off. Second get a deck based off of preferably the Rider-Waite system, created by A.E. Waite and  Pamela Colman-Smith. Sometimes referred to as the Waite-Smith Deck. This is one of the most popular decks out there and a lot creators base their images on this system. This means there should be 78 cards: 22 major arcana, 56 minor arcana split into four suits. Usually swords, wands, cups, and pentacles; there is some variation on suits name. I will mention the Thoth Deck here as well, it was designed by Aleister Crowley a contemporary of Waite, this is similar to the Rider-Waite and is possible to find good resources based on the Thoth.  Three every card should have a distinct image on it, there are pretty decks that the only illustrations are on the major arcana. If you really like them put it on a wish list get as your second deck. Having distinct images helps you to learn the meanings. Four if your deck has a book GET IT. I can not stress this enough. Most decks just come with a little white book (LWB) and that's it; which is great except for the decks where the authors wrote a book these decks still come with the LWB they are not adequate for beginners. For some the more unusual decks they are not good even for experienced readers. More on this in my reviews of the decks I currently have.  My next post will go into a little more detail on what made a good beginner deck and what mistakes I made in the beginning.

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