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This is really interesting. Temperance is based on the Baroque emblems of the virtue Temperentia, e.g. Cesare Ripa's Iconologia and his many followers. An allegorical female figure, tempering wine with water (and water with wine), embodies this virtue of finding the perfect balance. However, Colman Smith changed this image in significant ways and I think you are right, the apocalyptic angel must have inspired the changes to the image.

Tanga I'm not at home, so I don't have the deck to hand. But it's the Halloween Oracle by Stacey DeMarco, published by Llewellyn Worldwide. I'll try to post some photos later in the day, perhaps.

Yesterday, my tarot parcel from BookDelivery arrived, nearly exactly a month after I ordered it. That's a normal time for my little corner of the world. The new Llewellyn Tarot Calendar looks very interesting - new spreads, and I really like the format. I have been using these calendars since 2018, and I keep the old ones. There is simply so much information in there, and also new decks to discover. I have wanted the Woodland Wardens Tarot since it came out. I own the Woodland Wardens Oracle already, and also the Good Fortune Tarot (after I saw a picture in the Llewellyn calendar). I love Jessica Roux's artwork, it's precise and dreamlike at the same time. The book seems to be very good as well. The Mindscapes Tarot looks beautiful. Oil pastel is a very unusual material to use for tarot - I have lots of ink, watercolour, collage, computer generated and oil colour decks, oh, and also coloured pencils (all my Atanassov decks). The majors are impressive and it will be interesting to compare them to other landscape-oriented ;-) decks I own (Majestic Earth, Flow, Landscape Tarot), and the minors are completely original. They don't echo much of the RWS core meanings (although they do help interpreting the cards) but they show the changes of a landscape over time. I can't wait to dive into these new decks. It's always such a pleasure to open a parcel.

Not in the mail, but this past weekend was in a whacky store full of weird used stuff (example: waxed cylinders used for recordings 120 years ago). While there, I chanced upon the smallish Universal Monsters Tarot Deck. The LWB is missing, but all the cards are there, and for $5 what the hell. Being a fan of the old Universal monster movies since childhood, I'm having too much fun with these cards! Rather hilariously, the box is designed inside to depict a coffin. Even more peculiar, the suits are candles (which I presume to be wands due to shape and alignment with fire), crypts (presumably cups because they contain things), claws (swords I suppose, since used to tear bodies open), and castles (pentacles I guess). The Fool card is the newly "born" Frankenstein, which almost seems more appropriate than any other deck. The Empresss is Frankenstein's Bride which is wonderful. On the down side the backs are kind of a weird design that doesn't do much, but at least they're reversible. So much more. Will I actually use it as a genuine Tarot deck? Hmmm... At first blush I'd say no, but dang, they did such a good job with it I just might give it a fighting chance.

I have four of the Taschen books, including the one on Tarot (Library of Esoterica series). I think there are more than what I have but I wasn’t interested in them. I can’t remember where I came across them but I’ve had them for some time. I’ve been trying to clear out my wish list on Amazon. Some I just deleted because I’ve decided they aren’t all that appealing to me and I’d added a couple because of this forum. This week I received The Minchiate Tarot by Brian Williams. I really just wanted the book tbh. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to realize it was a kit. Oh well. And I should be receiving The Crow Tarot, the Mindscapes Tarot, and the Yuletide Tarot: Small Kit Edition sometime this week.

Welcome back @Rachelcat!

Hi! A day late and a dollar short again! Good to see you! This week will be Tarot Affirmations, Viki Lester, Theresa Reed. (I’m assuming Viki Lester is the artist, and Theresa Reed, The Tarot Lady, is the author.) This is a newish Lo Scarabeo deck I just got from a Llewellyn preorder. The short affirmations are on the cards, which I think is cool, and I like the simplified art and black backgrounds. It’s not Affirmations Tarot, which was a US Games deck of large landscape cards with RWS illustrations on the right and several affirmations as bullet points on the left. I forget who the author of the affirmations was. I had that one back in the day but it fell out of my collection in my RWS (and long affirmations) purge. Let’s see what I can do with this one! What is your most important characteristic? Page Wands, I achieve my dreams. (The border symbol for wands is a leaf. The others are their suit symbols, pentacle, short sword, cup.) It can help me learn all about affirmations and act on them. Perhaps to achieve my dreams? What is your strength? King Pentacles, I can create the life I want. The deck can encourage me to take charge of my life. Your weakness? IX Pentacles, I am surrounded by abundance. It’s not always action-oriented. What can you teach me? Ace Swords, There is clarity to be found. Doesn’t follow the “I” statement rule for an affirmation. Could be “I find clarity.” But maybe the passive is for aces? I can learn that the deck’s straightforward ideas are helpful? How can I learn it? II Wands, Now is the time to make a change. Also not an I statement. Maybe “I am making a change”? I can go from 2 to 1: Make a change to find clarity. What will be the outcome of our work together? Page Pentacles, I manifest success. Starting and ending with a page. Success isn’t the same as dreams. Or is it? Manifest is definitely more pentacles. I might not achieve all my dreams, but the deck will help me manifest whatever success I’m looking for. No majors. (The border symbol for majors is a 10-pointed asterisk.) So the deck won’t be earth-shattering for me. But I’ll like it anyway? We’ll see!

Welcome back @Bodhiseed 😀

Thank you as always, dear Fire cat, for keeping us rolling each week. I'm in with the Roots of Asia Tarot paired with the Mahjongg Oracle. As we need food, so do we need emotional nourishment: love, kindness, appreciation, and support from others. —Kriyananda The Queen of Cups is a beloved counselor, an emotional nurturer who creates the feelings of security, safety and trust. We can take our heavy burdens to her, and she will hold them for a while, then suggest how we might make them lighter. She's the person who helps keep everyone sane. The Carp is a symbol of tranquility and inner calm, signifying peace, contentment, and freedom from anxiety. When we learn how to calm ourselves, we can be a lighthouse for others, transforming a stormy situation into one that brings clarity. As Thich Nhat Hanh said, "Without doing anything, things can sometimes go more smoothly just because of our peaceful presence."

Deck of the Week Sign-up Thread, Week 488: Nov. 9 - Nov. 15 - Deck of the Week - Tarot, Tea, & Me - A Tarot Reader's Community

A unique version of Reading Circle for those who would like to work through their collection of decks, participants choose decks from their collections to work with for the week. Some use one deck, others use two or more. Some combine methods: Tarot, non-tarot (e.g. oracle), playing cards, or any other divinatory method is welcome. All we ask is that you use at least one tarot or oracle deck. No collection is too large or too small. The only rules we have are the Tarot, Tea & Me Rules; Be respectful of one other. Please join us! Please post with your choice of deck(s) for the week Chat away about your deck, how you're finding it (or not), etc., it's all up to you Participants may either choose to share their readings here in this discussion thread or opt to have their own journal in the Journals Forum and link it here Yet others may even have an offline journal in paper & pencil/pen form Share as often, as much, or as little as you like. You can drop in and out at any time—reality and life permitting. New to tarot? Long time reader? Come on in! Participants fire cat pickles: Tarot de la Rea Bodhiseed: Roots of Asia Tarot paired with the Mahjongg Oracle Rachelcat: Tarot Affirmations Click here for DOTW 487 (11/2 -11/8)

I only have Kipling West's "The Halloween Tarot" and I love it! I really like how it manages to be cute, weird and playful, but still give very serious and deep readings! And I love the little black cat that "travels" through all the cards... somehow, I feel it represents us!

I only have two with Halloween themes and that´s: "The Halloween Tarot" and "Trick or Treat Tarot". The last one is new so I have only looked at the cards once.

Which one is it? (photo if you can) So I can look it up with great curiosity...

Well, I don't have any Halloween themed Tarot decks, but I do have a Halloween oracle, that I always begin using at this time of the year (i.e. Halloween). I use it only during autumn and winter.

Interesting thread, I must say! I don't like/connect with steampunk type imagery, and I don't own any decks like that. I also don't like very soft and light colours (too wishy-washy for me). I also don't like photo-collage type decks. Size can be an issue because I have small hands and I find large decks awkward to handle - so I always look at the size of a deck before buying it. Some posters on here mentioned sticky lamination - I can't recall having any decks like that, but I have a gilt edged deck (Robert Place's Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery) whose cards stick together more because of the gilt than the actual surface of the cards and are terribly frustrating to shuffle. Finally I devised a way of dividing the deck into two piles (the cardstock is also pretty thick) and I shuffle them separately, then combine. I like that deck a lot, so I had to find a way. Also - while I own a few RWS-based decks (Legacy of the Divine or Mystical), I never felt the urge to get an actual RWS. Neither the artwork nor the colours appeal to me.

I just wanted to add that not all tarot apps use AI. There have been tarot apps and websites since the internet became more widespread, and they did not use AI. You clicked a button and a card popped up, period. Of course, nowadays we have more reasons to be paranoid, due to AI being shoved into nearly all aspects of our digital experience. But there are still "old fashioned" apps that just give you random cards & some LWB text. The app doesn't "give you a proper reading" - it pulls the cards for you, and you still gotta read for yourself. Personally, I like the Mythic Tarot app. But then again, I really like the deck itself and book - I only use it in the rare occasions that I don't have the cards with me, or when I want to access the deck's companion book (because it's really good).

That Taschen book is just lovely. I saw it for sale in - of all places - a cafe in Paris where I have also found some unusual decks in my time ! a couple of years ago and had to get me a copy. I'm not sure what I await, I was recently given a deck from a small US publisher, and two of the cards are wrong. I contacted them and for many complicated reasons they can only mail to the US and Canada (it was bought in Canada.,) So they sent a whole replacement deck to a friend there - I just want the two cards, but she says she's going to mail the whole deck - and it's REALLY heavy, so I said please don't. But I'm not sure what to expect now !

...and I'm out. 😅😉 This would go well with the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot.

I recently bought his latest book, "Tarot Mysticism Visual Primer" (It was available on sale for one day on Amazon), and although I don't know him all that well I found that he has made a deliberate choice to swap the Tree of Life paths between The Fool and The Magician. He also maps the RWS Kings to the Thoth Princes, and the RWS Knights to the Thoth Knights. Ultimately, this comes down to which of two fundamental principles in Hermetic Qabalah one prioritizes: visual energy dynamics or hierarchical structure (YHVH). And, as it turns out, he explains his choice in the "Tarot Mysticism" book I got today 🙂 But buying books is one thing, having time to read them is another. But one day...

I'll be interested to know what you think of the Monteleone book on the Thoth. I know nothing about it.

Getting ready for winter! ❄️ The postman dropped off most of these today, but I actually collected one of them in person yesterday, so I like to think I saved him from at least one stop 📦📖