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Here are some of my favorite cards. I really like the hanged man. The idea that just by hanging there she’s slowly unzipping a new perspective is fun. The page of wands helps me understand their character better. The knight of pentacles is what drew me to this deck, but I’m still trying to connect the strange horse to the meaning other than the rider might be going at their natural pace. And the ten of pentacles is just trippy and cool and shows an old man’s legacy superimposed on a tree’s rings. It’s a surreal, lush, unique deck. I’m looking forward to getting to know it.

I got the Tarot of Mystical Moments. :) I just went through each card and read the LWB. She did a good job at explaining what’s going on in each card and connecting it to the meaning. She really studied the card meanings and gave us her unique spin on it without losing track of what the card is meant to symbolize. So you get a man Emperor and woman Emperor, four kings who are men, and four who are women. I am putting pictures below. I went with the women cards for now, even if I preferred some of the men cards, because I thought it’d help me see the archetype more clearly ultimately, particularly with the court cards. I want to be able to see the court cards as their personalities without gender so I am hoping this helps break some of my mental rigidity. I do need to just do a study and connect characters and real people to the cards to help me understand the court cards better. But anyway. The LWB describes the man Emperor a little more flatteringly. I thought the one on the right described how government effects and manages people’s behavior in an interesting way. The LWB mentioned a marionette effect but also said she protects people. I think the woman king of wands was described as guiding others through peril or difficulty by shining her light and that she’ll never give up etc. And the man king of wands was drumming and waking the town up and calling them to follow him. I prefer the men kings here. The samurai looks lush (edit: and going off the LWB makes perfect sense) and the man king of cups is simple and captures the air of water thing. But I also thought the woman king of cups was so crazy looking, it might give me something interesting to journal about. I feel like I should do that to get a handle on what I feel about her, because it’s a lot. The woman king of swords confuses me a little. My ideas of the queen and king of swords kinda bleed into each other, so I have trouble distinguishing them personality/role-wise. So maybe this will challenge me to get a grip on them. I’ll post some of my favorite cards below.

Thank you gregory and fire cat pickles. I appreciate your insights as experienced participants in this forum. If the concern is cluttering up the main forum, couldn't we just keep our responses in this one thread? I don't anticipate a high level of participation so there's probably no need to create a bunch of separate threads for all the cards. That way no one needs to assert ownership and anyone can jump in at anytime with whatever level of participation they're comfortable with (including following along silently). Wherever we are in the year will determine which cards we're discussing, at least for the next year. Then assuming we make it that far, we would move into the center of the wheel around November 2027. Chesca writes that the minor arcana are fragmented parts of the major arcana, so it kind of makes sense to keep those discussions in the same thread anyway.

Yes, thanks, but I know the differences! I have a few decks of the Grand Lenormand, and many Lenormand Decks. I should have took more time to type what I wanted to say -- English being my second language -- but what I meant is I don't mind that they include this in the Anima Antiqua lineup, as the design is "original" or unique/interesting.

I have treated myself to the Autumn Wilds Seasonal Companion for the Forager's Daughter Tarot. Not as huge long study I might flunk out of before the end, jusr 4 weeks of lovelines! https://theforagersdaughter.com/products/autumn-wilds-seasonal-companion?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&_kx=dQ4-KBAYwNUtlsFH9LyVhy54d-4x4yVqoOw2v7WccdLPrS9wwkrm0OQ5Zq4EEa8i.TptMEV She does send to UK, as well as her home USA, and P&P isn't too badf. Limited numbers I believe, so grab one if you like the deck too? PathWalker

Exactly this, @fire cat pickles I have joined one club here - and nothing ever happens there ! I'm not joining any more.

I have found that making groups exclusive discourages participation, if you consider that participation could include those that don't want to actively post but only want to browse. For example, I don't own the Greenwood but this doesn't mean I wouldn't want to follow along reading the discussion. If there was a club I wouldn't feel the need the join.

I think that is a very regrettable decision; someone looking for a study group is not going to look to "clubs" which is an area that several here - including me - see as a sort of "members only" thing. Not least because each has an "owner." Please reconsider. ETA They may be "flexible" - whatever that means to you; can't see it myself. But the footfall will be significantly less. Yuu don't go to "clubs" for a study.

No problem at all. I was re-reading the passage of the handbook. About this, she says "All the cards are based on European images; apparent similarities between our deck and other ‘native’ mythologies are because of similarities in early climate and lifestyles. For instance the continent that is now the USA had Ice Ages like Europe with the same prehistoric animals, i.e., mammoth; Przewalski horses and cave bears. A human in bison skin and horns was painted in a French cave (Chauvet) c. 28,000 BCE, echoing the contemporary Native American sacred bison dancers." Apart from that, the creative process of the cards, that tried to trace try to trace the universal archetypes, may have been influenced by images and pictures that she had seen and studied before starting it, I think

Strictly speaking, this wasn't "the original Lenormand look", if we by that refer to Das Spiel der Hoffnung, later renamed Petit Jeu de Mdlle Lenormand (the small Lenormand, 36 cards). This is Grand Jeu de Mdlle Lenormand, the greater Lenormand (52 cards). None of these decks have much, or anything, to do with the historical Marie Anne Lenormand (1772-1843), but were posthumously named after her for commercial purposes – similar to how the name and reputation of Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734-1801, of Verdi fame*) was posthumously used to sell various cartomancy books or magazines in Sweden. *A fictitious version of Arfvidsson (still under the name "Ulrica") is one of the characters –an Alto– in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (1859).

Ilweran's work that @Rose Lalonde recalled here https://www.thetarotforum.com/forums/topic/3316-ilwerans-greenwood-tarot-journal/ seems too be precious not to be included in a "Club". If @ilweran were disposed to put their name as the owner of the club, I would be more than happy to join and try to give my contribution

Oh, wonderful! I didn't see it :) We could also join that thread, if ilweran doesn't mind @cspacediva

Thank you, TekkieTarot. I really appreciate you taking the time to share such a detailed answer. I especially liked the way you described the Empress as someone a person prioritizes, as well as something that is still in the process of being created or brought into being. Those are both good examples of how much the card can shift depending on the context of the reading. Your examples of her showing up in more everyday situations — getting dressed up, feeling feminine, or thinking about how you want to present yourself — were interesting too. That gives me another way to think about how her energy can show up outside of the larger archetypal meanings.

This looks like one lovely challenge. But why does it slumber so? I will meet it with the Visconti.

If you want to make a full study group with threads and things, you can request one here.... We are slowly transitioning all the old groups to the clubs, because they are more flexible to work with. Someone needs to put their name on it as the "owner" of the club and request it on that page above, but then anyone can post and join in and keep it going.

Thank you, Rose. It looks like there's a lot there, so I will dive into that too. I'm already falling out of my chair after reading the first post, because in addition to having a collection of tarot decks, I also have a collection of journals, both blank and filled. I always have several journals going at once--planning journals, reflection journals, nature journals....very special decks get their own dedicated journals, and then I have general tarot journals to keep track of readings for decks that don't have their own journals. Of course none of these are truly distinct categories and one area will bleed into another. I have tried to commit to finishing the journals I already have going before starting another new one. But, this deck is special and a dedicated journal seemed to be called for. I had a already picked out one of my blank journals that I've been holding on to for a few years. Yes, it's the same one @ilweran mentioned--Paperblanks Poetry in Bloom. That is CRAZY!!! To be fair, it does coordinate very nicely with the deck. I am no stranger to these serendipitous moments that happen in tarot, but they still amaze me.

It's the same there, which will be where Llewellyn got it.

If you haven't seen it, @ilweran also has had a journal on the greenwood here for years that links to art sources, etc. You may already know all these sources, but passing along in case it's helpful. Even as someone who knows little about pagan decks, I found it interesting. ilweran's Greenwood Tarot Journal - Tarot, Tea, & Me - A Tarot Reader's Community

Ok, that all sounds good. I think I can handle a card or two a week. Having read Mark Ryan's book in its entirety, I can say that it adds very little, but I can't say that nothing in it has influenced my perception of the cards. However, going forward I will avoid making any direction mention of him or the Wildwood. One thing that I think needs to be addressed from Chesca's book is when she says, "All the cards are based on European images." While the intent to not "steal imagery from other cultures" is admirable, I think there can be little question that she does at times reference works from outside Europe. For example, The Shaman references a photograph from the US (https://www.tworedroses.com/newsletters/newsletter09112015.html)and the 10 of Cups references a woodblock print from Japan (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56139). It doesn't bother me that she did this; I consider her apparent breadth of knowledge of the world art to be an asset. I believe these cards tap into something that is both timeless and universal--I just think we should be honest about it. This is going to come up right away because I already have a piece in mind from the US that I think is plausible as a source of inspiration for the image on the Death card. I feel that should at least be open for discussion. Also, I joined the Facebook group that you mentioned and I will start having a look through that.

It's sinking in. Takes time. Asides, I'm far from agreeing here - a lesson in applied diversity is what it is to me so far. On the rest - which I appreciate, by the way - the actual point was quite hard to formulate for me yesterday, let me try again, it'll be brief, more or less: We can afford a period of time when taking to the cards to see how they feel if we have nothing but those cards. We can have a go at them with our childlike sense of wonder. I mean not to stream about that period, or to make it gospel, or toot some horn - I mean to feel it, free from expectation. It is a period. It does pass. It never comes again. But it'll leave us curious, so curious about what's out there, how others fare, how it was and is done, and where the limits are - and which ones can be extended at what price. Might be personal, that one. We are far from perfect in that beginning, we go wrong one step every two steps taken (if we're lucky), we stumble around, stuff leaves us confused while other stuff clears up and hits home - but it's far from taking the wind outta our sails! No! On we go, for we are curious, we crave insight and: We learn to take a hint through our cards, which is what to highlight here. We truly want to learn. They become our cards in the process, and whatever we read afterwards, we'll have life, our experienced reality, to relate to - and that changes things. Talking Lenormands, the quality and density of information in Andy's writings is top-grade to date, don't get me wrong there. What I mean to say is: the above mentioned period is so much beneficial that it deserves mention - preparing the inner soil is what it does, along with becoming precious memory. Timeline for a quick start: Get cards in spring, go crazy in summer, take to Andy's writings in autumn, to your study during winter, sleep some. And then, see what grows come spring.

Sorry, I was talking about the Llewellyn website. I haven't looked at Lo Scarabeo's website.

I only told them a couple of hours ago....

Nope. And judging by the lack of response and the incorrect text still on their website, I'm guessing Llewellyn didn't contact them either.