Majors-Only Decks

[EmpyreanKnight]

What do you think of majors-only Tarot decks? Which are your favorites? How many do you have in your collection, and how often do you use them?

 

I know that there are some Tarot books that focus solely on the majors, but I wonder how decks like these are often used by my fellow readers. I know that they're useful for meditation and pathworking. I believe that there are also some spreads in which only majors are used.

[EmpyreanKnight]

I only have one majors-only deck - the Cartas Philippinensis, and I only bought it since it's a local, limited edition deck that feature historical themes from my country. I haven't used it yet, and I'm looking for ways to do so once I do decide to explore it.

 

Otherwise, I'm not really interested in these kinds of decks, altho I know that some of them can be very gorgeous. I only have one other deck of this sort that I'm planning to purchase. It is Lo Scarabeo's Golden Wirth Tarot, and I'm only going to do so because I think it would be a nice addition to my metallic Tarot collection.

[gurupcc]

Thanks for this post.

 

Looking forward to hear from others on their thoughts  as I am doing my first tarot project on Kickstarter now which is a Majors only deck but with a stretch goal of Minor Arcana cum hybrid playing card deck as well.

 

[Trogon]

I'm not really big on Majors-only decks. I have a mental block that they'd be too limiting I think. Having said that, I do have The Love Tarot, which I think I traded for many years ago. I don't think I've ever used it though. Come to think of it, I suppose I should at least try a "new deck reading" with it and see what I get ...

[Carojulie]

In France, many people who read the tarot will use only the majors of a Marseille deck. It is a traditionnal way to read tarot cards here.

I find it a little boring and austere myself, maybe because I do not master this method. And also because I really enjoy reading with the 78 cards.

I have two majors only decks, one a Marseille, the other in free Marseille style. I did not get them for myself, both decks were presents. I almost never use the Marseille version. The second one has beautiful art, so for this reason I use it more, and mostly in conjunction with another deck.

As for now, I am not looking for another major only deck.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Hey, I didn't know that majors-only readings were (are?) the norm in France. It makes me wonder why. Thanks Carojulie!

[gregory]

That explains all those majors only readings from Quebec readers on AT ! Thanks, carojulie. The readers (one in particular, who was always belligerent when someone would ask why not use more cards as you are limiting yoruself) would just keep saying "it's my tradition and I don't want use other cards..." As she, in particular, gave the powerful impression hat she coudln't be BOTHERED to use the minors, it was - far from endearing !

 

I use majors only decks sometimes - but what I don't do is pull the majors from a full deck and just use those. If I am going to do it, I like to use a deck which was designed as  22 card deck, if that makes sense.

[faerybraids]

My only majors deck is the Kiki Lala Tarot, aka the Little Twin Stars Tarot. I kind of got it because I squeed at the cuteness. *blush* I feel it's a good counterbalance to my Royo Dark Tarot Mini, though, both in terms of imagery and card count, so while I haven't used it much yet I have enjoyed working with it. It kind of, ah... Partly down to the imagery, partly down to it being majors-only, but it just feels right for different purposes. So far it's been great for giving abstract, larger-picture answers than the nitty-gritty emotional ones I get from my other deck.

 

I've wanted to print out  the Pusheen deck for a while, but now that I've got the Kiki Lala deck I'm not so sure I need it... I'm not sure I'd buy another majors-only deck, though. For me it's more down to money than anything. I find reading majors-only intriguing to learn and would be happy to have another such deck if I could afford it. In the end it just feels like a different style of reading.

 

eta: Kiki Lala is definitely good for specific answers when you ask questions the right way. Omg. What a different impression a few extra readings of a deck can make. :-[ Would definitely consider buying another majors-only deck in the future if I had the spare money for it.

[DanielJUK]

I only have one majors-only deck and that was where the artist didn't want to make more than 22 cards but I did take part in a Majors only reading circle on AT and my partner used the Majors only H.R Giger (aka the Baphomet Tarot). A Majors only reading is really powerful and interesting to do sometimes, I wouldn't do every reading like that but it's an interesting experience and powerful message, perhaps from the universe or karma, depending on your beliefs.

 

I feel a bit sad when a deck only has Majors because I feel it's incomplete or the artist ran out of time / energy on it. There is a difference between buying a deck with Majors only and doing a reading with it where you separate the Majors out of a deck. I like to have the option to have Minors but I would still buy a deck that was only Majors. I always just wish there was more cards on them but 22 cards can be a lot of effort and I understand the reasons why not every deck is 78 cards  :)

[Alta]

I have quite a number of majors only decks.  I rather like them,  somehow the reading with majors only deck seems oddly personal.  Or perhaps I should say intimate. That is probably exactly the opposite to the way most people see this kind of deck but to me it’s like someone whispering the secrets of the universe to me.

[gurupcc]

it’s like someone whispering the secrets of the universe to me

 

Had to bookmark this....

[VGimlet]

I have quite a few majors only decks, and I like them.  There are several I wish had more than just majors. I generally use them in conjunction with a full tarot deck though. 

 

I wish I had copied and pasted my list of decks before Aeclectic went read-only - it's the one thing I forgot to do, and I have no easy access to my list of decks until I get around to building a tarot inventory database.  Which means I can't run through my list and pick out my favorites, LOL. 

[RavenOfSummer]

I have only one- Tarot de l'Ange Liberte by the French artist Myrrha, and it is absolutely stunning. The cards are VERY oversized, and the hugeness of them makes them a bit impractical for regular readings, but I don't mind at all because I love having the large size to show off the gorgeous artwork.

 

[Lantana]

I'm firmly in the "not into them" camp. The only one I own is the Tarot for Cats deck a friend gifted to me- I think of all the cat decks out there it has the best art and depictions of how the major arcana might appear in a cats life, but it's my least used deck (decks I don't like and plan to trade aside). I just feel lost without the minors, honestly. Like I'm cheating myself out of the mundane, if that makes any sense. So I've resisted buying any since.

 

I'm actually planning to get the Pagan Cats Tarot to use with this deck for double deck readings.

[Mab]

I feel a bit bereft with majors only decks. I haven't got many.. the only ones I can think of are my recently acquired Star Maiden and the Giger. Both amazing decks and I am so taken by them... but there’s still that little voice wondering what the minors would have been like..

[sandrang123]

I only have one majors-only deck, The Lovers Tarot: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/lovers-tarot/

 

I find majors-only decks a bit limiting, in general, though that said, the few times I have used the Lovers Tarot over the years, the readings have been very accurate. I do reserve the deck for BIG pressing questions, often related to relationships.

[EmpyreanKnight]

I'm curious if there are online resources in English that detail how the French traditionalists perform their readings with just the majors. As with the other commenters, I feel that it would be so restricting to only use majors, but if there's an established system behind it I'm very interested in it.

[Jewel]

I have the Tarot of the Lepidopteran People and the Tarot for Cats, I think those are the only two majors only decks I have.  Honestly I prefer decks with majors and minors and have never really even worked with my Majors only decks.  I love looking at them but have just not felt motivated to do anything with them.

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

I've  had a couple over time and didn't care to read with them as a regular thing, with 22 cards (or only 44 in an oracle deck) the same cards can't help but come up too often for my taste.

 

The one I do have will always be a keeper. Tarot of the Origins is a favorite anyway, and my Lo Scarabeo special print art majors was a gift.  Wonderful deck.

[katrinka]

I'm curious if there are online resources in English that detail how the French traditionalists perform their readings with just the majors. As with the other commenters, I feel that it would be so restricting to only use majors, but if there's an established system behind it I'm very interested in it.

 

For those kind of questions, I generally ask Andy as he's read a lot of literature on French methods. You could hop over and do that.

 

I do use my Majors only decks, and I have a nice little stash of them ranging from Wirth to fun stuff like Valenza. I understand that Continental readers often read the Majors and Minors separately. So, considering that Tarot pips are essentially playing cards, as are Sibilla, Lenormand, etc., I sometimes lay a few Majors in addition to whatever spread I'm doing with those. Imagine a Lenormand GT with a line of three to five Majors off to the side. It can loosely be thought of as Majors = causes and the other deck = effects.

[Saturn Celeste]

... and my partner used the Majors only H.R Giger (aka the Baphomet Tarot). A Majors only reading is really powerful and interesting to do sometimes, I wouldn't do every reading like that but it's an interesting experience and powerful message, perhaps from the universe or karma, depending on your beliefs.

I have the H.R. Giger deck!  I used it a few times when I first got it but the messages were not clear.  As much as I love Giger, the images were just stuck on and really didn't have much tarot meaning to them.  I have since put the deck in a nightstand away from my other decks.  My son has the Halloween tarot which is a majors only deck.  He does use it around Halloween time though, he likes it.

 

I do want to say this about majors only decks.  When I was learning the tarot, I picked the minor cards up really fast and really enjoyed working with them but I was slower on the majors.  So I started just using majors, aces and the court cards, nothing else for readings.  I told the people I was reading for that I didn't have a complete deck and none of them minded.  I did that for a good 3-4 months and wow, did it ever help me learn the majors!

[EmpyreanKnight]

Just found the Tarot of the Golden Serpent and I love its vibrant and occult imagery. Also have a hankering for Lo Scarabeo's large foiled majors-only decks.

[Tanawylfen]

Just found the Tarot of the Golden Serpent and I love its vibrant and occult imagery. Also have a hankering for Lo Scarabeo's large foiled majors-only decks.

 

OMG but The Golden Serpent is gorgeous isn't it?! <3 Yet another one for my Gamecrafter wishlist!

 

I tend to use majors only decks for spiritual readings in particular, ie I'll lay out a major card to give the lesson the soul is learning right now, and will then use a playing cards deck as a minor arcana to give some detail (though I suppose I could just split a regular Tarot deck into major and minor components and do it that way too.) I only have 2 majors only decks so far - the Imperial Dragon Oracle and the Lord of the Rings Tarot majors (I took the minors out when I started to associate wands with air and couldn't bear to part with the deck altogether.) I'd like Saleire's Little Golden Majors from Gamecrafterhttps://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/little-golden-majors, and also The Tarot of the Golden Serpent now as well. I kind of always liked the Ansata Tarot too.

[Penthasilia]

Right now, I only have the Arto- which I adore. I let go of many of my decks with the upcoming move- so it is not a matter of preference as much as keeping my list very low. I have one that I backed on KS that is also a majors only deck.

 

I do like using them and really it is just a different method of reading, but then I like working with TdM decks- so it isn't much of a stretch for me. I think it would be harder trying to come from a system like RWS simply due to reading styles.

[Asher]

I like Majors-only decks and currently have about 15 or so. I took an online webinar a few years ago with Rachel Pollack on the topic of doing readings with Majors-only decks, which was very good. I like to get my decks out and do 3 - 5 card readings on a variety of topics. I find they work well for both mundane and more spiritual, introspective matters.

 

Some of my favorites are the Pentimento (Joanna Powell Colbert), Lucky Pack Tarot (Arnell Ando), Dreamythology Tarot (Leslie Cochran), Radical Wirth (Carol Herzer), Raziel (Rachel Pollack & Robert Place) and my all-time favorite, the Pen Tarot, with its amazing artwork.