COLDEST reading deck(s) you've ever had

[gregory]

12 hours ago, akiva said:

Yes, this was one of the things that stuck out to me when trying to use it. I love the art work, I find it really endearing/warming. But along with the disparity between some of the images and their descriptions, it's also the style of writing. I can't really deal with long descriptions for cards. The writing just never felt practical to me.

 

Do you use it? It seems quite popular

 

I use it occasionally. It's pretty. And I have no use for guidebooks, the way I read - I do read GOOD ones, but this one isn't so after my horror (I read it because of the nonsense surrounding its release) I ignore it. I prefer to support Worthington, whose fault none of this was.

[rylla]

Alice was a big disappointment for me in this regard; I guess no one denies BS artistic approach to making tarot decks; still Alice seems to me like very nice pictures only, not quite tarot cards and it does not 'generate' in me any feelings. I can't (or I don't feel the call) to read with this deck. Otherwise decks that don't express the cards' meaning in any way do not work for me (i. e. Ian Miller tarot with those repeating houses for suit of pentacles, if I recall correctly. I've got the deck, looked through it and put it away somewhere)

[Arania]

12 hours ago, akiva said:

Do you use it? It seems quite popular

I will pick it up soon, it sits in my shelf for now. The disadvantage of bulk buying, so many new things you have no idea where to start. 🙂

 

I love the art, too.

[akiva]

12 hours ago, Misterei said:

I lived on a remote mountaintop. I could walk to the local store for supplies ... but if I needed to get to town or back from town and didn't catch a ride with someone I knew ... hitching was the only way. The Honda was a HUGE step up. Still, I was too young to legally drive the honda and it had no plates because after buying it I had no money left for fees. I ran from the sherriffs and most times lost them ... but other times they caught me.

By the time I was 18 I had this FAT stack of tickets to clear before I could get a license. The Public Defender said he could get my sentence reduced to 6 months in jail. I fired him on the spot, spoke to the judge myself, and got my license after a weekend in jail and a fine. My first love picked me up from my jail "holiday" with a change of clothes, a bottle of perfume, and tickets to a concert. I had my license shortly after and happily never had legal troubles since!

You must write an autobiography 😁 your life sounds so eventful! It would make a great read!

 

12 hours ago, Misterei said:

A friend gave me Ethereal Visions ... which I thought was "too pretty" at first ... but it actually reads well. You never know.

I've seen this deck, I need to get out of my 'TdM only' mind set and be more open to modern creations. As it is beautiful!

 

2 hours ago, gregory said:

I use it occasionally. It's pretty. And I have no use for guidebooks, the way I read - I do read GOOD ones, but this one isn't so after my horror (I read it because of the nonsense surrounding its release) I ignore it. I prefer to support Worthington, whose fault none of this was.

Do you prefer to read by the images? As opposed to being 'told' what the cards mean? This could be my problem, I need keywords and things I can draw synonyms from. 

 

2 hours ago, Arania said:

I will pick it up soon, it sits in my shelf for now. The disadvantage of bulk buying, so many new things you have no idea where to start. 🙂

I hope it reads for you Arania, it really is a lovely looking deck 😁

[gregory]

18 minutes ago, akiva said:

Do you prefer to read by the images? As opposed to being 'told' what the cards mean? This could be my problem, I need keywords and things I can draw synonyms from. 

 

Indeed I do. DO join us sometime in the ISG (Intuitive Study Group - gravely misnamed, as every reader draws on intuition, but it got that name on AT way back in the Noughties, and it stuck. No "book learning", prior knowledge, cups are emotions, "Death does (or doesn't) mean death"..) Oddly enough, though - the cards do seem to come out meaning very much the same as if we'd looked in the book.... Tarot works in mysterious ways.

[akiva]

15 minutes ago, gregory said:

Indeed I do. DO join us sometime in the ISG (Intuitive Study Group - gravely misnamed, as every reader draws on intuition, but it got that name on AT way back in the Noughties, and it stuck. No "book learning", prior knowledge, cups are emotions, "Death does (or doesn't) mean death"..) Oddly enough, though - the cards do seem to come out meaning very much the same as if we'd looked in the book.... Tarot works in mysterious ways.

 

I've looked at the ISG before, it's a completely different way of reading for me. It might make a nice change to toss out the book learning and just go by the images! Though it's not something I'm very proficient in.

[gregory]

October signup is open NOW !...... It isn't really a matter of proficiency, just a matter of letting go.

[Misterei]

7 hours ago, gregory said:

...  DO join us sometime in the ISG (Intuitive Study Group ... No "book learning", prior knowledge, cups are emotions, "Death does (or doesn't) mean death"..) ...

THIS. I was about to make exactly this recommendation to see if you can find a way to communicate withe that deck.

6 hours ago, akiva said:

I've looked at the ISG before, it's a completely different way of reading for me. It might make a nice change to toss out the book learning and just go by the images! Though it's not something I'm very proficient in.

LOL I was right there with you! But now that I've done maybe a half-dozen ISGs ... I quite like them and it's helped me grow as a reader.

[akiva]

46 minutes ago, Misterei said:

THIS. I was about to make exactly this recommendation to see if you can find a way to communicate withe that deck.

That's actually a good idea, I didn't consider using the Wildwood for the isg!

I like to think everything happens for a reason, and that could be why it's mute on me? It's just waiting for me to read it in a way that it's more geared towards... I'll have to ponder on it 😊

[Misterei]

To me it's a no brainer. Great artwork, happy connection, but crap guidebook?

This is MADE for the ISG! Literally the whole point is to ignore the guidebook, look at the pictures, and feel stuff. };>

[legendaryelement]

Hmmm … thinking back to my days on AT with the Trade Trains, etc.

 

I really wanted to love Joseph Vargo’s Gothic Tarot, but I could not speak with it.

 

Loved the beautiful Sacred Circle Tarot, but it’s size in my hands did something to me.

 

Tarot Familiars by Lisa Parker is gorgeous art & a nice feel in my hands, but I was disappointed at the multiple instances of the same animal for certain cards.

 

I had several books by John Michael Greer & got excited about his Sacred Geometry Oracle, but the color schemes & art style kept me blocked.

Edited October 3, 2023 by legendaryelement

[Natural Mystic Guide]

3 hours ago, legendaryelement said:

Loved the beautiful Sacred Circle Tarot

It's weird because usually I totally dislike photographic/computer generated graphics, but I absolutely love this deck.  So well done!  It's one of my favorites.  I don't particularly resonate with the Celtic thing either, although I have plenty of Celtic ancestry.  I use this deck primarily for business readings and it reads very well for that.  My original copy is so well used, that the images are rubbing off.  I need to buy a new copy!  Deck preferences are so subjective!

[GreatDane]

NMG, your last sentence, Deck preferences are so subjective!   Truer words were never spoken!  

[persephonerose]

I had wanted the Hudes tarot for the longest time and kept looking at images online of the artwork.

When I got it, I found it so hard to read with. The artwork is beautiful and the cour scheme is soothing, but so emotionless. I'd just draw a blank whenever I read from this deck. It's a very introverted deck if such a thing exists, it just didn't work for me. 

[Chariot]

I recently acquired The Cosmic Tarot, as I was very taken with the High Priestess card. Still am.  But holy mud, I  have not yet been able to get any kind of coherent reading with it.  I will keep trying, but every question I've asked has resulted in a non-answer for me.  Maybe it's because I find the 'movie star' faces on so many of the cards to be a distraction, rather than a way to focus the meaning. And so many of the minor arcana just seem to say nothing much.  I will try a few more times, but I'm afraid that deck is inching towards the give-away box.

Here are just a few examples of cards that say nothing to me:

The Four of Wands, in my normal tarot interpretation, has to do with a celebration of some kind, an 'occasion' like a wedding, etc.  This picture just shows some person alone with a leg in the air and the pyramids in the background?  And the Six of Wands is supposed to be about victory and acclaim?  It's a lone guy posing—very pose-y—on one knee with a few wands spread out around him and a lion in the background.  Three of Cups usually represents a social get-together with a group of friends ...again, two dancers not looking like they're enjoying anything much. And the Six of Cups?  What has this picture got to do with pleasant memories of childhood, etc?

I mean all of these depictions can be stretched to cover the traditional meaning, but why bother?  I don't think the stretch adds much.  And I don't get the point of looking for a non-traditional meaning with this deck.  The answer to everything is dancing, posing, and theatre?  None of these people seem to be engaging in real life at all.  I find myself more annoyed than enlightened when reading with this deck, so I think it's likely to go at some point.

[FindYourSovereignty]

3 hours ago, Chariot said:

I recently acquired The Cosmic Tarot, as I was very taken with the High Priestess card. Still am.

I love this deck and have really good readings with it. I am an ISG style reader and this works well with that approach. Deck preferences truly are subjective as @Natural Mystic Guide says. 
 

I’ve not tried the Sacred Circle tarot, but several of you have me interested in checking it out. 😊

[Chariot]

5 minutes ago, FindYourSovereignty said:

I love this deck and have really good readings with it. I am an ISG style reader and this works well with that approach. Deck preferences truly are subjective as @Natural Mystic Guide says. 
 

I’ve not tried the Sacred Circle tarot, but several of you have me interested in checking it out. 😊

I'm not familiar with the term.  What is an ISG style reader?  🙂

[Arania]

4 hours ago, Chariot said:

I recently acquired The Cosmic Tarot, as I was very taken with the High Priestess card. Still am.  But holy mud, I  have not yet been able to get any kind of coherent reading with it.  I will keep trying, but every question I've asked has resulted in a non-answer for me.  Maybe it's because I find the 'movie star' faces on so many of the cards to be a distraction, rather than a way to focus the meaning. And so many of the minor arcana just seem to say nothing much.  I will try a few more times, but I'm afraid that deck is inching towards the give-away box.

Here are just a few examples of cards that say nothing to me:

The Four of Wands, in my normal tarot interpretation, has to do with a celebration of some kind, an 'occasion' like a wedding, etc.  This picture just shows some person alone with a leg in the air and the pyramids in the background?  And the Six of Wands is supposed to be about victory and acclaim?  It's a lone guy posing—very pose-y—on one knee with a few wands spread out around him and a lion in the background.  Three of Cups usually represents a social get-together with a group of friends ...again, two dancers not looking like they're enjoying anything much. And the Six of Cups?  What has this picture got to do with pleasant memories of childhood, etc?

I mean all of these depictions can be stretched to cover the traditional meaning, but why bother?  I don't think the stretch adds much.  And I don't get the point of looking for a non-traditional meaning with this deck.  The answer to everything is dancing, posing, and theatre?  None of these people seem to be engaging in real life at all.  I find myself more annoyed than enlightened when reading with this deck, so I think it's likely to go at some point.

This deck ( and i love it) only does spirit journeys/creative journeys for most people I know. The cards you posted, to me, are the bext examples. The 2 of cups is a dancer's interpretation of love and friendship, not the real thing. The 6 of wands is an actor playing their part. The 4 of wands is the stability of artistic expression not found in daily life. The 6 of cups is a screen kiss, evoking a scene for the masses to think about, nothing intimate.

 

Off topic sorry, but maybe this helps.

[FindYourSovereignty]

2 hours ago, Arania said:

This deck ( and i love it) only does spirit journeys/creative journeys for most people I know. The cards you posted, to me, are the bext examples.

 I was thinking the same thing. I love these cards! 😍

 

2 hours ago, Chariot said:

I'm not familiar with the term.  What is an ISG style reader?  🙂

It is a term used here for a monthly practice group. It supports reading the cards intuitively without any use of the traditional card meanings or symbolism. I suppose my style of reading is about the image and the meanings, but the image leads the direction of the meaning.

 

Here are a few posts about what Intuitive Study Group is:

 

 

 

And this month’s activity: 

 

[DanielJUK]

@Chariot if it helps you crack the deck, this is the old archived study group for it from Aeclectic -

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/cosmic-tarot-index-of-threads-so-far.22365/

[GreatDane]

Persephonerose, I was drawn to the Hudes but never got it because I knew it wouldn't be a reader.  It does kind of suck when you really like the look, aesthetically, of a deck, but one can be drawn to  certain art but doesn't engage the reading muscle or the two of you don't speak the same language.

 

I LOVED the artwork on the Aquarian Tarot and I recently read a review where someone says it gives you cold logic.  I thought that was an interesting comment.  It was just cold to me.   Technically, if something follows RWS pretty well, yes, I CAN read with it, but if there is anything distracting me, anything I don't like, I feel I'm not picking up all I can from the reading.   

[Misterei]

12 hours ago, Chariot said:

I recently acquired The Cosmic Tarot, as I was very taken with the High Priestess card. Still am.  But holy mud, I  have not yet been able to get any kind of coherent reading with it. 

LOL my Cosmic Tarot literally *IS* in the giveaway box [death cleaning].😆

There are a few cards I adore ... but the deck seems so "trapped in the 1990s".

The 90s super model makeup just killed it for me. *sigh*

[GreatDane]

The Cosmic Tarot was another deck I thought was interesting looking, just not a reader.  But I've gone through so many intriguing decks to realize what deck(s) I'm most fluent in 🙂 

 

And they're very RWS.      My first deck, The Mystic Dreamer, I chose so carefully.  Oh pretty!  I realized decks with photographic images of models not really conducive to what I needed.  So that got moved along.    

[Chariot]

@FindYourSovereignty - Thanks for the heads-up regarding the intuitive reading circles.  I've been thinking about giving them a try.  It's just that ISG didn't trigger any meaning for me.  It does now! 🙂

@DanielJUK -  Thanks for that link, and I will check it out.  I do like the Cosmic Tarot deck (less than I'd hoped I would, due to the overly-melodramatic 1930's movie-ish images, but I'm not quite ready to give it away yet.)  It's just that the readings I've tried with it thus far have given me nothing useful.  I don't hang on to decks that I can't read with, unless they are of historical importance.  So this one might or might not make the cut.  A fresh perspective might nudge it into a 'keeper.'

UPDATE:  Thanks again, Daniel.  Your link has proved very informative. https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/cosmic/

 

Turns out that while the major arcana cards are more or less based on the Golden Dawn system, which inspired both the RWS system and the Thoth system, the minor arcana cards seem to be based on the Thoth system. That's why so many of them didn't make sense to me.  I don't use (and am not familiar with) the Thoth system.

Well, at least this explanation makes sense, and makes me respect the cards more than I did earlier.  I still don't know if I'll keep it or not, but I might.  I could get around my dilemma by using only the major arcana cards in a reading for majors only.  I don't really have a problem with any of them.  It's just that the minors didn't make sense to me.  Now I know why!  🙂

Edited November 6, 2023 by Chariot

[persephonerose]

10 hours ago, GreatDane said:

Persephonerose, I was drawn to the Hudes but never got it because I knew it wouldn't be a reader.  It does kind of suck when you really like the look, aesthetically, of a deck, but one can be drawn to  certain art but doesn't engage the reading muscle or the two of you don't speak the same language.

 

It is artistically beautiful but definitely not a reader. You made a wise choice