General thoughts and introduction (Wildwood)

[Wanderer]

Welcome, All!

    I hope there will be quite a few people interested in this deck, as it seems to be very polarising: either people find it extremely powerful, or they like the artwork but just can't get on with it. I'm in the former camp, but everyone is welcome to contribute; sometimes it is the opposing experiences and opinions that are among the most interesting.

 

For the structure of this group, I have no fixed plans (and no experience of doing anything similar with Tarot!), but can we try to keep the organisation logical? This thread is for people's personal opinions of the deck, and broad ideas of where to take the discussion. Once aspects of discussion start to develop, I feel we should begin a new thread for it. Where the interpretation of particular cards arises, then a thread for each card: please check whether there's one already there, before making a new one!

 

I see some study groups have an index of threads; once it gets busy I'll certainly do the same. I'll also start a few threads to discuss particular ideas or aspects, but obviously feel free to create your own! I have a few ideas to try out as well, regarding asking the deck its own opinions...

 

So... please join in, and on with the show!

Wanderer

[Saturn Celeste]

Great start Wanderer!  If you need any help with organizing this section, just give me a shout and I'll be here.  ^-^  I will try to participate in this group also but I'll return to make an official post.

[Wanderer]

Thanks, Saturn Celeste - it's great to know you're around and will be involved. Will see how it goes! :)

[DanielJUK]

I have done some really great readings with this deck in the past but left it gathering dust for a while so rediscovered it recently.

 

I do like it and the artwork but it's not quite perfect, it has some issues and some of the cards are almost Disneylike but I have always found it gives really good readings :)

 

Glad you have a study group going Wanderer for it :)

[EmpyreanKnight]

I have the Wildwood too, and I'm glad to see it getting some love here. Would check in often just to see your ideas about its cards, and maybe wade into the waters every once in a while. :)

[Wanderer]

Excellent - welcome, both! Will look forward to reading your thoughts, and seeing how the studies develop.  :)

 

DanielJUK[/member] , I've heard a few people say they find the cards a bit Disneyish, and sometimes I can almost see what you mean... but strangely it doesn't bother me. It should. But I suppose it's because although the appearance is important, it's the content and meaning that really matter. I do wonder what it is about a deck that makes it provide consistently good readings, relative to another... something to ponder!

[ilweran]

I may chip in occasionally  :)

 

I'm working with the Greenwood at the moment but have decided (after Wanderers posts on the thread about the possible Greenwood reprint) to compare with the Wildwood as I go, so if anything specifically Wildwood pops into my head I'll post. While I take the point that it's a different deck, they are related, and I've already found that comparing the minors is quite useful and occasionally thought provoking.

 

The Courts are very different so I doubt I'll have much to contribute there.

[Wanderer]

Excellent - thanks for that, ilweran. Will look forward to your insights on these, especially as I don't have experience with the Greenwood (something to rectify one day...).

[Wanderer]

Saturn Celeste[/member] : Time to start organising a bit, I reckons! Could you please create a subforum of 'The Cards' and transfer the numbered ones (The Wanderer, the Wheel and Moon on Water) into it? Not sure what other subforums will evolve yet, so will hold off a bit on others for now.

Also, could you please make this thread a sticky?

 

Ta muchly!  :)

 

[Purplemystic]

I'm here hovering getting familiar with this study group then possibly contribute. ☺

[Wanderer]

Welcome, Purplemystic[/member] - it's good to have you on board! You'll notice that I've not got very far yet, so we few are venturing into it together... I'm looking forward to what you discover!  :)

 

[River]

I have the Wildwood too. :) It's one of the two decks that I own (five in total have passed from my hands, as I'm very picky and only want to have at most a couple of them), the other one is the Wild Unknown. I first fell in love with some of the images, and the concepts that deviate from the traditional tarot, like Ecstasy, Clearance, Endurance, the Great Bear as Judgement and the Guardian as the Devil. I was searching for something that stripped the archetypes from the attached Christian symbolism and I liked that the pictures seem to take place in the Stone Age. I am currently finishing reading a series of novels about it and I'm also a student of archaeology, so you can guess what happened. ;D

 

But I found some issues with it. First of all, the scenery is very focused on the Celtic and British mythology that I find it hard to relate with some concepts. I had never heard what a Green Man or the Lady of the Lake is before. I'd never seen the chalk drawings even in photos; they exist in so many of the cards and still I'm not sure what to think of them. The lynx or the stoat are not native where I live - I've never even seen a birch tree because as Wikipedia informed me, they grow in colder climates. I'd never seen a torc before. Anyway, you get the picture, I'm unfamiliar with way too many symbols, and even when I read about them, they still feel foreign and this stops my intuition from flowing. Even with the RWS, where I used to hate all those crosses, popes, traditional devils etc, I had an easier time making sense of the images because they were more familiar with what I was raised with. Secondly, I'm not sure that this kind of art helps me read. I tend to like more "naïve" or primal looking art, less realistic. I love Will Worthington's art and I could easily hang many of the images on my wall, but I think they don't read well for me.

 

That being said, I read with it sometimes, just to try myself, and mostly because I so much wanted to love this deck - and to hate my Wild Unknown, but I ended up with the opposite.  ;D I find that it gives me good results, even with all this feel I have about it. It's almost like it wants to prove to me that it's good at its job. One thing that I like about it, versus my WU is that most of the minors have some human or animal depicted on them and this because sometimes I want to do certain exercises that require identifying people with cards, not only from the courts and major arcana. Also, the readings tend to be quite literal. Once I drew the Lovers when asking "what is my relationship with my boyfriend" and the Kingfisher when I asked "what's my relationship with the city I live in". (I live near a river, in the city I come from, and kingfishers make nests near rivers, so it was pretty accurate.)

 

I'm thinking of printing a Greenwood because it has the same structure with more of my kind of tarot art and a bit more cultural diversity.

 

[Wanderer]

Hi River[/member] !

Now, that's a perspective that I hadn't considered, but of course I should have... if you don't have the same background and familiarity with the ideas and the animals, then it will obviously be much harder. If you want to get to grips with the feel of the mythology, then I'd recommend reading some of the Arthurian sagas, or Robert Holdstock's novels (e.g. Mythago Wood, Lavondyss). The symbolism is complex and sometimes impenetrable, but the overall feeling is perhaps more important. I can't put it into words, but there is a certain way of looking and seeing the world that is more easily absorbed by reading stories than by academic learning.

 

I'm glad it's working to some extent, though! What you call literal, I sometimes feel is a sense of humour... I often get cards that have a blatantly obvious meaning that tells me nothing ( ::) ;D), but there is always more to it. Dig into the meanings in the book if your intuition doesn't provide more, and I'm sure you'll find another layer that is actually more insightful. For example, the Kingfisher is very much a bird of two worlds, able to dip into the surface of the water to extract what it wants, before escaping back to its natural element. Could you be that you need nature (the river) in your life to feel content, but need other practical things from the city itself (e.g. work/food); that it's a source of sustenance, but not a source of happiness? You get the idea!

 

Please do join in when you feel comfortable - and I hope you find that it works for you in the end. I'm enjoying your Wild Unknown writings, by the way!  :)

[Padma]

I was lucky enough to get the chance to live in the UK for a few years, and so I am familiar with the tumuli, the chalk horse and the chalk man, the Celtic references etc. While we were there, of course we also visited Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. But I would think the deck works quite well, even if you haven't been to the UK. ;) I agree that reading some of the literature of the lore and area will help to understand the deck...

 

One thing I did find, once the deck was cropped, the images took on a far more powerful punch. This deck does much better with no white border!

 

I will post some pics of the trimmed cards within the next few days :)

 

[Wanderer]

Hi Padma[/member], and thanks for joining us!  :)

 

That's a very interesting idea, and I can see what you mean when covering the edges up; the white borders act as a balance for the shadows and potentially counteract their full impact. I've never understood the urge to trim decks, although I can certainly appreciate the difference in aesthetics (which I guess is mostly personal). Is it really a cosmetic change, or is there something practical too? Do you find that the readings changed as a result, or became easier?

 

If I were a trimmer, I'd probably be reaching for the scissors already... but (for now at least) I'm not. Too scared of doing something irrevocable to a deck that still feels 'sacred'! Plus I'm not sure what the cards would think of the idea... But I'll definitely bear it in mind, and one day you never know...  8)

 

[Padma]

I don't trim many decks, to be honest - I think I have trimmed 3 out of the 40+ that I own. I will say though that after trimming, because the white frame is gone, the images seem larger, and way more impactful/in your face, so to speak! So you get a lot more visual bang, and your eyes begin to notice little details you may otherwise have missed, as trimming remove all the visual distractions. It allows you to focus mainly on the picture.

 

Well worth it, and I can tell you, the decks come out of trimming feeling even more beloved and exalted! ;) The Wildwood seemed even more sacred, somehow, afterwards. As I said, I will post pics!

 

PS the best tools for trimming are a sharp, handheld details-exacto blade trimmer, a straightedge cork-backed ruler, and a self-healing grid map mat for trimming. :) (and a steady hand!) I use nail clippers to round the edges, but others I know have used edge trimmers.

[Padma]

And, YAY! I found my old thread contribution at AT, featuring the Wildwood. So you can see an untrimmed card, and a trimmed one beside it! (post # 936)

 

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=165283&page=94

[Wanderer]

That does look nice! Strange how it does actually appear bigger - although I guess that's a standard trick in optical illusion games as well, so I should have expected it. I note the careful choice of cards, too: before, boredom; after, joy!  ;)

 

Will definitely consider doing this... carefully! Thanks also for the advice on the practical side. I'm working abroad right now, but we have most of the necessary stuff back home in the UK... but that means I have a couple of months to think about it before doing anything irreparable.

 

Do you use the deck a lot? It sounds as though you venerate it in an appropriate manner.  :)

[Padma]

Wanderer - yes, the images do pop! :D

 

I was only trimming the cards in suit and numerical order, but that is a great observation, re boredom and joy, haha! (and oddly, that sort of fits where I am at right now - going from the boredom, to the joy).

 

I haven't used the Wildwood in several months, but this thread is going to make me dig it out and work with it  :heartz:

 

If/when you do decide to trim, I hope you post pics here!

[Wanderer]

If I do, Padma[/member], I'll be sure to add pictures.  :)

 

Glad to hear the deck is going to be dusted off again... it's far too potent to be left sitting in a cupboard, moping. Who knows what dark, tangled dreams it will have been nurturing in its isolation..?  ;)

[Ziev]

I completely agree regarding the images popping out when the deck is trimmed. I did this as well and I love the deck all the more for it. I was anxious about trimming them but I got an edge puncher and a paper cutter and it worked fabulously. ❤️ 

[Guest]

On 11/21/2018 at 8:34 PM, Wanderer said:

Hi River[/member] !

Now, that's a perspective that I hadn't considered, but of course I should have... if you don't have the same background and familiarity with the ideas and the animals, then it will obviously be much harder. If you want to get to grips with the feel of the mythology, then I'd recommend reading some of the Arthurian sagas, or Robert Holdstock's novels (e.g. Mythago Wood, Lavondyss). The symbolism is complex and sometimes impenetrable, but the overall feeling is perhaps more important. I can't put it into words, but there is a certain way of looking and seeing the world that is more easily absorbed by reading stories than by academic learning.

 

I'm glad it's working to some extent, though! What you call literal, I sometimes feel is a sense of humour... I often get cards that have a blatantly obvious meaning that tells me nothing ( ::) ;D), but there is always more to it. Dig into the meanings in the book if your intuition doesn't provide more, and I'm sure you'll find another layer that is actually more insightful. For example, the Kingfisher is very much a bird of two worlds, able to dip into the surface of the water to extract what it wants, before escaping back to its natural element. Could you be that you need nature (the river) in your life to feel content, but need other practical things from the city itself (e.g. work/food); that it's a source of sustenance, but not a source of happiness? You get the idea!

 

Please do join in when you feel comfortable - and I hope you find that it works for you in the end. I'm enjoying your Wild Unknown writings, by the way!  🙂

@Wanderer,

 

I have been reading the threads on the Wildwood deck and have looked at Mythago and other books Robert Holdstock has written. From what I read there is a book before  Mythago, Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn and the novella The Bone Forest. Have you read them?  If so, are they relevant? I am asking because it is a series he wrote and when I get into a series I want to find our what book to read first. 

[Wanderer]

3 hours ago, Hazel said:

@Wanderer,

 

I have been reading the threads on the Wildwood deck and have looked at Mythago and other books Robert Holdstock has written. From what I read there is a book before  Mythago, Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn and the novella The Bone Forest. Have you read them?  If so, are they relevant? I am asking because it is a series he wrote and when I get into a series I want to find our what book to read first. 

Hi Hazel! Sorry, I've been tied up with other things this week, but will hopefully be able to respond properly to some of the stuff on here soonish..! So, Holdstock's books... they're certainly not intended as a tie-in to the deck, or anything like that, but I do think they're relevent in terms of the mythology of the Wildwood in general. It's a hodge-podge of legends, covering numerous time periods, and is (at least in places) quite dark. I've not read it for many years, but it struck me as representing that side of the Wildwood rather well. It treats the Wildwood as almost its own entity, with its own rules and history. It's uneasy reading at times, with a real sense of 'otherness', but I don't think I've read any books that captured it better. 

     The prequel, Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, I didn't actually know about - it may be relevant, but isn't necessary for understanding the rest, as it wasn't planned at the time Mythago Wood was written. I did read the Bone Forest, though... I think I read it first, and was therefore confused! I think I'd suggest reading the series as it was written, and if you enjoy it and want more of the backstory, go to the prequels later.

[Guest]

@Wanderer,

 

Thanks for the reply. The books look really interesting so I will give Mythago Wood a try.  The Wildwood deck really speaks to me. More then the other decks I have.