Mary EL?- First Deck for intuition archetypes and shadow work

[junwaka]

TLDR: Decks like the mary el?

 

I feel drawn to get into tarot, i am a holistic health student, and have knowledge of astrology and am interested in tarot to understand archetypes and my shadow(s) (jungian stuff)... and to work on my intuition.

 

I want a deck that i can read based on intuition opposed to via memory/ logic/ analytical (which i may be too heavily reliant on in my day to day... mercury in virgo). So i think marsailles would not be good for that based on the minors?

 

So a deck with amazing imagery symbolysm for minors as much as the majors would be great.

 

I am drawn much more by thoth than RWS, and am turned off by decks that are too light (airy fairy water colouring), oldschool (medieval cartoons), or make me think of fantasy board games /books.

 

So i thought the mary el was awesome but maybe it has like 1 or 2 many penises in it than i perfer, but besides that its nice and colourful and Rich and has great symbolysm.

 

The Night sun seems good except its a little bit too comic book style and the minor arcana are not as rich as the major arcana like the mary el (from my initial perspective)

 

any reccomendations will be greatly appreciated!

[Thoughtful]

Welcome to the forum junwaka!

 

Can l suggest that you go to Aeclectic tarot forum.  They are closed down as a forum to chat on, but you can still view many different decks. They are all listed under varying headings with reviews.  It may help you sort out the type of tarot you are looking for.  Just tap the Tarot cards and Reviews heading.

 

https://www.tarotforum.net/

 

Am sure others here will give you many ideas as well.

Good luck  :)

[junwaka]

Thanks, I have been checking out that site, including the mary el section, but have not found anything like, "decks similar to mary el", there or anywhere online so far. Through my research other decks that seem interesting to me are tabula mundi, voyager, dreams of gaia (maybe too fantasy), haindl (watercolour a little too light)... but would choose the mary el over these.

[Page of Ghosts]

I don't own the Mary-El myself, but from what I know of it, it's a non-traditional deck that doesn't follow very close to any of the 3 major tarot traditions (Marseilles, RWS and Thoth) so looking into non-traditional decks could be a good start! These are some links that might give you some ideas:

 

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/modern.shtml

 

https://www.asaliearthwork.com/blog/2018/4/9/tarot-decks-for-beginners-not-rws

 

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-29439/calling-all-modern-mystics-these-decks-will-be-your-new-best-friends.html

[EmpyreanKnight]

Hi junwaka! I also have the Mary-El, and I agree that it stirs my intuitive faculties as it is a rather different system compared to most GD-based decks.

 

Off the top of my head, the Didactic, Chrysalis, Kabbalistic Visions, Sola Busca, and the Klimt have all made me view the cards using rather creative approaches. All of them (except maybe for the last) have their own unique systems just like the Mary-El. They are also visually rich, teeming with color, scenes, and symbols. You may want to check them out.

 

I don't have the Archeon or the Spirit by Eakins, but they may be up your alley too.