Simple Vs. Complex symbolism in decks

[River]

Hey there!

 

I have been thinking about this for some time now and as I'm new to the forums I'm wondering what you think about it. Do you prefer your tarot decks to be full of symbolism, or do you prefer them to have more of a simple or abstract style? And how does this preference affect your reading style? If you prefer more symbols in your cards, do you utilize them all in a reading? Does it help or hinder your intuition? And if you are more for the simple images, do you find that your readings can still be profound?

 

I have yet to settle down on this. I always thought I would go for the complex symbolism because I love reading about spirituality, religions, symbols etc, but my Wild Unknown tarot deck always somehow reaches the bottom of my feelings and intuition, if this makes sense because English is not my mother tongue. I so much wanted to hate this deck but I can't help but feel so connected with it that I'm just thinking "isn't this too easy than it was supposed to be"?  :biggrin: On the other hand, I'm thinking, why would I need so many symbols to capture ideas that are so archetypical and primal? Why rely on symbols some other person associated with them, if the archetype predates the symbols?

[Saturn Celeste]

Hey there!

 

I have been thinking about this for some time now and as I'm new to the forums I'm wondering what you think about it. Do you prefer your tarot decks to be full of symbolism, or do you prefer them to have more of a simple or abstract style? And how does this preference affect your reading style? If you prefer more symbols in your cards, do you utilize them all in a reading? Does it help or hinder your intuition? And if you are more for the simple images, do you find that your readings can still be profound?

 

I have yet to settle down on this. I always thought I would go for the complex symbolism because I love reading about spirituality, religions, symbols etc, but my Wild Unknown tarot deck always somehow reaches the bottom of my feelings and intuition, if this makes sense because English is not my mother tongue. I so much wanted to hate this deck but I can't help but feel so connected with it that I'm just thinking "isn't this too easy than it was supposed to be"?  :biggrin: On the other hand, I'm thinking, why would I need so many symbols to capture ideas that are so archetypical and primal? Why rely on symbols some other person associated with them, if the archetype predates the symbols?

Hi River and welcome to the forum!  This is a great thought and one I've had many times myself.  Each type of style is important for me.  When I am doing a face to face reading, I want to use a RW deck and because I know the meanings and symbolism to the deck I feel free to let me intuition flow (Llewellyn Classic does this for me too).  When I'm doing online readings which are really the way I read then I'm more free to explore the symbols for the reading because I'm not under a time pressure.  I have the Wild Unknown too and really never wanted it but got it on sale and I was pleasantly surprised with the deck.  I don't use it a lot but I do occasionally use it.

 

EDIT: I don't need symbolism for intuition, I do use the symbols for study and deeper meaning. ;)

[River]

Hi River and welcome to the forum!  This is a great thought and one I've had many times myself.  Each type of style is important for me.  When I am doing a face to face reading, I want to use a RW deck and because I know the meanings and symbolism to the deck I feel free to let me intuition flow (Llewellyn Classic does this for me too).  When I'm doing online readings which are really the way I read then I'm more free to explore the symbols for the reading because I'm not under a time pressure.  I have the Wild Unknown too and really never wanted it but got it on sale and I was pleasantly surprised with the deck.  I don't use it a lot but I do occasionally use it.

 

EDIT: I don't need symbolism for intuition, I do use the symbols for study and deeper meaning. ;)

 

Thanks! ^^ Well, I may have got a bit discouraged by all the symbolism of my RWS in the beginning, to the point that I thought that I had to know all those things about the Kaballah etc to read with it - now I think it's perfectly possible to read it intuitively but it still doesn't appeal to me that much because of the style, I guess... Actually this thread made me think of giving it a second look. :D

I think that the gut feeling that you get from the pictures of a deck is more important than the symbols, I like the feeling to just "click" in a way. But I like having symbols to explore as well. I think the perfect tarot deck for me would be one that I could read both ways, something that would evoke feelings but also give some depth of symbolism to dig into if I wanted to.

[Guest Night Shade]

I think that the gut feeling that you get from the pictures of a deck is more important than the symbols, I like the feeling to just "click" in a way. But I like having symbols to explore as well. I think the perfect tarot deck for me would be one that I could read both ways, something that would evoke feelings but also give some depth of symbolism to dig into if I wanted to.

 

This is how I read, too - a combination of the pictures, traditional meanings, and symbolism.  Symbolism last, because to be honest, I really don't know much about the deeper meanings of most symbols.  I always choose decks because I like the artwork, then I let them speak to me from there.

[Jewel]

I like having a variety of decks to be honest, but a lot of that comes from the fact that I am easily fascinated by symbolism and love learning.  But if I had to categorize my style it is more intuitive so my favorite decks seem to be more about expressions of the meanings of the card vs. complex symbolism.  I tend to like to study the complex symbolism type decks, and read with the others.

[River]

I agree with both of you. I think I just need images that evoke the meaning of the card for me, instinctively. Some symbols may help with this, if they are integrated well in my worldview. If my mind doesn't make an automatic deep connection between a symbol and a meaning, and the knowledge about this symbol is just academic, the symbol can't work in a reading. Also I think that you don't need to have all the possible associations and correspondences written or symbolized in the card; you can associate the meanings with symbols and information you have in your mind or are relevant with the question. The querent's background plays a role too, supposing that you're reading for another person.

[DanielJUK]

I think it depends what you want to use the deck for is the answer. Complex symbolism isn't helpful if you can't work out it's message :) I think to look at if a card is busy with symbolism in a picture or there is less of it. If you read tarot by looking up meanings in books and reference / learnt meanings and associations, then you can use simple symbolism in a deck easily. But if you are reading the card picture intuitively, you need a story or a busy card to get the message from the symbols. I know that if I do an intuitive reading here in the ISG circle, I like a really busy and complex card picture, it makes it so much easier! Most people are a mix of both methods of reading but different decks fit different reading strengths better.

 

I know Wild Unknown is minimalist and doesn't contain religious symbols or human characters but actually it's quite complex with symbolism, it's a very good deck for reading the pics and trigging your intuition. On our old tarot forum, AT, there was a study group for the deck and each card had a thread and what was fascinating was that each person saw something different in the card. The cards have a lot of clever optical illusions, like someone saw a black background as having no light but someone else saw it as a cave of safety. It's quite complex compared to a really simple card art. There are many ways to read the images in that deck, it's a little like Rorschach inkblots :)

[River]

I know Wild Unknown is minimalist and doesn't contain religious symbols or human characters but actually it's quite complex with symbolism, it's a very good deck for reading the pics and trigging your intuition. On our old tarot forum, AT, there was a study group for the deck and each card had a thread and what was fascinating was that each person saw something different in the card. The cards have a lot of clever optical illusions, like someone saw a black background as having no light but someone else saw it as a cave of safety. It's quite complex compared to a really simple card art. There are many ways to read the images in that deck, it's a little like Rorschach inkblots :)

 

This is actually true. The images look like they don't contain much symbolism but on second glance you can see that a lot can be said and written about each one of them. Sometimes I wonder if it was intentional by the artist or just my imagination, because the companion book is sadly very basic.