Dreams of Gaia Tarot

Marketing Ploys in Tarot

/ Twist the Leaf / 2 Comments

Okay so I want to do a bit of a rant today that was inspired by my use of the Harmony Tarot this month.

Although the Harmony Tarot is not the only one guilty of this. And I guess before I start, I should define just what exactly tarot is…. and isn’t.

Tarot is a specific system of card reading. This specific system has a structure of 22 trumps (called the Major Arcana) and four groups (suits) made into 14 cards which are collectively called the Minor Arcana.

Each card is numbered in this deck has a specific meaning attributed to it, and that meaning is the same across all tarot decks. The Magician, for example, is card #1 in the Major Arcana, and in all tarot decks it means the same thing. Readers can then intuit more from the cards through imagery, but the base meaning of the #1 card in the Major Arcana is always the same. That holds true for all 78 cards in the deck.

An oracle, on the other hand, does not share the same structure. Each deck is it’s own system, it’s own structure, and builds it’s own meanings on the cards. If you have the structure of tarot, but not the meanings attributed to match the tarot system, it is not a tarot deck.

It irritates me when decks are marketed as “Tarot” that are not tarot. Examples of this include (but are not limited to) the Morgan’s Tarot, Dreams of Gaia Tarot, Osho Zen Tarot, Wildwood Tarot, Merlin Tarot, Harmony Tarot, Daemon Tarot, and Jane Austin Tarot. None of these decks should have the name “Tarot” in the title as none of them are actually tarot decks. They are oracle decks with their own structures and their own system. This isn’t to say that they’re not excellent oracle decks… but they aren’t tarot decks and thus shouldn’t have that word in their titles.

I feel that the use of the word “tarot” in these decks is a marketing ploy. They know that people who read tarot are interested in new tarot decks, and that more people out there read with tarot decks than with oracle decks, and so they use the word “tarot” in their title to draw these people in, even though the deck isn’t a tarot deck at all.

And that? Pisses me off. Oracle decks are NOT tarot decks. Anyone that is making a tarot deck -or- an oracle deck should know this, or they haven’t done enough research and shouldn’t be making a damned deck in the first place in that case.

The word is not interchangeable and I feel that using the word in the title of a deck that’s not a tarot deck is false advertising. A marketing ploy. Essentially? A lie meant to fool people into spending their money.

Decks that Intimidate Me – (non) VR to BoyDiviner

/ Twist the Leaf / 2 Comments

The BoyDiviner on YouTube did a video that, although it is not a hashtag, I really enjoyed a lot and decided to do a (non)VR to anyway.

This is about tarot decks that intimidate me in some way or another.  I don’t have many, but there are a few in my collection that fit the bill.  Here is an outline of what these decks are, and how I feel about them.

ST

Secret Tarot by Dominic Murphy

I absolutely love the artwork in this deck.  I love the concept, the originality, the expressiveness in the cards.  I love it.

But, at the same time?  I find it very intimidating.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that after the major arcana, the deck is an entirely different structure.  I’ve had more luck with the Lost Tarot by the same artist, as there seems to be a bit more structure in that one than this one.

Still, I keep it because I love the artwork.  And, at some point, I plan on doing a depth study of this deck to help me (hopefully) become more familiar and comfortable with it and its unusual system.

TH

Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley

I used to think that it was just the Thoth system that intimidated me, but after working with the Gill Tarot and a few others, I think in this case it’s the artwork, not the system.

Something in the artwork for the original Thoth deck just makes me want to ‘shield and retreat’ in much the same way that I feel when I come across someone radiating abusive vibes.   I bought this deck to delve deeper into the Thoth system, but every time I pick it up, it turns me off.   Not just emotionally or aesthetically, but even my intuition turns away from this deck and will refuse to speak.

WW

Wild Wood Tarot by Mark Ryan, John Matthews, and Will Worthington

I genuinely adore this deck and its earthiness, although I find the energy of this deck just a but too heavy.   I love the artwork especially.  But, for some reason I have a hard time reading this deck intuitively, and many of the cards do not follow the RWS system, so I then struggle with reading it logically as well.

I did a depth study on this deck for an entire year, but I still find myself unable to read with it confidently, even after a year of serious study.

DG

Dreams of Gaia Tarot by Ravynne Phelan

It’s the faces.   I mean, yes, it’s an entirely different system from any other deck out there, but I think I would be more inclined to learn that system IF it wasn’t for the FACES.  They just bug me for some reason.  I don’t like them.

That said, I do use this deck, but I use it as an intuitive oracle instead. Usually when harsh truths are required.

SPK

Spirit Keeper’s Tarot by Benebell Wen

This one is purely all about information overload.  I’m kind of wondering if this deck isn’t more suited to the logic-style of readers rather than the intuitive style?  I’m not entirely sure.   I just find there is SO MUCH information in each card that I feel overwhelmed by them when I try to read with them.

I think they’re amazing, and I think Benebell Wen (who drew each of these cards by hand) is brilliant.  I have the study books that go along with this deck and intend on doing a depth study with it at some point.  But, at the moment, I find it a bit too much and the cards make me feel like the crossed wires between my logic and intuition are about to blow a fuse.