Tarot decks. The minimum and optimal set of decks for a tarologist. Choosing the right tarot deck

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The question "Advise which deck to buy?" sounds as often as a request for advice on what to read. About what to read, we will talk next time. And today we will discuss what Tarot decks a tarot reader can and should have.

The principles of dividing decks are very diverse. Decks can be thought of as working decks, collectible decks, themed decks, and so on ad infinitum. Attempts to somehow classify the decks have been made repeatedly, but none of them has been successful.

Moreover, almost every month the world becomes richer by several new decks. Therefore, the classification proposed by me will initially be considered as a classification with fuzzy features.

How many working decks do you need for divination

Every tarot reader with experience eventually develops his own idea of ​​what Tarot decks he should have and what he would like to have.

I will talk about my and only my ideas.

Let's start with the fact that I would like to have every conceivable and unthinkable deck. It's easy to calculate. The average price of a deck is thirty dollars. There are about two thousand decks available. Sixty thousand dollars and you have a great collection of decks.

If we talk about working decks, that is, about necessary minimum decks for constant daily practice, then 1 (one) Tarot deck is enough for me. This is Magic Tarot Frederic Lionell. Beautiful, wonderful, my favorite deck.

Just in case, in my deck bag there is always a second deck - the classic RU. The simplest, most boring, most standard Wait.

Who is guessing: a tarot reader or a deck?

I know that there is a very popular idea among tarot readers that one deck better shows one area of ​​\u200b\u200blife, and another deck shows another. There was a time when I myself thought the same. I carried seven decks with me. Today I do not see any need for this.

Actually it is very interesting problem. Who is guessing - a tarot reader or a deck? AT " Metaphorical cards”, and also in what we can call the American school of divination, the interpretation of the drawings is largely dependent on the querent.

With this approach, drawings made in different styles and with different plots really matter. In the divination technique that I use, the querent does not take part in the interpretation of cards and their decoding. And I work not so much with the visual image of the map as with its semantic field. Therefore, different drawings in different decks lose their significance for me.

Two ways to miniaturize decks

As a working tarot deck, I would also add some kind of mini deck. There are two ways to miniaturize decks. First, downsizing. And in this regard, it seems to me that the size of 75 * 45 mm is close to ideal.

I've seen decks of smaller and bigger size in the mini category. And they seemed to me inconvenient in work. I regret that Crowley's deck has not been published in this scale. And I’m even thinking about ordering such a deck from the printing house myself. It will be a great addition to Waite and Marseille Tarot.

In addition to reducing the size, we can reduce the number of cards in the deck, limiting ourselves to the Major Arcana. Just the Tarot of Frederic Lionell is a senior arcan.

Is it possible to guess at everyday issues on the Major Arcana

I have come across many statements about the fact that on the Major Arcana it is impossible to guess at everyday issues, that falling out of the Major Arcana in the layout is a sign of special importance, which should be paid the closest attention to. I don't have that feeling.

Moreover, I conducted a series of experiments with my students, confirming that the Major Arcana have many more entry points, and they are easier than Minor Arcana connect with each other. Simply put, you can take out three Major Arcana and get Full description situations, see the big picture. And you can take out ten Juniors and drown in unnecessary details, failing to create a holistic image of the event.

Mandatory deck set

Classic is always in fashion. I cannot say that this should be the rule for all tarologists. But for myself, I consider it mandatory to have a set of decks that I consider classic. I will gladly list them.

Let's start with the Grand Etteilla Tarot. There are several versions of this deck. For aesthetic reasons, I chose this one.

Marseille Tarot. From a huge variety of options for the Marseille Tarot, I chose the option proposed by Paul Marteau. Although today I feel the need to have a few more decks, but not for divination, but for educational and methodological purposes. For example, Tarot "1 JJ Swiss Tarot", where the Pope and the Priestess are replaced by Jupiter and Juno.

Egyptian Tarot, which would be more correct to call "Pseudo-Egyptian Tarot". The Egyptian branch of the Tarot is an exclusively optional phenomenon for me. But, as they say, so be it.

Decks, one way or another, connected with the Golden Dawn. Undoubtedly, it is Waite and Crowley. And decks claiming to be the official Golden Dawn deck. I will not name everything, I will mention only two of them: the Golden Dawn Tarot by Robert Wang and the Hermetic Tarot by Godfrey Dawson. I must say that the Dawson deck is much prettier and more informative than the Wang deck.

Theoretically, two more decks should have been attributed to the classic decks: Tarot Papus and Tarot GOM. But the designs of these decks seemed to me not attractive enough for me to want to have cards in addition to the actual text.

I will not consider collectible decks. I also refer to collectible decks literally as collectible decks, for example, Tarot Dali, covered with gold. And all sorts of decks bought on the occasion, donated and hit the shelves in a different way.

Themed tarot decks

Let's say a few words about thematic decks. I consider the creation of thematic decks as a very good exercise for developing tarot thinking or for creating teaching materials on a specific topic.

For example, for me, a good help in studying the topic “Tarot and Kabbalah” was the Spanish Kabbalistic Tarot deck, which I bought many years ago literally by chance. I was surprised to learn that today this deck is sold for two hundred - two hundred and fifty dollars, and it simply cannot be found.

You can think of an infinite number of topics for creating such decks. These are experiments in the form of a Tarot deck. For example, the round tarot. And Emily Carding's Transparent Tarot. And a very interesting deck of the shadow sides of the “Deviant Moon” personality. And an even darker deck of Giger and Akron “Baphomet Tarot”. And numerous attempts to create an erotic Tarot deck. And it's not just Manara.

I would like to create some of my own themed decks. Not as a deck for divination, but as illustrations for their courses. And it can be done at a very good professional quality level. For example, this is how the synchrony between me and Evgeny Vinitsky manifested itself.

At the time when I was working on the Tarot and Business course, he was making a wonderful, wonderful deck of Money Tarot. And they complement each other perfectly. I would like to do something similar for three more courses: for health, relationships and time.

In addition, I really like to give my students the following exercise: what would this card look like in a deck of fire? What about water? And in the wind deck? Such exercises greatly expand the consciousness and understanding of the cards.

What connects the kitchen with tarot decks?

I will finish my conversation about decks with a somewhat unexpected example. I like to cook. 90% of what I do in the kitchen I do with the same knife. In relation to the Tarot, this is an analogue of the Rider-Waite deck.

There are two highly specialized knives that I only use in certain situations: a cheese knife and a paring knife. I have them correspond to the “Tarot of the Northern Shadows” deck, on which I make annual layouts. And for this there is no special reasons. It just happened historically.

My friend, knowing my love for kitchen things, gave me

Tescom's knife for cutting watermelon. I was very pleased. But I don't understand how to use it. And most importantly - why, if I have an excellent utility knife. And this applies to a good half of the decks that are on my shelves.

Feel the difference? It completely changes the approach to the topic of choosing a deck of cards and indicates other priorities. This article will be devoted to this topic, which is relevant for many beginners. After reading the article, you will learn why the question should be asked in this way. So let's get started.

The first thing novice masters face is choosing a deck. And this question arises even before we have time to decide which school of tarot we will adhere to in our work, and before we begin to directly study the system itself.

It is necessary to realize the importance of this topic and approach the choice of the deck as consciously as possible.

The deck you choose will become your reliable friend and assistant for many years to come.

It is advisable to tune in to long-term relationships in advance, since the longer you use the deck, the stronger it becomes and the greater the energy potential it acquires.

There is a huge variety of tarot cards on the market today.At last count, there are over 1,500 tarot decks in the world, and every year there are more and more of them. Many cards are real works of art, made very beautifully, subtly and gracefully by wonderful artists - masters of their craft. You look at all these decks and your eyes run wide.

And for a novice tarologist, from all this variety, his head is spinning, he is lost and does not understand what to choose. This happens for one simple reason - he does not know what to focus on.

On the Internet you can find a lot of advice on the topic of choosing tarot cards, but many of them boil down to one principle - The deck is sure to please. And as such “experts” advise, it is necessary that the hands themselves reach out to the cards, so that the heart beats joyfully when looking at it and the soul sings. That is, everything is extremely simple: you go to any site where a gallery of decks is presented, look through hundreds of decks, apparently spending not a single week on it, choose the drawings you like, buy and start working.

And there are those who advise choose according to the nature of your personality. Delicate decks in pastel colors, made in watercolor, are suitable for romantic ladies. Strong strong-willed people bright decks full of daring elements and computer graphics are suitable. And practical people, analysts and logicians should give preference to classic strict cards without any frills, simple, understandable and clearly drawn. These comrade-advisers apparently confused psychology with the occult. It seems that these people have nothing to do with Tarot, but in general with esotericism.

From all this, the conclusion suggests itself that this kind of reasoning has a fundamentally wrong approach to the problem of choosing cards.

You have to understand one thing - 90% of the decks currently on the market are empty decks, nothing more than ordinary marketing, and smart people earn a lot of money on the manufacture and sale of cards. And the artists themselves do not have the slightest idea of ​​either tarot or esotericism, and never in their lives did they not study, but were not even interested in this harmonious, orderly and logical philosophical system. Yes, maybe they create masterpieces visual arts, which are quite worthy of sighing and praise, only these drawings have nothing to do with Tarot.These are just beautiful pictures that you can admire indefinitely and collect collections from them.

These decks can be liked or disgusted, but this does not change their essence - they are all decorative decks with no real power, and cannot be called a magic tool.

But you're going to work as a tarot reader, right? Not a collector, an esthete, an artist, a psychologist or someone else?

These decks are not working because they are not connected to the energy-information flow of the Earth.The maximum that they are capable of is to tune in to the nearest subtle plane - our subconscious. And from there read the necessary information.Just be prepared for the fact that the information you will receive is not objective, but, on the contrary, purely subjective. However, in part it may even turn out to be true, and forecasts sometimes come true. But communication with such decks is nothing more than pampering, and there can be no talk of any serious work. For a person who is preparing to work seriously and professionally with tarot, this option will not work at all.

Play with the deck for health, only God forbid you guess other people. After all, the deck is tuned to your subconscious, and not to the internal plan of your client, to whom you are guessing, and thus, it will only give out your subjective opinion about his situation. And it will most likely be erroneous and will bring nothing but harm to another person.

There are a lot of such amazing decorative decks: Dragon Tarot , White Cat Tarot , tarot blue cats , Vampire Tarot , Tarot Dracula , Tarot of Angels , Dream Tarot , Transparent taro etc. As far as the imagination of the producers of all this card tinsel allows.

Probably, these decks have their right to exist, but not in the tarot system. To be honest, my opinion is that they all dishonor the name of the most ancient, deeply esoteric, philosophical and divinatory system in the world.

I would call all these products artistic and fantasy variations on the theme of Tarot. Around Taro. And in fact, in general, outside the Tarot.

So, if you are set up for a serious and professional use of Tarot cards, then you need to know the basic criteria by which you should choose a deck. I want to please you right away, it is very simple to do this. And now you will understand why.

The choice of tarot cards is based on only one, but the only true principle. Do not be surprised, but everything is much simpler than you think.

This principle sounds like this - the deck must be correct, working. What does it mean?

Tarot cards are primarily a tool for working with subtle energy. And this tool is magical. And he must be tuned in a certain way, exclusively true, to work with the energy-information base of the Earth, the so-called Akashic Records, from where the Tarot cards draw all the information about what is happening.

Setting the deck to the base of the Akashic Records is carried out using the symbolism contained in the image of the cards.Therefore, a real correct Tarot deck must contain the correct symbolism.The symbolism is conveyed through a combination of images, colors and sounds, which are reflected and carefully drawn on each card.Under the sounds are meant the letters of Kabbalah, which are assigned to each individual lasso of the Tarot.

The most important point when choosing the right deck is the symbolism of the cards.

And the more correct symbols are shown on the cards, the more accurately they will work. A deck can be compared to a radio that tunes in to a specific radio wave.The true wave for the deck is its symbols, the purity and transparency of which is successful pledge connection to the stream, which provides the tool with access to the global database and allows it to read objective reliable information about all events of the past, present and future.

The accuracy of the symbols for Tarot is as important as the correct wave for a radio receiver, for accurate and clear work without interference. The less symbolism, the more interference in the stream, respectively, the lower the quality of information coming from the subtle plane.

Based on this criterion, the next very important point follows when choosing cards - this is the choice of the tarot school in which you are going to work.

Today there is:

1. Arthur Waite Tarot School.

2. Papus school of Tarot.

3. School of Aleister Crowley.

4. Marseille School of Tarot by Valentin Tomberg.

All modern map makers draw on the research of these four schools. The founders of these schools created their own Tarot decks.

These decks are serious and worthy tools for professional use.

Let's consider them in more detail.

To date, the most famous and widespread deck in the world is performed by artist Pamela Colman-Smith. There are a great many variations of decks on the theme, but it is advisable to choose a more classic version.

Not less famous deck - by Egyptologist Frieda Harris. Tarot Thoth is considered a strong deck with rich esoteric symbolism.

Practically unpopular, but related to the classic decks - . The creator of the deck did not consider cards as a tool for divination; in his opinion, the Tarot should have been used exclusively for meditation.

All varieties of cards amaze with a variety of meanings, design features and areas of application. They can be divinatory or intended for play. Exactly the history of the origin of the Tarot originates from the playing deck. Many years have passed since then, and the interest in knowing the unknown is inexhaustible. Each of us always wants to know what will happen in the future, what to expect in the present moment.

What is the best choice for beginners?

Beginners are advised to start with easy options decks, more simple spreads. Approach the process of choosing it responsibly if you want to get a reliable adviser to help you. You can find Tarot in special esoteric stores.

You cannot use cards that are open form picked up by someone else, because they tune in to the energy of their owner. For others, they simply won't tell the truth. You can't give yours to anyone either.

For beginners, the best view would be Tarot White or Madame Lenormand. These are universal types of cards that are quite easy to use, convenient for those who have not dealt with fortune telling before.

The first of them will be preferred by those who wish to do both fortune-telling and meditation using the deck. The second type is suitable exclusively for divination. It is convenient for those who want to join the magic.

Once you have purchased your cards, decide where you will store them. For this purpose, a small casket or box is useful, but there should not be pictures or inscriptions on it. Hide her to a hidden place that only you know about. If no one gets to your hiding place, you will be one hundred percent sure of the accuracy of the predictions.

Purpose of the tarot deck

In fact, fortune-telling and the game are far from the entire list of deck functions. It gives the key to knowing yourself and those around you. This opens doors to the secret, the unknown. The rules by which our world, outer space lives, are becoming clear.

This is a new stage of personal growth, guaranteeing success and prosperity. Maps can become a tool in the work of a psychologist, a social pedagogue. They are useful to representatives of creative professions.

According to the law of mutual equilibrium

It maintains a balance between good and evil, positive and negative energy. In a broader sense, it says that as everything is arranged above, so it is similar below. This means that all celestial events, thoughts, knowledge are mirrored in earthly life, and vice versa, but they are not equivalent.

Knowing this rule makes it possible to look into the future, to predict the consequences of your actions, see the likely prospect in fact, to understand human emotions, a line of behavior.

Awareness of one's karma

Working on yourself using cards, you can gain experience in better understanding your purpose in life. Acceptance of the inevitable will come, which will greatly facilitate your stay on earth. Now you will fulfill the mission that is entrusted to you from above.

You will feel a harmonious connection with the Heavenly Forces and the earth, you will begin to live fully. There will be no need to complain about your fate, to feel sorry for yourself. Now you can become the master of your destiny ceasing to shift the responsibility for their well-being to others.

Life is normal

To achieve a high level of professionalism, work with Tarot every day, be careful while doing so. Get involved in the process, removing all extraneous thoughts. Do this with your soul, and not because it is necessary, then the results of the work will pleasantly surprise you.

It all starts with the stabilization of one's own way of life and its perception. After you get rid of your personal trash - physically and energetically, you can start helping other people, only then there will be a significant result from this.

Description of card types

Conventionally, all available varieties are divided into four main groups, which differ in the features of the pattern, the number of symbolic signs on them, which is directly reflected in their interpretation.

Marseille Tarot

It preserves the traditional way of depicting from the moment it appeared in everyday life - from the XIV-XVIII centuries. This is a historical deck with a special iconography. Only twenty-two of the Major Arcana have their own design using characteristic bright colors- red, blue, green, yellow. He made in a religious style, hinting at a connection with higher powers.

The younger ones are represented exclusively by numbers and figures, indicating belonging to a particular suit - Wands, Cups, Swords or Denarii. There are no pictures on them, they symbolize the baseness of the earthly existence of a person with all its advantages and vices.

Egyptian or Gypsy

Created by a French occultist at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. They were extremely popular in Russia. They absorbed all the secrets Ancient World- the cult system of rituals of the Egyptian priesthood, religious traditions of the pharaohs.

Eye of Ra - supreme god the sun is the main symbol here. His left eye is called the Moon, which is identified with the life-giving energy of a woman, the wisdom of the ages, moments of the past.

The right is associated with activity, creativity, male power, Sun, future tense. This indicates a developed intuition, an understanding of what is happening from a position of a high level of spirituality.

General Tarot

One of the most common types. The interpretation coincides with the ancient traditional interpretation. This includes the White deck and its derivatives. Pictures shown on all maps- both the Seniors in rank and the Juniors. They are distinguished by an interesting design - the simplicity of the images transmitted by the deck. This gives them more mysticism, layering.

Every image hides real story thought-provoking. There is a desire to look into the secret corners of your soul. Especially useful to creative people due to the depth of their symbolism.

Ideal for fortune telling on personal relationships, revealing the big picture, displaying energy connections and their level of strength. The main plus is that for completeness of interpretation there is no need to use clarifying cards, because one is enough, so the nature of the predictions here is more direct and categorical.

Playing cards and others

They were the prototype of modern playing decks on which a number of gambling games are based. There are also author's decks that do not belong to any of the above card traditions.

In terms of severity, they are not inferior to the rest. This includes the exclusive Tarot called the Secret Forest, in which the shirt is practically duplicates the front cards. There is a Tarot of the Elements, where astrological, digital correspondences are taken as the basis.

The meaning of fortune-telling decks and their types

There are more than 1500 types of Tarot decks in the world, and this is not the final figure. Every year it increases due to the invention of new specimens. When they are created, the essence of the interpretation is clarified, supplemented with other meanings, symbols.

All of them differ in scope, focus of work. There are cards of a wide scope of use, performing a huge list of tasks or universal. With their help, you can get answers to questions that concern you, to find the best solution to the problem - Taro Osho, Golden Dawn.

In contrast to them, a narrowly focused group is distinguished, belonging to which is determined by the desire to learn everything about a certain area of ​​human life - love affairs, work, creative plans, health. But among all the variety of pictures and views, the essence of the interpretation remains unchanged.

Classical types were originally created for crowned persons, people of noble origin. The best artists of the country were involved in their manufacture. These are the decks Renaissance, Marseilles, Classical. There is a category of author's decks created by different people who set themselves the goal of showing a personal vision of the Tarot system.

The interpretation in the layouts with their use will differ significantly from other areas, but it can lead the fortuneteller to many exciting discoveries. This applies to the following types of Tarot lines:

• goddesses;
• White Cats;
• Secret Forest;
• Seventy-eight doors;
• fabulous;
• Sphinx;
• Golden.

There are also cards special purpose . Usually they start fortune telling on them after they have mastered the universal types of decks. At this stage, there is always a need to investigate one's own questions, to subject unusual incidents to a thorough analysis.

There is a special set called Lovers Tarot designed to resolve issues romantic nature, problems in love affairs. Erotic Tarot will help to understand the sexual sphere.

Suitable for thrill seekers Shadow Tarot. Whatever type of Tarot you take, tune in with the cards on the same wave, and they will open the doors to a mysterious future for you.