The Tarot of Jane Austen

[pegkerr]

I have been researching tarot decks because I am toying with the idea of getting one. I am wary of the idea, and so am obsessively looking at reviews for various options.

Omigosh: there is a Tarot of Jane Austen. The suits are Coins (Pentacles), Quills (Swords), Candlesticks (Wands) and Teacups (Cups).

Comments

[cheshyre]

FWIW, I'm rather fond of the deck reviews @ http://www.aeclectic.net/

FWIW, I eventually chose the Robin Wood tarot as my primary deck, because the images just seemed really comprehensible to me, though I have a couple other pretty decks just for fun.

Here's a list of the other decks I own along with some links to some rather cute ones.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

You should talk to mplsvala re: Tarot decks. Personally (and I'm not a Tarot person), I prefer either the older Kaballa-based ones or the newer (circa 70s) odd ones. Whatever speaks to you. Or not.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_lindsay_/]

why do you find tarot compelling? why wary?

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for Peg, but I find tarot an interesting way to get out of my overly rational mindset. That's really compelling for me.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I'll post about that shortly.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

If you want to look in person, I can recommend Eye of Horus, 2617 Lyndale, or Magus Books in Dinkytown. There is no substitute, IMHO, for looking at and handling decks in person. If you plan to study Tarot much, you might want a more or less standard deck, like Rider-Waite, so that the images match the descriptions in the book.

If the Jane Austen deck really calls to you, ignore what I said and get it.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I may end up getting the Jane Austen deck, too! At any rate, I'm putting it on my Amazon wish list.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

A few months back I did a little research in Tarot as a tool for character development (Wish I could remember the book I checked out from the library--it also went into Kabala.), and I ended getting a Rider-Waite deck (although it's called something else now to recognize the woman who did the art work).

I used to have a copy of Marsalle (sp???) deck, and another, but I can't recall what it was. Val has a copy of the Native American deck that I find interesting. (I should see if there are any fish conections).

(Sorry if this is diconnected--I was having a conversation with the guy at the next computer...)

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Oh my. I may have to get myself this one.

(I like the Mythic Tarot for readings for myself, since I've been reading stories from Greek mythology for most of my life. I love the Robin Wood tarot to look at, but I don't have much luck using it for readings for myself. Readings for story characters, on the other hand, were surprisingly helpful.)

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Address for Eye of Horus is 2717 Lyndale.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

*Laughs* I eventually figured that out, after a little bewildered wandering up and down Lyndale. I was there and bought a deck this afternoon; I will post about it shortly. Thanks for the suggestion!

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Present Moment Herbs and Books, on Grand Ave S and 36th Street, next to Butter coffeehouse (best eclairs ever, if that's an incentive...) is also a good place to check out tarot decks, and I just love that store, anyway.

I've dabbled in other decks, but my favorite is still my first, the one I discovered in early 1984: the Motherpeace deck by Vicki Noble and Karen Vogel. I'm not sure if that one is "you," but you might want to at least read the book, Motherpeace: A way to the Goddess through myth, art, and tarot, just to get another perspective and interpretation. The biggest criticism of this deck is it's "too feminist" (whatever the heck THAT would be), but I find it very empowering and healing and always get insightful, if not always comfortable, readings from it.

For me, tarot is a form a receptive prayer, a "right-brained" way of accessing insights into ourselves and our lives. It's a great counterbalance to our cultural tendency to make prayer a verbal laundry-list kind of affair.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I was actually just in that store yesterday, looking at Tarot decks!

[lauzeta.livejournal.com]

Hi there; I'm a lurker, I'm afraid, but I decided I should introduce myself, in large part because I really admire the way you keep incorporating new enthusiasms into your life. I also bought my first tarot deck a couple of weeks ago, and the serendipity was too amusing to ignore. :) It's the Golden Tarot (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden/), and I haven't done a lot of work with it (I've been writing finals), but I'm finding what I have done very interesting.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for speaking up, and welcome to my journal! I saw that deck earlier this week at one of the stores I was visiting.

No reason to be wary of Tarot

[oudler.livejournal.com]

The Tarot deck was created for playing card games similar to Bridge and Sheepshead. Tarot cards were not originally designed for the occult. For those wary of the occult, I would reccomend a reproduction deck as such decks were actually used for card playing despite currently being sold for divination. Ancient Italian Tarot is a good one in my opinion. There are also modern Tarot or Tarock decks used for game playing and they contain the standard playing card suits of hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds. These modern playing decks can be seen here www.tarock.net.
The mainstream press does not usually tell the entire truth about Tarot.
See my blog "What is Tarot?" to see aspects of Tarot not often covered by mainstream publishers.