Reddit reviews Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot

Check this one out: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Waite-Tarot-Deck-Book/dp/088079416X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369013887&sr=1-5&keywords=Universal+Waite


This one too: http://www.amazon.com/Radiant-Rider-Waite-Tarot-Games-Systems/dp/1572814136/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369013887&sr=1-2&keywords=Universal+Waite

This was my first deck I really love the illustrations and I worked well with it but then I fell in love with this deck.

I never thought I would use a Rider-Waite deck because I REALLY dislike the color yellow they used but the Radiant deck is SO much brighter

Here are the basic, basic decks.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Deck, on which most decks base their symbolism. Has many different versions, such as the Radiant RWS or the Universal Waite Tarot. Most decks you find will be based on this one.

The Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley, which relies much more on occultism and knowledge of the symbols to read. If you want a project that you can really lose yourself in and study for, this is probably a good deck.

The Marseille Tarot which, unlike the other decks I've listed, does not fully illustrate the Minor Arcana (Ace-10 of Cups/Swords/etc). Instead they are called "pips" and don't show a scene, so you have to rely on your knowledge of the cards to read them.

These are the three most well-known tarot traditions for symbolism upon which most other decks are based, with RWS being the most popular in the English-speaking world. Marseille, as I understand it, is very popular in non-English speaking European countries, and the Thoth is just the Thoth.

You don't have to stick to these decks though. Choose any deck that you feel speaks to you. What's most important is feeling connected with your deck, that way you don't lose interest in the cards before you've learned all you can about them.

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I hope to help you! Just remember, this is my perception, so take it with a grain of salt. The absolute ONLY thing you should do, is cultivate what works for you:

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To say that there's no major difference between Tarot and Oracle, I would say in my opinion, isn't exactly accurate. It's not exactly wrong either, but I feel ultimately, Oracle is to paint a larger picture of one's life whereas Tarot is generally used to "take a snapshot" of a moment, or to answer a direct question.

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Now, as I said, take this with a grain of salt, and, be aware that nothing for anyone is set in stone. One could use Oracle for anything and nothing, and the same for Tarot.

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Oracle cards I believe are for people who can get A LOT of information off of one card. Typically, Oracle cards have a core message or messages that a single card delivers, but the imagery behind the card also offers volumes of information to the reader.

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Tarot, in my opinion, are a lot more precise. Cards typically have one concrete meaning, with little to no wiggle room as to what the card could represent. This isn't to say that one can't pull a lot of information or pictures from a deck that has a lot of imagery, but in my experience from being read by Tarot readers, this isn't usually the case.

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If you are new to this world of Oracle and Tarot, I would highly suggest starting with a Rider-Waite deck. It doesn't have to be the original Rider-Waite deck, it just needs to be some sort of variant. I would suggest the Radiant Rider-Waite deck; it's color is re-mastered, and it's much more pretty than the original (in my opinion lol).

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The Rider-Waite deck is fantastic for beginners; it offers the foundations for any other RW deck that you may find to love in time.

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Hope this helps :)

Halloween Tarot

Radiant Rider Waite

On Pre-order:

Forest of Enchantment

I also have (and like) Celtic Lenormand

I agree on Rider-Waite, definitely a great place to start, perhaps with a view to then getting Crowley's Thoth deck after some study (they're quite different, though they share the same foundation.)

As for the versions you've picked out, the reviews seem to indicate that the Original is better in terms of quality, however I personally use the Universal Waite. The images are the same, Universal Waite just has (imo) better colouring. Another option could be Radiant Rider Waite, another recolouring of the Waite deck.

astralanarchist has already recommend 78 Degrees of Wisdom and Tarot For Yourself, I can't agree more, they're great books and are the ones I started with. Other good resources are learntarot.com and it's associated book by Joan Bunning, and a good resource for using Tarot for ceremonial magic (if you're into that) is Portable Magic by Donald Tyson.

Biddy tarot is a great resource, go check out her website. It has many definitions.

Wikipedia page is good for the history, dont get too bogged down in the history i you want to learn to read for divinatory purposes, the long and short of it is that it originated in multiple cultures as a form of card game that was adopted by esoteric folk as the cards represented archetypal aspects of human existence.

Also in terms of the deck, 100% buy the rider waite smith deck.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Rider-Waite-Tarot-Deck/dp/0712670572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467242735&sr=8-1&keywords=tarot

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radiant-Rider-Waite-Tarot-Pamela-Smith/dp/1572814136/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1467242710&sr=8-3&keywords=rider+waite+smith


those are by far the best for beginners. They are what I started learning with and I still adore my RWS deck. I bought the original, but if you like vivid colours then go for the radiant deck. Its the same pictures just with more vivid colours.