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Tarot Decks for Golden Dawn Initiates
The mass popularity of the Tarot in our time has resulted in a profusion of decks -- hundreds if you count self-published decks and limited edition runs. This is good news and bad news, as it means the practicing diviner has a wide ranges of choices available to suit any personal inclination or spiritual persuasion, from Celtic to Wiccan to Ceremonial Magick to Aztec to Voodoo to Baseball (seriously.) The problem is this wide selection can cause confusion and sensory overload. One helpful thing to remember is that a deck that looks good or is very sophisticated in its artwork is not necessarily the best deck for practical reading and divination. Some decks are good for meditation or guided visualizations, in which one stares at one particular card and enters into a semi-trance state, exploring the realms that that card opens up for one. Other decks are made for straightforward "fortune-telling" and divination. Some decks are simply examples of unique artwork and are enjoyable to look at or display but not much use for anything else.
From a Golden Dawn perspective, or (in the larger view) the perspective of Ceremonial Magic, a practitioner is going to want a deck that is practical for day-to-day divination but which can also be used for meditative or visionary purposes, and which displays appropriate symbolism involving the concepts taught in our Order as well as Qabbalistic attributions. Of course, you can have any number of decks that you like, but in terms of your work in the Order you're going to need at least one that serves these purposes.
The Rider-Waite deck is the obvious choice, used by members since the beginning and designed by one of our original Adepts, A.E. Waite. It is still the most popular Tarot deck of all time and is easily found even in areas where decks in general are hard to come by (including mainstream bookstores), and is used even by people who may never have heard of the Golden Dawn. It is so popular that it exists in a number of different versions, including four different sizes (standard, oversize [Major Arcana only], mini, and 'micro' novelty size). There are also a number of more modern decks inspired by the Rider-Waite deck, such as the Morgan-Greer tarot. These often have different color schemes and symbolism but are otherwise identical. The Rider-Waite decks (and their offshoots) do not have any specific Golden Dawn-style imagery, and this generalism may be one of the reasons it is so popular. (As it happens, tarot decks that are more abstract or general in their symbolism may be better for divination and mediation that those that are too narrow in focus. Decks with too much specific symbolism tend to constrain one's natural imaginative faculties.)
In recent years, decks with a more specific Ceremonial Magic orientation have come about. One of the better ones is the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by adepts Chic and Sandra Cicero. It shows clear Rider-Waite influence, but is marked out by strong, vibrant colors and extra hermetic/qabalistic symbolism. This deck should not be confused with the Golden Dawn Tarot by Robert Wang, which is inferior in both symbolism and quality (but still usable.) We also recommend the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick by another high-level adept, Lon Milo DuQuette. This deck has a more Crowleyan orientation and the influence of the Thoth deck is obvious in it, but DuQuette has really heaped on the symbolism, with references to the Qabalah and Qlippoth as well as astrological and Enochian attributions. If there is one complaint about this deck it may be the artwork, which has a washed-out watercolored look and in many cases looks as if the artist traced over photographs or old drawings to obtain the outline of the form. Still, it's worth putting up with this for the symbolism that is available.
Another deck worth taking a look at is the Hermetic Tarot by Godfrey Dawson. This is a black-and-white deck, but has perhaps the densest concentration of symbolism to be found on any deck, including elemental, astrological, and qabalistic attributions, as well as the appropriate Golden Dawn card titles. If you can tolerate the somewhat amateurish line-drawings this deck is worth owning for its symbolism and is highly practical for new Initiates. (Such a deck can be used also like a stack of "flash cards" to help one learn the symbolism of the G.D. simply by flipping through the deck in order.)
The website Aecletic.net has reviews and photographic samples of over 250 (!) tarot decks including those mentioned here. More information can be found there for those who are interested.
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