Re: [BardonPraxis] Bardon and Tarot

["Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>]

Dear Alan,

>> My first question, if anyone knows, is the Waite-Rider deck the same
as the original Waite deck? It claims to be, but I would just like to
be certain. <<

Yes, it's the same thing.

>> I also found a few images of the BOTA deck and it is quite similar to
the Waite deck. <<

The differences in the Major Arcana images are very minor.

>> The BOTA deck is in black and white, leaving the coloring of the
Trumps to the student. Their reasons for this seem valid, but is it
truly necessary? Given that I cannot get a BOTA deck but I can get a
Waite deck, I was wondering what those that have studied the Tarot
think. <<

While coloring your own deck is not *necessary*, it is a VERY good
practice and is, I think, really the very best way to learn and to
develop a personal relationship with the Major Arcana images. [The BOTA
deck's minor arcana are very plain.] You can purchase the BOTA deck in
normal deck size or the Major Arcana alone in large size. I've even
seen the normal size deck in occult shops but you can always order
either one from BOTA directly.

I HIGHLY recommend the BOTA's Tarot course. It was written by Paul Case
and is an excellent place to begin. It does mean joining BOTA and
paying $$$ for their lessons. If I remember correctly, there is a short
series of lessons that preceeds the Tarot course, but they're pretty
good too. I didn't care at all for the lessons written by Ann Davies
that followed the Tarot course, so at that point I cancelled my
membership. :)

Paul Case's BOTA Tarot course provides explicit instructions for
coloring the Major Arcana. He recommended the use to water colors but I
preferred something more controllable and used colored lead pencils
myself.

>> Now for the Bardon part. Bardon's image of the Magician and Emporer
are radically different than that of the Waite deck. Although, all of
the symbolism seems to be there. I'm not saying that one is right and
the other is wrong, but is one better than the other? The symbolism,
for me, seems to expressed better in Bardon's images. Yet we have only
three and a possible (and likely) candidate for a fourth. So if I used
Bardon's images, I would have to mix the Tarot deck. Is there any harm
in this? Or would it be more profitable to use cards that were designed
under the same (what's the word...) philosophy? <<

I'd recommend sticking with just one instead of mixing. Bardon's images
are very relevant to his works but don't really provide an inroad to
study of the entire Tarot Major Arcana. With the study of Tarot, I
think a continuity of symbolism is important.

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
08 Dec 2003
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
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