A person may have many reasons for creating a deck, some do it to reflect the influences of this day and age, others have re-created older decks by injecting them with a new life, such as Hanson Robert's take on the RWS deck. While others have chosen to disregard traditions by changing the symbolism and names of the cards to reflect their own views and interests. Even the symbols themselves have long been a subject of debate in the tarot community as some think wands should be staffs and pentacles should be coins.
It has become recognized and understood that each of us has his/her own personal symbolism and that not every deck works for every individual. I am the first to agree with this as I have been studying my own symbolism since the first time I heard the name Freud. And yes, some suggest that we should make our own deck, but I question the validity of this idea to a certain degree.
In the past 10 years others have created decks with everything from dragons to baseballs, to Rock and Roll stars. My husband jokingly said that someone needed to create a redneck deck where shotguns are swords, shine bottles are cups, beer caps are pentacles and fishing rods are wands. Of course every card would have a dog on it. It is true that not every deck works for everyone. But, do we truly need decks like the Baseball Tarot? Is a Tarot deck that includes modern technology as symbolism really going to speak to anyone?
I wonder about the substance and value of the new decks of today as the older decks were based upon a specific system. Waite had his ideas of spirituality as did Crowley and both of them made tarot decks. Waite's has proven to be a bit more timeless than Crowley's. Waite's deck is based upon several universal systems coming together to show the path a soul takes. CG Jung refers to this path as the way of the hero. It is all that we are and all that we can be. It works with elements like our stumbling blocks, opportunities, challenges and defeats. It can show us what can help our hinder our evolution. Because the RWS deck was based upon older decks in association with numerology and astrology, it can show us what can help or hinder our progress on our path.
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