from The Tarot
by Hoi Polloi, Inc.
January 20, 2022: My first Tarot deck was The Tarot, a brightly-colored Rider-Waite-Smith interpretation created and marketed in 1972 by the game company Hoi Polloi. They called it, simply, The Tarot. With its vibrant, super-clear imagery, it ushered me into a world of symbolism that never ever seemed daunting. I adored everything about it.
"Don't fear!" the Hoi Polloi deck seemed to say, cheerfully. "Tarot really is for you!"
The Hoi Polloi, I see now, is out of print and rare, and one is currently going for $300 on Etsy! I'm sorry I no longer own mine, having long ago passed it along to an eager student.
For more on the history of Hoi Polloi's Tarot,
When some people tell me they find Tarot an overly complex, intimidating system--or, even, a somewhat frightening one--I understand, but I'm always a bit sad, remembering my time with Hoi Polloi's deck.
Working with Tarot was never something alien to me but a natural outgrowth of my early interest in the occult and psychological and spiritual matters. Connecting the myriad, intricate symbols of Tarot and applying them to people, places, and situations was a stimulating game that challenged my intelligence and creativity. I could not get enough of it. Still can't!
As you can tell from my posts here on hummingwitch, I love many
types of decks within and outside of Tarot, and I do believe readers
should go with the decks that speak to their personal interests, values,
and aesthetics. There are so many from which to choose and from which
to learn.
The Fool
from Universal Waite Tarot
Art by Pamela Colman Smith with coloring by Mary Hanson Roberts
Universal Waite Tarot (from Stuart B. Kaplan's U.S. Games Systems with Pamela Colman Smith imagery recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts) has played the same role for me that Hoi Polloi's Tarot once played. It takes me--and my clients, when I choose to consult it for them--back to useful basics. This imagery can serve as a launching pad for a journey of knowledge and skill development that need never end for any reader or be limited to the world and symbol system of Arthur E. Waite's Golden Dawn.
Our Card of the Day--The Fool--definitely symbolizes going back to basics and beginning a journey. The journey requires courage (even foolhardiness, if you will, in a positive sense) and faith. The Fool's little satchel contains the basics. You don't have to have much to get started. But The Fool's wreath of laurels declares that our Fool--despite being a beginner or, perhaps, because of it--is already a hero. The very first step on the path is, in itself, a victory.
The last time I listened to someone say that Tarot was way, way too complicated to study, I bit my tongue. That person's experience, their choice, is their own; let them speak. Later, I humbly remembered I had chosen to stay away from studying astrology for the very same reason!
But what I thought of saying to this person--and might yet say, if given a chance--is this: Just start small. Even if you notice one thing--one detail that catches your eye, stirs a memory, makes a connection, makes some useful sense--you're on your way.
Try it out, step by step, and let it teach you. Tarot has a way of guiding you and giving you gifts all along the way. It's so worth it. At any level of ability, Tarot can bring you something valuable and so often amazing!
With all the renewed interest in Tarot and other oracle cards, I'm sure you can find or form a wonderful support group of like-minded beginners. Or connect with a Tarot coach--like me!--to support you as you go!
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Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html
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