Hi TarotCharioteer, how are you getting on these days:) I've just googled the Röhrig Tarot. Never heard of it before. It looks good. Do you find the Röhrig Tarot to be a good general purpose deck or is it something you only use under certain circumstances?

Hey Douglas, been doing pretty good man- can't believe it's already May & we're almost at summertime already - time flies! How have you been doing? By the way, your ethnic background is Scottish, right? (I recall you having a Scottish accent when you did the Beyond Worlds radio interview...) When I lived in Spain, one of my good friends there was Scottish- he was a really cool guy, & we'd always tease each other about our respective English "accents" & slang, lol! ;) Anyways, re: the Rohrig, I've been finding a good deck all around, for the most part. I see it as a Thoth-derived deck, and I read with it accordingly, i.e., using elemental dignities and occasional "shading" using the Tree of Life & astrological attributions. What really strikes me most about this particular deck is that it's the pips that really jump out at me; in fact, this is the first deck that's done so (usually it's the trumps, of course, or even the courts). Actually, I find the Majors the most "opaque" part of the deck, and really the pips draw out & spur my intuition the most. The stark imagery, when combined with elements, really brings out new interpretations I've never considered before. E.g., the 3 of Wands shows an open road, which has made me see that card as gearing oneself up, being prepared for a journey/situation at hand. It makes me think of the excitement we feel when we're about to take off, and the confidence/security we feel. Lately I've been doing a lot less paid readings, so I've been mainly using this deck for personal readings/meditations, but the times that I have used it on others, it's worked very well. I do find that it tends to work better with "deeper" questions, rather than mundane, day-to-day issues...probably due to the striking, sparse imagery. What deck(s) has been rocking your world lately? How've you been otherwise? Hope your spring's been going awesome- great to hear from you Douglas! :-) - Vincent aka Tarot Charioteer

How are you getting on with the Gaian?

Hey Doug! Nice to hear from you, happy 2012 ;) I'm still loving the Gaian, and I've actually expanded my list of all-time fave decks to include the Gaian...but the deck that's totally rocking my world right now is the Röhrig Tarot - really stunning deck that's Thoth-based, similar to the Haindl actually but with bolder, crisper images.

My updated list of all-time, top fave decks: 1. Thoth 2. Albano Waite 3. Röhrig 4. Haindl 5. Gaian 6. Jodorwsky-Camoin Tarot de Marseille

How do you find the Tarot de Marseille?

Douglas! Great to hear from you man- how are things "across the pond" in the UK? Re: the TdM - by the way, I have the Jodorowsky-Camoin version (which is my fave and the only one I really use), the mass produced US Games version, and the LoScarabeo Universal Tarot of Marseilles...my thoughts on the TdM vary quite a bit. I go through "phases" in which I love it and find the historical connection very meaningful, and times when I find it inscrutable and too opaque to actually interpret/read with. I bought Jodorowsky/Costa's book THE WAY OF THE TAROT last year, but still haven't gotten around to reading any significant chunk of it...I'm always accumulating books to read, and never having enough time to get through all of them! The deck that's been rocking my world as of late is the Röhrig Tarot; I have the Spanish version (since English versions are impossible to find for less than a few hundred dollars!). To me it's a synthesis of the Thoth and Haindl decks, two of my faves - and the artwork is both bold & sparse, in a "Zen" sort of way. The Thoth/Haindl foundation provide a good framework to start from, but the artwork itself is also evocative enough to lend itself to intuitive interpretation, The pips, in particular, I feel are the best non-illustrated pips ever...possibly because they are lightly illustrated, some cards having a simple scene, others having a sort of abstract design...perfect for spurring intuition! Have you ever used that deck?

Awesome! I'm glad your enjoying it :)

Congratulations :D Did you use the Romany spread?

Hey Doug! No, I didn't, she didn't have enough time for something so involved. I wrote a ton on just 5 cards, which started out as a Relationship Spread, but turned into just looking at the 5 cards in general. I'd love to be able to do longer-type readings, actually - I posted this already, but I feel much more comfortable when there are a lot of cards as opposed to a few ;)

I'm the same :) With more cards there are (obviously) more interactions between the cards and it's those interactions which provide more info. They tend to provide a built in 'checks-an-balance' to what i'm interpreting. Things cancel each other out whilst other things get confirmed.

That's such an elegant way to put it! Can I borrow that explanation for preferring many cards as opposed to a few? lol! But I totally agree - more cards provides more verification, and it makes me feel more confident and less hesitant/unsure, especially since I'm still quite new. More cards helps me trust my intuition and not second-guess myself ;)

Oh and if you want my silly song lyrics, amateur music reivews, amateur commentary on current events, politics, human rights, happenings in Chicago, and just my boring, wacky life lol - my "regular" Twitter is: mrdonvicente ;) (I'm really digging this FB-type forum here! Why don't more people do this on their forums/blogs???)

Hey Vincent - I'd use twitter much but I'll check out some of your musings :)

Oops, meant to say that I don't use twitter much :)

Hey Doug! Lol I go through Twitter "phases" of tweeting a whole lot for a period, to not tweeting for weeks, or even months haha! I'm actually following you with both my personal account (mrdonvicente) and my Tarot account (TarotCharioteer), and on the Tarot one I @-mentioned you on a tweet about inspiration ;)

Nice doo!

Aww thank you babe ;) I took that picture upon arriving home right after getting it cut because I was sure I'd never be able to style it that way on my own haha! :)

It's cool :)

:-) it's grown out now to something else, lol!

Cool. How did you get one with the 'client profile' thing? Your A.E. Waite's question is a good one - I'll try and reply to it shortly :)

It was pretty cool, actually - well, I've only created one, but I made it really, really detailed (like an entire page typed) - granted, a client profile of someone who could be of my age group, peer group, & so on - so it wasn't too hard to make it detailed lol! Then I tried a few different 3-card readings, varying how much "input" the client would give me... it's been really, really helpful and I'll be definitely doing more of this, w/ different client types ;) Thanks for the help, and looking forward to what you have to say about Waite! :)