The Tarot Classroom uses a technique called Comparative Tarot. Janet Boyer, who teaches the course, didn’t make it up. In fact, a lot of people use it in their studies. (She did make up a brand new technique, but comparative Tarot is useful in combination with hers.) Basically, it means looking at the same card from different decks to compare, contrast, and learn different shadows of meaning that can all be found in the same card.

Upper left: Universal Waite
Upper right: Tarot Nova
Lower left: Tarot of the Sweet Twilight
Lower right: Tarot of the Princesses

The Universal Waite was my first deck that I really started learning to use. I have practiced with it since getting it almost 4 years ago.

Around the same time I got the Tarot Nova, which I like even more despite the sparing images. It’s similar to RWS but not a complete clone deck. This is an important deck to me because I have always used my gut when reading with it. The LWB (which in this case is not white) has never resonated with me. For example, shortly after my ex-fiance broke up with me a few years ago, I read the Emperor as me because I’m an Aries which is associated with the Emperor. I read the Devil as my ex, because of course at the time I thought that’s who he was! I always have had more accurate results ignoring the book on that deck, because meanings just come to me. That’s why I love it, because even though it’s not one of the most popular decks around, it works for me. Well, that and the size is easier for my small hands to shuffle than larger decks!

The bottom two are new additions published in 2009 by Lo Scarabeo. The Tarot of Sweet Twilight IS popular right now, and seeing it online I was drawn to it but not sure why. Then I did the first part of my assignment for the Fool, comparative Tarot with what I see in the four Fool cards, and I astounded myself with what I saw in it. At first glance it might seem simple, but it’s really pretty deep! At least that’s how I saw it. See below for my insights, I am still amazed by it…

The Tarot of the Princesses is one that I bought because, let’s be honest: I am like a little girl still, I love princesses! I haven’t looked at this one too much, so I’m hoping that through the class I will learn to know and appreciate this deck. You can kind of see in the photo above that there are white borders around the… what color is that golden borders? Anyway, while I like the white borders on the Universal Tarot, I hate it on these cards. I think I will soon have to do a “borderectomy” — cut off the white borders. I have a feeling that I will feel more connected to the images if the white borders are gone, considering there are already colored borders.

This is already long and I’m not going to post the whole assignment, but here are a few interesting things I see in each card:

• Universal Waite: Fool looks up, doesn’t see he’s about to go over the cliff. Very small satchel, looks optimistic (not running away in fear, not hiding my running away; heading off to find his fortune).
• Tarot Nova: Fool looks up and there are two bluebirds around him, which made me think, “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can’t I?” — which also makes me think, “the sky’s the limit.”
• Sweet Twilight: Fool is a jester, puppet (in someone else’s game?), drummer. He’s not walking over the cliff, but away from it. Looks sad, despite a painted on smile. Sad clown doll on the ground. I feel like the cat is trying to gnaw off the string on his right foot, to maybe convince him to turn his life around, take a risk, go off the cliff and try to fly.
• Lady Godiva rides naked, backward on a horse. She rides on a red cloth (UW and TN have red satchels), and the horse is heading into a village – toward a church tower and a cottage. Her face looks up, she looks carefree. Her long blond hair flying in the wind matches the horse’s brown tail and mane – maybe he’s trotting.

So that’s just a few things. I still have a lot more work for this assignment, but it’s a start. I just wanted to post these cards for my classmates to see, and to point out the Sweet Twilight deck’s Fool, which I love.