One of my favorite readers of and commentors on this blog, Ty Bevington shares his favorite deck and book today!
Favorite Deck
My favorite Llewellyn deck is the Bosch tarot because it lets you do ‘shadow work’ but maintains a sense of humor. I first discovered Bosch in a high school humanities class and found his hidden symbolism and ‘inside jokes’ in both the iconography and Flemish word-plays amusing, much to the chagrin of my teacher and classmates, and this only worsened as I took Flemish painting tutorials in college and discovered alchemical and other occult symbolism symbolism mixes in with the Christian and social symbolism.
The creators of the deck use the fantastic creatures to illustrate the need to examine the underlying currents of our psyche, while retaining the exaggerated sense of play that Bosch had that I found more evocative than scary, but maybe that’s just me. So while I can safely look into my shadows and corners, I can do so without the dread I might feel with the Thoth tarot at times. This makes me more likely to ‘go there’ and easier for me to come back to the ‘real world’ a little wiser for the journey.
Barbara’s NOTE: Ty, I wish I had your background in Flemish paintings. That would really add a lot to the enjoyment of this deck. I can see why it is such a useful one for you. Having a safe place to face one’s self is so important.
Learn more about the Bosch Tarot
HERE.
Favorite Book
My favorite tarot book from Llewellyn is still your own “What the Tarot Can Do For You”. Hands down it has the most practical day to day use of the tarot for problem solving using of the ultimate divination tool. It also has the best life card exercise I have ever used. I go to it regularly and recommend it to all my students along with “Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom” as the first 2 books they should purchase for their tarot bookshelf.
Barbara’s NOTE: Ty, I am honored that my first ever book holds such a place in your tarot practice. I am apt to disparage it for whatever reasons. Then I meet people who say how useful it’s been to them and I have to remember to grateful that I got to write it and it is still in print.
Learn more about What Tarot Can Do for You HERE.
