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Original post: Lord Cthulhu

I have a question concerning the Tarot and number of cards in a deck. Right now I'm just getting started (or rather seriously starting) in my study and hopefully practice of the occult and I am using Kraig's infamous 11 lessons in Modern Magick. The thing that confused me is he says I should look for a 22 card deck, but I'll I can find is the 78 card decks (borders and barns and noble) I even saw the recommended raider-white deck but it said it came with 78 cards and I really don;t have alot of money to spend so I don't want to waste it. So should I just by the 78 card deck and only use cards 0-21 or should i look for a deck that specifically only has 22 cards. Sorry to bother wih such dumb question, but I just want to be sure.

Original post: LucianAccendus

Ummm...I'm familiar with Kraig's Modern Magick, can you tell me which lesson/exercise this is for? Also, Kraig means the Rider-Waite tarot pack(though he recomends the Golden Dawn Tarot), by 22 he is refering to the number of Major Arcana (the cards marked with roman numerals, 0-XXI) A standard deck is 78 cards.

Original post: Knave

*nods*

What he is probably trying to say (the author dude) is to use the Major Arcana. And just exclude the Minor Arcana. I've never heard of a deck not containing all 78 (if not more) cards.

Original post: Dracophoenix

Actually there's The Lovers Tarot which has just the Major Arcana in it. It's done by Jane Lyle. I don't know the company that publishes it. Or if it's still in print. I use it for quick readings and not just love based questions I hope this helps

Original post: Zealous Seeker

[QUOTE=Lord Cthulhu]I have a question concerning the Tarot and number of cards in a deck. Right now I'm just getting started (or rather seriously starting) in my study and hopefully practice of the occult and I am using Kraig's infamous 11 lessons in Modern Magick. The thing that confused me is he says I should look for a 22 card deck, but I'll I can find is the 78 card decks
Sorry to bother wih such dumb question, but I just want to be sure.[/QUOTE]The only dumb question is the one that you don't ask, so ask away.

The first 22 cards in ANY tarot deck are the Major Arcana. Mr. Kraig is having you deal with just those in order to bring you into contact with some fundamental/powerful forces/concepts. The rest of the cards, the minor arcana, are powerful too in their own right... but teach a different set of lessons and are more (IMHO) subtle.

Your Brother
Z:.S:.

Original post: Lord Cthulhu

Oh, I see, so all, or most, decks come with 78 cards but only the firt 22 cards are the Major Arcana and the rest are called the Minor Arcana. Now that I look back he actually explains that for the first lesson he's concentrating souly on the MAjor Arcana, I didn;t know what that meant so I was confused, thank you for your help.

Original post: Dracophoenix

It's ok:) We don't start out knowing everything. You can't learn if you don't ask questions. Asking questions means your thinking

Original post: Zealous Seeker

[QUOTE=Lord Cthulhu]Oh, I see, so all, or most, decks come with 78 cards but only the firt 22 cards are the Major Arcana and the rest are called the Minor Arcana. Now that I look back he actually explains that for the first lesson he's concentrating souly on the MAjor Arcana, I didn;t know what that meant so I was confused, thank you for your help.[/QUOTE]Not a biggie. Yeah, any "Tarot" deck should come with all 78 cards. I know that the BOTA organization sells a set of just the Major Arcana, but they have exercises that (like Kraig) focus most of their time/attention to just those.

Let us know how this exercise works for you! I hope you find it fruitful!

Your Brother
Z:.S:.

Original post: ~ Serenity ~

actually there are many, many decks that feature just the Majors, but it's a better idea to start with the Waite deck and thoroughly learn it before deciding you really want to read with the William Shatner Goes to Tahiti Vegetarian Reggae deck.

fera