Customer Reviews

The Jungian Tarot Deck

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have been interested in and studied what has been called by Dion Fortune the 'Western Esoteric Tradition' and have been fascinated by the tarot. I am currently training as a Jungian analyst and I was looking for a pack that combines the two. For a long time I could not find one and then I was given one as a gift. I was very happy to receive it and see that one exist.

This pack is drawn by a serious student of the occult and of history (I recommend his books to widen your understanding of the roots of this tradition). In conjunction with his own interest in Jungian psychology, Mr. Wang has gone to the trouble of collaborating with Jungian analysts trained at the C. J. Jung Institutes of Zurich and New York. The result is an amazing deck that I am still exploring and will continue to explore for a long time. Mr. Wang has kept the traditional number of cards and figures for the Major Arcana. For the minor arcana he has used the colors of the sephiroth of the Tree of Life in the four worlds in the tradition of the Golden Dawn which makes them a useful reference for students.

There is a principle (which some people may not be aware of) that the minor cards are purposely without image because they represent subjective experiences whereas the major cards represent objective forces (Paul Case also felt this, and would not use pictorial minor cards for his BOTA deck). In Jungian terms one could see it as indicative of a shift from the personal to the collective unconscious.

It is well to keep clear in our minds the difference between archetypal imagery and the archetypes themselves that have no image. An archetypal image is not a role model but am image in the individual's personal unconsious associated with a particular complex surrounding an unknowable archetype. We can only represent an archetype by a personal image and everyone's representation will be different.

Mr. Wang has designed a deck within the historical constraints of the Tarot and he has done this without deviating while at the same time imbuing it with new life in the light of this era's psychological discoveries. Thank you Mr. Wang!

I really enjoy the symbolism of this deck. Robert Wang provides a unique interpretation of the entire deck. Each Major Arcana has a unique chakra incorporated in it. Chakras are visual tools for meditation, most popular in Eastern philosophy, that were used by Jung. The cards are simple compared to the symbolism of other decks (ex- Thoth). I have to disagree with Deb28 when she says the Minor Arcana are "so unimaginatively rendered." There are very simple, uniform symbols for each suit but there is also a sphere on each card representing the sepirah in the corresponding color scale that the card represents. The colors and symbolism is subtle, but with a good knowledge of qabalah and/or tarot, this deck can be very powerful. It works well for readings, study, or meditation. This is a great deck but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

THE BEST DECK I HAVE EVER USED. This remarkable deck and its companion book, The Jungian Tarot and Its Archetypal Imagery has changed the way I view tarot. Until I began to work with this deck as a stimulus to "creative visualization," I had always considered the tarot to be a set of simple pictures used for telling fortunes. But working with these beautifully painted cards as a "doorway" into my own mind has been an amazing experience. What surprised me is how previously murky ideas of Jungian psychology were clarified, and how I began to really appreciate the simplicity and practicality of Jung's principles as I "encountered" the different archetypal images of male and female (such as daughter, mother and grandmother). Moreover, the book has brought the cards to life for me with its extremely understandable explanations of Jungian concepts. I would recommend study of these cards to anyone who wants to appreciate the real psychological depth of the tarot images.

My major complaint about this tarot deck: the minor arcana are so unimaginatively rendered. The suit cards merely show the appropriate number of cups, wands, swords, or pentacles. And so the minor arcana cards fail to carry any visual indication of their individual meanings.
The book's explication of the major arcana is informative but feels more heady and less earthy and rooted than Sallie Nichol's excellent book, Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey. I prefer her book to Wang's: hers is more comprehensive, visual, written more creatively with a more curious, personal tone. Yet Wan'gs book is packed with wonderful mythological information. Unfortunately, Wang sources his work more in Jung's original and now outdated formulation of the anima/animus concept than in more recent and less sexist theories such as Gareth Hill's work with Masculine and Feminine. It would also help break through the too-often gender-stereotypical exploration of archetypes to give female examples of "male" archetypes, such as the Hermit/Wise Old Man. Wang fails to take this opportunity to expand our consciousness and inner experience of the archetypes. Then again, insofar as the Magician is viewed as androgynous, containing both anima and animus, it seems another lost opportunity in expanding social consciousness and widening social application of myth not to connect such a figure with the Native AMerican Two-Spirit archetype, which represents a very significant mythological role of gay and lesbian individuals. Yet A strong point: Wang does bring Buddhism into the exploration of the Major Arcana: a nice addition of the East to an originally Western symbolic system.

I have read with, studied, and meditated with the Tarot for four decades. As I have matured in Tarot and allied disciplines, such as Astrology, Qabala, and other basics of Occultism, far from "mastering" the simple deck of 78 images, my sense of mystery has only deepened. Yes, of course, Tarot is an Oracle without equal; but to use the Tarot in only this way is to grab an hors d'ouvres or two and rush off before the banquet is served.
This banquet of self-knowledge is what Robert Wang's Jungian Tarot offers the sincere adherent. Dr. Wang has at his disposal an experience and a mastery of both the Western Mystery Tradition and Jungian psychology, and blends them seamlessly in the Jungian Tarot. Taking Jung's remark that Jung found a correlation between Tarot images and the archetypes of the collective unconscious, Dr. Wang presents this deck and its icons as lenses to focus on these shifting phenomena; and, just as these images arise autonomously from the psyche and are not subject to rational order, the cards of the Major Arcana are not numbered. The individual cards serve primarily as doorways into an aspect of the psyche; that the images are precisely "Qabalistically correct" takes second place to their numinous qualities and to their purpose as entrances into the collective unconscious. [to the Qabalist, the correlations are obvious--for instance, on the Fool card, which tradition places on the 11th Path of the Tree of Life, you see a Crown in the sky to the upper right of the Fool--an allusion to the 11th Path's emanation from Kether, "The Crown", the first Sephirah, diagonally down and "stage right" from Kether. The colors of the cards, as well, follow closely the traditional Golden Dawn assignations. He knows his stuff; he ought to, having spent decades in that Order, and having been a friend and colleague of Dr. Israel Regardie.]
Painting the pictures that became the deck took Dr. Wang years and were obviously a labor of love; each painting was, and is, an exercise in contacting and exploring one of the archetypes of the Unconscious. I believe that his primary purpose in the creation of this deck was not to offer yet another Tarot deck, scores of which are published every year--believe me, I'm the buyer for the largest Mind/Body/Spirit wholesaler in the world and I see `em all--but as an aid to the serious student who wishes to achieve individuation, which was Jung's goal for every patient who entered his psychotherapy. In fact, the latter part of the book Tarot Psychology, one of three Wang offers to be used to complement and facilitate serious working with his deck--is a 34-week study course using the deck "for the development of self-understanding," each step firmly grounded in the regimen of Jungian analysis. At the end of this process the sincere apprentice will find him or herself much further down the road to their own individuation. As far as I know (which, given my profession, is rather a lot) this is a unique offering from author to reader, with no other cost (no layout cloths, no bags, no posters, no secret decoder rings, no other Tarot gee-gaws) except one's own dedication of time and energy.
I recommend this deck unreservedly for its subtlety, its firm foundation in Qabala and Astrology and above all Jungian psychology, and particularly its generosity in helping the student access his or her own unconscious.

I collect tarot decks and have long been interested in Jung, so I thought this would be perfect for me. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to read with these cards. The reason--ironically for a Jungian deck--is that the people in the images have such specific features that it is very hard to see them as generic archetypes. It's a bit like seeing your neighbor on a tarot card--I find myself wondering who the models were and what their lives were like. This might not bother other people, but it drives me nuts when I'm trying to focus on a reading. The cards aren't particularly aesthetically pleasing, either, so they're not the sort one would buy to keep on the shelf and cherish. Intellectually, they're interesting but would be more so with at least a small booklet explaining the artist's thinking--it's a little annoying to have to buy a separate book in order to have any explanation whatsoever. In short, an interesting deck but no use to me.

Beyond being one of the most beautiful tarot decks ever created, this is a major contribution to Jungian studies. It includes some very complicated symbolism that may not be immediately obvious-such as the white horse on the Devil card-which Jung said related to the mother (so death means a return to the mother), and dozens of other symbols described by Jung as valuable in the process of "active imagination." The colorful mandalas on each of the major keys are themselves quite remarkable. Overall this is a very creative amalgam of Jungian and Kabbalistic ideas, which is especially clear in the minor cards with their careful emphasis on the colors of the sephiroth in the four worlds as is taught by most schools of Hermetic Kabbalah. As a student of Jungian psychology I love these cards, which allow me for the first time, to apply Jung's ideas about inner exploration to a tarot deck. I am also very impressed that these cards have no titles whatsoever, letting me apply any system I may choose. It's quite a deck.

Jungian Tarot Deck 5 stars*****

I am a student of Jungian psychology and have been amazed to appreciate the depth of ideas imbedded in these cards. It is certainly not a tarot for the casual collector or for those who may simplistically judge it in terms of the usual nineteenth-century tarot symbolism. This deck is unlike any other and those who do not understand the complexity of symbols described in Jung's 20 volume work will undoubtedly fail to recognize the importance of deceptively ordinary objects, forms, and mandalas, or the emphasis on the figures of the Major Arcana viewed as archetypes. The Jungian Tarot, which may well be the most unique tarot deck ever created, has drawn me deeply into Jungian ideas and has demonstrated to me the correspondence between Jungian "active imagination" and the meditative techniques of the Western Mystery Tradition. This is a deck intended to promote self-understanding although its casual use for divination seems to yield remarkable results because it is so deeply rooted in the contemporary human condition. I cannot recommend it more highly.

A beautiful deck, well thought-out and unlike any other on the market. Because the figures are so realistic it is perfect for the Jungian process of "Active imagination." This is my favorite deck.

I just became aware that this deck is part of a three-book trilogy: The Jungian Tarot and Its Archetypal Imagery, Tarot Psychology: Handbook for the Jungian Tarot, and Perfect Tarot Divination.

Buyer Beware: The detailed packaging of this deck is misleading and not at all representative of the lackluster cards contained within. I am an avid Reader and Collector of Tarot Cards, and I also have a degree in Psychology - so I was looking forward to this deck. I had hoped this deck would combine some interesting Jungian symbolism with the ancient Tarot mysticism. But it falls very short in this regard. There is truly almost NO symbolism in the deck...much of the Rider Waite type symbology has been removed, and it has not been replaced with anything of a new, unique or remotely "psychological" nature. Indeed, many of the "characters" sit alone on stark backgrounds of sky or water with NO surrounding symbolism at all. The Page, Knight, Queen & King in each suit looks like the exact same person in different clothing. Most disappointing, however, is the totally unimaginative Minor Arcana - which is just a "pip" deck of numbered swords, cups, wands and pentacles with absolutely NO SURROUNDING SYMBOLISM, other than sky or water. I find this type of "lazy" deck to be very boring & less than stimulating for the average Querant. I agree fully with the previous reviewer, who considered this purchase a "waste of money." While selecting a Tarot Deck is a very personal matter, UNLESS you prefer a totally "minimalist" deck with muted colors, repetitive imagery and little symbolism, this deck is probably not for you.