on the daughter of the lord of truth

I love tarot for many reasons but one of the things I particularly enjoy is the art.  Working with multiple decks makes it easy to forget that each individual card in every single deck is in fact a work of art in its own right.  I have a range of decks that I find symbolically empty or that just don't sit with my own tarot world view, however I enjoy them for the artwork. 

While many people have the motto 'use it or get rid of it' I find that there is more than one way to 'use' a tarot deck.  Tarot can be used to read, or divine, for either yourself or others.  It can also be used to study and learn, for personal growth if you like.  But also, they can simply be enjoyed.  How lovely it is to sit back and just flick through a deck, card by card, getting lost in the world created by the artist. 

I was reminded of this when flicking through the Hermetic Tarot illustrated by Geoffrey Dowson.  The deck is entirely black and white drawings but with such detail that it's easy to get drawn into the cards.  One favourite is the Justice card, which is also named with the Golden Dawn title of 'Daughter of the Lord of Truth'.  I do love these titles which add another whole dimension to the trumps.

In this image she stands serenely holding her scales with the Yin and Yang to each side of her.  And, living up to her name, when I spent time gazing at her she indeed gave me a moment of enlightenment, of truth as such.  Knowing that although I rarely, if ever, read with this deck it is certainly a thing of great beauty.  Fortunately, having it in my possession, I am free to enjoy it whenever I like.  Now, that's what I call 'using' a deck.