Do you like 'nice-washed' tarot decks or oracle cards? It's a bit of a controversial subject in the Tarot community. Don't know what 'nice-washed' tarot means, and what the conversation is about? Well read on here...
Prior to this week I hadn't heard about 'nice-washed' tarot decks. Whose washing their decks I thought lol! Well according to a few tarot Voggers there seems to be a bit of controversy within the online tarot community about these 'types' of decks.
Apparently 'nice-washed', or 'fluffy' tarot decks are those in which the cards which might in more traditional decks be seen as more dark or challenging (e.g. death, tower, 10 swords etc.) are presented in a more positive way, through the style of the imagery and/or given interpretations.
Examples of such decks might be the Happy Tarot, Namaste oracle cards, or Angel themed decks. The argument by some in the community is that there is no real place for such decks in Tarot or divination. To be honest I had never even considered such a perspective. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed that it exists in the community.
Divination is a very personal thing. You have to use the tools which you most connect with and through which you can clearly divine. For one person to say that a particular style of card should not exist because they don't happen to connect with it is dogmatic. It's fine not to personally like using such decks, but to criticise others who do like to create or use them, and suggest that they should not be available is dictatorial.
A few good points have been made by others supporting nice-washed cards: If the sitter is going through a difficult or challenging time, or are at a low point, a more 'serious' or blunt style deck might not be the best choice to read with for them. Do they really need to see a menacing looking devil in the Devil card, or foreboding looking Tower, creepy Death card, or blood in a sword card? If they are anxious these cards may only serve to increase that anxiety. It can be hard to convince someone who is already anxious that such imagery doesn't mean their whole life is irreversibly crumbling around them.
My point is, as a reader you have a certain responsibility as to how you convey whatever information you are seeing in the card, and need to be especially mindful if someone is having a challenging time in life. That reading might well suggest something difficult is on the horizon. But do you let them go away believing all is lost, or instead help them see that difficulties will arise, but can be overcome. It may be easier and more beneficial to do that with a 'nice-washed' card. Readings shouldn't be there to scare people but to show them the causes of, and how to overcome any difficulties divined. I've heard some really poignant examples from Vloggers of how nice-washed cards helped them through difficult periods, when other cards would not have done so.
An argument that seems to have been put forward by the anti-nice-washers is that they don't conform enough to the 'traditional' tarot. There are decks which will have slightly differing meanings to the cards from say the Rider Waite deck or the Thoth deck. But I don't feel this invalidates them. You have to make you own assessment as to whether the potential interpretations you can derive from the cards in the deck meet your needs. I like decks which cover a range of meanings, including light and dark, as I think these better represent the broad range of energies, events and states that can occur in our lives, and therefore give more balanced readings. But the states that can be more challenging, such as changes or endings, do not necessarily have to be presented in a dark and harsh way. If the message is more likely to gets through to someone by presenting it more gently, then there's no harm in that. Not everyone can accept a more serious or stern message. I think that's an important consideration when reading for others.
Decks may have a cute or more uplifting image or style, but that doesn't mean the meaning of the card is shallow. Deep and nuanced meanings can also be inferred from such cards, as much as RWS, Thoth, or other 'serious' decks.
How do you feel about 'nice-washed' cards? Leave your comments below:)
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