January 7 - 13, 2012 ~ Renaissance Tarot

Renaissance Tarot
Brian Williams
(c) USGames, 1988

A lovely deck!  Many moons ago, a kind Aeclectic Tarot member offered to send me the Golden Dawn Tarot.  Eventually, she wrote and asked if I would prefer the Renaissance instead.  I had since obtained a lovely old copy of the Golden Dawn, so I said, "sure!"  What luck for me!

The deck is one of those taller, slender decks.  I have discovered that USGames decks are a variety of sizes - from short and squat to tall and slender.  They run the gamut of human shapes, it seems.  If I were a tarot deck, I would be shaped like the Navigators of the Mystic SEA - short and a bit squat!  The backs are very plain looking at first glance.  There is no real color, but on closer inspection, an intricate design is seen.  It is a non-reversible back and the larger image is off-center.  It is really quite beautiful in its simplicity.

Yes, this is turning into another one of those "gushing" posts.  Really, I can't find much wrong with this deck or the companion material at all.  The book is well written and informative well beyond just this deck.  It actually contains very little specifically about this deck but rather contains a concise tour through Renaissance art and mythology.  The colors of the deck are soothing and there is gold highlighting that accentuates various aspects of each card as well as the arched border.  In the spandrel of the arches on each card, there are tiny figures or banners that add meaning to the card.  They are in Italian and English and for some cards, are reversible, giving insights into reversed card meanings.  And yes, I learned the word "spandrel" from reading the book.

As a reading deck, it seems very traditional.  By that, I mean that it works better with traditional meanings and the use of traditional aspects rather than "intuition."  I have no problem with that at all and find it refreshing and challenging on occasion. It also has "non-scenic" pips.  But really, I have normally found these allegedly "non-scenic" pips to be quite scenic, and these are no different. 

Rating: Keeper +

December 10 - December 16, 2011 ~ PoMo Tarot

PoMo Tarot
Brian Williams
(c) Harper, 1994

I obtained this deck in a trade at Aeclectic Tarot.  I happily traded my Wizards Tarot for it.  I definitely got the better end of that deal.

The cards are huge and the images are sparse.  Usually, it is not that way: tiny cards have intricate images that can’t be seen by the naked eye and one always wishes for a larger card.   Not this deck.  The cards are large and the images are large.  No reaching for the magnifier.   They are also easy to shuffle, which is remarkable given the size.

This is not your average tarot deck, though.  This is a cross between Post-Modern art and tarot.  The images are adaptations of famous Post Modern works from Rodin to Worhol.  They convey more than just tarot, but also a commentary on the world as it is becoming. 

The suits have been changed about as have the elements.  Swords are Guns and are Fire.  Wands have been replaced with the more modern aspect of Air (waves) - TVs.  And replaced well, I think.  The Suit of TVs is quite thought provoking (see that air reference there? clever, huh?).  Cups are Bottles and Disks are Bills.  The court have been replaced with Man, Woman, Boy and Girl.  It works.  I don’t know why, but it works.  Okay, I suspect it works because I am starting to think that Brian Williams was quite the genius.   Next year at BATS, I shall leave a little something on his table.

 If one didn’t want to bother with all those pesky elements and what not, one could certainly read this deck intuitively.  However, the book is very good, though the type is entirely TOO small.  He offers some very interesting interpretations on the cards and I found that in some cases, they expanded my understanding of the cards.

As a reading deck for myself, I found it to be fun.  It took a bit to get used to it, but I think that it definitely has its place in my collection (besides being part of the Brian Williams Sub Collection).  Readings were direct, but not harsh.  The deck seemed to offer thinking points.  The Parting Words reading was was very good and I appreciated the way it said what it had to say. 

Rating: Keeper

October 1 - 7, 2011 ~ Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools
Brian Williams
Llewellyn, 2002

At SF BATS, there is a cauldron of loose cards at the door.  Each day, one draws a card of the day.  On my second day, I drew the 8 of Staves from the Ship of Fools.  My interpretation based solely on first impressions of the images was that I would have some difficulty with TSA on my flight home.

And I did.  Nothing serious.  But after BATS, I was coming home with many more decks than I had left with.  And I had taken such care to pack them.  Unfortunately, they looked like suspicious bundles of either C4 or cocaine.   I was pulled aside and my bag unpacked.  When they reached the carefully packed tarot cards, I could see their faces.  He showed them to a supervisor.  I guess I shouldn’t have brought the Wormweird...

Anyway, they were finally convinced that I was not going to use the tarot decks for ill and gave me my stuff back.  What a mess.  Took 20 minutes to pack it all up! 

Earlier in the day, I was talking to an member at Aeclectic Tarot who goes by the moniker of “Asher.”  Asher is a shameless enabler and told me that this deck was available at New Age Discount Books for ten bucks!  Ten Bucks! Woot!  I bought it (and a few others, of course). 

So that is how I ended up with the deck.  And in retrospect,  the 8 of Staves really doesn’t have anything to do with travel and whatnot, but that Fool jumping out at the innocent woman &child really made me think of TSA....

The deck is one of those short, squat types.  Rather think card stock and heavy laminated with essentially the same stuff used to grease greased hogs.   The cards are SLIPPERY!! Because of their larger girth, I had a hard time holding on to them.  But then again, it just seemed to follow.   Every shuffle ended up being a game of 78 Card Pick Up.  And I could hear the cackle of a Fool in the background!

The book, being by Brian Williams, is well written and informative.  I am not sure if he ever wrote a book that wasn’t. 

As a reading deck it is a wonderful deck.   I got off to a rough start, got better acquainted and then finished off nicely.  It is important to note that a deck full of Fools is going to have a different style!   Alot of the times when there was a "negative" card, it was the Fool who was essentially doing it to himself, whether it be ineptitude, carelessness, or just willful ignorance. 

I was trying to be all serious and studious with this deck because I misread it from the beginning.  My first reading with the deck was the deck interview. First impressions are not always right!  I had to throw out some preconceived notions during the week!

This is a high quality deck, as all decks by Brian Williams.  It is well thought out and intelligent.  This one just has the added bonus of having a wicked sense of humour. 


Rating: Keeper+