March 03 - 09, 2012 ~ Tarot of the Pagan Cats

Tarot of the Pagan Cats
Magdelina Messina
Lo Scarabeo, 2010

(images coming)

I got this deck through the latest "reverse auction" at The Tarot Garden.  I think I got it for $12.  I set it on my shelf and waited for it to come round for the "Deck of the Week."  And waited.  Finally, the random number generator spit out the magic number and I sat down for what I thought would be a fine week with another cat deck.

First, let me say that I like cat decks.  I have several and find them to be fun and fascinating to read with (good grief, don't call the grammar police...).  Unfortunately, my initial response to the deck was quite cold.  It just didn't have that same magic that I get from my other cat decks.  I couldn't put my finger on it right away, but after a week, I had it figured out.  See, in the Kissa Tarot and The Tarot of the Cat People, the cats are there as companions, and they are quietly commenting on the situation in the card in a very cat like manner.  In the Baroque Bohemian Cats, the cats are wearing human clothes and act as humans.  Same with Medieval Cats.  In the Pagan Cats, there are cats who are being cats, but are doing things that are outside cat abilities, such as holding wands and the like.  I guess I like my cats to either be cats and act as cats, or to be cats and act as humans consistently.  But not to be cats, act like cats, but to not act like cats when the RWS meaning of the card calls for it. That likely won't make sense to most people, but there it is.

The cards themselves were typical Lo Scarabeo - nice size, not too much lamination, supple (but not flimsy) and packaged nicely.  And in 5 or 6 languages.  I don't mind the polyglot cards, I enjoy it actually, especially when it is subtle.  As a reading deck, it was a bit too RWS for me.  I like my RWS-inspired decks to be inspired by RWS, not absolute clones.  I like the different take on the same cards that RWS-inspired decks provide.  This is why I don't care for the Robin Wood - it is almost exactly the same deck - but with less clothes as if that is what makes it "pagan."  Because we all know that pagans run around nekkid with their nekkid bits hanging and flopping in the wind.  And wouldn't cats be pagan anyway?  Isn't the church clear that dogs (and presumably, cats) do not go to heaven?

Okay, enough of that.  As a reading deck for OTHERS, however, the deck seemed to work fine.  Perhaps it was because the sitters were more in tune with RWS than I - I tried REALLY hard to keep the Thoth out of my interpretations, though I think it snuck in here and there.  The deck is familiar (and therefore not threatening), has kitties! and would be a good choice for readings for others.  I can imagine that it would be selected by those who want a reading with something different, but not too different...

Rating:  Keeper -

 

December 17 - December 23, 2011 ~ The Kingdom Within

Kingdom Within Tarot
Juno Lucina, Shannon ThornFeather
(c) Schiffer, 2011

I purchased this deck from another member of Aeclectic Tarot.  After reading about it and looking at scans, I thought it really looked interesting.   Comments at Aeclectic range from one end of the spectrum to the other. 


The card stock is sturdy and glossy.  It is that nice stuff I like (except the gloss) like the 2nd Edition Bohemian Gothic and the Grail Tarot.  The size is fairly decent and I can hold the deck in my hand.  Because of the thickness of the card stock, it is a bit thick however.


The art is primitive in some cards and quite fine in others.  There is liberal use of colors as well.  Unfortunately, many of the cards are, well, cluttered.  There is so much on some cards that I found it difficult to focus on anything in the card.  In some cases, there is just so much stuffed onto the card that it begins to loose any sort of impact.  Perhaps, however,  this is more of an after effect of the minimalist PoMo?   But I think that the similarity of color in images and background is more of the issue for some cards.  I found it hard to discern some of the images.


It isn't that the deck is awful, so much.   The question seems to be whether I am willing to put the work in to it that it would require.   I am not sure that I am willing to do that.  This restored tree of life doesn't make a huge difference to me.  Definitely not enough to learn and study on it.   I have a very basic understanding of the traditional tree of life as it relates to tarot and it makes sense to me and this deck just confused me.


I believe it has merit and it has earned a spot in my Occult / Golden Dawn sub collection, but it may be some time before I work with it.


Rating:  Keeper -

August 6 - 12, 2011 ~ The Universal Tarot

The Universal Tarot
Maxwell Miller
Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1996

Another treasure from an Estate Sale through Tarot Garden.  It came in a green velveteen bag reeking of cigarette smoke.

This deck has only 74 cards.  Mr. Miller felt that for the tarot court to accurately reflect the Zodiac that it should have only 12 members instead of 16.  The Pages were tossed.  I haven't missed them really and I can dig his reasoning.

The card stock is slippery and supple and easy to handle.  It isn't bad - just different!  The cards are slightly larger than normal and a bit hard to handle for my smaller hands.  The backs are remarkably plain compared to what is going on on the face on nearly every one of those 74 cards.

The deck follows a Golden Dawn system.  And this brings me to the thought I had not too long ago.  Somewhere, I think I read that Golden Dawn members were eventually tasked with creating their own interpretation of the Tarot (using Golden Dawn criteria, of course).   I ask because each Golden Dawn deck I get is vastly different from the others.  Not that I have a huge collection of these (not for lack of trying, BTW).  But it is just something I noticed.

The esoteric symbolism used in this deck is from all over the planet (and possibly beyond).  There is just so much! Too much, really, for me.  I am just getting a handle on regular Golden Dawn symbolism and Thoth symbolism and here this deck tosses in everything else. For the most part, systems are restricted to one per card - there isn't a Tantric/Native American/Egyptian mixture on any cards.  And I thank all that is holy for that.

As a reading deck it is a mixed review.  On one hand, using it in purely intuitive (no systems, no esoterica, no religion) exercises is magical.  It is easy to just try to intuit meaning from the images because for the most part, I have NO clue what the symbolism is!  Yet, when I try to use it as a tarot deck, adhering to some sort of structure and system, I fall on my face.  I just don't understand what I am seeing.  The astrology is very heavy in this deck and important as well.

I am ambivalent about this deck, but I won't pass it on.  It is part of my set and I will keep it for doing intuitive exercises at Aclectic Tarot.  Please.  Don't ask for a reading using this deck.  I will refuse.

Rating: Collectible (Golden Dawn)

April 30 - May 06, 2011 ~ Robin Wood Tarot

Robin Wood Tarot
Robin Wood
Llewellyn, 1991

I purchased this deck in 2000 in Salem, Oregon.  It was actually my second tarot deck of the RWS variety.  I thought it was going to be all awesome and Pagan-y.  Oh, I had great plans for this deck.  And then I opened the pack and started using it.  I wasn’t immediately impressed.  I bought the book and found it helpful.  But still...I just sort of stuck it in a drawer and used my Mythic Tarot exclusively.

This deck has been cleansed by the moon, charged by the moon, splattered with holy water and sandalwood oil.  It has been incensed and sprinkled with salt. 

Didn’t work.  Still don’t have any magi(c)(k)al connection with the deck.   Of course, that doesn’t mean it isn’t any good.  It is just too much for me - like it is a RW clone from the 70s - it lost inhibitions, got naked and discovered sex.  I have given great thought to why I don’t really use this deck.  And I think that it is because I never rebelled.  I didn’t become liberated from the Church - throwing off the blatant Judeo-Christian flavor of the RWS in favor of the Pagan / Wiccan flavor of the Robin Wood.

I have used it and it does give decent readings.  I do think that I would prefer to just use the Rider Waite instead.  It just is too close and as such I might as well as just use the original.

Rating: Keeper-

April 23 – 29, 2011 ~ Universal Wirth.

Universal Wirth
Oswald Wirth, Giordano Berti, Stefano Palumbo
Los Scarabeo, 2008

I bought this deck in 2008 from The Tarot Garden.  It was an impulse purchase and I am still trying to figure out if it was a good thing or not.  The colors in the deck are extremely pleasing - I do love the muted tones.  The Majors are TdM style and the unillustrated pips are pretty illustrated to me.  The pips are heavily adorned with astrological symbols and if you look at them long and hard, some of them make sense.  And then you have to wrap your head around the Cups as Air and Swords as Water concept.  There was a moment where that made complete sense, but then I lost it.  I do believe that this is a Spanish School element assignment.  And seriously, it did make sense!  For a minute.  But it slipped away.  I have shown the Knight of Swords and the Queen of Cups. 

As a reading deck it caused great frustration.  I could "get" the majors, but the pips give me fits.  I find them pretty to look at and then I remember I have to give some sort of interpretation of what I see.  At that point, I just gibber.

All that whining aside, I must say that this deck has value. I can grasp it for a fleeting moment, but during that brief moment it all makes perfect sense.  It is a deck that tells me to think outside the tarot box - to explore something different.  I would never, ever, under any circumstance recommend this deck to a beginner.  I don't even think I'd show it to a beginner.  It is confusing and disruptive.  A beginner doesn't need to have that kind of stress.

Rating - after careful consideration...a Keeper-. 

January 22 - 28, 2011 ~ Celestial Tarot

Celestial Tarot
Kan Steventon, Brian Clark
US Games, Inc
2006

My husband bought this for me for Christmas 2010.  He went to a New Age store, all by himself, and picked it out.  I believe he picked it out because there was an image of a horse on the box!  No matter.

The deck is really very blue.  Seriously, the main color scheme is blue.  Luckily, I like the color blue, but it is just so much.  The artwork is well done.  Each card is chock full  of esoteric symbols and astrological references.  Unfortunately, astrology is NOT my strong suit.  However, given my study of the Golden Dawn System for tarot, it might actually be helpful in the long run.

The book is very well written and detailed in its discussions of symbols and astrology.  I can see it becoming a reference book for astrological influences for tarot in general.   The card stock is the usual laminated sort, not too stiff, but not flimsy, either.

As a reading deck it was a serious challenge. The deck just did not "speak" to me at all.   I had no clue as to the astrological references.  And the Tree of Life references were equally difficult.  But that is because of ME and not because of the deck.  For someone who is well versed in these topics, I believe it could be a really great deck.  But for me at my current level, it is a very complicated and frustrating experience to read with it.

Rating: Keeper-