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
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