Abyssal Tarot

[Fuzzmello]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me anything about this deck?

http://www.abyssaltarot.com/index.html

Fuzz

[Rusty Neon]

I'm curious to know more about this deck as the website indicated doesn't seem to say much about the deck. How many cards are there? Are there suits? Are there major and minor arcana?

[Gerbear]

If you click on the "print" card on the opening page, you get a view of all 78 cards. Nothing seems to be similar to regular nomenclature.

[Fuzzmello]

Umm, I guessing I'm asking if anyone out there has this deck. Anyone ever order it?

Fuzz

[Rusty Neon]

The new, self-published edition [78 cards] is going for $300 USD.

:) I guess I'll be waiting for the mass-market edition to come out.

[Gerbear]

I just got on the waiting list recently. The deck will be ready in 4-6 weeks, which is not soon enough. It looks like a great photographic deck. The creator is reknowned for her photographs and has a thriving career as a photographer, so the prospects for a mass market deck are slim.

[bassetized]

Haunting imagery, very powerful. Fraid this one may stay on my wish list a while at that price, but a person can dream, huh?

Gerbear, do you know how many copies will be available?

--bassetized

[Rusty Neon]

IThe creator is reknowned for her photographs and has a thriving career as a photographer, so the prospects for a mass market deck are slim.

On the other hand, if the creator is renowned as a photographer, that could arguably increase the prospects for a mass market deck.

[Gerbear]

I haven't heard of any number involved, but I would guess that it would take at least 200 or so to cover the cost of the fine printing being used. Just a guess.

[Gerbear]

On the other hand, if the creator is renowned as a photographer, that could arguably increase the prospects for a mass market deck.

Arguably so!

[HudsonGray]

It looks like it's all underwater photography, that gives some pretty eerie stuff sometimes. Very arty.

[rosyelf]

I'm so impressed by these images-as one of the reviews says, it's a kind of underwater theatre where roles are played out. Elegance and power are words that come to mind . I've just emailed the artist.

I wonder if it could really be used as a Tarot deck, though-with the titles all different ? Meditation deck, certainly. I'm going to start saving my pennies ! :)

[rosyelf]

I've been looking at Shelly's website again-these images really are haunting me.

In her statement, she suggests that the models-some in the water singly, some as couples-got to playing out various roles, not prescribed by Shelly in advance, not decided upon by THEM in advance, just spontaneous. Sometimes they are closest (Platonic) friends, other times lovers , other times mother and child. There are some men in some of the images, but mostly it is women. There can be immense tranquillity, and there can be conflict. Yes, there is aggression, too. I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm coming round to see how these images could form a very effective Tarot deck-they are all there, the archetypes. But Rider-Waite it ain't.

I'm really looking forward to receiving this deck. All other Wishlist items are on hold ! I think it's worth that.

[rosyelf]

I received my copy today ! "Opulent" is a word that comes to mind, to describe both the photographic images themselves and the quality of the deck's production-good cardstock, nice box which is slightly shiny.

Diane Wilkes has reviewed this deck on www.tarotpassages.com She likes it. So do I. But I'm waiting until the kids are in bed before I have a good look and do myself a reading. :)

[janstar17]

Haunting imagery, very powerful. Fraid this one may stay on my wish list a while at that price, but a person can dream, huh?

Gerbear, do you know how many copies will be available?

--bassetized

from the site...This 1000 deck printing features 6-color dotless stochastic impression on the 78-card deck, a matching 32 page booklet and two-piece presentation box. Each deck is individulally numbered and signed by both the artist and the author.

$300 [+ Shipping & Handling]...

I've wandered onto the site a few times now. I think it is a beautiful 'art' deck but I doubt if I would use it to read with though. The artist doesn't appear interested in mass marketing...we can only hope. :D

[closrapexa]

It is indeed a beautiful deck but... Well, perhaps I'm biased, since I'm not really a fan of photographis decks. The artwork is very beautiful, but when I look at the pictures I must ask myself if it is truly a "Tarot" deck, or an excercise in photographic interpretation. I need a deck to be a deck that is planned to be a Tarot deck, if you follow me. I like it when the creator wants to say something about Tarot itself, not just an assortment of images. Multiple interpretations and variation are always welcome, but it seems that nowadays if you take a picture of just about anything and write Hierophant on the bottom, then it classifies as a Tarot card.

Again, not to disparage the artwork itself, it is shockingly beautiful and I would have every one of those prints. Unfortunately, there is the price, which seems very high.

But then, I haven't seen the minors...

[Dave's Angel]

Well, after a two-year silence on this thread.....!

I ordered this deck last Sunday and it arrived yesterday, which is exceptionally quick given that it came from Seattle USA to Manchester UK.

It sounds like this is a second edition as mine is no. 164 of 1000 and cost me only (heh, "only") $150.

Nitty gritty aside, all I can say is WOW. The pictures are beautifully meditative and otherworldly. There is a very profound sense of motion and it is easy to look at the cards and interpret them not by being a bystander looking in at the picture, but by empathising with the model, feeling yourself in their skin, and interpreting it from the inside, as if the scene is happening to you.

There are some very offbeat (and sometimes IMHO - which granted is off-the-cuff as I only got them last night - tenuous) connections given between the "traditional" card meaning and how the book explains the picture as illustrating that. But they will certainly reward further contemplation: I was brought up short by the Ace of Cups at first, and especially by the worryingly thin model, but before many minutes had a whole new perspective on that card, that WAS appropriate.

Some people on this thread have raised an eyebrow about the new "titles". On the deck I have, the titles have been kept the same, but at the same time there is a second discreetly-printed title running vertically up the top left side. This would appear to be the title of the photograph, not the card - the photos were works in their own right before they were arranged into a tarot deck, so aren't always in time with the nature of the card. I must partly agree with you closrapexa, it does lose a little, but only a little, from having the cart before the horse in this respect. For me this isn't a problem, as I tend to read only with good ol' RWS, and use my others (one of which is the Archeon) purely for study / meditation.

Put it like this. I opened the deck for the first time at 8:30pm last night. By 9:30, I had got as far as Temperance. It's one of those.

[Tarot Sparrow]

I also have the deck--purchased it after the holidays as a gift to myself. It's probably the most I've ever spent on a deck, but I thought the $150 was worth it, given what I'd seen and heard (it's nice that the price was halved). I've only read with mine a couple of times, but regardless, I think it is valuable as an art deck (and anyway, I'm of the opinion that there are no definite characteristics that categorize "art decks" and "reading decks"--a person can read with anything if it speaks to them, and shouldn't dismiss it on those grounds).

I'm curious as to whether there were different editions--mine is 177/1000 and signed..."the premier printing," according to the card. The images are beautiful--often with a sort of "blurred" feel, given that the photography is all underwater. As was said before, the cards do tell different sorts of stories between characters with different relationships to one another, and the cards are labelled with roman numerals, suit symbols, the card title, and very faintly, the title of the original work (don't worry, it's all very discreet). I do particularly like the booklet by Stephen Ahlbom that's included with the deck, as it is in full colour with pictures of all the cards, and a little "description" with keywords. The descriptions are actually more like poems, or story excerpts, that give a feel for the characters/situations. I rather like this, but like I said, keywords are also included for those of you who prefer something more concrete. The booklet also includes a rather interesting spread entitled "The Path Through the Abyss" with directional associations (east, west, etc).

Overall, I'd say it's rather nontraditional as a tarot deck. But if the images speak to you, I don't think you'll regret your purchase. I certainly don't (and like I said, I hardly read with it ;)).

[Dave's Angel]

Yes, very well put. In even the time since my last post I've picked up on a lot.

BTW my certificate says the same thing, so I suspect the decks aren't coming out in number order, just whichever deck the artist puts her hand on when she mails them out.

Have you noticed the design on the back? For those who don't have the deck it's quartered into flames / waves / clouds / sand dunes for the elements, but rarely evenly. For the majors it's pretty random, but for the suits the "pane" the four images sit in is skewed so that one element is larger, and it's the one relating to that suit. But even there it's not uniform. On some of the pentacles cards the sand dune is slightly larger, on others it's miles larger. A lovely touch.

The Moon has engaged my attention, in fact I've just emailed Shelly Corbett now to let her know the deck arrived safe and well, and mentioned this. The woman arcing herself flamboyantly over the card isn't the moon - the man gently holding her is. It's not a passionate hold, more a considerate, reassuring one, as if he wants to make her feel safe. The book says something about in this place she allows herself things she denied herself in her waking life, and it seemed so appropriate - your subconscious and your dreams are a completely safe "padded cell" where you can let your mind run free into everything from the ridiculous to the perverted to the physically impossible, without danger. In fact, it's dreaming and flights of fancy that make us human and keep us sane. And all of that's reflected in how this young but slightly fatherly man has his arm securely, but not domineeringly, around this woman while she just abandons herself. Beautiful.

[Dave's Angel]

!!! - just had a reply already from Shelly, some of which might be enlightening here:

"The imagery in the deck was created over many years and when my friend Steve and I decided to put it in the tarot format it was a truly mystical experience. Each image loosely corresponds with a Rider Waite cards but there is so much more to each when you consider the image title, color, composition and movement. Each card is a puzzle waiting to be explored and discovered in its own time."



DA