Zephyros
Ok, on one hand, this is not to diss truly innovative deck creators since I know that there are many new decks out there, some of them wonderful; the Holy Light comes to mind as a truly "new" Tarot deck, on a par, in my mind, with the Thoth and RWS. The Haindle is also interesting, as are many others. As a disclaimer I must say that I love RWS based decks, use them, and eagerly await several new titles in the wings.
However, picture the turn to middle of the 20th century. Occult was enjoying a kind renaissance, with the Golden Dawn and other orders actively studying, producing new knowledge and developing the old. People cared enough about the orders to form new ones that contrasted their teachings, something along the lines of "you don't dress funny enough, I'll make an order where people dress up funny according to what I believe!" Many people belonged to them, the Golden Dawn not only revolutionized occult knowledge and Tarot as we see them today, but accepted members of all walks of life, and was more a part of the "mainstream" than ever before or since.
The RWS was published in 1909 and was a revolution in Tarot, it did things that no other deck had done up until that point. It created a new system that would stand the test of time, and, indeed, would become in many peoples' eyes as "the" Tarot deck. The Thoth was finished in 1943, quite a few years later, it is true, but still fitting in that "tarot renaissance" time frame. It too, brought an entire new look and feel to Tarot, different than the RWS, but significant in that it too, created a whole new system of doing things. Both, created in a relatively short timespan, are considered classic decks and prototypes of larger movements.
But is that where it stopped? There are literally thousands of decks available today, but most are RWS derivatives. Many are lovely, but I'm not talking about the quality of work in them, but the fact that when A.E. Waite saw the need for a new deck system, he put his whole lifetime of knowledge into creating a deck that would become a base for innumerable others. When Aleister Crowley saw he didn't like the RWS, he put the whole of his experience into a new system. None of them went into the occult for the express purpose of Tarot, but studied disparate subjects and then incorporated them into their decks. Today it seems that most people content themselves with basing decks on the RWS and calling them "new" but are they really that new? Again, I don't want you to think I'm saying that no RWS derivative is good, but even the most innovative of those base themselves on something pre-existing, and build upon it. As much as the Morgan-Greer is my favorite deck, I can't see anyone creating a deck and saying it is "Morgan-Greer inspired." It just doesn't have that lasting quality the RWS has. Will the Holy Light or Haindl be remembered in fifty years time as "classic" Tarot decks? I hope so, but I can't see that far ahead.
Now, I know, necessity is the mother of invention, and Waite saw a niche that needed to be filled. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree here and now that that niche is filled, there is no use for filling it again. However, no one "needed" television before it was invented, no one imagined the need for a pictorial deck before it was created. But is the Tarot world slightly poorer because of how good Waite's deck is, since, for the mainstream average Joe, it is the quintessential deck, superseding all others. For most deck creators, it is the natual blueprint on which to base new works. The Tarot world's obsession, as it were, with the RWS does a disservice to the Marseilles or the Sola Busca, which if anything could/should really be called "the" Tarot decks, since they existed hundreds of years before the RWS or the Thoth, yet their images are less recognizable to the man on the street than the RWS is. Sure, there are far more decks being published today than during the GD era, but, again, are they really, really "new" decks? It seems sometimes that the Golden Dawn monopolized a tradition that existed centuries before it. Are we in the midst of another Tarot renaissance, or is it something else?
In essence, my question is where are those giants who take a lifetime to study Tarot and then only do they hesitantly attempt to create something truly new? Why is the there no 2011 equivalent to Waite? Why isn't there are "wickedest man in England" today? Has the world changed so much that there will be no more iconic innovations in Tarot, but more of the same?
Now, again, I must stress that I in no way wish to disparage the many talented deck creators on this forum, I'm talking about a wider movement, so please don't take it personally
However, picture the turn to middle of the 20th century. Occult was enjoying a kind renaissance, with the Golden Dawn and other orders actively studying, producing new knowledge and developing the old. People cared enough about the orders to form new ones that contrasted their teachings, something along the lines of "you don't dress funny enough, I'll make an order where people dress up funny according to what I believe!" Many people belonged to them, the Golden Dawn not only revolutionized occult knowledge and Tarot as we see them today, but accepted members of all walks of life, and was more a part of the "mainstream" than ever before or since.
The RWS was published in 1909 and was a revolution in Tarot, it did things that no other deck had done up until that point. It created a new system that would stand the test of time, and, indeed, would become in many peoples' eyes as "the" Tarot deck. The Thoth was finished in 1943, quite a few years later, it is true, but still fitting in that "tarot renaissance" time frame. It too, brought an entire new look and feel to Tarot, different than the RWS, but significant in that it too, created a whole new system of doing things. Both, created in a relatively short timespan, are considered classic decks and prototypes of larger movements.
But is that where it stopped? There are literally thousands of decks available today, but most are RWS derivatives. Many are lovely, but I'm not talking about the quality of work in them, but the fact that when A.E. Waite saw the need for a new deck system, he put his whole lifetime of knowledge into creating a deck that would become a base for innumerable others. When Aleister Crowley saw he didn't like the RWS, he put the whole of his experience into a new system. None of them went into the occult for the express purpose of Tarot, but studied disparate subjects and then incorporated them into their decks. Today it seems that most people content themselves with basing decks on the RWS and calling them "new" but are they really that new? Again, I don't want you to think I'm saying that no RWS derivative is good, but even the most innovative of those base themselves on something pre-existing, and build upon it. As much as the Morgan-Greer is my favorite deck, I can't see anyone creating a deck and saying it is "Morgan-Greer inspired." It just doesn't have that lasting quality the RWS has. Will the Holy Light or Haindl be remembered in fifty years time as "classic" Tarot decks? I hope so, but I can't see that far ahead.
Now, I know, necessity is the mother of invention, and Waite saw a niche that needed to be filled. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree here and now that that niche is filled, there is no use for filling it again. However, no one "needed" television before it was invented, no one imagined the need for a pictorial deck before it was created. But is the Tarot world slightly poorer because of how good Waite's deck is, since, for the mainstream average Joe, it is the quintessential deck, superseding all others. For most deck creators, it is the natual blueprint on which to base new works. The Tarot world's obsession, as it were, with the RWS does a disservice to the Marseilles or the Sola Busca, which if anything could/should really be called "the" Tarot decks, since they existed hundreds of years before the RWS or the Thoth, yet their images are less recognizable to the man on the street than the RWS is. Sure, there are far more decks being published today than during the GD era, but, again, are they really, really "new" decks? It seems sometimes that the Golden Dawn monopolized a tradition that existed centuries before it. Are we in the midst of another Tarot renaissance, or is it something else?
In essence, my question is where are those giants who take a lifetime to study Tarot and then only do they hesitantly attempt to create something truly new? Why is the there no 2011 equivalent to Waite? Why isn't there are "wickedest man in England" today? Has the world changed so much that there will be no more iconic innovations in Tarot, but more of the same?
Now, again, I must stress that I in no way wish to disparage the many talented deck creators on this forum, I'm talking about a wider movement, so please don't take it personally
