At last: The World Spirit Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Sep 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Talisman	06 Sep 2001
'Lo all, I just got The World Spirit Tarot, and I couldn't be happier with it. I know Solandia wrote a wonderful review of this deck and I don't want to be repetitive, but I do want to talk about it. I've been looking at the scans at various sites for seems like months, but they didn't prepare me for holding the deck. The artist, Lauren O'Leary, carved the cards from linoleum blocks with chisels, and then hand-colored them. They are not comicbook art, but what I consider "real" art. In another thread, Kiama wrote about the "expanded Little White Book" Llewellyn is offering now. The one with World Spirit, text by Jessica Godino, is a small treasure. Let me quote just a touch: "As we see it, there are basically two approaches to tarot interpretation: the rational and the intuitive. Blending both methods can give you the most well-roundeds readings and the most informtion overall. "In the rational approach, you look to some authority, like this book, to tell you what each card means. For beginners this approach can be very useful and can help to build confidence. As part of the rational approach, you can also understand the cards that appear by considering the ones that don't . . . "In the intuitive approach to interpretation you don't worry about what the book says. Instead, you go with your gut feelings when you look at an image . . ." Well, the cards are very people oriented (also many, many animals and birds), and very rich with symbols. Godino notes that some are explained, "but many we leave for you to assign your own meanings." Also, the deck is as slippery as a buttered pig (there is a spotted pig on one card), and is heavy. Literally. The cards are no thicker than any other deck, but when you pick the entire deck up, it weighs a lot. I suspect it is close to being bullet-proof. Kiama, I know you said you were going to get the deck this weekend. Hope you're as pleased as I am, and anxious to hear what you think. And everybody else who has the deck or is interested in it also. I could talk about this deck all day. I'm slow. Ask me again in a year what I think of it. By then, I'll know if it is for real. Talisman Who, with four! decks, is getting perilously close to the CZ.

Logiatrix	06 Sep 2001
:D :D :D tal is collector! tal is a collector! you got the BUG, talisman! WOO-HOO!

purplelady	07 Sep 2001
If you teeter too long at the edge of the cz , you could fall into a black hole , like at the center of the milky way galaxy.

Logiatrix	07 Sep 2001
:D :D :D well, then, joyous greetings from the deepest, darkest central regions of the milky way! ;)

Kiama	09 Sep 2001
Well, Talisman, my fingers are aching to pick that deck up off the bookshelf and hand over the money, but I have a small problem that I have no money right now, and I can't get to teh bookshop. I tried getting Mum to buy it for me as a pressie for doing so well in my exams (It was worth a try, wasn't it? And I am pretty desperate for this deck...) but she didn't go for it. damn. I'm still itching for it though, and now I've read your post I want it even more! Oh well, I'll just have ot wait until I get a decent wage packet.... Kiama

Talisman	10 Sep 2001
Okay, okay, Marlene and Metaz, but before I get sucked into the vacuum of space . . . and my tomorrows get confused with yesterdays in the celestial time stream . . . The World Spirit Tarot has its own evocative and highly detailed imagery, but it does follow the Smith-Rider-Waite system. In fact, one card is a portrait of Pamela Coleman-Smith. But the differences and surprises with each card show innovations and are packed with their own nuances. The more I look at the cards, the more I like the artwork. It is so detailed, it is hard to believe it was cut with a chisel out of a linoleum block. Let me mention that the court cards are called: Seer, Seeker, Sibyl and Sage. Works for me. May not for you. But there ain't a whole bunch'a king and queens in my life. There is also a new -- to me -- spread in the book by Jessica Godino, called the "Seven Card Spiral." I think it might fit a scarf or bandanna or something, but I've never tried it. What else? Oh, yeah. There is a very thin-line colored border on each card -- turquoise for Majors; red for Wands; blue for Cups; silver for Swords; and yellow for Pentacles. If you use color in your tarot journel, here's a fit. (If you don't, why not?) If you're guessin' I like this deck very much, you may be a little right. Talisman

J :)	27 Sep 2001
I completely agree with you on the World Spirit Tarot - even though I must confess I haven't spent half as much time with it as I would have wanted to. (Having a minor case of Earthly exhaustion and I want to put some energy INTO the cards before expecting to cashing some OUT of them...!) Anyway, I'm not completely sure I know what Pamela Colman Smith looked like, but I couldn't find any perfect-match-candidates in the deck either. So I'm curious - which one is it?? I've promised myself to do my fist real reading with this deck today, being on this forum for a couple of days now, I really start feeling the old tarot-joy returning back home to Mama...! Thanks all of you guys for that! :-D

Talisman	30 Sep 2001
Jenny, Look at the "Seer of Cups" card. Read what Jessica Godino says. Talisman

The At last: The World Spirit Tarot thread was originally posted on 06 Sep 2001 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.