fantasy and traditional deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rocksolid	11 Mar 2002
What is the difference in these types of decks ?

Jewel	11 Mar 2002
To me Fantasy is a kind of art. I really associate comic book style of art in this category. I would say a fantasy deck is one that has art down those lines. Decks I put into this category include the Londa, Tarot for Cats, Vertigo, Blake, etc. and I am sure others here will have a slew of others to include (as well as a different definition of Fantasy ;) ). Many fantasy decks are better as collectors items than reading decks, but that is just MY opinion. The traditional decks to me are those that are decks like the Marseilles, Raider Wait (and its clones), and the Thoth deck. They follow very the traditional lines of those 3 decks pretty much in terms of suits, structures, correspondences, etc. Hope this helps.

truthsayer	11 Mar 2002
i agree w/ jewel. i think fantasy decks are more difficult to read w/ than traditional decks b/c you have to figure out the artist's personal symbolism/mythology and connection to universal archetypes. i think the term theme deck prob describes fantasy decks best. it's great when a theme deck relates back to a personal interest. i love the arthurian legends so the legend arthurian deck is the perfect theme for me. since i'm all ready familiar w/ the legends i can translate the stories into tarot divination w/o a tremendous amount of difficulty. i love the vertigo but since i'm not familiar w/ all the stories and characters from vertigo comics, it's a challenge for me to read the deck. i find decks like the robin wood, hansome roberts, universal waite and nigel jackson pretty easy to read w/o having to flip back and forth b/t the artist/writer's conceptions about the deck. hope this helps.

The fantasy and traditional deck? thread was originally posted on 11 Mar 2002 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.