Republished: Celtic Tarot by Courtney Davis

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Jun 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Lee	05 Jun 2002
I just saw on Amazon that the Celtic Tarot by Courtney Davis is being republised in December of this year by Element. What's interesting is that the cover price is $24.95, which is actually *cheaper* than the cover price of the original set ($34.00). The original set is still available. So if anyone is thinking of buying this set, you might want to wait until December. This is a beautiful deck with unillustrated pip cards (although actually the pips are arranged in such a way as to suggest meaning). I had this deck three years ago but traded it away, but I'll be buying it again in December. -- Lee

catlin	05 Jun 2002
Thanks for sharing. This deck was my first Celtic deck.

Cerulean	14 Mar 2003
I saw the new set once, but didn't buy it....My sister said she would like my old set, doesn't need the new blue set with a journal, smaller packaging...I went back to find it and instead, saw that the Arthurian Tarot was reissued in this format...I think I even saw the Celtic Wisdom Tarot recently...each of these had a free journal. Has anyone picked up the new version of any of these with the free journal? I actually have the new Davis/Patterson one on order with a local small store...and the less expensive price seems great to me. But I haven't met anyone who wanted to buy the new one yet as a second reading deck or compared packaging of old and new... I actually liked the pebbled appearance and Book of Kells kind of mosiac, it's different for me...

Kyrielle	15 Mar 2003
I have the Davis/Patterson deck/book/journal set. I'm not nuts about the journal. It would be kind of hard to keep it open to write in, and you would have to write small. But I do like the intricacy of the deck. Some of the people look a wee bit bug-eyed, though. -- Kyrielle

darwinia	15 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mari_Hoshizaki Has anyone picked up the new version of any of these with the free journal? Yes, when I bought the Hallowquest it had the new packaging with the softcover booklet and a hardcover journal. I'm afraid to write in the darn journal in case I mess it up! Usually when I write stories or essays I do them on the computer and then print them out with the corresponding picture of the card and put it in my 3-ring tarot journal. That way it's all nice and neat. I can't imagine ruining this crisp, new journal with my handwriting and blobs of ink from my pen. The idea I had for it was along the lines of an altered book: use collage and maybe print up words from the LWB along with some images from the deck or Arthurian paintings, or Celtic line art either in black and white or hand coloured, and do a small collage on alternate pages to get my own meaning of the story. It's going to be in a book so the light won't get at it and when I do this I usually spray the computer generated text and images with Krylon fixative before cutting it up and pasting it down with gel medium. So, similar to doing a weekly study from the Hallowquest book (which I don't have but would like to get), you could do up a small picture in this journal if you can bear to breach the virgin pages of mystery and imagination.

Cerulean	15 Mar 2003
...is light blue cover, with blank or lined pages? The new King Arthur edition is mentioned on Caitlin and John Matthews website under their 'new' section. So far, that the only place where I see a mention of the new packaging by Element (?). The Matthews site said the only thing that was lacking was the Hallowquest book is going out of print. I have a very old version of the Hallowquest book (when the deck first came out) that I found at an old book store. Originally I had only the more recent Hallowquest book, issued in the 90s and the Arthurian tarot with the red covered booklet and square cards with backs that are dark, a woman seated in profile and a rainbow. I enjoy reading your illustrated and interactive journal ideas. There's so many beautiful little decorative celtic, arthurian and medieval gift book things at used bookstores or some historical magazines, so I'll keep an eye out for a new art theme journal, now.

Icestorm	16 Mar 2003
Hmmm.... do you know the URL of Caitlin Matthew's tarot site? Im interested in seeing the hallowquest deck.

darwinia	16 Mar 2003
There's a comparative review here which deals with Hallowquest and Legend. You might like this since you own the Ferguson deck. Lee always does thorough reviews, but I quite liked the way he compared these two in such detail, he really outdid himself. http://www.tarotpassages.com/arthurianlegendlb.htm This is the the Matthews' web site. http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/ I really wanted the Hallowquest Workbook because it has weekly lessons for the year but it's OOP and ABE has two used copies listed but they're $26 U.S. plus shipping! I can only hope they republish an updated version.

Astraea	16 Mar 2003
Personally, I am a fan of the new packaging -- the cards are well protected, in their own durable boxes within the slipsleeve case. The journals are a bit gimmicky, considering how small they are, but they also have the virtue of being portable for that reason; mine would not be difficult to write in, since they open and lie very flat -- but the "tightness" of the binding might vary from box-to-box. The Celtic Tarot is lovely in its own way. It is very different from the Matthews' deck (which is not only beautiful, but complex and rich in content). For those who enjoy Celtic- themed decks, their reissue with such nice packaging is a gift. :)

Cerulean	27 Mar 2003
Yellow packaged set, the older one, has a bigger book and no journal. The cards are EXACTLY the same in the new blue set and old yellow set. Same size, colors, everything. The new blue set has smaller typeface in a softcover book, the empty journal is hardbound. The softcover book has a little more updated information about Courtney Davis website, otherwise the text seems to be the same. I think my sister will actually like the journal, so she gets the new set... Mari H.

punchinella	30 Jul 2003
Hi Mari Hoshizaki--when you say that the new cards are exactly the same as the old cards, does that include the card stock they are printed on, the marbleized border/background color, & the cards' finish (in the new version, extremely shiny/slick)? I just got the new element version today, & was disappointed by the feel of the cards--the shiny finish puts me off a bit, it seems so modern/new when content-wise the cards feel old (& in my opinion, old is pretty much ALWAYS preferable to new . . . ) I don't know, I just feel like I'm going to have trouble connecting w/ this deck even though I absolutely love the artwork, & I'm wondering if trying to trade around for the old edition would solve my problem (nitpicky, to be sure . . . ) ????? Thanks--P.

Cerulean	30 Jul 2003
but they didn't do an 'el cheapo' set such as the poor Caroline Smith remake. I was surprised that in the case of the Celtic Tarot that the old and new set had cards that seemed interchangeable. The books do differ considerably. My sister really liked the journal and small format of the new, so she got the new set. The cards seemed the same to her in both sets and she is a perfectionist. The older set went as a gift to a woman with Irish names and quite a lively temperment--she was a fire fighter and now is studying marine biology as her third work change. Now remember I bought both sets from two different stores--the old version with yellow packaging was from a local New Age store that went out of business. The old version comes with a larger book in that parchment-cream coloring. The new version was at another New Age store that buys their items new from a supplier called 'Book People' and it has a blue cover to both the journal and book. I don't know in some cases if it was preferable to have the old version. Even though I thought that I liked the bright yellow lighter card stock of the 1995 issue of the Ancient Tarots of Lombardy/Neoclassical and an unlaminated version by Solloene, I tend to use the newer version with a darker tint. Lo Scarabeo published a darker, larger version that I began to prefer over time. Il Menghello publishes a darker, aged version without lamination-and it's so far, my favorite version of the Neoclassical Maybe you can find suppliers through listings at Amazon.com or Abebooks.com and contact them directly to see which one they are offering and then you can choose accordingly.

punchinella	30 Jul 2003
Oh thank you--I actually didn't know if you would see my question right away! Well, I'm sure I can find the old aquarian version if I decide I want it, but if your sister doesn't see any difference between the aquarian & new element, perhaps there really isn't any (more's the pity??) I don't have the Neoclassical tarot, although it's currently on my amazon wishlist--but you're saying that Il Menghello has a better (more aged-looking) version? --That's useful info indeed, thank you! --P.

The Republished: Celtic Tarot by Courtney Davis thread was originally posted on 05 Jun 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.