Teen Tarot and Sugar Mystic deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	19 Jul 2002
I finally recieved a deck I won in an auction on Ebay... You will pobably remember me posting alot about it... It was my first ever Tarot deck, which I got free with a teenage girl magazine called Sugar when I was 12. I read with it effectively for about a year and a half, before losing in somewhere in a muddy field on a camping trip... But now I have a copy back! And I just need to tell you all how relieved I feel... Each time I look at this deck I feel so happy, and I have some great memories involving this deck. Its funny though, but at that age, cuz I hadn't been exposed to any other decks other than the 1JJ in the book 'Fortune-Telling with Tarot Cards' by Stuart Kaplan (My first book on Tarot!) I didn't really know how well this deck had translated the Majors and 4 Aces into a teen-friendly deck! Never before have I seen an easier deck to use if you're 13 years old... Simple, full of symbolism, and extremely attractive! The titles of the Minors have changed alot, but they really complement the images which speak alot... For instance, the Hermit is called the Loner, and shows a picture of a very thoughtful and rather sexy yoiung man, wearing dark sunglasses, and holding a beach-washed stone as if listening to it... Behind him is a lighthouse, which to me is highly reminiscent of the lantern/guiding light that the RWS Hermit carries. And the Wizard, which is instead of the Magician is amazing too: I hadn't noticed it before, but he looks as if he is fiddling with his long white beard, as if thinking up a solution to a problem, or a new invention... Very traditional Magician if you ask me! And the Heirophant, which quite a few young Tarot readers dislike, is translated into the Teacher... Great! This deck does so well to actually make the Majors apply to teenage life! No wonder I could rea so well with these when I was so young! Well, just thought I'd share that with you! I love this deck, and it is an absolute treasure for my collection: Not just for its sentimental value, but cuz of its approach and the actual illustrations, which tell you heaps about what my generation were like around 5/6 years ago! Gloss was in, sci-fi was taking over our minds, 'sexy man' was equated with smooth, long dark hair or shaven head, and being rich meant you had a fiver in your pocket! All this is conveyed through this Tarot deck... And what's more, they're actually small enough for a 12 year old to shuffle with ease, and they can fit into a back pocket or rucksack! (Which is how they were carried around with me!) So, yeah... I'm happy. I'm back with my first ever Tarot deck, and I have only just realised how great a deck it actually is! It is funny when you look at how many teenagers are interested in Tarot, and then when you look at how many decks are actually created specifically for teenagers... Its such a shame. Which brings me to the next topic quickly before I stop rambling: I am setting out to create a Tarot deck aimed specifically at young people aged 11-18. But its difficult, cuz I'm trying not to dumb it down at all. I wanna keep the traditional meanings and symbols, but make the images more applicable to the life of a pre-teen and teenager today. I have a few ideas, the main one being that aswell as keeping the suit names as Swords, Cups, Wands and Pentacles, the people illustrating each suit are gonna be 'groups' for each suit. I will have Goths to illustrate the Swords, due to the nature of the Goth outlook at teh Swrods suit. I will have neo-Hippies illustrating the Wands cuz their outlooks are similar to that of the Wands suit. For the Pentacles I am gonna have scholars, but I am totally stuck for the Cups! I need something Universal... Something which will apply to teenagers not just in Britain, but in America, Aus, ect... I'm also trying to aviod becoming the Silver RavenWolf of Tarot. ;) So, that's my ramble... Kiama

faunabay	19 Jul 2002
What a great idea Kiama!! I'll think about it and see if I can come up with a group for the cups suit?????? I'm soooo glad you got your deck!! Happy I was able to help a bit!! :)

Lianne	19 Jul 2002
Kiama, that teen deck sounds great! Would you mind telling what it's called, and the artist/publisher? It sounds really nice, I'd like to take a look at it myself. Thanks! Lianne

Violet Gargoyle	19 Jul 2002
Cups suit suggestions: Beach Folk Surfers Techies (all that Silicon) Dancers Okay, I am also curious. I take it you are not into Silver Ravenwolf's Teen kits and all? I know that there is some disagreement about her approach, although I have never actually seen inside the Teen Kit and related products to get an opinion about it either way.

Sorceress_Jade	19 Jul 2002
Cups: Ravers, also dancers was stated above and that's similar... we're talking the techno party kids who go clubbing and dance till their pony's wear out. Wearing baggy pants and colorful plastic jewelry, glitter and going by nicknames like snuggles and Kandyman These people have an abundant amount of energy for partying and for their friends. They can go non-stop forever. Can't say as they necessarily fit the profile of cups, but they are a group you may want to consider including

wavebreaker	19 Jul 2002
Sorceress_Jade: I was thinking the same thing ;). More specifically: the Love Parade, an annual big parade of ravers which is organized in many different cities. I think Berlin has the biggest one, but there's also one here in Rotterdam.

purplelady	27 Jul 2002
The cups could be wiccans, teen wiccans, or even "spellcasters"! When I was in High School we had freaks, jocks, cowboys, and ethnic people!

Keslynn	27 Jul 2002
Have you considered grad students for Swords instead? lol I happen to identify with that suit very well. Let's see: mentally sharp but poor as anything. Sounds like Swords to me. ;) Making a deck for teens is a great idea though. You should check out Janina Renee's book Tarot for a New Generation. She specifically orients her meanings to younger people so that might give your more inspiration. I also happen to think it's a great tarot book for any age. :) Kes

Phoenix	27 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama I need something Universal... Something which will apply to teenagers not just in Britain, but in America, Aus, ect... I'm also trying to aviod becoming the Silver RavenWolf of Tarot. ;) OMG!! That was so funny!! Kiama, hun, you can NEVER become the Silver Ravenwolf of Tarot. Quote: Originally posted by Keslynn Making a deck for teens is a great idea though. You should check out Janina Renee's book Tarot for a New Generation. She specifically orients her meanings to younger people so that might give your more inspiration. I also happen to think it's a great tarot book for any age.;) I also recomend this book if you are going to do this deck. Hell, I recomend this book for everyone!

amyel	27 Jul 2002
Kiama, I know it's been said, but when you were asking about cups, Ravers immediately popped into my mind, too. Problem is, most of the "love" shared by ravers is likely to be "enhanced" by E, which may not the message you want to send. Hey! Typing that brought this to mind: what about trying to depict the whole best friends/boyfriends/girlfriends relationships thang, since cups isn't just about love, but relationships and emotions? As for Goths...well, they don't seem to be as prevelent in my area of Canada as maybe they are in other, larger cities. Which leads me to suggest that maybe the "intellectuals" might be a better idea, as suggested by keslynn. Anyway, maybe some youthful research might be in order. As I've mentioned in other posts, my 12 y.o. step-daughter is *just* becoming interested in the tarot - maybe soliciting the opinions of young tarot readers would be an idea.....let me know if you want to contact her.

Mateo06	28 Jul 2002
Could preps work for cups? they seem to have alot of love to pass between their friends, and they sure don't hate being social.

Kiama	29 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Lianne Kiama, that teen deck sounds great! Would you mind telling what it's called, and the artist/publisher? It sounds really nice, I'd like to take a look at it myself. Thanks! Lianne Its called the Sugar Mystic deck, but is OOP. It was puclihed some years ago exclusively for the British teen mag, Sugar. Thus, it is very hard to find, cuz most of the copies were thrown out in the rubbish years ago! Thanks for all yor replies btw guys! I like your ideas for the Cups: I was thinking of something along those lines, but we don't have a name for 'Ravers' as you call them, her in the UK really. I also like the idea of bopyfriend/girlfirendbest friend fr this suit. The Goths for the Swords, and Intellectuals or Pentacles I decided on, cuz whilst Swords is very intellectal, I was thinking more about the actual drift of the meanings of the Swords cards,which are generally quite dark, desparing, introspective cards. The Pentcales suit has more of a scholarly feeling, with cards about learnin, enterprise, and aprenticepship... Kiama

The Teen Tarot and Sugar Mystic deck thread was originally posted on 19 Jul 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.