Another deck by S. Alasia - The Etruscian Tarot
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| catlin |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Ok, on Friday I spotted some more decks for us addicts: one of them was done by S.Alasia.
The deck is based on Etruscian mosaics and paintings, in the style of the "Tarot of the Sphynx". The borders are kind of terracotta colour. It is the next one on my wishlist.
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| jema |
05 Aug 2002 |
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hi catlin
i have it on my wishlist too - although - it is lo scarabeo, right?
that means i do love the images i see and yet i just cannot use the deck.
i adore almost all lo scarabeo decks but when i get them in my hand i am always slightly disappointed.
this one and the Tarot of the Journey to the Orient i will probably buy anyway though.
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| wavebreaker |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by jema
this one and the Tarot of the Journey to the Orient i will probably buy anyway though. Are there any pictures of this one online, jema? It sounds interesting...
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| Lee |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Review. :)
-- Lee
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| wavebreaker |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Thanks Lee, but I actually meant the Tarot of the Journey to the Orient... ;)
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| wavebreaker |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Thanks jema! I did look at Tarot Garden, but hadn't been able to find it... :-(
Definitely an interesting deck, the Journey to the Orient...
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| Strega |
05 Aug 2002 |
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OH MY! OH MY!
It's out already? I have to get this deck! ASAP! :eek:
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| truthsayer |
05 Aug 2002 |
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i've seen the etruscan deck at tarot garden. i must say i like it online but rarely am i satisfied w/ lo scarabeo decks. the only ones were the sphynx and the neferteri. if you get it catlin, i'm eager to hear what you think!
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| truthsayer |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by tarotlady
Thanks jema! I did look at Tarot Garden, but hadn't been able to find it... :-(
Definitely an interesting deck, the Journey to the Orient...
it's listed in the new decks coming out section. there should be a link on the home page.
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| Jewel |
05 Aug 2002 |
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I preordered the Journey of the Orient ... I will report back on that one when it comes out.
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| Starfish |
05 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Jewel
I preordered the Journey of the Orient ... I will report back on that one when it comes out.
Ohhhh, Jewel! Me too!! I loved the look of it and had to pre-order it (actually, I pre-ordered the Fey one too ;)). I can't wait until they are out.
And I can't wait until we can pre-order the mermaid one....
:TEMPS Starfish
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| catlin |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Ok, my fav book store will earn a few more bucks with me: I had the Golden Tarot of the Tsar and the Etruscan deck tucked away for me until next month.
The Etruscan is similar to the Old Egyptian deck in style and making and the Golden Tsar just looks GREAT!
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| Jewel |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Starfish
Ohhhh, Jewel! Me too!! I loved the look of it and had to pre-order it (actually, I pre-ordered the Fey one too ;)). I can't wait until they are out.
And I can't wait until we can pre-order the mermaid one....
:TEMPS Starfish
Well of course we can't wait! *LOL* we are both sea creatures ~giggles~. I am hoping the mermaid deck will inspire me to decide to create my own deck. I know there are a couple of cards in that deck that I would do very differently already :)
As for the Journey of the Orient, I agree with you totally. I hope it is in nice as person as it looks online. I almost pre-ordered the Fey tarot but for some reason I hesitated. Perhaps some day I can get it in trade or something.
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| Starfish |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Jewel
Well of course we can't wait! *LOL* we are both sea creatures ~giggles~. I am hoping the mermaid deck will inspire me to decide to create my own deck. I know there are a couple of cards in that deck that I would do very differently already :)
As for the Journey of the Orient, I agree with you totally. I hope it is in nice as person as it looks online. I almost pre-ordered the Fey tarot but for some reason I hesitated. Perhaps some day I can get it in trade or something.
I giggled at the sea creatures comment - too true! (Of course you are a water entity (the West ;))
I wonder when the September releases will be released???
I did almost pre-order the Etruscan one also... Might still have to order it once it's released and I can see more cards.
Blessings -
:TDEAT Starfish
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| truthsayer |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Jewel
I almost pre-ordered the Fey tarot but for some reason I hesitated. Perhaps some day I can get it in trade or something.
i know why you hesistated--you're afraid the froud fairies will get upset if they have any competition for your attention. vocal little rascals they are!
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| Jeannette |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Strega
It's out already? I have to get this deck! ASAP! :eek:
Our contact at Lo Scarabeo confirmed that the Etruscan (along with the Golden Tarot of the Tsar, Decameron Tarot, and Native American Cards) was shipped to Llewellyn, Lo Scarabeo's North American distributor, on approximately 23 July. We have not received word from Llewellyn that the shipment has been received at their St. Paul offices, but if the decks were sent via economy/"surface" mail (which is likely), then I'd expect we'd have them to fulfill our preorders, and subsequently available through our website Boutique, in about 2 - 4 weeks.
-- Jeannette
Tarot Garden
http://www.tarotgarden.com
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| Jewel |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by truthsayer
i know why you hesistated--you're afraid the froud fairies will get upset if they have any competition for your attention. vocal little rascals they are!
You know something, I think you are right! what's more I bet those little rascals are the ones that prevented me from doing so! you are most clever Truthsayer!
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| Jewel |
06 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Starfish
I giggled at the sea creatures comment - too true! (Of course you are a water entity (the West ;))
~flaps her pretty green tail and giggles~ well I will share my "water entity of the West" title with you if you would like ;)
I know nothing of the September releases, all I know is that the mermaid deck is not due out until the 1st quarter of next year and I will preorder it first change I get.
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| Strega |
07 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Jeannette and/or Lori
... and subsequently available through our website Boutique, in about 2 - 4 weeks.
Thanks for the info Jeannette. :)
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| catlin |
07 Aug 2002 |
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My, what an avalanche of preorders! Wow, we are truly a bunch of taroholics beyond remedy.
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| Starfish |
07 Aug 2002 |
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I belong to a couple of Tarot groups on Yahoo and on one of them, someone asked Mary Greer for her opinion on a couple of the newly released decks (The Etruscan, The Golden Tarot of the Tsar and The Decameron). She said that her favorite was the Etruscian -
About the Tsar she said [b]This deck is based on Russian Orthodox icon paintings and has those gorgeous gold backgrounds and red edging. The Majors are wonderful. The pictures on the Minors are so small that I find it takes a magnifying glass to truly appreciate them. [of course, i find that a magnifying glass is the perfect thing to keep handy when you are studying any deck.[/b]
The Decameron
Blessings -
:THERM Starfish
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| divinerguy |
07 Aug 2002 |
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I went to the TarotGarden link, and there are some verysweet decks - the Comparative Tarot is a great idea - intriguing.
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| catlin |
08 Aug 2002 |
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I have seen the Decamerone deck with all 78 cards and I found it ugly. Ok, I am not fond of LoScarabeo decks, the only one I still have is the Primavera by Caselli and teh Golden Tarot of the Tsar which will soon be added to my collection. I think erotic can be displayed in a much more aesthetical and tasteful manner than it is done in the Decamerone deck.
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| Keslynn |
08 Aug 2002 |
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I want these decks, especially the Etruscan! I've been lusting after that one for a while now. You people are terrible about feeding my tarotholism. You all are just a bunch of enablers! No worse... encouragers! :P
:TTEMP Kes, desperately trying not to order
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| Jeannette |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by catlin
I have seen the Decamerone deck with all 78 cards and I found it ugly. Ok, I am not fond of LoScarabeo decks, the only one I still have is the Primavera by Caselli and teh Golden Tarot of the Tsar which will soon be added to my collection. I think erotic can be displayed in a much more aesthetical and tasteful manner than it is done in the Decamerone deck.
I rather like Gaudenzi's artwork (Decamerone, Celtic Tarot, Enchanted Tarot, etc.) -- but of course, that's simply a matter of personal preferences; I happen to enjoy most all of Lo Scarabeo's tarots.
However, Catlin, before dismissing the Decamerone Tarot as unaesthetic or distasteful, I might urge you to consider the literary source material in this case. Whatever you may think of Gaudenzi's general artistic style, I would strongly argue that he remains true to the spirit of Boccaccio's classic anthology. Like The Canturbury Tales, The Decameron was a product of its time -- scandalous, to be sure, but certainly written with the intent of being bawdy and satirical. IMHO, Gaudenzi has captured the spirit of the book quite admirably. Of course, if you find Boccaccio's classic to be distasteful -- a valid possibility -- then of course, it naturally follows that Gaudenzi's interpretation of it would might offend as well.
A few years ago, I reread my abridged copy of The Decameron in an attempt to try to find the correspondences between the various stories and the illustrations of the Ideogramma majors-only portfolio collectors' edition of Gaudenzi's tarot. I was only successful in finding a couple, but then again, as I've said, my copy of the book was severely abridged. If anyone else out there has made the attempt with a more complete edition of Boccaccio's tales, I'd welcome a new thread on the subject of the correspondences between the cards and the stories!
-- Jeannette
http://www.tarotgarden.com
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| catlin |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Hi Jeannette,
I have to admit that I read the Decamerone some years ago at the tender age of 15 and I found it highly interesting. I really have to admit that I cannot warm to Gaudenzi's style, it is just too comic-like in the rendering and this is probably what connects not with the spirit of the Decamerone (at least IMHO).
Ok, I have a "faible" for splendid decks such as the Legend or the Golden Tsar or St Petersburg or Visconti-Sforza and Gaudenzi's style just cannot compete with them.
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| Jeannette |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by catlin
I have to admit that I read the Decamerone some years ago at the tender age of 15 and I found it highly interesting. I really have to admit that I cannot warm to Gaudenzi's style, it is just too comic-like in the rendering and this is probably what connects not with the spirit of the Decamerone (at least IMHO).
I can understand that. My partner Lori isn't very fond of the "comic book" illustration-style found in some tarots, including many of Lo Scarabeo's decks. I, on the other hand, having been brought up with comic books comprising much of my earliest reading material (we were living in South America during my formative "reading years," and comic books were among the few publications for young readers that were available to me in English), have a nostalgic connection to that sort of artwork.
In any case, I think perhaps I misinterpreted your original post. My thinking was probably influenced a bit by Starfish's quote from Mary Greer about the Decamone; to wit: "This is another one of those Italian male erotic decks that don't appeal much to feminist sensibilities here in the U.S." It's one thing not to care for the style of the art, or to believe that the style is not a good "match" for the source material. I can certainly understand that. But I think it's an entirely different matter to take the images of this deck "out of context," as it were, and judge the "offensiveness" of the deck by a standard that simply isn't applicable. Whatever current "feminist sensibilities" may be (and here, I concede that Ms. Greer did limit her comments to refer to those of us here in the U.S.), the fact remains that Gaudenzi's tarot is based on a set of stories that are over 500 years old. Therefore, I would argue that modern concepts "political correctness" do not apply.
(As a sidenote, I might add my personal observation that while the stories of the Decamerone are often bawdy and even crude, they are probably not deserving of the label "sexist" even by today's standards. Boccaccio knew that his readership was largely female, and I think that fact is reflected in his stories. I don't see them as being unduely biased against women. Many of the stories in the Decameron feature strong female characters, and acts of violence and degradation against woman are depicted as deplorable and are not condoned. There is some treatment of women as sex objects, but usually in a satirical vein -- and in all fairness, there is also some treatment of men as mere sex objects as well.)
I apologize for my misinterpretation of your comment about the Decameron being "distasteful." Certainly it is possible to consider Gaudenzi's artwork as stylistically inappropriate for the subject matter (although in some ways, I suppose one could argue that The Decameron reads a bit like a comic book, too!). But it certainly led me off into an interesting train of thought -- so thanks for the intellectual diversion!
-- Jeannette
http://www.tarotgarden.com
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| Jewel |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by divinerguy
I went to the TarotGarden link, and there are some verysweet decks - the Comparative Tarot is a great idea - intriguing.
That would be a very neat deck to have in a large size (size of the Rhorig or large Thoth) so one could really see the pictures better.
Have you checked out the Stained Glass Tarot by Luigi Scapini? ... it is a beauty!
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| Jewel |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Keslynn
I want these decks, especially the Etruscan! I've been lusting after that one for a while now. You people are terrible about feeding my tarotholism. You all are just a bunch of enablers! No worse... encouragers! :P
:TTEMP Kes, desperately trying not to order
It's our job ... well many of us anyways ~wicked grin~
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| Starfish |
08 Aug 2002 |
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Originally posted by Jewel
That would be a very neat deck to have in a large size (size of the Rhorig or large Thoth) so one could really see the pictures better.
Have you checked out the Stained Glass Tarot by Luigi Scapini? ... it is a beauty!
Psssttt.... Jewel... You the Scapini Stained Glass (il Tarocco delle Vetrate) deck... You to add it to your collection...
:TMAGE Starfish
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| Cerulean |
08 Aug 2002 |
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All your thoughts are very interesting, especially on the Decameron deck.
The Decameron was set in the context of the Plague years, around 1350. Boccaccio did a satirical round of 100 tales with a loose numbering making reference to Dante Algheri's classical structuring of 100 cantos. Boccaccio is known for other things if you like Italian literature, but most people pick up on the bawdy tales.
Some scholars might suggest Boccaccio really wasn't aiming this as an instruction manual for a women audience---he simply wrote it in that manner to make his satire all the more funny to the sophisticated Florentine world. I'll be hearing more of this later this year from my teacher of Dante studies.
I am not interested in the Decameron deck from what I've seen.
But I am very curious about the Durer deck. There's a Florentine artist who took inspiration from Durer's masterful prints and I would enjoy seeing if the Lo Scarabeo deck artist can do this. I found that the Golden Tarot of the Tsar actually was more like Giotto art to me than the Giotto deck...my opinion.
I do know that my sensibilities usually do not steer me toward tarocchi or tarot decks with very strong goddess or warlike orientations or themes. However many of my collected decks do show such things: Olympus, Etruscan, Nefertari show gods and goddesses in a cultural theme and Avalon/Arthurian/Celtic wisdom have battle stories.
But I collect differently from you: your definition of what you like in a European tarot deck might align more with an AGM Mueller title. I'm not certain that many Lo Scarabeo titles have been available to the U.S. market all that long.
I have heard that the fine art series of Lo Scarabeo's tarocchi titles has been available some 15 years in Europe, but I thought it was a sideline...what they produce might reflect more of Italian sensibilities or what sells to other markets than my own bias.
My own bias is that I enjoy their low-cost historical and art themes.
Mari H.
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| WolfSpirit |
12 Aug 2002 |
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At Tarot Garden you can see a few examples of the dürer deck. I think it's in the upcoming section.
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The Another deck by S. Alasia - The Etruscian Tarot thread was originally posted on 05 Aug 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.
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