7.99 Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 10 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Violet Gargoyle	10 Oct 2002
When I was at Borders last night, I found in the "bargin gifts" section a little Tarot and book set, "Tarot Basics", by Evelyn Berger and Johanenes Fieberg. I picked this up, figured I could spare the 8 bucks. I can't help but think this deck was published under a different name......

divinerguy	10 Oct 2002
Well, tell us about it, you've aroused our curiousity!!

Zhritza	10 Oct 2002
I just bought this one too (I work at a Borders). The deck itself is cute and sort of artsy-craftsy, although the minors are pips; the artist is named Jacqui Muir (does this ring a bell with anyone?). The card stock is surprisingly good. The book that comes with it is actually a general tarot book, not specific to the deck. I guess it's a reprint just for this package, because the Magician from the deck is on the front cover, but in the book the card definitions are accompanied by black-and-white illustrations of the Thoth, RWS, and Marseilles of the specific card. Have you read with it yet, Violet?...

Riversea	10 Oct 2002
I think I saw that deck also. I really thought about getting it, but passed on it. I didn't dislike the artwork, but there are other decks that appeal to me a lot more, and I guess I figured that I could put the $8 towards getting one of them. The fact that I was headed into Boarders to get a second (two in two days!) Halloween deck, and had gotten the Golden Tarot of the Tsar, Napo, and the first Halloween deck the day before might have been a bit of a deterrent also. I was feeling a bit poor, and like I'd reached my tarot purchase limit for the week (at least!) But I did think about getting it! It was close. :)

TallTarotGuy	10 Oct 2002
I just got this deck/boot set myself at Waldenbooks a couple of weeks ago (how can you pass up a set at that price??), and the deck has indeed been seen before. It was originally published as the Destiny Tarot set by Jane Struthers. However, the cards were MUCH larger and harder to shuffle. I myself was more interested in the Tarot Basics book than the cards, but hey, a Tarotholic can never have too many decks. LOL TTG

PictWelsh	10 Oct 2002
The artist was apparently listed as "Jacqueline Mair" for the Destiny Tarot Set version. The Berger/Fieberg book (according to amazon) is supposed to be out in a hard cover edition (no deck) sometime this month, but it looks like it hasn't changed since the 1997 soft cover publication. BTW: this is not the book that was in the Destiny set. I've always liked the Destiny overall look, odd as it is, but never thought many people would find it suitable for readings. The color coding of the suits would have made it really good for some Tarot games, but the cards were an inconvenient size for shuffling. I need to stop by Borders and look at this one. More Sale Table Bargins A month ago in a Borders, I found a $3.99 tarot deck and book set. It was the Purple-Boxed deck that you normally find at B&N for $9.99 where it is packaged along with a small hard cover 64 pg book by John Dee. This set looks like the same deck and seems to have the same book only in soft covers. The card stock is flimsy so maybe the more expensive set has better stock in addition to hard covers. I can't recommend it, unless you want to teach some kids to play Tarock. I've also seen (Dalton's and B&N) another "sale-table" set. I've seen two versions, one with book and deck, the other with a card bag as well. I think they were $15 and $20. The deck seemed kind of pastel and rural - but I'm not good at describing art. Does this sound familiar to anyone, and if so, can you identify the deck? I'll try to stop by and find out the title and any names.

Zhritza	11 Oct 2002
The deck box in the Tarot Basics set *does* read "Jacqui Mair," not Muir - my mistake. So this was the Destiny, eh? I considered buying that, and that set was, what, $25? Good thing I passed on it! Yeah, the card stock is excellent, actually. It's the kind I like best; it's fairly thick and the finish of it is semi-glossy, but the cards don't slide everywhere, there's just enough friction or whatever. The only other deck I have with this stock is the first-edition Mage.

PictWelsh	11 Oct 2002
I stopped by the local Borders and picked up the set. Back in the "New Age" section they had the paper back edition of the book (with the original cover) for $10 - so save $2 and get a deck too. Not bad. The book is the same - same text, same size, same weight cover stock, except for the cover photo - which shows a picture of the original "Destiny" cards. This book was originally in German but the translation flows smoothly in most cases. It include pictures of Crowley-Harris, Waite-Smith, and a Marseilles (Grimaud, I think). Most of the meanings provided seem to be predominantly Crowley-based with some mention of how some of the symbols on the other two support this view. This deck is not simply the "Destiny" one in smaller size. The Destiny had larger images surrounded by an overly large white margin and all text was positioned in that margin. This deck has very little margin, the images appear slightly vertically stretched, and card names are printed on a small black rectangle that is positioned over the picture at the bottom of each card. I would someday like to see this artwork presented as I suspect the artist intended. If you look at the pictures - all the majors and courts have a plain colored band positioned at the bottom of the image. Over this could be added the title text. To do that, however, a complimentary color for the text would need to be selected for each card. It is much easier to just tack on a black rectangle so one color choice will work everywhere. Unfortunately, in the present set, the rectangle seems positioned a bit high, so that on some cards it covers part of the image. I would also rather see the pip cards with no extra text. They don't have the extra color band in the original image, the suits are color coded and obvious and the number is already in each corner, so the merits of adding text seem dubious. As to the deck I saw at B&N and Dalton's, it is "The Art of Tarot" by Liz Dean, card illustrations by Emma Garner. The B&N one is $10 and includes the soft cover book and deck, while the Dalton's one is $15 and seems to have a hard cover, the same deck, and a dark blue cloth printed with cups and coins - a wrapping cloth, not a bag. It looks like you may be able to get the cheaper version for $5 with the following link. http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?btob=Y&isbn=0760727112&pwb=1

Violet Gargoyle	11 Oct 2002
Thanks for all the information! I knew I saw that deck somewhere, but no so commonly that I could pin it down in my mind. Yes, the card stock is surprisingly good for the price. I have not tried to read with this yet, as I have been trying to get accustomed to the Animal-Wise Tarot that I originally picked up that trip to Borders (since they did not have a copy of the Tarot of the Tzar *pout* *kick a rock*). But I am sure I will get to it.....

The 7.99 Tarot thread was originally posted on 10 Oct 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.