"Masculine" Decks?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ChrisTheObscure	03 Oct 2002
I see a lot of decks out there with feminist themes, but I'm wondering if there are any decks out there that, while not perhaps masculine-themed, have a definite masculine feel and quality about them. I would say that the Haindl deck is pretty balanced between masculine and feminine, and the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg leans toward the masculine side, but I'd like to find a deck that speaks to my "inner man", so to speak. C.

Jewel	03 Oct 2002
I personally find the Thoth to have a masculine feel to it. A while back we had a discussion about the lack of "masculine" decks. I cannot remember the thread ... hopefully someone can find it and post it here. I believe several decks were mentioned in that thread that people felt had a masculine feel to them.

Violet Gargoyle	03 Oct 2002
The Alchemical Tarot and the Tarot of the Saints, both by Robert Place have a masculine feel to them.

Lee	03 Oct 2002
Check out this thread. -- Lee

Keslynn	03 Oct 2002
Morgan-Greer has a very masculine, sort of 70s feel to it. I love that deck. That's all I can think of right now... :) Kes

Moongold	03 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Keslynn Morgan-Greer has a very masculine, sort of 70s feel to it. I love that deck. That's all I can think of right now... :) Kes Aren't the differences in perception interesting? I love the Morgan Greer as well. The colours are robust and the fact that the cards don't have a border makes you feel as if you are almost *in* the card. However, I would not have called it particularly masculine. Some of the faces are quite androgynous. which is one of the reasons it appeals to me. This is so particularly with the Pages (who look feminine) and with some of the Majors. I agree that the Thoth is quite masculine but others would not. Chris. just keep looking until you find one that calls out to you. When it happens, you'll be surprised. Cosmic Tribe is another possibility. Best wishes, Moongold

ihcoyc	03 Oct 2002
Many traditional and pre-esoteric decks strike me as somewhat more masculine than some recent or esoteric ones. Vachetta Tarot of the Master strikes me as a rather masculine deck, with its sword arrangements, its anchors and angels, and the Roman emperors on the suit of Denari. Grimaud Marseilles also has a rather masculine feel to me, with its poker-card primary colours and strong lines. My current usual reading deck, the Ancient Tarot of Lombardy, is masculine in a somewhat different way. The deliberate classicism of the figures and the Spanish style pip cards strike me as somewhat reserved and formal in style. (The Della Rocca deck, by contrast, is not particularly masculine, especially when you look through the court cards.) I wouldn't call the Williams Renaissance Tarot "masculine," but it definitely seems male-centred. Likewise, the Crowley Thoth, with its renamed cards like "Lust" and its phallic symbols in modern art, strikes me as somewhat masculine.

truthsayer	03 Oct 2002
to me, the tarot de paris has a masculine feel to it.

PictWelsh	04 Oct 2002
I don't own it, but I've looked over every card carefully, and the Art Nouveau deck seems very masculine to me. This despite it having a lot of plants twining around, etc. Maybe it is just all the intensely luminescent colors. Or maybe it's just me. You might want to look at that one and see what you think. It seems to have a fairly equal balance in the humans depicted, and the contrast between male-sun vs female-moon is perhaps a bit over done. The suit number cards are rather different, something that I haven't figured out if I like. Justice is 8 and Strength 11, the Fool is numbered 0. The pages are young, but the kings and queens don't seem older than the knights. But then everybody depicted seems rather young and well built.

midnightmerry	04 Oct 2002
Hi. For me, my most masculine deck is my New Palladini. Nice deck, too.

Trogon	04 Oct 2002
Well... I don't posess a huge collection of Tarot decks, but I did spend quite some time picking out my most recent deck purchase. I looked through almost all of the decks pictured here on Aeclectic Tarot as well as browsing through every deck at a local new age-type shop. The deck I finally ended up with apealed to me quite strongly and partly because it struck me as a somewhat more "masculine" as well as modern deck. This is the Röhrig Tarot. PictWelsh; I find it somewhat interesting that you felt the Art Nouveau deck (Matt Myers/U.S. Games) seemed more masculine. I felt that it had more of a feminine feeling to it and for the same reasons that you mentioned. The plants twining around the borders and the vibrant colors gave me this feeling. I also got this same feeling from the Tarot Art Noveau by Antonella Castelli published by Lo Scarabeo.

Umbrae	04 Oct 2002
go to amazon. search for "Ancient Italian Tarot" Buy the deck.

ChrisTheObscure	04 Oct 2002
Thanks for the insight everyone :) I got an old Marseilles deck last night that seems "masculine" to me. As does the one Umbrae mentioned, I checked it out. As does, surprisingly, the Pythagorean Tarot, which I will be purchasing come next payday. C.

ihcoyc	04 Oct 2002
If it's the 1963 Grimaud Marseilles, that's one of the most masculine decks I know. (The Fournier Marseilles strikes me as somewhat more gender neutral, mostly because of its different colour scheme.) The seventeenth century Parisian Tarot is masculine in a very primitive and primal sense --- more so than Thoth, even.

ChrisTheObscure	04 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by ihcoyc If it's the 1963 Grimaud Marseilles, that's one of the most masculine decks I know. Yep, that's the one! According to the guy that runs the used bookshop I bought it at, the old lady that brought it in said she actually bought it in the 60s. It's in perfect shape too :)

Fuzzmello	04 Oct 2002
Another really great thread.... Jungian Tarot by Robert Wang is quite masculine. And stern. Fuzz

Violet Gargoyle	06 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae go to amazon. search for "Ancient Italian Tarot" Buy the deck. Rinse and Repeat as often as necessary.

purplelady	06 Oct 2002
You might try Robin Wood, Nigel Jackson, or Sacred Circle.

Maan	06 Oct 2002
arcus arcanum is often called a masculine deck? And check out the phantasmagoric theater tarot...i recommend it to anyone ;) But without the joking maybe the comic look is "masculine"?

catlin	07 Oct 2002
I would also consider the H. R. Gieger (Baphomet tarot) as a masculine deck and maybe the Black tarot by L. Rojo, too.

Jewel	07 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by truthsayer to me, the tarot de paris has a masculine feel to it. I totally agree with this. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the statues pictured in the deck were mainly (if not all) created by men. Great suggestion Truthsayer! (as you can see I am warming up nicely to the Tarot de Paris *LOL*)

The "Masculine" Decks? thread was originally posted on 03 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.