So-called Feng Shui Tarot!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Demonesse	12 Oct 2002
I have a huge dragon-sized bone to pick about the Feng Shui Tarot. First of all, calling it a 'Feng Shui' Tarot deck is a horrible misnomer, which Chinese would laugh at. Feng Shui is about arranging your environment in order to bring a desired result - eg harmony, marriage success or wealth -'Feng' means wind and 'Shui' water in Mandarin. It has almost nothing to do with the imagery depicted on the cards - except in instances where one is supposed to place images of certain animals in certain sections of one's house. Secondly, the art is termed 'Chinese' art, and in some reviews I've heard it lumped together with 'Asian' art. Such reviewers have no idea how different one Asian culture's art is from another - such statements are bull****. It may well depict Chinese SUBJECTS, but the art style has nothing to do with the traditional brushwork styles that characterize Chinese and Japanese art. For example, the dragons look more like Western-style dragons, not Chinese ones. Third, sometimes the true implications of the cultural symbols are not well researched. For example, the Empress depicts a Manchurian Ching Dynasty Empress, many of which were famed for their extravagance and cruelty - it's the real thing, all right, but hardly a faithful representation of the card's meaning nor a Feng Shui symbol. The Chinese Tarot's art is more faithful to traditional Chinese art but not totally accurate in itself. I'm left wondering; what is this fascination with a terribly romanticised version of Chinese culture? If you want to do a culturally based Tarot deck, at least get your pictures and information right. And, actually, the presence of the Death card alone in the Feng Shui Tarot, no matter how the depiction, is anathema to the concept of Feng Shui - if you're a serious Feng Shui practitioner you're not even supposed to have 'dead things' like dried flowers in your house :)

jmd	12 Oct 2002
Well spoken! I think that in the West's sudden rediscovery of the very important art of geomancy, Feng Shui has gained an importance which transcends its roots - to the extent that, in my opinion, some people are undoubtedly 'cashing in' on the craze. I do not have this deck, but well understand your sentiment!

Kiama	12 Oct 2002
I too was instantly disappointed by the Feng Shui deck. I really was expecting a whole new system to be applied to Tarot, but instead it seems the Connolly's have taken some Chinese looking people and costume style, and mingled it with pretty drawings and some interesting animals which are supposed to represent something.... It doesn't quite work and seems to have absolutely no connection with Feng Shui! Kiama

jema	12 Oct 2002
i adored the artwork on both the feng shui and the chinese deck (however western they may be) but eventually i traded both away cause i simply could not use them. i did like the Ukioye deck a bit more as a tarot deck but traded that one too after a while. i have yet to find an asian deck that speaks to me. but oh they are pretty! just kind of vacant in a way. empty. like enforced into a system which does not fit them.

WolfSpirit	12 Oct 2002
when I heard there was a feng shui deck and checked it out I was very disappointed, I had expected something very different. I think they just liked the name feng shui because it's so popular at the moment. I did not get the deck.

RedWood	12 Oct 2002
I have the feng shui deck..I do like the art....I tried trading it away once..but I got physically ill so decided not to..I can read with the deck..the one reading i did..was VERY accurate!

Demonesse	12 Oct 2002
I have the feng shui deck..I do like the art....I tried trading it away once..but I got physically ill so decided not to..I can read with the deck..the one reading i did..was VERY accurate! --Redwood Well, I do agree that the art is good - just that it's not Chinese art at all, and that it has nothing to do with feng shui. As for readability, in my opinion one is able to read with most decks, although their meanings may not be clear (i suppose a good guidebook would be in order) and some people may either truly feel or imagine themselves to have a better initutive sense with some decks than others. I think the main fault of all 'Asian' themed decks or decks that strive to have Asian symbolism in them is that they are done by non-Asians who do not truly understand both the spiritual and practical connotations of what they draw - if you don't live it, you don't KNOW it.

Violet Gargoyle	12 Oct 2002
I like the artwork of this deck too, but I could never read with it for two reasons: The symbolism and suits never jibed with me, plus the cards are just tooooooo slippery. I tried to shuffle them and I keep getting the 78 pick-up layout.

Zhritza	12 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Demonesse I'm left wondering; what is this fascination with a terribly romanticised version of Chinese culture? Sadly, a side effect of ever-increasing interest in belief systems outside whatever one was raised with (which, I think we all agree, is a very positive thing in general) is that so many of the attendant cultures are getting this romanticization/over-simplification/inaccuracy treatment. For every well-researched culturally-themed deck there appears to be at least one more about that culture that mishandles the theme itself. Quote: the art is termed 'Chinese' art, and in some reviews I've heard it lumped together with 'Asian' art. Such reviewers have no idea how different one Asian culture's art is from another - such statements are bull****. aaaarrrghh.... yes.... this is like when people say "Africa" as though it's one big country. :mad:

The So-called Feng Shui Tarot! thread was originally posted on 12 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.