Oswald Wirth Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

la_huesera	13 Nov 2002
Hi all, I managed to pick up the Oswald Wirth Tarot (NOT the reprint)!! Hehe, I admit that I am quiet exited about this addition to my collection :-) I was looking for this deck for a while now and couldn't believe it when I finally found it. Does anyone have this deck (and work with it)? Guess it would be great to use as a Major only... What are your thoughts? Blessings, *Mareike*

Diana	13 Nov 2002
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Trogon	13 Nov 2002
Well..... since you have asked for opinions... and I'm full of... er... opinions... :D First off... congratulations on your new deck! My personal feeling is rather indifferent towards this deck. It is, to me, rather reminiscent of the Tarot of Marseilles, which, while it has some artwork which I find interesting, the images never worked for me on an intuitive level for some reason. Also, the simple "pip" type cards of the minor arcana didn't work for me either (I prefer more illustrative minors). But that's just me. There are a of people who do like these decks. I certainly hope that it your new deck works out very well for you.

Diana	13 Nov 2002
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Trogon	13 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Diana Trogon: I don't think people use the Marseilles or the Wirth decks for the art-work. The attraction lies elsewhere. Personally, if I want to look at artwork, I go to an art gallery. Not that I have anything against beautiful artwork on Tarot decks. But that is not my first criteria when I buy a deck. Very good points. My main point though was that the deck didn't work intuitively for me. Generally, though, when I am looking at Tarot decks with an eye to purchasing one, the art work is one of the factors which help me in my decision making process. This is because the artwork can make a difference to me on the intuitive level, not just because I feel the art is personally attractive or not. For instance, the Portal Tarot is, to me, a beautiful and artisticly appealing deck. However, the images dont really tell me anything on an intuitive level where I could use the deck for readings. However, the Röhrig Tarot is a deck which first caught my eye because of the art work, and it has become my favorite deck for readings because it does reach me on an intuitive level. Yet, going the other direction, the art on theUnicorn Tarot did not necessarily appeal to me. But I ended up buying it anyway, because I got a great deal on it. However, the deck is "growing" on me and it also "speaks to me" on an intuitive level and I'm fairly certain I will be able use it very successfully for readings. The point with the art work on the Tarot of the Marseilles and the Oswald Wirth decks was similar to this. That while I found the art to be of interest (and the art of the many various Tarot decks is mentioned and discussed quite frequently), the deck did not work for me intuitively. (Notice how I adroitly brought my ramblings back to the original topic of the post... ;) ) Another thing which I find extremely interesting, Diana, is that you and I were apparently actually typing our first responses to the original post at the same times! Coincidence? Or Fate? }) :D

Trogon	13 Nov 2002
Hmmm.... I just re-re-read that last post of mine and I'm still not quite hitting the points I wanted to... :( Too tired I guess, too long of a shift at work... ;) The style of the cards... The way the art is rendered. These things are part of how the cards reach my intuition. For instance... in the Rider-Waite deck (which is the first deck I was able to really start reading with), The Chariot is rendered in a certain way that it says certain things to me. However, in the Röhrig Tarot, The Chariot is very different, and while it has (to me) a similar meaning, it has a more modernistic, materialistic, feel to it. I think... Awww heck... well... hopefully, you'll see what I'm trying to say, because I don't feel like I'm saying it very well today... :|

Lee	13 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Diana I use the Majors of this deck frequently. I don't bother with the Minors, because it was not Oswald Wirth who designed them. It was US Games who asked Stuart Kaplan to do this, if I am not mistaken. Just to be annoyingly precise, Stuart Kaplan is the owner of US Games, but not an artist. It would have been his decision to commission the unnamed artist to produce a Minor Arcana for the Oswald Wirth deck. La_huesera, I'm intrigued when you say you picked up this deck but not the reprint. Do you mean you have the 78-card US Games edition, or some other edition? EDITED TO ADD: I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I find several cards in the Wirth deck to be very attractive, especially with the titles and borders of the original deck, rather than the US Games version (the original deck can be seen in Kaplan's Encyclopedias). Also, I think the several historical reproductions of Marseilles decks can be very visually appealing, as well as the newer Camoin and Fournier versions. -- Le

la_huesera	13 Nov 2002
Lee, Uhmm, maybe I am just too tired and my grey little cells are just not working quiet right at the moment.. but I thought there is a reprint of the Oswald Wirth deck around. Not sure who has printed or even published it but as far as I can remember the colors are quiet a bit off... Just like the 'newer' versions of Crowley's Tooth (the one in the blue box, not the good old yellow boxed version) where the colors are not as vibrant.... Please correct me if I am just completly confused today (LOL - it wouldn't be a surprise). In that case I will just go straight back to back and hide under my blanket (in fact that is exactly what I would just LOVE to do - just waiting for a good excuse). Anyway, I've the 1976 copyright US Games edition of the Oswald Wirth. Blessings, *Mareike*

Lee	13 Nov 2002
Thanks, Mareike! As far as I know, that's the only version around, although if there's another one, I'd love to know about it. Have fun with it! When I read with it, I do use the Minors. I like the cups and coins, although I'm not too fond of the swords and wands, which seem modeled after the Visconti deck, strangely enough. And the Courts are ugly for sure. But I like the deck as a whole, it has it's own mood, with the metallic bronze colors. -- Lee

Laurel	13 Nov 2002
I have Osward Wirth's "Tarot of the Magicians" on my book shelf and have always meant to get a copy of the deck some day. So little time, so many decks! Laurel

Diana	13 Nov 2002
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Lee	13 Nov 2002
LOL! Of course, there's such a thing as being too tidy... :D -- Lee

la_huesera	13 Nov 2002
LOL - Crowley's Tooth, what a typo!!! (*Blush*) Sorry, I meant to type Thoth..... lol But to get back to the Topic (thanks Lee): I had a good look at the Majors and am rather impressed. Seems like this is very 'deep' deck in which you can see a lot. Gee, better get Osward Wirth's "Tarot of the Magicians" as soon as (financially) possible... Does anyone have any thoughts on the book? Thanks for your input :-) Blessings, *Mareike* (*Tooth, ts ts ts, better go hiding under my blanket*)

Diana	13 Nov 2002
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la_huesera	15 Nov 2002
Lee (and everyone else), I really wanted to figure out why I had the idea of a 'reprint' in my mind. I have checked out Amazon.co.uk and the picture of the OW Deck shows actually a different packaging design to that the one I've got. It shows the date of 1987 (not from 1976 which is the edition I have). Now surley both are copyright and distributed by US Games but..... ..........does anyone know if the colours of this 1987 editions are as brilliant as the 1976 edition? The 1976 one seems to be printed in Switzerland (AGMueller), what about the 1987 one? I am really intrigued now.... Oh, oh, oh, I've asked the tooth-fairy to get me the book. I played with the thought of asking for the original version - but I guess that my French won't be good enough.. So I will have to trust that the translation is ok. Blessings, *Mareike

Cerulean	31 May 2003
A reprinted 1996 Le Tarot Des Imagiers Du Moyen Age avec un jeu complet be 22 cartes has Tchou, editor and Oswald Wirth majors with a bright yellow back, no plaid. The coppery tinge to these cards are slightly pinker than the blue-boxed 1976 U.S. Games edition. Elizabeth Haich is the author of a small paperback with gold-tinged cards that you punch out or cut and a very close design to the Oswald Wirth deck...I think her book is prior to the U.S. Games copyright. I made the mistake of buying the E. Haich book once and after awhile, figured out it was a copy. I resisted buying the Oswald Wirth book for awhile, thinking I'd like to see the Papus book first and I had heard the information might be similar. This afternoon in a used bookstore I found the old paperback of Papus, an Elizabeth Haich book again, and the hardbound French version of the Oswald Wirth book. The reissued hardbound book is quite pretty although black and white and the cards in the sleeve were all there. For $12.00 I was a very happy camper. I have the 1976 Oswald Wirth and compared it with the book's cards and the book text when I got home. My French is strangely adequate in some areas to try to decipher the book text. I think the presentation in this book is easier to decipher. The typeset and little line engravings assist me. I don't understand, because in some respects Spanish and Italian seem both harder and easier. The ISBN and such are at the Amazon link below. If you know about it, maybe half.com or Abebooks.com will give you a good price. There's bits of the Hebrew letter assignments, alchemy and astrology as well. The cards in the book have the Hebrew glyphs and a slightly less neon look than the majors in the U.S. Games version. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/2710704056/qid=1054428946/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/002-0569406-6919205?v=glance&s=books#product-details (On abebooks.com the book with cards (some editions have cards missing) range from $11.00 to $110.00. I was very fortunate today.)

The Oswald Wirth Tarot thread was originally posted on 13 Nov 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.