Kazanlar

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Osher	13 Jan 2003
Oh whoops, I'd forgotten just how beautiful this deck is. Does anyone else have it? It is quite stunning. All that imagery, and crossing of different cultures. Amazing.

Osher	13 Jan 2003
Sorry to reply to myself, but does anyone know what the day and night couple signify? There are 80 cards, the usual cards, plus a couple (man and a woman). No writing on them. Also the card stock is awful, so thin. Almost every card after just one shuffle has frayed edges. Not nice seeing all that white on the side of the cards. OK, rant over! Just a pity as AGM have had good cards in the past.

Ophiel	13 Jan 2003
I have this deck, too...but my instruction booklet is missing. The outer box lists contents as 78 cards, so if you allow a guess here, perhaps those two cards are for male or female significators?

jema	14 Jan 2003
yes, i see the two extra cards as significator cards. the card stock is thin but not too frail i think - but then i do shuffle very gently. i really love this deck and the stories in it. it is really too bad the LWB is missing for you Ophiel, the stories for the cards really add to this deck. i call this one my fairytale deck. the artwork feels lush and rich and just extravagant with lots of gold. i am also really curious about the prospect of using reversals with this deck (oops, that must be a first for me)

wavebreaker	14 Jan 2003
I have it too, but I haven't worked with it yet (too many decks, not enough time... :D ). I understand that the two extra cards represent Kazanlar's mother and father and can be used as significators. And I agree with jema: the LWB for this deck is really good (about the only good one I've ever seen ;) ), because it gives a lot of background information about the cards.

Ophiel	14 Jan 2003
I bet it turns up some day in the bottom of a box from this move or that. Hmmm...I like the deck. Thanks. I know LWB is the booklet, but what exactly does this starnd for?

wavebreaker	14 Jan 2003
LWB = Little White Book ;)

Osher	18 Jan 2003
Thanks for clearing that up, I've been wondering for ages what LWB stood for!

Ophiel	19 Jan 2003
Wouldn't it be nice if there were sites that had scans of the basic LWB information? I guess, though, most people do not 'lose' their booklets like I did. Shame on me. It MUST be here, somewhere in my life (spread out in two locations) as I know I would not intentionally let a LWB slip out of my possession!

Osher	20 Jan 2003
It would indeed be nice, but to be honest, difficult. I keep all my LWB's in a wooden box. Each LWB is say 30-40 pages, often with very small writing. Now, would be more useful is if someone could do an OCR scan of the LWB, so we could just see the text. Even better would be for the tarot publishers to allow us to have the original text. I'm sure it is on their computers. Maybe they could even publish them themselves as PDF's on their own websites? Well, here's dreaming Happiness :D

Logiatrix	23 Jan 2003
thank you, happiness, for re-awakening my interest in this deck. it's been sitting on my shelf, horribly ignored, for over almost two years now! i pulled it out of it's box last weekend, and it has quickly earned it's own place on my altar. i'd forgotten how lush and vibrant this deck is. and, if anyone is looking for a multi-cultural tarot, certainly the kazanlar deserves serious consideration. i still need to work with it some more, but further discussion of the kazanlar tarot is definitely on the horizon! :D

Osher	23 Jan 2003
Glad to be of service! I had my Kazanlar sitting around too, then I just had to great impulse to have a look at it again. I had forgotten just how beautiful this deck is. I look forward to your comments on this lovely deck again sometime soon.

Riversea	30 Mar 2003
I got a used copy for Landon as a Christmas present. But neither one of us has used it. And I can sympathize Ophiel, I don't have the LWB for this deck either. As I said, it was a used deck. While the cards are complete and in great shape, the LWB wasn't included. I'd love to know what the stories on those cards are. Some I do know, but mostly... not a clue. It's a beautiful deck. Even if it never gets read with, the artwork certainly makes it worth having! -Hurrying off to look at the pretty pictures-

SongDeva	22 Jul 2004
It is very pretty. I didn't expect it to be readable, but found I got a *twinge* when looking at it that tells me it would be. Actually, I believe all decks are readable, that any of us could read with any deck, but that some draw us, or call to us, louder than others. And this one called louder than I expected. I don't expect to get to it for a while but I love the ideas for ethnicities for the suits. My faves are wands and swords, Indian and Anc. Egyptian. Sd

sarahbellum	20 Sep 2004
I just got my Kazanlar in the mail this morning--the mailman was very interested in the package with all the Italian postage! Anyway, the cards are, like everybody has already said, kind of flimsy feeling, but the imagery is wonderful and unusual. I guess I will reserve this deck for special occasions or for some of the spreads that involve face-up searching rather than shuffling. Some of the stories were unfamiliar to me too--for those who don't have the LWB, here are a few: The Cups cards are all taken from Hungarian history and myth. The king is St. Steven, the king who brought Christianity to the country. The Queen is Emesche, a queen/chieftain of the Huns who had a dream of a river springing from her lap that carried all the royalty of Hungary. The Knight is Chaba, the son of Attila, the first Hungarian to come to what is modern Hungary. The Page is a knight named Toldi, a romantic figure who supposedly killed two savage wolves with his bare hands. Ace=Princess Chardash, a beautiful magician. Two=Kuska and Janos, star-crossed lovers who are finally reunited. Three=St. Elizabeth of Hungary, generous to the poor, who miraculously produced roses from her apron. Four=Emperor Franz Josef, whose hunger for power ended up destroying his family. Five=Cardinal Vitez Janos, who is here having paintings done to remind the king of his duties. Six=St. Martin, dividing his cloak. (This interests me--I lived in Amiens, the town in France where Martin supposedly did this, but according to the LWB, he did this in Hungary.) Seven=St. Margaret, who declined to become a queen and became a nun instead. Eight=Hunor and Magor, legendary knights who followed a magical stag and led their people to the land of Hungary. Nine=Count of St. Germain, mysterious figure of 18th century France who supposedly learned the secret of eternal youth. The woman is his daughter/wife (he was rumored to have produced her alchemically in an artificial womb). Ten=King Matthias and Queen Beatrix, greatest rulers of the Hungarian Renaissance. If anybody is interested, I can give the short version of other cards later, but the pizza just arrived :-)

13thFaeChylde	21 Sep 2004
I received this deck last week, also. Gorgeous, ain't it? I feel like I'm in an incense-filled, Arabian tent when I look at the cards, which seem very familiar yet far-away. I too have the LWB and can post card info for those who need/want it.

baba-prague	21 Sep 2004
Just wanted to second the enthusiasm about the Kazanlar. I think someone here said recently that they were disappointed by these cards as they felt they looked much better in scans. That may be true, and perhaps I was lucky in seeing them for the first time as a deck, rather than on computer, but I have to say that this is a deck I do enjoy a lot. Having said that, I have had NO time to really get to know it, and would very much like to.

Fudugazi	21 Mar 2005
I've just stumbled on this amazing deck on the internet - how lovely it looks. I'd like to ask those who have it: how does it read? Is is as rich in its imagery, and phislosophy, as it appears? Are the flimsy cards a drawback? Also - where would I go to find out more of the lore and caracters on the cards? (bearing in mind that I do not read Hungarian). I am very attracted by its East-meets-West look, and in this day and age, by the marriage of Arabic and Hebrew - once commonplace, alas now not so.

fyreflye	21 Mar 2005
Tarot Garden is expecting to receive a shipment of the English language version in about three weeks. E-mail Jeannette Roth jkr@tarotgarden.com to be notified when they come in.

NightWing	25 Mar 2005
There are two things that I love about my Kazanlar deck. One is the wonderful, rich cross-cultural and cross-religious imagery. Two is the physical size of the cards; they are compact enough to be a good travel deck, I find. I plan on setting aside a major chunk of time to study them in depth...someday.

Fudugazi	25 Mar 2005
Oh dear, I feel I'm going to need to be de-enabled!

NightWing	25 Mar 2005
Forget de-enabling. I support Anti-de-enabling! Go order an LS "1001 Nights" tarot to keep your Kazanlar company! })

Fudugazi	25 Mar 2005
You are evil NightWing! }) I shall be good. Well, Temperate, at least. Kazanlar only for the time being :)

The Kazanlar thread was originally posted on 13 Jan 2003 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.