BOTA Blondes

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

catboxer	15 Mar 2003
I just got a copy of the Builders of the Adytum deck (the full 78) along with a copy of Paul Foster Case's book, "The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages." The book is useful because Case kind of synthesizes and encapsulates all the work of the French occultists, starting with Levi, as well as the thought of the Golden Dawn Crowd, including a lot of the stuff that was secret until Crowley published it. It makes for a nice, neat synopsis of occult theory, which is convenient for someone like me who isn't particularly interested in it. Case is also a competent writer, and fairly easy to read, unlike some others, such as Waite for example, who is practically unreadable. I like the deck because it has pips rather than anecdotal illustrations on the minors. But looking at the colored illustrations of the cards that are included in the book, I have to wonder why all the people on the cards are caucasian and blonde. They're emphatically blonde (yellow), not blondish brown or anything halfway. Some might see this as politically correct quibbling (there's always some pill in the crowd calling for "diversity"), but I really think these pictures reflect a distorted perspective on the human race. I've known for a long time, thanks to Clairol, that blondes have more fun. This is the first time I've suspected that they're more attuned to the occult secrets that underlie the structure of the universe.

rota	15 Mar 2003
So THAT'S my problem! :D I'm a non-blonde! +++++++ But seriously. I paged through a 1918 edition of a book on Tarot that used (unattributed) RWS images yesterday: the only color in the book, other than black ink, was yellow. Every card had some degree of yellow in it. I wonder if what you're seeing is just a design choice or a printing limitation, more than a Clairol prejudice? +++++++ BTW, I like Paul Case's writing too. He's much clearer to the current reader than most Tarot writers. Dig around: he's written a great deal of material on Rosicrucianism and hermetics, and can provide a wide, clear searchlight on the available information.

jema	16 Mar 2003
the colouring instructions for the BOTA deck notes that you can use any colour of brown, red, yellow etc for flesh colour. also "blonde" is a word that can mean pretty much any colour but black. my mother is dark-blonde according to her passport... i haven't started colouring my cards yet - need a bigger deck for that. but i definatly plan to use the whole range of colours for skin and hair.

The BOTA Blondes thread was originally posted on 15 Mar 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.