tarot of transformation
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| darwinia |
23 Mar 2003 |
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Hi Rostie,
I've seen this and also saw some scans from someone who bought it. The art is lovely although I think somewhat feminist-based. I was very tempted to buy it.
Unfortunately, when I saw the deck and book set in Chapters, our big bookstore chain here in Canada, it was $64 CDN plus tax, making it one of the most expensive sets you can buy up here, even more expensive than the Victoria Regina. If I think it's a good deck and book I don't mind but there hasn't been too much general feedback about this one, so I'm waiting.
I can immediately see that the key phrases and titling will feel limiting to some, but I like them. I like them on the Osho Zen too though (GASP!)
I love art decks like this and would use it for writing and exercises. It's not quite tarot but not quite oracle according to Diane Wilkes which is JUST the sort of thing I like because it stretches your imagination and intuition.
It seems like a soft, gentle deck that one might play with instead of eating chocolate chip cookies when having a bad day. Instead of screaming at unfortunate pets or children, one could brew a cup of (since Jasmin Cori wrote the book) jasmine tea, and settle down for some swirling, colourful spiritual healing with this deck.
If you decide to get it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. I'm sure someone who has it (I'm betting there must be someone in this crowd ) will give us additional feedback.
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| Lee |
23 Mar 2003 |
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I bought this deck and traded it away. 90% of the figures on the cards are women, and the few negative cards are represented by men. Odd because it's not advertised on the box as a feminist deck. I guess nowadays it's just taken for granted that men are the bad guys. :)
-- Lee
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| darwinia |
23 Mar 2003 |
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Originally posted by Lee
I bought this deck and traded it away. 90% of the figures on the cards are women, and the few negative cards are represented by men. Odd because it's not advertised on the box as a feminist deck. I guess nowadays it's just taken for granted that men are the bad guys. :)
Hi Lee,
I find this polarized attitude most unfortunate, and it will keep me from purchasing the deck. I always think that if women view men as negative, then their own bias is colouring reality. It's easy to sterotype either sex, one bad guy does not make a bad gender.
I don't take it for granted, and I think the majority of women are like me. Take heart, forge on in exultant masculinity, celebrate our marvelous biology!!
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| Lee |
23 Mar 2003 |
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I agree, freesiaskye. I actually would have preferred it if all the figures had been women. But, for example, all of the "positive" figures are women, shown in a pre-industrialized, glamorized "primitive" society. Then there's one guy in a suit, who is supposed to represent evil patriarchal mechanized civilization. It seems to me this just perpetuates sexual stereotypes. What would have been *really* interesting is if they had shown a woman in a suit to represent mechanized society. And actually, my favorite option would have been to show either a man or a woman in a suit (or how about both?) and have the meaning be ambiguous, so that it could represent the negative sides as well as the positive sides of modern civilization. But I'm afraid this wouldn't have fit in with the authors' agenda.
This deck was obviously not for me! :)
-- Lee
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| Cerulean |
23 Mar 2003 |
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If the art chosen for Transformation by Willow and Jasmin were an unfortunate combination--- less positive toward masculine archetypes, even perhaps even too much in the girly color tones (this is my example---no one else said this yet)...was the Triple Goddess Tarot also like this for others?
I think the Triple Goddess Tarot is more openly marketed as geared toward 'goddess' topics, so people might not choose it based on the title alone.
In terms of the Transformation deck, I've seen other works by Willow and Jasmin on their different websites that I cited in an related thread. It's a very soft style. I counted whether the observable figures seemed more feminine than masculine because I think someone raised that question before. It might have been Lee B---many things have been attributed to him lately, even a masculine deck!
Best wishes,
Curious Mari
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| Lee |
23 Mar 2003 |
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Hi Mari, my reactions to the deck were based entirely on the content of the pictures, not the style of them. I don't object at all to the style, but simply to the choices they made in terms of whether a card was going to show a man or a woman.
-- Lee :)
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| truthsayer |
29 Mar 2003 |
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while i have not really noticed that men are shown negatively in the transformation, i agree that it's more female oriented. i'll have to study this in more detail.lately, i've been collecting more feminist oriented decks. some are definitely anti-male in comparison to the TT. if the TT isn't pro-male, it is at least gentler in this declaration than say the wise woman or mother peace or daughters of the moon.
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| Kiama |
29 Mar 2003 |
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Since I have no particular interest at the moment in the representation of men and women in different Tarot decks, I had not noticed that this deck seemed to favour women over men.
I HAD noticed the very girly colour and approach to the Tarot, but then, this deck is based around a very 'fluffy bunny' (Excuse the term, and I don't mean it as offensive, cuz fluffy bunny can be good. *Digging hole here?*) spirituality.
I woudl not recommend this deck for normal readings. It doesn't seem to work when approached with mundane questions, since the cards are choc-full of fluffy bunny spirituality. It woudl work well for spiritual and advice readings though.
The artwork is gorgeous, and I love the new takes on the Majors, however, I would no suggest it for the beginner, since the new takes on the Majors only work if you have other, more traditional decks, to compare it to.
I bought this deck this week, and am in the process of reviewing it right now, along with a couple of others.
Kiama
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| Strange2 |
31 Mar 2003 |
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I also find the Tarot of Transformation deck to be feminine oriented, with its color schemes (lots of lavender, soft blues & purples), and predominantly female figures. It does give a gentler "shiny happy people" aura to the deck, which some may find limiting.
The artwork by Willow Arlenea is beautiful, reminiscent of the Margarete Petersen deck, and in some cards has a Thoth/Frieda Harris cosmic geometric quality (like in the 2 of Wands, attached). The cards are large (5 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches). with wide borders for the titles and keywords.
My main critique of the deck is that many of the minors have artwork that are difficult to relate to the actual number of the card. If it were not for the titles on the cards, it is often hard to tell what card it is. The other critique is the keywords on the top of the cards. These are very Zen like, but I feel they sometimes narrow the scope of the expressive artwork.
I feel that the Tarot of Transformation makes for a great supplemental deck in comparative readings, but I don't think I would use it often for a primary reading deck.
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| purplelady |
16 Apr 2003 |
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um..................went on a tarot buying spree again! I must stop that! Tarot of Transformation was one that I got . I kind-of took a chance on it since I had just learned of it's existance! But I suddenly felt drawn to it. I am very glad I bought it!
The artwork is simply beautiful! (In my opinion). The online scans and pictures do not do it justice, it is much more beautiful in person! Each card is an artwork in itself. Lots of mandala type pictures, geometric designs, a bit american indian, very spiritual looking. Shimmering, Lots of transparent layers. For instance , the body and then that person's thoughts, creations, subconscious,and superconscious/angels/animal guides and sexuality,past /present/future and relationships and dreams all conveyed in one picture , and more. I really find the artwork beautiful!
I agree with Lee however, it IS anti-male! The only human male is a negative card. Although I noticed pan is pictures on a few of the cards in beautiful scenes. And if those cards are negative, the picture sure doesn't look it. There's also the Emperor/Green man. What can I say? It does make me wonder if the creators are consciously and purposely dissing males, or if the deck just somehow comes out that way?! I wonder if some of these authors/deck creators read our opinions if they would be more aware of this issue and create a more "male friendly " deck?
Seriously.................I Love feminist decks and always feel drawn to them. But I don't hate males! IF I were to create a tarot deck I personally would not want it to seem like maleness was negative or bad. I do however, understand the dislike/dissing of patriarchal society that we have here SO I take that that is the concept the authors are trying to convey.
When I look at the cards, and the female figures, the artwork is so rich. These women have such rich inner lives! This is difficult to put into words but I think the "feminist male-bashing thing" is a backlash, a negative attempt perhaps to right an imbalance. And the imbalance Does exist whether men or anyone else sees it. It is acceptable in society to portray women in the given roles of mother, caretaker,victim,server,sex-object. I know this is very stereotyped , but she has no real inner life, that is left to the males who are the "real people". Ugh! That came out terrible, but it IS real even if in the backround of our society. I'm just kind-of thinking out loud here.
So when I look at this deck or other feminist type decks something inside of me says ah ha! There's more to this deck for ME than say the rider-waite just for an example. There's something here that relates to me as a Real person , the person I am . And Not just other artwork that portrays women in their roles. I really didn't intend to get all political here! I think I'm just trying to think through the why of the feminist deck delemna. I guess it bothers me that here is this beautiful deck that I love, but that someone else who is a perfectly nice person , but happens to be male, is being bashed by the deck!
I haven't used them yet, but I did read the preface and one or two card descriptions. I feel the author and creator have pulled it into a coherant and easy to understand whole.
One criticism, the cardstock is very thin and flimsy. I'm afraid to shuffle them!
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| truthsayer |
16 Apr 2003 |
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i understand where you are coming from,purplelady. i like feminist decks, too but not because they bash males. i like men. i wouldn't like it if they did a men only deck that bashed women. i enjoy seeing art and tarot done that i can relate to as a woman. cards that portray the higher power in her goddess aspect show a different side of consciousness. i'm fumbling here but my point is that i feel less alone when i use one of these decks. i live in a very conservative place. there aren't many women like me. most women here tend to agree with patriarchy. it's nice to see the other side represented.
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| Cerulean |
16 Apr 2003 |
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If you were to pair this deck art wise with one that seems more balanced to the male/female archetypes, would the Spiral or Legend be a good match? I found the slippery plum colors very nice, but was trying to match it with another purple-rich deck through feel or flavor...maybe create better harmony.
I hope this makes sence.
Mari
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| Kissa |
16 Oct 2004 |
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just received the set a few days ago.
great artwork but maybe not the kind you can stand seeing everyday. a bit overwhelming.
lots of (redundant?) symbolism. animals. like a taste of susan seddon boulet, shapeshifting, melting, women, Earth.
as far as i am concerned, this one goes on the non-tarot/oracle side despite its name.
kissa
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| Tarot Sparrow |
16 Oct 2004 |
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I have this deck. I got it for about $40 Canadian from Chapters' website, and it was worth every penny. You can get it very cheap off overstock.com in the States, they do ship internationally if I recall but I'm not sure if there are any better options for someone who lives overseas.
Personally, I find the deck to be beautiful. The artwork is gorgeous and although it is non-traditional I've had stunningly accurate readings with it. It's one of my favourites, I wouldn't give it up. It is a very feminine deck I'll agree, but in my opinion it is not anti-male, and in that case what's wrong with it being feminine? It just depends on how you interpret it. I don't think the few male cards are all negative. Sure, the Devil card is male, but how often do you see the Devil as a female? Same thing with the Hanged Man, although I don't see that as a negative card. Few others are the Green Man, Server of Swords, Ace of Wands, the Magician (I think) and a few others--but I don't see anything as being portrayed negatively....I guess I'm just a little confused where people come from with that. Nothing about this deck seems very negative to me--it's actually quite sugar-coated in the way most of the traditionally negative cards are changed to represent much more positive meanings. It's a psychological deck.
Bah, I don't know. I guess I just think it's very possible for a deck to be feminine without being feminist. I just don't get that feeling at all with this deck. I love it for its art and feminine mystique--but I am not a feminist and I don't see it that way. I just think it's purty :)
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| Kissa |
17 Oct 2004 |
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Originally posted by Dead Star
Bah, I don't know. I guess I just think it's very possible for a deck to be feminine without being feminist.
funny you put it that way because it is what i wrote in my journal for my first impressions of the deck: "feminine but not feminist" like the motherpeace or wise woman can be for example.
nothing wrong with being feminine ;) just sometimes i like to see a few macho men in my decks :P after all they are the other half of the population. my other half at least.
haven't done any reading with it yet. don't know how to handle it: go purely intuitively first and read the book after some time using the deck OR read the book while getting to know the cards physically (by doing readings, daily drawings...)
went thru my collection inventory yesterday and found out that the decks i am most comfy with are the close redrawings of rws. except for the songs for the journey home.
Dead Star, thank you, your post was very informative. makes me want to read with the deck straight away. might as well do so :D
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| Jewel-ry |
17 Oct 2004 |
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Its strange, I got this deck a few weeks ago and I don't quite know how to go with it either.
Occasionally I use it to do a daily card reading but I find I have to read the book to get the meanings. This is because it gives a totally different angle - as Dead Star says 'Its a psychological deck'.
I think it needs time and total devotion for its secrets to be given up.
~
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| WolfSpirit |
17 Oct 2004 |
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I got this deck after hesitating for a long time - and now that I have it, I am very happy with it. I haven't used it for readings, I don't know if I will. It is a great deck for me to look at and dream away or meditate. I haven't read the book for all the cards yet, I think I personally don't need the book with this, it is a very "free flowing" deck for me, so I think I'll go with my own intuition first than see what the book has to say about it.
I think we just had another thread on this one too (or is it me having a deja vu ;) )
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The tarot of transformation thread was originally posted on 23 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.
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