Margarete Petersen Tarot

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

firemaiden	15 Apr 2003
Dear Friends, I finally broke down and bought the Margarete Petersen Tarot. It has been waggling itself at me for a while in the bright bookstores of Berlin. I learned that this deck was 22 years in the making. (Kaz points out that so were all the German decks...rofl) and that the artist actually lives in Berlin. The art is rather abstract-ish, but it is growing on me. We did a reading in live-chat to see what it could inspire, and I found the images coming to life for me in the process of trying to describe them to my friends. I am impressed both with the depth of the images, and with the book. I will be sharing more about this deck, but just wanted to start a thread, and hope that any other proud owners of this deck might care to comment while I sleep :) Tarot Garden lists this at $50.00 - perhaps that is justifiable when you add the import fees, but I paid only 29.00 euro in Berlin. links: cool review on tarot passages More scans at Tarot Garden

truthsayer	15 Apr 2003
if you love the MP then the ananda is a must have, too. it's hard to say which one i like best b/c the art is so superb on both but i learn towards ananda. when i tried readings with them, i had more success with the ananda than the MP but that's me. there's some old threads in the archives on these 2 probably back to last summer. that's when i was on my big deck spending spree.

jmd	16 Apr 2003
I remember a thread truthsayer started last year on this deck... it nearly caused me to buy one (why I didn't I'm still unsure!). An earlier thread on this deck is also this one. It's one of those decks which is, to my mind, so appealing, and yet I never quite manage to justify its price (approx A$100). Let us know how you respond to it, feuermaiden...

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by truthsayer if you love the MP then the ananda is a must have, too.. Forgive me truthsayer, I don't see the relation between them...I bought the ananda early on and took it back to the store, that picture of the hairy guy with the guitar... couldn't stomach it. It was also way too airy fairy for me... no bodies. Plus the Ananada looks to me like pop art -- kind of air-brushy. But the MP is real paintings, somewhat abstract. And very profound. Sorry about not liking the Ananda...

truthsayer	16 Apr 2003
the reason i linked ananda to the MP is that they are both by germans. something about german artists...it's different than decks by americans. they're deeper, more intense and darker somehow. you can see this quality in the rohrig which is also by a german. i guess i like airy fairy decks. something about meditating on the ananda--unique experience. the images seem to shift like one of those computer pictures you have to stare at to see the picture inside the image. can't fault you for not liking the ananda. each to his/her own. i can't stomach marseille style decks. opinions are like noses-we all have one! LOL ;)

Astraea	16 Apr 2003
I haven't seen a great number of German decks, but the ones I am familiar with do seem...Wagnerian. There is a depth of symbolism within them, even when the artwork is "light," that is very striking and rich.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
Hey, firemaiden, you made me get the Roots of Asia (I didn't look at it before I read you post on the moon - somehow I was confusing it with the Journey to the Orient lol), and I;ve also discovered the Margarete Peterson, so reading this post has made me very happy. Both decks are on their way in very roundabout trades/store credit ways, so it will take a while before I see them.... Can you see the Margarete Peterson as a real reading deck? I know you are very good in discovering faces and animals etc in pictures that don't divulge anything meaningful to me. ;) I love the majors, and what I;ve seen from the minors looks beautiful, too, but pretty abstract. I know they don't show real scenes, but do you think they are 'moody'? I wonder the same thing about Roots of Asia, actually! :) Speaking of the Ananda; I don't have it (yet....), but some of the scans online remind me an awful lot of the Cosmic tarot, especially Strength, and the High Priestess, I think. Also, I saw that one of the cards has Jim Morrison on it, which to me is similar to the whole moviestar-filled court of the Cosmic. Does anyone have both decks? (sorry, this is getting completely off-topic!)

Astraea	16 Apr 2003
Hi, Hedera! I have both decks. The styles and artistic techniques of each are very different, but they share a similar "flavor," in that both are contemporary representations of eternal themes (the Wagnerian feeling that I mentioned in my earlier post). They're both wonderful. I read with the Cosmic deck quite a bit, and less frequently with the Ananda (so far).

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
I think this will be a wonderful reading deck. I think there are scenes in the minors. They are a bit hard to see, but they are there. Very evocative really. I will write up some cards and we shall see together. Astraea, definitely it is Wagnerian!! AS for the Roots of Asia, that has pictoral minors, and I think it is quite a powerful reading deck. (my absolute favorite is the 2 of cups) So I have just learned from you that the guy with the guitar and the skuzzy beard in the Ananda is Jim Morisson ... (I thought it was "Mr. Ananda" - lol ) Unfortunately, Jim Morisson and I are not friends... lol. I at first found the Ananda beautiful, but I tried to imagine myself using it, and it just felt icky to me. The Roots of Asia is more corporeal. There are elephants, tigers and eagles. The images are often ethereal, but even so, they have body. The Moon card is a woman's face in the water, but she looks like a real woman, not a ghost. I was thinking about what was said earlier about the German decks having the depth in common. It is true, and it is often said that the Germans as a people are deep thinkers and very metaphysical. I find myself considering the Thoth a German deck, because it is so standard here, and that is such a deep one. But I just don't know how the "Gummi Bärchen' tarot fits into this picture....

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Okay, I have picked a card at random, after shuffling the deck, (sideways, without bending, the way LawGuy51 taught me) It just happens to appear to be one of the very most abstract in the deck. A frame of golden beads, or tree rings or something all around, a square in the middle, like a window, opening on to splashes of white paint on blue.. But... as I sit here staring, I come to see, there is definitely a landscape here, and it is not just my imagination this time (I would tell you if it were). There is a cloudy sky, (what I see in the clouds of course... that will be another matter) and suddenly, now I see it, the faintest trace of a horizon! Aha, it is clearly a sort of lunar water-scape, it is a calm dark sea, or perhaps a lake, at night with a little fishing boat on the right. There are patterns of different currents in the water, and reflecting very faintly the light from above. Now I see, at the horizon, a mountain rising out of the water, perhaps a Mount Fuji, reaching so high into the sky, that its summit is obscured by clouds. But all is so dark, despite the invisible moon which brightens the clouds from behind, that the border between water, mountain and sky, is barely defined. Once you see it, however, it won't go away. Now I am seeing snow on the mountain peak, reflecting in the moonlight. So what then of the clouds? In the clouds, I see the suggestion of a white winged horse rising; higher in the sky, above him, the suggestion of fire colored tigers looking back; below him, an eagle's head. To the left of the mountain, a woman gracefully floats away; and in the very center of the entire square, sort of where the moon ought to be, the faint suggestion of a cloaked and bearded male figure....

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Okay: horizons obscured moon behind clouds darkness with some eerie reflected light the summit enshrouded. deep calm Sound familiar? Is this not what our RWS gentleman with his back to the tree is seeing while he meditates? --- the path is not clear -- --the goal is not clear--- but with time, it will reveal itself? ------------ Now, anyone curious to see what the LWB has to say? (it is not white, but aubergine...) Okay, give me a moment, translating..

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
...painfully translating from Margarete Petersen's German... On the Four of Cups: Quote: Recognize feelings and take responsibility. What do you feel at this very moment? Clarify, order, and structure your feelings. Where and how does a positive or negative feeling arise? What to do with it? For example, should one indulge it, hold it back, or exagerate it? Notice how feelings affect one's perceptions. How, and in which manner does a feeling arise? Light, lukewarm feelings - powerful whirlpools, which exert a magnetic suction. Dark, unclear, cloudy, or free flowing feelings. Make distinctions in the palette of feelings. Observe feelings without identifying with them. Set boundaries. Through definition and clarification, feelings evolve to overflowing, and bring fulfillment fr. Tarot Margarete Petersen, 2001 Königsfurt Verlag

truthsayer	16 Apr 2003
firemaiden, thank-you so much for translating some MP's book on her deck. i think the whole deck would make more sense to me if i had an english translation. just that little bit helped me get into MP's mind a bit better. perhaps if enough are interested, this would be a good deck for a study group. you could lead it and translate the cards. i can understand why you wouldn't want to tho. it would be a big job.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
Thank you, Firemaiden! I'm sure I will see all that in the card, now that I know it's there...;) Would you mind if I asked you about the other 55 minors, when they come up in a reading? :D Seriously, it sounds like a great deck, wish it were here already.... It does look like it would lend itself for small readings, because I would need to spend a lot of time on each card. Sort of a reading/meditation mix, with a heavy dose of art appreciation... sounds great!

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
It would be fun. I am sure there are others out there who speak German, with whom the task could be divided up. Kaz for one, she doesn't have the deck, hint, hint, but maybe she will, hint, hint. Kaz? I think it would be quite stimulating, because just looking at a card doesn't bring it to life the way writing about what you see does.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
I would be interested in a study group, as well. And I could even share some of the translating. Would be good for me, an opportunity to read the book really well, instead of just skim it, which is what I usually do. And like you said, firemaiden, it makes you look at the cards so much better. I will *hopefully* have my deck in about 2 weeks!

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Hedera Thank you, Firemaiden! I'm sure I will see all that in the card, now that I know it's there...;) Would you mind if I asked you about the other 55 minors, when they come up in a reading? :D Actually, I think that will be great fun, Hedera! You know, I actually was thinking of doing one card a day, or a week, or something. These cards really stimulate me. I love how there is so much more than at first meets the eye. Plus, if it really took her 22 years to paint them... then they deserve much more than a cursory glance! I wonder if she is available for interview in Berlin... hm...

truthsayer	16 Apr 2003
i would enjoy a study group on the margarete peterson,too. i have enjoyed the rohrig more since i have the translation. the cultural view is somewhat different and that makes it more difficult for me to read. you surprized me firemaiden. i gave you plenty of room to get out of this and you took me up! that's wonderful! i will be quite busy the next 2 weeks but if hedera is getting hers by then this would work out nicely.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
Ooooooh, I can't wait! I think one card a day may be a bit too much - but one a week might make the study group a little slow. How about two or three a week?

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Okay guys, now everyone can participate, deck or no deck. ALL of the cards are on view, at La Palma Galérie Not only are all the cards available for viewing, but if you click on the card, you can see it further magnified, to almost the full screen.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
*whimpers* ....They're gorgeous. Just gorgeous. I was looking at the Empress - vagina dentata anyone? :D

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Yes, Hedera, vagina dentata. So have I also thought. I notice there is a phone number and an adress for her in Berlin, on the website... do I dare?????? Can you imagine? If I could get in on a workshop? oooooooooooooooooooooooooh. I wish there were some more of you here in Berlin to give me backbone!

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Try this link to see the Four of Cups I just harangued you all about, then click on it to make it bigger. The picture is clearer in person than on line, I think.

Hedera	16 Apr 2003
Firemaiden, think: fire! Think: ace of Wands! Think: backbone!! You have to live up to this name of yours, don't you think? Yes, I'd already looked at the four of cups with your description, clicking from one to the other. I can't find the woman flying away, but I might in a little while, when I'm less sleepy. Your take on the card is wonderful! Have to get up in 5 1/2 hours, so I should get some sleep now.

firemaiden	16 Apr 2003
Yes, Hedera, I cannot see the woman flying away on the on line card either, sniff, and the flying horse is much less defined as well... but but but.. you wil believe me, I am sure.:D

Hedera	17 Apr 2003
It occurred to me while I was sleeping ( I do my best thinking when I;m asleep) that posting parts of the Petersen-tarot book, even translated, might interfere with some copyright-regulations.... Does anyone know more about this? Could we just translate bits and post them? Perhaps we should just ask Ms Petersen herself. :)

Kaz	18 Apr 2003
hint: i hear you firemaiden :-P i have been looking at them on the galery site, dunno, i would rather see them irl, coz i have the feeling the real thing will be very different from the scans i see here. somebody wants to trade his/her MP deck for one of my decks?

Hedera	19 Apr 2003
*jumping up and down* I have it! I have it! It is soooooo beautiful!! Yay, wonderful, German service.... I wasn;t expecting it for at least another week! I think it's going to be relatively easy to read with. Some of the court cards are a bit of a challenge (as usual lol), and on them the book seems more poetic than enlightening, but who cares! The picures are amazing, and even the deceptively 'simple' looking pips have lots and lots of atmosphere (and lots of *different* atmospheres) and detail, if you keep looking. The colours and textures in all of the cards are wonderful. The majors are stunning: very original, but completely faithful to most of the 'standard' tarot meanings. Not just a pretty face, this deck! Even though I had already seen all of the cards online, i was still suprised by the beauty of this deck. It's weird: even though the online scans are bigger than the real cards, and seem to be in focus and everything, I can immediately see so much more detail on the actual cards. The coating is great as well: not too glossy. The very glossy coatings sometimes reflect the light too much, so you can't see the picture well, and they have a tendency to get scratchy. I like the dark borders, too (even though dark borders show more wear, I think they bring out the pictures better than a stark white one, in general). The only think I'm not too crazy about is the orange card titles, but they are relatively small. Yippiee!!! Off to play with my new precioussssss..... :D

firemaiden	21 May 2003
Dear Friends: I have decided to begin posting decriptions and translations of cards in the Study Group section, under General. I suppose we might eventually get our own section. I invite you to join in, post comments, descriptions, interpretations, translations for discussion. For those who don't have the deck, all the cards are on line, as has been mentioned before. I will also be posting a link to the particular card each time. I hope very much for many to join in, not just those with the deck. I think this deck makes an important contribution to tarot. I don't know enough yet to say why, but I think it is because she has done such an in depth study of the meanings, in all of their implications, and manages to tie together all of the elements from the Marseille meanings to RW to Crowley, and incorporate them into her own poetic and Zen-like (?) interpretation. The artwork is breath-taking, and really benefits from being looked at in depth.

Cerulean	26 May 2003
Firemaiden, did you say you were in opera training? Could you express this tarot in musical descriptive terms? I'm admiring the energy of these paintings and how one could take third and fourth glances and looks to see more. Mari H.

truthsayer	26 May 2003
thanks for the heads up, firemaiden. i would have wandered aimlessly looking for it. even if i don't post a lot there, i plan to make a copy of your translations to use when i study my MP.

galadrial	17 Jun 2003
I just ordered this deck today. It's been on my wish list for some time, and the study group that firemaiden has started has just made me yearn all the more to be able to view and use the actual deck. It is on sale at www.tarotgarden.com/boutique/onlinecatalog.php?view_title=Margarete+Petersen+Tarot&pageenter=0 right now for $42.00 rather than $50.00, if anyone else is looking for that little extra incentive to spring for it:-)

firemaiden	20 Jun 2003
I am so glad you bought the deck, Galadrial!! Has the deck arrived yet? Let me know how you like it when it comes. Do you speak German? Will you be helping us do translations? Will you join our study group?

firemaiden	20 Jun 2003
Here is a link to our Study Group Main Page It includes a list of all the threads we have done on the Margarete Petersen Tarot Cards. I will keep the list updated as we add new cards. :) Margarete Petersen Study Group

galadrial	20 Jun 2003
Hi firemaiden, it hasn't come yet, though it may arrive in today's mail (crosses fingers). I'll let you know how I like it when it comes. I will definately continue with the study group; I'm enjoying it a great deal:-) I'm afraid I don't know any German, and I appreciate the time you and Hedera have taken to translate. Beautiful though they are, I think I might get a little lost on the minors without some idea of what Margarete Petersen was thinking.

galadrial	23 Jun 2003
Huzza! It arrived. These are my first impressions. First, I enjoy decks like this that are lightly laminated; they retain their "papery" feel and are low gloss, sort of a matte look finish. I also see now what others meant when they said the cards details are easier to make out from the actual deck than from the online scans. The cards are so dense with imagery that I can't begin to cover them in depth, so I'll leave that for the study group:-) Her versatlility amazes me. She can go between a primal look, as with the Magician or the Hermit, and a beautiful, elegant look as with the High Priestess or Temperance (this is the most gorgeous Temperance I've ever seen). She can evoke such turbulence in the Tower and such peace in the Star, and she uses mulitple symbols, as in the Hanged Man and the Moon, or just the single element in Judgement (ah, THAT feather- I could just feel my heart being weighed against it!). In the minors, I felt that her use of the direction of lines was evocative. For instance, her use of big cats and direction of lines in the 7 and 8 of Flames. In the 7, the cat is a large part of the person and the lines are radiating up; his passion does not look focused, but ready to pounce on/burn up anything. In the 8, the cat is looking on like a spirit guide; the horizontal lines seem to denote control, as does the horizontal arrow held still, yet drawn, in the bow. I thought I perceived a pattern in the court cards, as well; subtle, but more noticeable when the courts are laid out all together. The pages are almost like people within aces; lines and objects seem to show energy swirling around them, but not from them. The Knights have energy lines going upwards and are shown with more concrete objects; they look more as though they are controlling their enviornment. The Queens radiate lines out from themselves in all directions. They seem completely at ease within the vortex of their suits energy. The Kings are shown within mostly horizontal and some vertical lines. They seem to be adopting very mental, meditative postures, as though their grasp of their suits energy is so complete that what they will from within is manifested without. There is so much more, but I will stop with saying that, overall, this is a beautiful, powerful, and deep deck; I really respect Ms. Petersen's acheivement.

Hedera	23 Jun 2003
Huzza indeed! Yes, it is an astounding deck. I like the way you described the common elements in the court cards; I've been having some trouble with these courts and your way of looking at them may shed some light on them.

firemaiden	23 Jun 2003
Wow, thank you for sharing your impressions, Galadrial. I love how you see things. That was fun. Looking forward to looking at all the cards with you :D

CompassRose	27 Jun 2003
My deck arrived today. I couldn't resist the temptation of the $42 sale (which just about saved me the customs charges :D). It is so beautiful, so full of images, movement, half-seen things. Magical. I see what someone said, about it being a little like the Roots of Asia. I looked at Roots for a long time when I was in Ottawa, but somehow, didn't quite gel with it. It tried too hard, maybe. It was the elephants that did it; the elephants seemed a bit forced. In the Petersen, the themes of the Arcana are part of each card, yet not pushy about it. And the execution is SO marvellous. That might be it, too; there is something a bit cruder about the style of the Roots of Asia. In the Petersen, everything seems to flow. I like that in some cards, the images are very nearly concrete, while in others (the Sun for instance) it's a wild abstract burst, just hitting the eye, more things emerging as you look. I can see some things like the Thoth deck, but despite the vigour, occasionally almost violence, the energy of this deck, it seems friendlier to me than the Thoth. Less geometrical, and brighter -- not happier necessarily, but the Thoth images feel to me like a book of secrets dragged out of a swamp, still dripping dark water. Studying this deck is going to be such a challenge, but I think fun!

Astraea	27 Jun 2003
I bought this deck at a bookstore last week, and agree with every single thing CompassRose has stated -- I just couldn't say it better. This deck is awesome.

firemaiden	28 Jun 2003
I am so excited that you both bought the deck and love it. Please join our study group! (see my link a few posts above)

Solandia	03 Aug 2003
Images of the Margarete Petersen Tarot have (finally) been added to Aeclectic Tarot :) http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/margarete-petersen/ ~ Solandia

firemaiden	11 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by CompassRose ... the Thoth images feel to me like a book of secrets dragged out of a swamp, still dripping dark water. Compass Rose, that's hilarious, and how wonderfully you write! (Have you thought about submitting a review of the MP to Solandia?)

The Margarete Petersen Tarot thread was originally posted on 15 Apr 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.