Less than genuine?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Baby Owl	18 Aug 2003
I'm curious to hear what tarot users think about decks that purport to be based on a particular culture or ethnicity, but (according to some folks, anyway) don't measure up to that claim. I'm providing two links below that I have come across, criticizing this very thing. Are these decks usable? Should they be thrown away? Why or why not? http://www.lelandra.com/comptarot/tarotindian.htm www.cyberwitch.com/wychwood/Library/whenIsACeltNotACelt.htm Baby Owl

Umbrae	19 Aug 2003
I myself am a sort of an esoteric purist. That’s a fancy word meaning I wear my trousers too tight. We know that the Native Americans had no paper, so they had difficulty with the concept of Tarot cards. I know of folks who use Rune Cards. I myself like the idea of stones and wood. Adding artwork to Runes seems sacrilegious. That’s not what runes are about. And the Celts! Oh my gosh don’t get me started… That said. If you like your ‘Celtic Indian Rune Cards’ or whatever…(here’s an idea, how about a deck of cards the has one of each bone in the body, then you could do osteomancy without touching the dead…) and you relate well with them…use them. You are not on this earth to meet the approval of others. It doesn’t mean a damn thing what I think about you, or what some academic poo-bah thinks about you, or even what your mom thinks about you. You are on this earth to meet your own approval. And if someone doesn’t like it…throw your ‘Truck Driver from Alabama’ deck at them. Never knew a truck driver who could make paper either… :smoker:

lunalafey	19 Aug 2003
I don't know about the decks you mentioned, but I think that the ways of a culture and lifes 'views' (symolism) can be converted into a deck. How accurate that is, is another thing. I happen to like my Native American deck, and from all my reading it seems to convert nicely. Most of my extreamly direct & intense reading came from this deck. If the deck is something you understand, why throw it away?

Kiama	19 Aug 2003
If the deck has been done with the good intention in mind to help promote cultural awareness and understanding, surely it is not the fault of the deck nor the fault of the deck's creator if that particular culture in mind takes offense? I would understand if the deck was saying, basically, that all Native Americans are ___ insert nasty thing here, but these decks aren't: they are simply inspired by a Native American culture and wanted everybody else to see this wonderful thing. If we build a house to the requirements of every man, we'll end up with a wonky house. Many of the decks that tha author he is pointing out are not purporting to be totally 'Native American', but 'Native American inspired', th eMedicine Woman deck being one. As Carol Bridges herself states, it is not really Native American, but focuses on bringing out the 'Medicine Woman' in each person, and uses an at-the-moment-fictional culture that is similar to a Native American tribe in its depictions. I can see where the author is coming freom when he/she states that it is 'identity theft' when somebody pretends to be of a certain culture and isn't, and tries to make money out of it. But that's not what these Tarot decks are doing here. Nobody's pretending to be Native American. The site also seems to be displeased with those who take some Native American beliefs/pratices/deities from other religions, and incorporate them into their own belief system. Personally, I think that as long as one doesn't then use that to make a profit or to exploit or to go around pretending to be part of that culture, there is nothing wrong with it. Different people react to the Universe in different ways, and sometimes certain things work better for each person. Are we to say that we can only worship Gods from our own culture? That limits us quite alot I think. What's that? I'm not allowed to worship Brighid because I'm not Irish and have no real idea about what the Irish Celts did? Sorry, no. It's my spirituality, my way of communing with the divine, my way of understanding the Universe. It works for me. Since when have humans owned their deities anyway? I thought it was the other way round... In conclusion... The decks in question have good intentions. None of them are misrepresenting the Native American spirituality by saying that Native American people are _____ insert nasty thing here. I coudl understand if these decks were saying that 'Native American people are evil'. But they're not. Their intention was to promote tolerance and understanding, and the only reason why this has not been achieved is because these decks have been shouted down by those who are disregarding their good intentions. *Off soap box* Just my personal opinion... Kiama

Lee	19 Aug 2003
Unfortunately, in this life it is practically impossible to say or do anything without offending and angering someone somewhere. I think what this all boils down to is, are you going to let your Tarot and/or spiritual practices be dictated by someone else. In every form of spirituality you'll find people of different views. Some will be fundamentalist-minded , and some will be liberal-minded. If the fundamentalist-minded people get you down, you can always try listening to the liberal-minded ones instead. For example, I know that with Native Americans, there are some who find any white person's involvement in Native American spirituality offensive, but there are plenty of others who don't. So it's up to you who you want to listen to. -- Lee :)

lunalafey	19 Aug 2003
There a few Native American themed/inspiered decks...the one I have was created & written by a husband & wife, he is of spanish decent, she is 1/2 Shawnee 1/2 Irish. They where assissted by a Blackfoot medicine man by the name of Harry Sparrowhawk..... How genuine can you get? As far as being offensive, that's a personal thing.

Shade	19 Aug 2003
I really enjoyed the link provided and some of the other "twinkie" links I followed from there. I know a lot of people like being eclectic but it's importnat for us to remember how the people we are borrowing from feel. For example I'm Wiccan and I especially like working with the Greek pantheon but I cannot say that I have a Greek spiritual practice. It might be Greek flavored but I don't speak the language, I don't live in the community and some Wiccan beliefs have nothing to do with authentic pagan Greek religion. There are of course Greek reconstructionist groups that do nothing but eat sleep and dream Greek religion. I don't think the sites are saying we shouldn't have an Indian themed tarot deck, we should however be authentic with where our tools come from and not try to misrepresent them. I work in a New Age bookstore and I encounter a lot of the people the sites refer to. They follow a personal vision quest they got out of a book, own some dreamcatchers, have a wolf totem and like turquoise jewelry and think they are practically half Indian. The medicine cars are great but they aren't a sacred Indian practice.

isthmus nekoi	26 Aug 2003
Kiama, I think I understand where you're coming from, but I do disagree. Good intentions are not good enough for me. Christian crusaders and missionaries had good intentions. I have had ppl say things of a racist nature w/the good intention of complimenting me. I'm not knocking ppl w/good intentions, or ppl who hold stereotypes. But sometimes good intentions just aren't good enough. You also need respect. You need *empathy*. In all fairness, I think ppl are upset by the use of their culture b/c it is almost always commercialized, not just b/c someone else is learning about it or likes it. The decks may have been created to promote diversity, but they are also there to make a profit. Imagine what it would be like to have your culture, all its richness, all its diversity homogenized, appropriated and turned into a mass produced product, a trend that is divorced from its human context, sold to the highest bidder and then forgotten. I'm not saying this only happens to non-white cultures. It happens to Americans, Canadians, it happens to everyone. Imagine it happened to us: if tarot suddenly became really trendy. Lots of ppl who don't really care about spirituality jumping on the bandwagon, prints of the Star showing up on the t-shirts, underwear, socks of ditzy 12 year old girls, magazines gossiping over what deck which celebrity is using... until what you have left has nothing to do w/tarot anymore except it might look sort of like tarot. Imagine someone telling you: oh tarot readers, they're all the same, psychic wiccans. Imagine Aeclectic full of posers who just want to be a part of something, to be seen somewhere cool before they get bored and decide to move onto the next trend. Imagine Aeclectic full of newbies thinking they can understand tarot in two weeks, hoping you'll spood feed (or sell) them all the answers. I'm not saying this would be wrong. Certainly not everyone getting into the new interest will be like this either. I'm saying I think some ppl would be annoyed. I would be annoyed (well, maybe very shocked and amused too lol). Anyways, to cut it short, culture (especially ones that are disappearing, or on the periphery of mainstream culture) is no trifling matter for some. But no, Baby Owl, don't throw away the decks!!! Esp if they give excellent readings. That's like telling me to burn all my Yukio Mishima novels just b/c his writing is misogynist and he himself was a psycho-nationalist. Doesn't change the fact the man is a first rate writer. I'd keep the decks if they were good. Hell, appropriate for yourself their cultural appropriation :P

WolfSpirit	26 Aug 2003
I did not follow the link about the native american discussion but I did read the site about the wiccan decks / books. I have the faery wicca tarot. I don't use it much, but I think the deck is beautiful, thanks to the artist who did a great job. I think it is the artwork that attracts people to this deck, and I think that is ok. If the deck speaks to you, great. However, I also have the books on Faery Wicca by Kisma Stepanich. Ouch, what a mess. The information is not correct, but they are not fun to read either. I think Stepanich may be one of those Americans who is so proud of her Irish ancestors she thinks she knows all about it. Also, on the deck she uses a few words of Irish but not all. I see this as an annoying affectation, as if she wants to show off the few Irish words she knows. It looks so silly. So although the deck has its merits, I think the books have almost none and if you want to learn about Irish folklore, you could better look elsewhere. Although for those who are interested in the books: I still have them and I would be grateful if someone could take them of my hands LOL :D

catti	26 Aug 2003
[quote]Originally posted by Kiama The site also seems to be displeased with those who take some Native American beliefs/pratices/deities from other religions, and incorporate them into their own belief system. Personally, I think that as long as one doesn't then use that to make a profit or to exploit or to go around pretending to be part of that culture, there is nothing wrong with it. Different people react to the Universe in different ways, and sometimes certain things work better for each person. Are we to say that we can only worship Gods from our own culture? That limits us quite alot I think. What's that? I'm not allowed to worship Brighid because I'm not Irish and have no real idea about what the Irish Celts did? okay but lets say, for arguments sake , that you take a trip to ireland, drink in a pub and find a four leaf clover. upon returning to australia you make a Brighid tarot deck and book where you claim to be the descendant of irish princess and that brighid spoke through you when you were ordering your drink at the pub. you then start workshops on irish spirituality etc..ad naseum...And by all means you have a "right" to do this , and those who are irish and find you either ridiculous or offensive have a "right" to denounce you the author states that she doesnt have a problem with individuals learning about , using, being interested in Native American deities and /or spiritual practices...it when they start to peddle the noble savage new age bit thatwhat she finds offensive and wrong. i happen to agree with most of what is said on both sides. If you like your voodoo celtic shaman oracle and it works for you then great. But please dont run around claiming to be an elder trained in x tribe because you turned up the shaman card and read about the sun dance in a book... and the celtic link , that was just funny .... did you read about the potato trap? i have to disagree just because A) these are not personal decks created simply for the good, they were created to be sold and not to be sold to Native Americans. B) tolerance and understanding is achieved by going out of your way to achieve that understanding, even if it means getting uncomfortable or having to let go of long cherished beliefs and or stereotypes, not by owning a tarot deck of course it is just my humble opinion, no personal offense was intended and hopefully none taken

Kiama	27 Aug 2003
You're right, they would have the right to denounce me. However, take a look at the Medicine Woman deck. Is that doing anything like this? I don't think so. Carol Bridges never ever claims in that deck that it is 'Native American'. She states very clearly that it is 'Native American-based'. Just to play Devil's Advocate here (Not my personal belief), I once heard somebody state: "You hurt people just as much when you take offense as when you give offense." It takes two to tango. I could understand the author's taking-of-offense if the decks actually intended to offend. But they didn't. We live in a world where so many intentions are misinterpreted and well-meaning people who were only trying to help get slandered and jumped on as 'offensive'. If everybody went around doing the same thing as this author, nobody would ever get on with each other. "Oh, you misrepresented the English you evil person." "That's not a real French accent! You're misrepresenting my culture and that's bad." "I take offense at you because you are using that rosary for the wrong purposes." "The film Braveheart is bad because it misrepresents that culture/what really happened! They didn't have longbows back then! Ergo, I shall never watch this film again." Should I take offense because Buffy the Vampire Slayer 'misrepresents' the English? Should I take offense because the Robin Wood deck misrepresents women and only shows stick-thin, gorgeous blondes? There's a new Tarot deck just been released by Lo Scarabeo called Tarot of the Teen Witches. Here's the very funny review for it: http://www.tarotpassages.com/witchy.htm This deck blatantly misrepresents Teenage Witches. Should teenage witches in real life therefore automatically take offense at this deck because it is expounding the stereotypical and false view of teen witches as young, sexy, Silver-Ravenwolf-reading, silly, shallow... (and many other things that I don't have space for! ;)) I agree that people simply jumping on the bandwagon of Native American spirituality is silly, but the decks that are being slated I feel aren't really doing that. There are very very few Native American decks out there, which immediately says to me that this 'jumping-on-the-bandwagon' thing just isn't happening in the Tarot world very much. (At least, compared to the New Age movement! ;)) I'd be giving the author a round of applause and standing ovation if he/she simply concentrated on that New Age Movement, be he/she doesn't, and drags these beautiful decks into the fray aswell. Anyway, as a conclusion, I'll go with the quote 'You hurt people just as much when you take offense as when you give offense.' There is no need to take offense at a couple of Native American decks that don't get it exactly right. Taking offense is a dangerous thing to do these days, and it really can cause barriers between cultures/people/friends/etc when these barriers are the last thing we need. Kiama

Lee	27 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama There is no need to take offense at a couple of Native American decks that don't get it exactly right. [/b] I completely agree, but also, this raises an interesting point. How do we judge what is "exactly right"? As I understand it, spiritual practices even in the same tribe differ from one family to another. One anthropologist or author could do perfectly respectful and thorough research, interviewing the people, etc., and publish the findings, and those findings could differ in significant respects from another anthropologist who did the same thing in the same tribe but a different family. I believe the author of the Native American Tarot is, if I remember correctly, a half-blood Native American. One review I read of this deck complained that she wasn't full-blooded and that the artist, her husband, wasn't Native American. This all makes me very uncomfortable. The author of that deck relates in her book how she spent much time interviewing members of her family and tribe about their spiritual practices. Yet she's criticisized for not being "genuine." One starts to get the feeling that some critics will never, ever be satisified with any work which is published which could possibly be purchased by a white person. I also don't understand this suspicion of learning about spirituality from something you buy in a store. We don't all have the luxury of being able to go to the people themselves and study with them. (And would they welcome us anyway if we did?) For many people, they only way they can learn is by buying a book (or borrowing it from a library). Or I guess we can learn from a website, but if the website has ads, then isn't the website's owner profiting off it as well? These are all gray areas, there aren't any black-and-white answers to them, and that's why I don't like sweeping generalizations. If I want to learn about Native American spirituality and incorporate it into my Tarot practice, it's certainly the right of some Native Americans to criticize me. But that doesn't mean I have to tailor my beliefs to suit these critics. As Kiama points out, it's my life. I'm sure none of us want to live in a place where our beliefs and practices are dictated by others. -- Lee edited to fix typo

catti	27 Aug 2003
Carol Bridges (1987) "Carol now teaches classes and offers workshops and ceremonies through The Church of the Earth Nation in southern Indiana. She is a voice channel for the Guiding Beings... She has been a sacred teacher at Sun Bear's Medicine Wheel Gathering..." (from accompanying book) that is what the author doesnt like. That carol bridges is peddling Native American Spirituality...there is no such thing. Each tribe has its own system of belief and when you homogenize it and twinkify it for caucausian consumption, the Native Americans feel offended ( although, i am certain there are some who could care less). And it is a direct result of 500 years of genocide and cultural oppression that people such as the author of the lelana link are so sensitive. Until the 1970's , Native Americans could not use there own language in the American schools there were legally forced to go to. Then a mere 15 years later , a group of whites "discovers" "Native American Spirituality" , is it so unimaginable that actual reservation living native americans dont see it as a positive step towards tolerance? Imagine if i make a Pickaninny deck and expound on the traditions of nigromancy ( the term is lifted from Kisma Stepanich, "divination by negroes). You know no matter how nice the artwork is a fairly good size portion of the group i am suppposedly "representing" is going to be offended. But i say i am just trying to illustrate the beauty and strength of the African American slave culture....does that make it OK to be so blatantly insensitive ? Racism and bigotry come in all forms, it is not only the majority groups who are afflicted. Saying someone is not genuine because they are a half-breed is clearly racist. Critizing there work as not being genuine is not necessarily an act of bigotry as long as there are valid points to the criticism. Baby Owls question: should you throw away your deck because it has been "outed" as less than genuine...well that is a personal desicion. and I think we all agree on that. For me , i think that if you have an 'X' deck because you want to feel closer to "X" culture and you find in later research that the deck is inconsistent and actually misleading you about the cultrue , then i would suppose it is time to trade, give away , or throw out the deck that isnt fulfulling its function. but if you like the pictures and like working with the deck then by all means keep it

Baby Owl	27 Aug 2003
Catti wrote: For me , i think that if you have an 'X' deck because you want to feel closer to "X" culture and you find in later research that the deck is inconsistent and actually misleading you about the cultrue , then i would suppose it is time to trade, give away , or throw out the deck that isnt fulfulling its function. but if you like the pictures and like working with the deck then by all means keep it. This has been an interesting discussion! I agree that it's important to decide why you have the deck in the first place. If you are counting on it to convey factual information about a culture, you certainly would want to know if the information conveyed is, in fact, not accurate. Ideally, creators of decks would not make false claims in the first place! It is still possible to enjoy a deck that is not accurate culturally. It becomes a "fantasy" deck from the mind of its creator. Baby Owl

Kiama	27 Aug 2003
"The images on the cards are tribal, yet not specifically North American Indian. They reflect, in a sense, tribes of the future, drawing from the many traditions which have blended in us who have come to create a new world." (From the Medicine Woman deck LWB.) Notice again, that the deck is not claiming to be Native American. The creator states very simply in that quote that it is a deck based on tribal imagery of a vision for the future that she would like to see. She is not claiming that it is genuinely Native American. The creator of the deck herself may be the person that the author of the website is talking about, but the deck, in other words the thing the author has a problem with, is NOT claiming any 'Native American heritage' or genuine-ness. If everybody went around being 'righteously' offended by misrepresentations of their culture/group, there'd be World War 4 or 5 by now. The original question of this thread was 'are these decks less than genuine, and should they therefore be thrown out?' I say that some of the decks slated by the author of the website are falsely slated, simply because they make no claims to being genuine in the first place. It is also true, as Lee said, that some of the decks were deeply researched and well-thought out, yet still they were criticised. Where do we draw the line? Kiama

Lee	27 Aug 2003
Here's another thought. If we're going to throw away Native American-inspired decks because some Native Americans are offended by them, then while we're at it we'd better throw away our Rider-Waite and Thoth decks, and any other Golden Dawn-inspired decks, because you'll find plenty of Jewish scholars who think that the Golden Dawn's Westernized, Christianized version of the Kaballah is illegitimate and disrespectful to their religion. -- Lee

Gerbear	27 Aug 2003
From Hammerskjold's 'Markings' The pride of the cup is in the drink, its humility in the serving. What, then, do its defects matter?

Nevada	27 Aug 2003
Funny Baby Owl should bring up this topic, because I have the Faery Wicca Tarot, and a few weeks ago I came across and read the article in the second link that you list here--"When Is A Celt Not A Celt?". Ever since then I have not been able to bring myself to use the deck. It's not that I take the article to heart so much as it just sort of left me hanging in regard to this deck. Left a bad taste in my mouth. But the bottom line for me is, *I like the deck*. In fact that was the sole reason that I bought it to begin with. Surely the deck carries meaning, whether its creator has the proper scholarly backgroud to make the advertised claims of Celtic authenticity or not. I don't get any feeling from the cards that they're a sham. I've had good readings with them. I've decided that I really don't care what this article says. If I like the deck, then maybe I should worry less about whether it's an authentic Celtic Faery Wicca deck and more about whether the cards carry meaning for me and can provide a good reading. Someone here (Umbrae, was that you?) has said that the magic is in us, not the cards. So I should be able to take these cards at face value, enjoy and read from them, no matter how their designer was inspired or what she knows. BTW, I don't know any more about the qualifications of the person who wrote the disparaging article. In any case, thanks for asking this question, because you got me thinking about this again and headed back to the cards to just enjoy them along with all my others. Brightest Blessings

catti	28 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama I say that some of the decks slated by the author of the website are falsely slated, simply because they make no claims to being genuine in the first place. It is also true, as Lee said, that some of the decks were deeply researched and well-thought out, yet still they were criticised. Where do we draw the line? Kiama [/b] i dont think WE should draw the line, You draw the line for Kiama , I draw the line for Catti , Lee, baby owl , and the rest draw each of there own lines..... but i think that the sites and links and this conversation offers an opportunity to review where and why we draw lines about this and that ;-) i realize that was incredibly vague and disjointed even for me, but I will keep th e post as it is for right now hoping that my intention is understood :eek:

Kiama	28 Aug 2003
You are right Catti, Each person needs to decide where they personally draw the line with decks such as the ones being discussed here. However, sometimes I read reviews of decks such as the Native American (or not, as some would say ;)) that take their own field of vision for that of the Universe: they assume that because they have judged the deck to be non-genuine, nobody should use it and it is worthelss and bad... And I feel quite sad when that happens. It is great when each person finds their own line, but to then say that the line that person has drawn is the correct one and everybody else who doesn't have the same line is just as offensive as the deck is quite scary. I'm not saying anybody in this thread has done that, but I have read articles of that ilk and reviews like this. I was thinking about this dicussion last night, and realised that I see a huge difference between taking offense and having a right to rebuke. The 'having a right to rebuke' has been discused in this thread already, when we get people who claim to be able to teach or follow some sort of path that isn't actually what that path really is. You gave an excellent example of this with the Brighid-shamrock thing. I agree with you that when something like this happens, it is up to the people who's path is being misrepresented to rebuke that person and tell them and others where the misrepresentation lies. If this doesn't happen, people start having the wrong idea about cultures and groups of people. However, I don't think that along with this is a right to take offense, and indeed I think it would do no good at all and would simply harm the person who took offense because they would then be feeling, well, offended! Feeling offended doesn't feel very nice at all. Just my opinion though. :D Kiama

Nevada	28 Aug 2003
I'm probably missing the whole point of this thread, so pardon me, but the question that keeps coming to my mind in this discussion is whether anyone can lay claim to "their" culture to such an extent that they should take offense at someone else's representation of it. I've always been fascinated with the African continent, though I've never been there. The animal wildlife is especially beautiful, exotic and intriguing to me. If I were to design a deck incorporating African scenery, wildlife, and what little I know of any of the many cultures there, and if I were to give it a title indicating that it was inspired by African culture, does anyone have a good reason to take offense? What if a true expert on Africa designed the same deck, but used only the imagery that appealed to them for use in a Tarot deck? The results might not match any native's ideas about their culture. But I really don't think I would want to consider either deck invalid for this reason. Tarot is experienced individually. Art is also experienced and carried out individually. For that matter, so is culture. To expect a Tarot deck to be culturally accurate, in its limited format, is asking an awful lot. To take offense when this limited portrayal doesn't effectively communicate an entire culture is, in my mind, a bit absurd. Does anyone own a culture? My view of southern California culture (and I am a native here) may be very different from my neighbor's. We live in a vast world. It is one world, when you view it from space, or even from the Internet. Yet next door neighbors can experience their limited portion of the world very differently. So who has the right to say that a Tarot deck doesn't accurately portray a particular culture? I'm sure it portrays something important to the person who designed it, or I doubt they would have taken the trouble to do so.

isthmus nekoi	28 Aug 2003
Yo, I'm w/Kiama. There's a dif b/w getting huffy and saying: I know this is disrespectful. But it can be a fine line sometimes. What I don't like is when disrespectful things are said in a sort of joking, or passive aggressive way.... so you can never really confront the issue. But I can't see that the Native American decks do this..... And also, I really think the ability for someone to 'claim culture' due to ethnicty is terribly outdated. Who's more Chinese: a Japanese person growing up in Shanghai, or me, a Chinese born Canadian who speaks w/an anglo accent? Who's more Japanese: the young ppl living in Japan today, or the Canadian nisei (2nd generation) who never went through the social changes of WW2, and therefore behave more 'traditionally'? Who cares? There is no prototype for any ethnicity. *However* having said that, I think ppl have every right in the world to be upset or even offended over misrepresentation. Misrepresentation leads to stereotypes. I don't care if the misrepresentation is positive (ie. all you Asians are smarter), it is still a misrepresentation. The thing w/these decks is it's not a simple matter of someone from a different culture trying to represent another culture. Representation (*especially* when you're talking culture/ethnicity) is steeped in a long history/discourse of colonialization and nationalism. Misrepresentation is not purely arbitrary. There are motives behind the construction of stereotypes, there are imbalances in power: who gets to do the representing, who is the one represented.

Baby Owl	28 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Nevada34 I'm probably missing the whole point of this thread, so pardon me, but the question that keeps coming to my mind in this discussion is whether anyone can lay claim to "their" culture to such an extent that they should take offense at someone else's representation of it. I don't think you're missing the point at all. In fact, I kind of see two different things going on in the two articles I posted. In the Celtic one, it seemed to me that the writer was a scholar who had studied Celtic history and culture diligently and was scoffing at the poor job some deck creators had done in portraying that culture. The writer was basically saying "They did not do the research. They did not know what they were doing. They did it wrong." (And should not have done it.) Then you have a sensitivity on the part of people of a particular cultural background who feel their ancestry is being commercialized and/or misrepresented for profit. The questions that result from this are varied also: On principal, should I avoid using a deck that has been shown by a scholar to be inaccurate in reflecting a particular culture? Does the accuracy of the portrayal matter to me in using the cards? On principal, should I avoid using a deck that markets a culture without even being courteous enough to do thorough research on that culture? I use all my decks, and some of them would no doubt be cast aside by someone following the above guidelines. I agree that it is an individual decision -- but it's interesting to me to hear what others think.

The Less than genuine? thread was originally posted on 18 Aug 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.