Decks with Muscular Women

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

musclegirl	09 Jan 2004
Hi! As bodybuilding is another of my hobbies apart from tarot, I was wondering if there are any tarot decks that depict muscular women.

Le_Corsair	09 Jan 2004
If you can, stop by the New Members forum and say hello, give everyone a chance to introduce themselves! Have you looked at the Fradella Tarot? It's done in the style of comic book superheros, everyone in the cards is muscular, men and women. I suppose that there are other decks out there, too. Bob :THERM

HudsonGray	09 Jan 2004
Probably your best bet is to check the Lo Scarabeo decks, they use a lot of art styles that Heavy Metal Magazine uses, which would include a lot of muscles & skin. Llewellyn decks wouldn't touch that stuff usually, and US Games hasn't had a deck like that out that I know of.

Macavity	10 Jan 2004
The only thing I was thinking (which might be totally in the wrong area!) are the reproductions of certain "Ancient" decks - e.g. Itialian Soprafino decks and the non-tarot (strictly) Minchiate decks - For a modern repro of the latter - see e.g. the Brian Williams. Not so much muscular perhaps but maybe a more realistic, classical, hunkier(?) take on women generally? Plus there are (imo) more "strong" (sic) roles and simply MORE women - e.g. my favourite pillar-totin' or lion-wrestlin' gals of the strength cards? :D Six-pack men seem to be a favourite for both straight and gay male artists but their analogue female subjects seem to be fairly uncommon. Such as in real life? ;) Macavity

Demonesse	10 Jan 2004
I'm not too sure, but the MEN in Ellen Cannon Reed's Witches tarot seem rather muscular.

Moongold	10 Jan 2004
Hey Musclegirl ~ The women in Tarot of the Sephiroth are pretty fantastic. You can actually see the muscles on some and the energy of each is tangible. This is an overall great deck, well worth getting. The images are contemporary - almost like high quality comic book art - but much more than that. There is an emphasis on the Qabbalah and astrological meanings as well as the usual Tarot associations. It is one of my favourite decks and gives very clear messages for difficult issues. And the accompanying book is essential. It's a well put-together book with losts of really good information as well. Moongold

Nycelle	11 Jan 2004
I noticed a stunning picture of a woman running in either the Gilded Tarot or the Osho-Zen, I think it was Gilded, but I have looked at so many decks today. That picture really struck me.

Dark_angel	11 Jan 2004
The Adrian Tarot has a lot of strong women in it. As far as I can recall, only one (Strength) is what you would term muscular, but all are fit and healthy, and empowered.

Shade	11 Jan 2004
Doesn't the Daughters of the Moon deck by Ffiona Morgan have muscular women? I would also second the re4commendation of the Fradella, I have that deck and the physique tends towards the buff.

musclegirl	18 Jan 2004
Thanks guys, I'm checking out the various ideas you've given. With all the muscular women in the fantasy comics, eventually the idea will come into a tarot deck. I guess it's just a matter of time.

MeeWah	01 Apr 2004
I just stumbled across this thread. The Fradella Adventure Tarot features super hero characters created by Frank Fradella for iHero Entertainment & includes super heroines who are muscular women: http://www.ihero.net/company.html The deck is based on RWS but from the iHero perspective. If ye enjoy the sci-fi/fantasy genre, this deck is a fascinating representative. Deck & book set also available at Tarot Garden: http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?search_type=blob&pageenter=0

mysticali	02 Apr 2004
Try out Lo Scarabeo's Celtic Tarots, although it is more the men than the women that are muscular - in fact some women are downright big and cuddly. Most men and some women women are worth a look - even the striated elf-like pentacles are so well defined. I love the look of this deck.

diane drizzy	02 Apr 2004
From the scans I've seen of The Pagan Tarot by Gina Pace, those women don't look too soft to me! So cool!

musclegirl	02 Apr 2004
I'd like to see a tarot deck by muscle-theme artists Julie Bell / Boris Vallejo. That would be neat!

musclegirl	07 Apr 2004
A great Queen of Swords, wouldn't you say? 2nd image from the top http://www.billdobbins.net/PUBLIC/pages/femuscle.htm

punchinella	08 Apr 2004
Have you checked out Winged Spirit musclegirl? I can't think of the name of the artist, but he does like muscle. The 'winged spirits' of his deck to me look mostly male, but theoretically I suppose angels are androgenous . . . maybe I'm reading them as male simply because of the muscle . . . ?? I tend to 'read' this deck as homo-erotic (male) but at any rate I think it might be a worthwhile thing for you to take a look at :) You might also want to check out his Anne Rice deck (not yet finished, but a lot of the cards are already up on his website . . . wish I had that link for you, but unfortunately I don't . . . ) Punch :D

Hedera	08 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by diane drizzy From the scans I've seen of The Pagan Tarot by Gina Pace, those women don't look too soft to me! So cool! I have this deck. The women don't seem muscular to me, rather skinny actually, with fake-looking DD busts.....:(

The Decks with Muscular Women thread was originally posted on 09 Jan 2004 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.