My NEW deck! (And a rant on color)

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

urbandryad	07 Jan 2004
The deck I ordered before Christmas FINALLY arrived! I ordered the Londa Tarot as my second deck and after shuffling through the cards I am delighted! I am BEYOND delighted! Londa's artwork REALLY speaks to me! The only thing about the deck that really bothers me is the size, its rather big for my tiny hands, and I tend to shuffle decks sideways (IE: Holding the longsides flat in my palm as opposed to the ends) but I suppose thats only a small hurdle to get over considering how much I love this new deck! I've already done a spread for myself, and I'm really delighted by how easy it is for me to discern things from the cards! :):):) By the way, I love the 80's glam style feel of the deck! And people who say that 80's glam is superficial and has no deeper meaning to it should REALLY do a bit more research! I am such an 80's child, born in 82, I love anything to DO with that era, so this really does rock the casba for me. :) I'm thinking this is really going to be a great deck to work with. To me, it really is NOT the 'pretty art with no detail' deck that people have cautioned me of. As an artist I can pretty much see the hidden emotions and meanings behind, color, line, shape and texture, and the substle forces behind the painting of clouds, wind and stars. This speaks to me much more than having a lot of cluttered objects amassed in one area to give it meaning. What does the atmosphere and weather of the scene suggest about the emotions and surroundings of the situation? What colors pop out from the overall picture and what do those colors mean? What then is the figure, taking into account setting, weather and color, trying to convey to the situation? To me, color is important in a deck. (This coming from a person making a black and white Stick Figure deck, XD) Technicolor, wether it be bold or subtle, is preferable to a set of just 2-3 colors that don't give much meaning to the scene expressed there. I've gone off on a rant, *eheheh* didn't think I would, lol. I'll probably share some of my spreads, once I get the handle of shuffling this 'larger' sized deck. :) I think I'll probably use this deck more than my first one. The Hanson-Roberts deck I own IS so much smaller, and I love it, its my first deck and I'll probably continue to use it as one of my 'active' decks up into when I'm in the '200 decks' range. lol. But I still have trouble with the meanings of the Hanson-Roberts cards. Some things just elude me, and I have to read the LWB or tarot guidebooks for it. The LWB with the Londa tarot made no sense to me, but the CARDS pretty much told ME what they wanted from me to know, lol! Hmmm...Now if only I could convince some of my friends to let me practice reading for them, eheh! Lee (who is really starting to love Londa Marks. Her decks and artwork really are impressive. :D)

miss_apples	07 Jan 2004
This deck has 80's glam artwork? I WANNA SEE!

urbandryad	07 Jan 2004
Hee hee, here you go. http://www.aeclectic.net/londa/index.html I ordered it before Christmas and it only just came yesterday! I haven't been able to stop looking at it! ^__^ (do I sense a Study Group topic? Maybe I should move this thread? Hee hee. >P) Lee

miss_apples	07 Jan 2004
wow thats totally wicked! I like the high priestess.

urbandryad	07 Jan 2004
I like the High Priestess too! My favourite card is the Hanged Man. Alot of these cards are great! Has anybody else seen the artist self-insertion hints througout the deck? Alot of the female cards look like her and the 8 of Pentacles, though has a male figure, is obviously a form of self-insertion (with some of the other cards hanging in the background like artwork and the desk littered with paint brushes and New Age stuff) I have to say the 8 of Pentacles is one of the most detailed images from the deck. You can see the entire deck (watermarked) here. :) (language pack download required) http://www.tarot.com.tw/tarot/ld78/view.htm *snuggies*

Lee	07 Jan 2004
Hi Lee, thanks very much for that link, I've been looking for somewhere I could see the whole deck. -- Lee

Little Baron	07 Jan 2004
As with the Arcus Arcanum, I have been looking for a link to view the whole deck for a long time but never found one. Thanks for that. I am so glad that you are enjoying your deck. Have fun with it. Going to go and take a look through the cards. Best wishes Yaboot

Little Baron	07 Jan 2004
Yes, the Hanged Man is so elegant. I love that one too. The Devil is wonderful too - you don't need a big hairy fangy monster to get the message through (sometimes that can be too distracting). Others that I love are 2 of Wands, 7 of swords, Knight of Cups (great outfit!!!), 10 of swords ... to be honest, there have not been any that I clicked on that I had a problem with. The consistancy of art is excellent; doesn't drop like it does in so many decks. I hate it when you go through the Majors lovingly and then your stomach (and heart) just drop as you hit those first minors; that sinking feeling that says 'oh, no ... I don't think this is the one afterall. I agree with you that you don't need to have a cluster of symbolic objects to understand or read the cards. However, for some that does help. Since this is your second deck, I imagine that you have tackled a lot of the symbolism in the tarot anyway so this is a good step forward. As a second (or 25th) deck, I think this a great one. Knowing what i have learnt about the cards, I would have no problem translating that to this deck and would be able to read with it; it would be such a lovely deck visually for a querant to have a reading with. I also agree with what you said about the colours being important. When you see them all laid out like that on the webpage, you can see how the colours flow from suit to suit. I also like the fact that even though there are so many characters, the artist has managed to make them all quite different. That King of Swords is great! A really elegant deck; cheers for bringing it out into the forum again. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAD THAT DECK IN MY GRUBBY LITTLE HANDS AND PUT IT BACK ON THE SHELF AND PASSED UP THE OPPORTUNITY OF MAKING IT MINE - lol - I am sure there will be other shopping expeditions!!!!

Demonesse	08 Jan 2004
I don't think this is a particularly 'deep' deck at all; many of the Minors (and Majors) are not particularly interpretive of the card meanings. I don't see any hidden subtleties or nuances in the artwork (but then again I do not read much symbolism in colours - when I paint I tend to choose colours for their visual attractiveness, rather than symbolism), and the blending of colours in the art is often a little crude, if you look carefully. But it IS a very attractive deck - only wish the Wands had been much better - I like the fantasy 80's glam-rock feel to it. My favourite is also the very bohemian High Priestess; she rocks.

urbandryad	11 Jan 2004
Ah, but thats just it! I have the Hanson Roberts deck, and I love it, but I can't really read anything from it. I don't get a 'gut feeling' from any of the cards. I often use the LWB or a Tarot book when I work with the Hanson-Roberts deck. But I've only had the Londa for a few days, and I've rarely ever had to use the LWB! I have clicked with it completely! I don't really have to work too much on the meanings of the cards because its already there, I can read it! I think for some people its readable, for others its not, just like any other deck. And the 'deepness' of the deck depends on the person almost as much as the deck. I look at images of the Thoth and I personally doubt I'd be able to get any readings from those cards, deep or otherwise, regardless of how 'deep' people say the deck it, simply because I do not feel any sort of attachment of any kind to the art. The Londa deck really speaks to me though. Maybe I'm just weird, but I think this is just a fabulous deck. :)

BlueLotus	22 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by dee_dolly7 The Londa deck really speaks to me though. Maybe I'm just weird, but I think this is just a fabulous deck. :) I had passed this deck a few times, but surprisingly decided to order it as of late. It intrigues me in some way, and I am looking forward to holding it in my hands. Maybe I am weird too. At least some of the time. I can't wait to start enjoying and reading with this deck. How does this deck feel now? Anything different..?

SilverWing	22 Jul 2004
Wow, I like the sample cards. I really like the High Preistess.

tao51	23 Jul 2004
Where did you order this deck? Having placed an order before Chistmas and receiving it 7 months later is not a very fast supplier. Personally, I find the Crow's Magick Tarot by the same author to have depth. I have looked and Londa Marks' Tarot seriously because of love her artwork. I do feel energy in the pictures. I may have to call Tarot Garden (my friendly supplier for this tarotholic). I enjoy hearing the feelings and opinions of people who use these decks.--Tao

BlueLotus	24 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by tao51 Where did you order this deck? people who use these decks.--Tao I ordered mine from Here, though it was not love at first sight, somehow I decided to order it after I looked at the images again, and found them quite intruguing , and as one reviewer said were designed to challenge and seduce. I accepted the challenge. I own her other deck Crow's Magick, which I like, so I added this one as well to my collection .

Imagemaker	24 Jul 2004
I've had this deck a year and still love it. Don't use it too often amid the mix of others, but sometimes I'm in the mood for its elegance and, yes, seductive quality. And compared to Hansen Roberts--on the other end of imagery scale! In other discussions, a lot of people have complained about the Hanged Man having the rope around her neck. It goes against the standard imagery and isn't my favorite. but there's so many of the cards that I love, that I look past that one. It's also fun to see people's reactions to this one. Enjoy!

The My NEW deck! (And a rant on color) thread was originally posted on 07 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.