Need Tarot recommendations
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| rexenne2003 |
01 Jan 2004 |
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I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to offer some tarot recomendations for my BF. He likes dragons and 'ancient stuff'. He has the Celtic Dragon Tarot and the Dragon Tarot. He is looking for something that does not have 'cartoonie' artwork (IE Tarot of the Witches). We both agreed that the Dragon Tarot is not the best to start learning with, since the symbolizm on there is almost nonexistant. I think the Celtic Dragon Tarot is a little better because it has actual symbols that coincide with the cards meaning, unlike the Dragon Tarot that seems like the author was trying to be as fancy and intrigate as possible and ignored the actual meaning of the cards when it was designed.
Any recommendations to help him find a deck of his liking? (I cannot spel, I know-I know...)
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| Dark_angel |
02 Jan 2004 |
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Hi Rexenne,
I'm not quite sure what you mean by ancient stuff, but if he likes mythology and perhaps gothic stuff, he might get on well with the Vampire Tarot or the Gothic Tarot by Vargo. Both decks have departures from traditional symbolism, but clearly have the traditional meanings, sometimes shown with a contemporary slant.
The Vampire Tarot was the second deck I bought (the first being the Adrian, which is a lovely deck to learn with), and even as a complete beginner I didn't need the LWB. A lot of the traditional symbols are absent, but I still found the deck invaluable for picking up the spirits of the cards, and their meanings for me.
The Gothic Tarot feels less 'cartoony' (the Vampire is still beautifully drawn, though), and has a darker, more traditionally gothic atmosphere, so if your BF is interested in this aspect of mythology as well, then he may love this deck. The cards retain the traditional meanings, and some of the symbolism, and add a modern perspective; for example, the Empress not only shows creativity, but in her I see the pain the Earth suffers as a result of Man's disregard for nature.
This might be completely off-track though!
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| mercenary30 |
02 Jan 2004 |
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He could always go for the most ancient of the tarots and get a Visconti.....
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| Majecot |
02 Jan 2004 |
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If he likes "ancient stuff" I highly recommend Legend:The Arthurian Tarot. the cards are beautiful and tell a story and the book "A Keeper if Words" has a lot of Arthur Legend in it. A+++ ;)
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| Demonesse |
02 Jan 2004 |
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I thought the Gothic Tarot's Empress was rather lame, actually. A shrieking woman in the coffin, when many other suitably 'darkly fecund' images would have served both theme and card meaning, is not exactly the height of creativity. It's clear that the Majors were not specifically painted for the deck, but rather are paintings chosen because they had some sort of resemblance to a card, as in the Black tarot - they do not gel together well as a whole, and many individual cards are jarring, because they look computerised or over-stylised, as in Justice. The Gothic Tarot is well done as a whole, but I find it more campy than dark (except for the colour scheme, that is.)
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| rota |
02 Jan 2004 |
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"ancient stuff"...?
How about the Alchemical Tarot? It's well-drawn and non-cartoony, with lots of serious-looking Gnostic-style artwork.
You can find images in the Aeclectic database...
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| rexenne2003 |
03 Jan 2004 |
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Thanks for all the suggestions!
Seems he has been eye-balling the Alchemical Tarot at the book store.
So I asked and his definition of ancient stuff is Mid-evil time themes. I told suggestion to him the Legend Tarot also.
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| Majecot |
03 Jan 2004 |
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rexenne,
you'll have to let us know which one he went with. :D
( and btw, how come he is not here on AT? tell him we don't bite)
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| WolfyJames |
03 Jan 2004 |
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What about The Old English Tarot?
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| rexenne2003 |
03 Jan 2004 |
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Originally posted by Majecot
rexenne,
you'll have to let us know which one he went with. :D
( and btw, how come he is not here on AT? tell him we don't bite)
He ain't much of a talker...more of a gamer. Bummer man.
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The Need Tarot recommendations thread was originally posted on 01 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.
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