Is There a Serious Wizard of Oz Deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Nevada	05 Apr 2004
I've seen the listing for Tarot of Oz (link below) and I'm afraid I don't care for it. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/oz/ Does anyone know of another, non-whimsical Tarot based on the Wizard of Oz? It seems to me there's a lot of potential in the story, characters and so forth for a terrific, serious Tarot deck, including some darkish images (those flying monkeys terrified me in the movie, as a kid--shiver!). I'm not usually interested in fiction-themed decks, but I would go for a good rendition of this theme. Nevada

contrascarpe	05 Apr 2004
Wow - even though I grew up loving scary movies, books, etc., the flying monkeys were my absolute worst nightmare! Yet, once a year network TV would play the movie - I would watch - and I would get scared again. I forgot how much they affected me!

Imagemaker	05 Apr 2004
Those flying monkey heads on the 7 Cups in Victoria Regina bring up the same feeling. In Kansas there are stores with a Wizard-of-Oz theme on everything you can imagine BUT not a good tarot deck. (I agree with you about the current one.)

ros	05 Apr 2004
I had these & didn't care for them. The Wizard of Oz is my all time favorite movie. I wish it was a mystical deck. Same with the Lord Of The Rings. I was disappointed with this deck also. They both need to be very very Wizard like with soft grey or chocolate backgrounds, smokey & very classy! HOLY FLYING MONKEYS there's an idea for someone!

jema	06 Apr 2004
But isn't the books kind of whimsical too?

Nevada	06 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jema But isn't the books kind of whimsical too? Depends on how you view them. You can think of them as simply entertaining children's stories, or as metaphors with deeper meaning. You have the emerald spectacles, the silver shoes and yellow (gold) brick road. The juxtaposition of positive and negative, in a kind of balance (2 good witches, 2 bad witches), at least until a bad one gets done in, which happens early in the first story, throwing off that balance. There are some heavy issues involved, such as poverty, slavery and oppression. A lot of transformation and growth takes place in the characters, or at least in how they view themselves and their world. I'm reading through them right now. I'll report back. :) Nevada

Asher	06 Apr 2004
I think the Tarot of OZ _is_ a serious OZ deck. The creator has used not only The Wonderful Wizrd of OZ for inspiration, but also The Scarecrow of OZ, The Magic of OZ, The Tin Woodman of OZ, & Dorothy and the Wizard in OZ. The artistic style is quite reminiscent of the John R. Neill illustrations of the original books. This is not Judy Garland and company, but an homage to the entire Baum OZ canon. It's very helpful (and fun!) to go back and re-read the other OZ books to really learn this deck. And there is _so_ much more to OZ than The Wonderful Wizard. Asher

TemperanceAngel	06 Apr 2004
Nevada I'm with you, that's not my cup of tea either! XTAX

Nevada	06 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Asher I think the Tarot of OZ _is_ a serious OZ deck. The creator has used not only The Wonderful Wizrd of OZ for inspiration, but also The Scarecrow of OZ, The Magic of OZ, The Tin Woodman of OZ, & Dorothy and the Wizard in OZ. Asher, I agree that the intent does appear to have been serious. I've been doing more reading on the deck, and I like a lot of what the creator did. For instance the themes of the suits make a great deal of sense to me. It's the images that don't sit well with me, and that plays a large part in how I judge a Tarot deck's usefulness to me. Two people can read the same work of fiction and come away with very different pictures in their minds. I find that these images are too whimsical and lighthearted for what I personally get from the stories. They're a little simplistic compared to what I usually look for in a Tarot deck. I have a problem with the big OZ in the background, and no other real background for the images. (This is of course just my opinion and taste.) It would, as one review points out, make a great first deck for a child. It's not for me though. Nevada

The Is There a Serious Wizard of Oz Deck? thread was originally posted on 05 Apr 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.