Hermetic Tarot (dowson)

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 08 Sep 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kirali	08 Sep 2004
I decided to give an update on my plight in harassing US Games to reissue the Hermetic Tarot by Godfrey Dowson. They said that can only print 5000 at a time and do not believe that there is a demand for them. Oh well you can read the message here: (I edited out my real name) ------------------------------ Dear {Kirali} At the present time there are no plans to reprint Hermetic. We have to reprint in quantity of 5,000 and do not believe there is that much interest for it to be a viable product. However, we are not shelving it completely and may resurrect it sometime in the future. Regards, Bobbie Bensaid Vice President, Administration U.S. Games Systems, Inc. 179 Ludlow Street Stamford, CT 06902 Tel: 203-353-8400 Fax: 203-353-8431 ---------------------------------------- Blah.. I guess they want a petition or something.. Pooh.. I suppose I'll have to find a deck on ebay.

Macavity	08 Sep 2004
Interesting! Perhaps you should start a rumour that a new release is pending... And watch these decks being offloaded at reasonable prices. }) But I see a nice example went for 42 Quid (UKL 42!) on eBay U.K., only recently. I was sorely tempted, but still beyond my (one deck) budget! I suspect, if I'd put in a bid, it would have been rather dearer too? :D Macavity Above edited to read eBay and not Amazon... almost started a stampede? :D

fyreflye	08 Sep 2004
I recently picked this up on eBay for $60USD and it's worth every penny of it and more. Anyone interested in esoteric Tarot decks of the Golden Dawn tradition will find that, apart from the lack of color symbolism (it's a b&w deck,) it's the most accurate, readable and artistically satisfying deck yet produced. Wang's version is as close to the original as Dowson's but artistically crude; DuQuette's is more informative and slightly better artistically but it's biased toward the Thelemic offshoot of the G D. Anthony Clark's looks better in the flesh than its scans but is also Thelemic and takes a rather peculiar approach to picturing the Majors. Apart from Crowley's the best Thelemic deck by far is the Via. Of course this will be of no interest to most here, but those who want to understand the esoteric meaning of cards like The Lovers, The Fool, and Fortune would find the Hermetic an eye-opener. The lwb is informative but Wang's Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot works as an excellent companion book.

The Hermetic Tarot (dowson) thread was originally posted on 08 Sep 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.