Le Tarot de la Réa by Alain Bocher

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Scion	01 Dec 2004
Moving a conversation thread over from Tarot trading... A few folks got to rhapsodizing about Bocher's spectacular and elusive Tarot de la Réa. Gardener wrote: You have TWO!!?!???!! Greedy guts! Scion, I do have to mention that Jeannette (TarotGarden) does actually have one in at the moment. When I talked to her ages ago, she said the same thing to me that she said to Karen, about the scans being inadequate. Sooooooooooo true! The deck has a luminosity in person. (Now to be fair, Contrascarpe thinks it is only okay, and doesn't covet it at all. Maybe it only radiates for chicks?) She looked out for one for me for months, to no avail, when suddenly, just at the time when contrscarpe was feeling most like bribing me with tarot presents, a copy came her way. Lucky me! But even luckier you, because she found ANOTHER one! At least, according to the website. Let temptation work its wiles... Karen, I'm fascinated by the idea of using it as a comparative. Would you pair it with a deck with illustrated pips? Somehow that doesn't seem quite right to me, like mismatched gloves. Don't you just love irrational feelings? Now is the Alain for whom Diana translates the same person who pops up in the Historical section, like that post about the Language of the Birds? http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=21430 baba-prague wrote: No, I think that's Alain Bougearel (and I just went off to his site to check and had a very "diving into the blue" experience as it's one of those sites that takes up your whole screen without asking - beware!) Er - should we take this conversation into another thread as it's WAY off topic now? Scion wrote: CRUEL!! CRUEL GARDENER!!! And right at the holidays when my acquisitive defenses are low... As baba suggested, I started a new thread on Tarot de la Réa over in Decks: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=400912#post400912

Scion	01 Dec 2004
Gardener wrote: You have TWO!!?!???!! Greedy guts! Scion, I do have to mention that Jeannette (TarotGarden) does actually have one in at the moment. When I talked to her ages ago, she said the same thing to me that she said to Karen, about the scans being inadequate. Sooooooooooo true! The deck has a luminosity in person. (Now to be fair, Contrascarpe thinks it is only okay, and doesn't covet it at all. Maybe it only radiates for chicks?) She looked out for one for me for months, to no avail, when suddenly, just at the time when contrscarpe was feeling most like bribing me with tarot presents, a copy came her way. Lucky me! But even luckier you, because she found ANOTHER one! At least, according to the website. Let temptation work its wiles... http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=21430 AAARRGGH! I have to ask though... I'm assuming the she in question is Jeanette at Tarot Garden. Or do you mean Contrascarpe? Any idea what kinda p[rices they're asking? I can resist anything except temptation. Sicon

Gerbear	01 Dec 2004
I've heard a lot o good things about this deck over the years, and now my very own, reasonably priced copy is winging it's way to me. By the end of this week, I'll see what all the fuss is about!

Scion	01 Dec 2004
Gerbear wrote: I've heard a lot o good things about this deck over the years, and now my very own, reasonably priced copy is winging it's way to me. By the end of this week, I'll see what all the fuss is about! Holy Ten of Swords, Batman!! Are you trying to kill me over here? Obviously I have to ask, where'd you find them? Just how reasonably priced? And is there another one resting there with my name on it? Cmon, Gerbear... make my December. Scion

Gerbear	01 Dec 2004
There was an auction on ebay last month. The starting price was $75, and I was the only bidder. The seller was srkusgs, which stands for Stuart R. Kaplan, U.S. Games Systems. They've been listing quite a few enticing decks lately.

Gardener	01 Dec 2004
Hi Scion, Soooooooooooo fun watching you drool! I do love this deck, it is really special. I don't actually USE it, mind you. Mostly I think I'm more a user than a collector, but this is really just the gem of my collection at the moment. I think deep in the winter I'm going to bring it out for something solitary and moody, perhaps under a new moon with the winds howling and the clouds racing silently, or some such. Anyway, the most wonderful source of decks in the States is TarotGarden, run by Jeannette and Umbrae, two people who belong to this marvelous forum. They can get most decks, and are wonderful to talk to as well. The deck is listed on their site for $150. I confess, we paid a tad more... (The person who bought mine, contrascarpe, is unlikely to buy one for you, because he's my sweetie and you can't have him!) Now, there is another possibility. We get down to New York City occasionally, and last time we were there we met up with a few New York members of the forum. Perhaps you can join us sometime at the Metropolitan Museum and I'll let you play with my deck. All the fun, none of the cost... G

Diana	02 Dec 2004
(My name was mentioned in connection with the name "Alain". There are two well-known "Alain"s that we talk about in the Historical section. One is Alain Bougearel who is a member of this forum who has the most fascinating theories about the Tarot of Marseilles. He is well-known and highly respected in the Tarot of Marseilles circles. Another is Alain Bocher, who is a specialist of the Tarot of Conver, and in my opinon, is one of the finest French tarologists of the 20/21st Century. If anyone wants information on his Tarot de la Réa, they are welcome to PM me and I will be pleased to help you in any way I can, as Alain Bocher and I correspond frequently, because we have some common projects, so I can transmit to him questions and comments. I would have to translate the questions/comments.)

Fulgour	02 Dec 2004
Gerbear wrote: There was an auction on ebay last month. The starting price was $75, and I was the only bidder. The seller was srkusgs, which stands for Stuart R. Kaplan, U.S. Games Systems. They've been listing quite a few enticing decks lately. I'd say this is another sign that USGames has been (all but) sold... people may have noticed lots of funny business the last year or so.

fyreflye	02 Dec 2004
-delete-

Fulgour	02 Dec 2004
I drove by USG the other day, and there were no curtains in the windows. I'll bet you can hear and echo in the warehouse.

fyreflye	02 Dec 2004
-delete-

Gerbear	02 Dec 2004
fyreflye wrote: I would think the cards are coming from Kaplan's personal collection. There's no reason for USGS to have its own collection except perhaps for tax purposes. Hopefully one day soon Gerbear and I will be bidding against each other for the Goose I Out Tarot :) I'm not sure that the cards are coming from Kaplan's personal collection. The person in charge of ebay sales, once mentioned to me that they have "tons of stuff", so I would imagine that these decks are an investment, or maybe just extras, being liquidated.

Gardener	02 Dec 2004
Gerbear, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of this deck when it arrives...

Diana	05 Dec 2004
If anyone wants a Tarot de la Réa, they can send me a PM.

Diana	10 Dec 2004
fyreflye: Unable to send you PM nor e-mail. STOP. Please provide means to contact you but no carrier pigeon as I don't know how to handle carrier pigeons. STOP. Or else no Tarot de la Réa for you. STOP. Thank you. STOP.

Scion	10 Dec 2004
Diana wrote: Unable to send you PM nor e-mail. STOP. Please provide means to contact you but no carrier pigeon as I don't know how to handle carrier pigeons. STOP. Or else no Tarot de la Réa for you. STOP. Thank you. STOP. OMG. I literally laughed out loud at that, Diana. Hilarious. You are a living expression of the Goddess on Earth. LOL The best is that I could imagine both your frustration and the pain with which fyrefly would discover having missed the opportunity. And the best part is that both spring from an elusive deck. Only the truly tarotholic would understand... Scion

truelighth	14 Dec 2004
Fulgour wrote: I'd say this is another sign that USGames has been (all but) sold... people may have noticed lots of funny business the last year or so. I don't know about this rumour of US Games being sold. What I do know is the reason behind the auctions of US Games on Ebay and the source of the decks. In 2002 I was lucky enough to attend the International Tarot Congress in Chicago. At that congress Stuart Kaplan was giving the lifetime archievement award to Frank Jensen, which he himself received 2 years earlier. Both men were asked what they planned to do with their collection in the long run, since they are not that young anymore. At this Stuart Kaplan revealed his plan to sell the decks in his collection so other people could enjoy them as well. He said the reason behind this was that too many beautiful tarots and cards are being kept behind lock and key in museums and he didn't want that to happen to his collection. So I do think these decks all come from the private collection of Stuart Kaplan or even the general collection of US Games systems. Most of the decks were features in the Encyclopedias. And the one handling the sales is Bobbie Bensaid, his personal assistent. I still don't know to this day what Frank Jensen plans to do with his collection though. I think he isn't sure either.

Scion	18 Dec 2004
Just got my Le Tarot de la Réa in the mail!!!! Wasn't expecting it for weeks and opened up the package to find it nestled in the soft gold interior of its box like an ... What a magnificent piece of Tarot!! The scans don't even come close. Thoroughly eerie and ironic and charming. The gold & silver rendering in these stark images gives everything a three-dimensional, fluid quality. I swear some of them create the illusion of movement. CANNOT wait to get to know them better. Has anyone got any advice for me about approaching this specific deck? Based on Alain's LWB, I'm going to dig out all my Language of the Birds references from my comparative religion days. And I noticed that Alain attributes the elements differently (Clubs:earth; Coins:fire) and not sure how best to internalize that. Suggestions? Please point me in a direction... Yowza! Scion

Diana	19 Dec 2004
Scion wrote: Based on Alain's LWB, I'm going to dig out all my Language of the Birds references from my comparative religion days. And I noticed that Alain attributes the elements differently (Clubs:earth; Coins:fire) and not sure how best to internalize that. Suggestions? Please point me in a direction... The best direction would probably be Bocher himself... I always think that the deck designers are those that should be approached first when one has questions about their decks. They are the masters. Students often go beyond their masters and become masters themselves, but first they must be students before reaching that stage. As usual, I am always willing to do any translating if it is necessary. If the translation is to be made public here, I would require his permission first though.

Scion	19 Dec 2004
LOL I had a feeling you'd say that, Diana! I just don't want to hassle Alain, especially since i have no French at all. BUt I will perhaps keep that option in reserve for any "big" questions that might come up. I've already gone through the LWB a few times, just to get a sense of his logic/feelings. I was thinking more of reading to do that would shake things loose as I explore the deck. But I take your point. :) Scion

The Le Tarot de la Réa by Alain Bocher thread was originally posted on 01 Dec 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.