Can you please help identify this tarot for me ?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Adam McLean	21 Apr 2005
I recently obtained a tarot deck but despite much searching through Aeclectic, Tarot garden and other sites, I have not been able to identify it. I have scanned in a few images and put them on this page http://www.alchemywebsite.com/my_mystery_tarot.jpg If you can help, I would be most grateful. I am sure it is not a very obscure one, as it is in the Rider/Waite style and the pip cards have no imagery. The Magician card with its mermaid magician is quite unusual.

Little Baron	21 Apr 2005
Welcome Adam I havn't seen this one before - like you, will be intested to find out what it is. How did you come about getting it? LB

Elven	21 Apr 2005
Hi Adam, I like the look of those cards! I like the Fool balancing on the balls, its a good representation of those slipery slidey first steps. The female magician is very 'magical'. Not that any of that helps because I dont know the deck, but I'll keep an eye on the posts to find out as well. Good Luck Blessings Elven x

Kissa	21 Apr 2005
hi Adam! could you post a scan of the backs as well? is there any super tiny copyright note somewhere on the cards (usually bottom right side)? the army of tarot detectives is marching... kissa

Adam McLean	21 Apr 2005
There does not appear to be a copyright notice on any of the cards. The backs are grey with a cross-hatched pattern.

Clau	21 Apr 2005
That King of pentacles looks super funny..kinda cross dresser doesn't he? LOL Clau

Adam McLean	21 Apr 2005
Yes most of the figures seem feminised, certainly androgynous at the very least. All the human figures have long hair, and there are a number of mermaid forms. I may be wrong but I have the impression that this deck in some way reflects a concern with the 1960's/ 1970's alternative lifestyle, though the actual cards are too fresh and unrubbed to actually date from that period. The Death card has what might be 'magic mushrooms' on the ground below the horses hooves.

TallTarotGuy	21 Apr 2005
It's The Element Tarot by David Bourne and Staci Mendoza I picked up this deck/book set a long time ago, for pretty cheap. I don't read with it, but I thought the cards were kinda funky (in a good way). I think the authors even have a website, if memory serves me correctly. If you do a web search, you should be able to find it. Congrats on your new deck! TTG

Adam McLean	21 Apr 2005
Thanks for identifying this for me. I just checked the images for the element Tarot on the aeclectic web site and can see these are the same images but different drawings. So it is a different edition of this deck. Thanks to all for your helpful and insightful suggestions.

Sulis	21 Apr 2005
Adam, your deck looks like an earlier edition of the Element Tarot. Why not ask the people who made the deck when it was published. It looks very '70s.

truelighth	21 Apr 2005
Sulis wrote: Adam, your deck looks like an earlier edition of the Element Tarot. Why not ask the people who made the deck when it was published. It looks very '70s. There was an earlier edition of this deck. I had it myself and it wasn't called Element Tarot. It came in a box with some esoterical looking book on the top, like a kind of cheap gift set. I have seen images before on Aeclectic of the deck as the unnamed Tarot. But since it got a name now, that link is not there anymore. So yes, it is very possible that Adam has an earlier edition of the deck. They do exist.

Adam McLean	21 Apr 2005
Sulis, Yes it is on their own web site and there described as their concept deck. See http://www3.mistral.co.uk/darkihbis/wotab/ourbooks.htm Note that they are working on a new tarot deck called the Visage tarot and include some examples of the cards. Most of the figures in these Visage cards seem to fix the viewer with a strong direct gaze. I will definitely want to buy a copy of that deck when it becomes available.

gregory	14 May 2005
I bought it very cheap in a remainder store in 2000 - it then called itself Mysteries of the Tarot and was published by Anness Publishing. Cost me less than £5 - and the images are the same as the later edition but seem to have been very badly printed (looks like a ghastly mistake I made once while using Photoshop !) so they were squashed sideways....

DavidB	25 May 2005
Hey Guys, I see you have all been discussing our first Tarot deck we did for Anness publishing. The truth be known they did a complete hatchet job on it, it was printed in heaven knows were in Asia somewhere, we completed the deck in RGB and they then decided they wanted it in CMYK as well as in a different size hence the squashed look. But anyway we find it a little embarassing because of the mess they made of it so please forgive us. Our next deck The Element Tarot was what it should have been like, but our third deck which we are presently waiting to hear back from three publishers about, turned out really well, we will be posting more examples on our web site very soon so if you wanna see more of it now its finished keep an eye out via the url posted a couple of messages ago. Take Care David B

gregory	26 May 2005
You're OK - it was obvious it was a print foul up, and I at least also have the "proper" version. Shall watch for your new deck !

The Can you please help identify this tarot for me ? thread was originally posted on 21 Apr 2005 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.