How Do You Like Your Pips?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

DollChica	01 Feb 2003
I prefer non-illustrated. It's to the point now where illustrated pips no longer look right to me.

Trogon	01 Feb 2003
Ummm... barbecued? :D Actually... I definitely prefer illustraded minors. But that may be because I could never get along with my first Marseilles deck - traded it off by they way. ;)

jmd	01 Feb 2003
I prefer mine illustrated with the correct number of implements, without the addition of scenic illustrations.... I suppose this would be classified as non-illustrated in this poll - & so had to vote accordingly ;)

Macavity	02 Feb 2003
Hmmm - Am I a now "Bah who cares"? :D Having also just started with Clive Barrett's AE "Thoth-alike": I remark: "There's illustrated... and there's ILLUSTRATED"? ;) He even reverses a few "Crowleyisms" too... Heheh }) Oh Joy! Macavity (Who can now SEE and remember "Lord of Dominion" etc. - For a change! :))

Aoife	02 Feb 2003
I'm coming to the point of occasional irritation with pictures but I still need prompts. I suppose what I like best are 'moody minors' as discussed in a recent thread of the same name.

Baneemy	02 Feb 2003
I like so-called "unillustrated" pips (Marseilles style) best. I also like purely scenic pips, a la Whimsical and Osho Zen. What I definitely don't like is the RWS style, which tries to include the proper number of implements and a scene. The implements get in the way of the scene, more often than not, and the scene obscures the basic geometry of the Marseilles-style pips. -Baneemy

Page	02 Feb 2003
I like both illustrated and unillustrated I do prefer illustrated but now I have changed my mind.:confused: I think it also depends on the design e.g the deck that I'm working on has unillustrated pips because it would look too over crowded. If I had a picture scene for each card it would be a over kill! I picked illustrated but I should of voted for who cares. :confused: :D

WolfSpirit	02 Feb 2003
I voted illustrated, I only have one deck with non-illustrated pips and that is the Merlin, and I find the pips on that one very ugly. I will try non-illustrated some time and get me a deck with those that I like; sometimes I get annoyed by the illustrated because they suggest too much (for example the often discussed 10 of swords with someone pierced by 10 swords), but I still prefer them at the moment because I find them the easiest to read.

Osher	07 Feb 2003
I went with illustrated, because, even when I read non-illustrated, I find myself, in my minds eye, seeing the illustrated deck.

Minos	07 Feb 2003
I like semi-illustrated, as in Thoth. I find the judicious use of color and geometry conveys the basic idea more effectively than the sometimes over-cute RWS-style scenes. When I read with unillustrated pips, I find myself "translating into Thoth", which is a bit irritating.

scheherazade	07 Feb 2003
I'm completely risking sounding like a dunce here, but I've never been completely sure of what pips are. I think they're the minor arcana... but I've gotten that from context clues. What are they?

jmd	08 Feb 2003
The pip cards are the ace to ten of the four suits (ie, the minor Arcana without the court cards). And by the way, no questions are dunce-like (unless you mean 'dunce' in reference to its namesake, the highly distinguished and intelligent Duns Scotus)

The How Do You Like Your Pips? thread was originally posted on 01 Feb 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.