Deck predicts its own defect!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

elysgrl	09 May 2005
Well, maybe, maybe not.....but you gotta admit, this is a little freaky. Yesterday, I went to Borders to buy myself a Mother's Day gift--the Tarot of Prague deck and book set that's been beckoning to me from their shelf for a couple weeks now. I wanted it so bad, and I was finally getting it! I purchased my prize and made a beeline to the cafe so I could immediately get my hot little hands on those cards. I ripped off the shrinkwrap, lovingly untied the gold ribbon, and began slooooowly going through the deck, savoring each sublime detail. Ahhhhh, they were so beautiful. Then, a little frisson of foreboding: the Tower was reversed. I quickly scanned the rest of the deck to see if that was true of any others, but no, the Tower was the only one. Hmm, strange. But I tried to put it out of my mind and resumed my foreplay. I made it through all the majors and three of the suits. When I got to the place where the Ace of Pentacles was supposed to be, there was instead a second Page of Swords. I frantically fanned out the remaining cards to search for my Ace, but it wasn't there! "Damn!" I said it out loud, and people turned to stare. I quickly gathered everything up and headed to customer service, but I had a sinking feeling. The set had been the only one on the shelf. And sure enough, they confirmed my worst fear--my replacement will take a week or more. O, cruel fate! To place those cards into my hands and then callously rip them away! As I slunk dejectedly back into the cafe to finish my soda, I remembered the Tower. Had the deck tried to warn me I was in for a nasty surprise? Yet another tarot mystery....... Denise P.S. If the Tower is reversed in ALL Tarot of Prague decks, don't spoil my fun by telling me. :)

SphinYote	09 May 2005
hmmm, now I have to look more closely at my copy...just in case. I've been waiting until the end of the semester to look at it carefully, so I actually have time to enjoy it. But now you've gone and frightened me...;)

mike gorth	09 May 2005
Wow... That's really weird. I don't think that happens that often for a card to be reversed and and card replaced. In my hanson-roberts I thought I had a misprint because judgement was spelled judgment. I've never seen it before. I got the dictionary out but to no avail. Oh well. I would love to have a misprint. I would have kept that deck you had and ordered another. Those sorts of decks are loved by enthusiasts all over the world. Oh well.

Annabelle	09 May 2005
Elysgrl, that's just awful! I hope that you get your replacement deck very, very soon and that all the cards are there in the new deck. It is strange that your Tower card was reversed...when I bought my copy, the none of the cards were reversed and all the cards were there. Hope you enjoy your Prague deck once your replacement arrives...I've certainly enjoyed mine. It's my absolute favorite :).

Tabby	09 May 2005
When I first got my RW deck I really didn't pay attention to those type of things. It wasn't until years later when I had decided to go through the deck and put my cards in order that I noticed I had a 2 of Pentacles missing. I think I had read a thread on here about cleansing your decks and that was when I found out my old RW deck had a card MIA. I still have the deck.

Grizabella	09 May 2005
Mike, the correct spelling of it really is judgment without the "e".

baba-prague	09 May 2005
Lyric wrote: Mike, the correct spelling of it really is judgment without the "e". No, both spellings are correct - we've been around this one before :-) . If you look up something like the Oxford English Dictionary you'll find that both are correct alternatives - basically in English English "judgement" is more commonly used, in American English "judgment" is more common - but either is actually correct. Hope that clears this up! (ps and yes, we will use "judgement" again in the new deck - I'm Irish and it's the spelling I'm more used to.)

baba-prague	09 May 2005
elysgrl wrote: Well, maybe, maybe not.....but you gotta admit, this is a little freaky. Yesterday, I went to Borders to buy myself a Mother's Day gift--the Tarot of Prague deck and book set that's been beckoning to me from their shelf for a couple weeks now. I wanted it so bad, and I was finally getting it! were so beautiful. Then, a little frisson of foreboding: the Tower was reversed. I quickly scanned the rest of the deck to see if that was true of any others, but no, the Tower was the only one. Hmm, strange. But I tried to put it out of my mind and resumed my foreplay. I quickly gathered everything up and headed to customer service, but I had a sinking feeling. The set had been the only one on the shelf. And sure enough, they confirmed my worst fear--my replacement will take a week or more. O, cruel fate! To place those cards into my hands and then callously rip them away! As I slunk dejectedly back into the cafe to finish my soda, I remembered the Tower. Had the deck tried to warn me I was in for a nasty surprise? Yet another tarot mystery....... Denise P.S. If the Tower is reversed in ALL Tarot of Prague decks, don't spoil my fun by telling me. :) Hmm, this deck is really odd at times - I wonder what on earth a reversed Tower was about? Interesting story - and the first I've heard of a reversed card (although the packing is done by hand not machine, so probably someone's hand slipped?) However, if there was a card missing, no problem, we will ALWAYS replace any missing card - it's been pretty rare in this deck but we always keep spares just in case - and send direct to anyone missing a card :-) I'm sorry you are having to wait. Please pm me if you'd like to - even if it's too late to send a replacement card, we can send something as a compensation (not another reversed Tower though, I promise!)

elysgrl	09 May 2005
baba-prague wrote: Hmm, this deck is really odd at times - I wonder what on earth a reversed Tower was about? Interesting story - and the first I've heard of a reversed card (although the packing is done by hand not machine, so probably someone's hand slipped?) However, if there was a card missing, no problem, we will ALWAYS replace any missing card - it's been pretty rare in this deck but we always keep spares just in case - and send direct to anyone missing a card :-) I'm sorry you are having to wait. Please pm me if you'd like to - even if it's too late to send a replacement card, we can send something as a compensation (not another reversed Tower though, I promise!) Wow! I guess I haven't been around long enough to realize the creator of this gorgeous deck is a member of this community. Thank you so much for responding, and for your offer. But--truth be told--I exaggerated my pain and suffering a teensy bit for humorous effect. :) I think I'll survive the week after all. It's very reassuring to know the decks are hand-packed. I was kind of worried that it was a machine-induced, whole batch kind of thing. Now I can be reasonably certain that my new one will be intact. If it's not, I'll probably keep it and take you up on your offer. Thanks again (and thank you for creating such a beautiful piece of art!) Blessings, Denise

Ace	09 May 2005
baba-prague wrote: Hmm, this deck is really odd at times - I wonder what on earth a reversed Tower was about? Interesting story - and the first I've heard of a reversed card (although the packing is done by hand not machine, so probably someone's hand slipped?) I don't own a copy of the TOP yet, but in GENERAL: Tower reversed is let down. which missing a card is! That is NOT to say, they packed this deck KNOWING that a card was missing, but maybe their hands knew what their brain didn't realize and TRIED to tell the packer.... Anyway, you work with Talented people Baba Prague! Ace

closrapexa	12 May 2005
The Tower is a card that is most noticeable, and missing it, or it being reversed would be one of the things that you would notice right away. Perhaps, if the Tower were not reversed, then you would not think to check about any of the other cards. Bit it was, and you did. I'd take it as a good sign, that you are in tune with your new deck even before you got it! Always a bummer though... Good luck when you do start using it though!

elysgrl	13 May 2005
**Update!! My replacement deck is here, and all cards are present, accounted for and upright! Denise

SunChariot	13 May 2005
Sorry about your disappointment, but yes I totally believe that, that the deck was warning you something was wrong. I think the universe does give us those kinds of messages when there is an action to take, like exchanging the deck. And I love that when it happens, I find it beautiful. Bar

Sulis	13 May 2005
elysgrl wrote: My replacement deck is here, and all cards are present, accounted for and upright! Hurray for you. I have the ToP and although it's not a deck that I use that often, when I get it out and use it I'm always quite amazed at the different insights I'll get from it. I may have to go and get it out now :) Enjoy your deck, it's lovely. Love Sulis xx

The Deck predicts its own defect! thread was originally posted on 09 May 2005 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.