Pros and Cons Thread #3 - Enabling and De-Enabling

Carojulie

I'm aware of the older edition, The Swedish Witch Tarot. Unfortunately it's not available to me and might be even rarer than the Jolanda, but I'm not sure, haven't really looked around that much but it hasn't got any listings on the aeclectic page so it's probably not cheap and easy to find I guess. The webshop only has Jolanda.

I get what you mean about the 2 of wands having the conflict. I have The Halloween tarot and there is some element of conflict there too, with the big vegetable man having to hold the two fighting imps away from each other. That one is mostly RWS derived but the fighting imps doesn't remind me too much of the RWS image. I sort of get it as conflicting ideas that you have to take charge of and control.

There is a book for the deck though and I can read Swedish ok so if I get really stumped by the images I'll get that to go with it. I'm very fond of the RWS but I'm slowly branching out to learn other stuff as well as being very curious about the Thoth recently so I think I'll be ok. Thanks for your input :D

In that case I think you will like it, I would say go for it ! The art is charming, and the new take on some cards brings a lot to think about.
I would love to have a book to go with it. I am not usually into companion books, unless I dont understand certain cards and the book can help me see what the artist had in mind, or when the book has a lot of extra stuff to bring ( like the companion book for the Baroque Bohemian Cats which tells us all about each kitty that has posed for the photgraphs, and where in Prague the photos were taken ! Or the companion book for the Fairy tale tarot wich contains each fairy tale and how it corresponds to each card...)
For the Jolanda tarot, for me at least a companion book would have been great to help me understand why such card has been drawn in such way. But I dont have it. If you can read it in sweedish, I would really recommand it to go with the deck !
Hope you enjoy your Jolanda :) !
 

lantana

Silhouettes Tarot

I'm interested in hearing thoughts on the Silhouettes Tarot. It's sold out now, but there might be a third edition and I'm wondering if I should keep an eye out or not. How does it read? Is the art style and colors distracting, or do they add depth to the reading?

(The last thing I need is another expensive deck on my wishlist but uh, oops.)
 

Nemia

Ha ha, you asked for it, Georges Dandin ;-)

I LOVE the Silhouettes tarot. I ordered it because I was fascinated by it; I love silhouettes as an art form of the 18th, 19th century, Jewish folklore papercuts and silhouette animations of the early 20th century. So it was obvious I had to get that deck.

I was not sure I'd like the many cute critters though. I was afraid that this was just a gimmick deck, a bit twee, a bit naff, I really felt mixed about it.

And then it arrived. And I started reading with it. And I felt WOW.

This deck reads like a dream. I have the second borderless edition. You need no complex spread. Just put the cards next to each other and voila, you have a storyboard. The cards melt into each other. I swear those critters wander from card to card!

You just see before your eyes the expressive, beautifully coloured and designed backgrounds with their strong atmosphere - and those silhouette actors - they enact a drama that you understand. The run, jump, fall down, look at each other, I sound crazy and certainly am, but this deck is the most alive I have. Others try to do what this one does - storytelling decks.

I love my esoteric-symbolic-abstract-erudite decks, I do. But I can't say that I love my narrative-intuitive-expressive decks any less. And this one just works for me.

I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone, I'm strictly speaking about myself. The cuteness overload doesn't disturb me at all - it draws me in and the deck sends those cute little things into heat and cold, danger and thorns, it doesn't shy back from pain and loneliness and quiet despair.

I did readings for teenagers with it who actually just wanted to see that this tarot tic is nothing at all. And the cards were just wonderful with them. Told them what they needed to know, in a language they understood. They were quite astonished.

There is no reason not to recommend this deck. Oh, it's so kind and honest in readings that I do my shadow work with it. And my shadows are horrible things.

Sorry for the anthropomorphisms, but this deck really comes alive at night. Oh and also by day.
 

Citrin

I'm interested in hearing thoughts on the Silhouettes Tarot. It's sold out now, but there might be a third edition and I'm wondering if I should keep an eye out or not. How does it read? Is the art style and colors distracting, or do they add depth to the reading?

(The last thing I need is another expensive deck on my wishlist but uh, oops.)

Pros:
Very unique, sticks out in the collection.
Fun to look at, you can really find new little symbols and stuff going on in each card if you sit with it.
Beautiful colors!

Cons:
Quite busy, so for me it doesn't work too well in bigger spreads, just confuses my mind.
Ok, weird con, but for some reason I very rarely feel like using this one... I look at it and go "Nah, next time maybe"...
Some cards are a bit hard to make out what is really going on in the image.

Just my thought haha... But honestly, I would kind of say go for it, because it IS really unique and special and probably won't be mass-produced so might be too late in a year or so.
 

Carojulie

Ha ha, you asked for it, Georges Dandin ;-)

I LOVE the Silhouettes tarot. I ordered it because I was fascinated by it; I love silhouettes as an art form of the 18th, 19th century, Jewish folklore papercuts and silhouette animations of the early 20th century. So it was obvious I had to get that deck.

I was not sure I'd like the many cute critters though. I was afraid that this was just a gimmick deck, a bit twee, a bit naff, I really felt mixed about it.

And then it arrived. And I started reading with it. And I felt WOW.

This deck reads like a dream. I have the second borderless edition. You need no complex spread. Just put the cards next to each other and voila, you have a storyboard. The cards melt into each other. I swear those critters wander from card to card!

You just see before your eyes the expressive, beautifully coloured and designed backgrounds with their strong atmosphere - and those silhouette actors - they enact a drama that you understand. The run, jump, fall down, look at each other, I sound crazy and certainly am, but this deck is the most alive I have. Others try to do what this one does - storytelling decks.

I love my esoteric-symbolic-abstract-erudite decks, I do. But I can't say that I love my narrative-intuitive-expressive decks any less. And this one just works for me.

I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone, I'm strictly speaking about myself. The cuteness overload doesn't disturb me at all - it draws me in and the deck sends those cute little things into heat and cold, danger and thorns, it doesn't shy back from pain and loneliness and quiet despair.

I did readings for teenagers with it who actually just wanted to see that this tarot tic is nothing at all. And the cards were just wonderful with them. Told them what they needed to know, in a language they understood. They were quite astonished.

There is no reason not to recommend this deck. Oh, it's so kind and honest in readings that I do my shadow work with it. And my shadows are horrible things.

Sorry for the anthropomorphisms, but this deck really comes alive at night. Oh and also by day.

Oh la la Nemia, you are the Queen of Enablers !
Here is a deck that I have never been even remotely interested in, that I have seen images of and that never, ever appealed to me.... and the way you describe it, it almost gave me second thoughts !
To the point that I had to go and search Google images to see the deck and see for myself what you meant ! Ah ! The deck is still not my cup of tea, and also I already have many hot decks on my wishlist and too little budget to devote to new decks, so the Silhouette will still not be on my wish list (even if, as Citrin justly says, it will probably no get mass marketed and will soon be nearly impossible to find - the sort of steel argument that can weigh the balance in favour of unreasonable spending)
But I really have to give credits to your wonderful prose and the passionate way you describe this deck ! I bet you have enabled other members, and rightly so ! Because if this deck is capable of inspiring you this beautiful post, it deserves to get loved and get adopted by fellow readers !
Cheers :)
 

Nemia

This deck surprised me and I give it credit ;-) And the first victim of my enabling talents is always my own bank account *cough cough*
 

lantana

Nemia, I should have known you'd come to enable me on this one! "Storytelling deck" got me, the Prisma Visions is similar for me and I've been itching for more decks that do the same. I was a little worried about the cuteness but you're right, it's balanced out by thorns and strong emotions (that 10 of swords!) and hey, nothing wrong with having a cutesy deck or two in the collection.

Cons:
Quite busy, so for me it doesn't work too well in bigger spreads, just confuses my mind.
Ok, weird con, but for some reason I very rarely feel like using this one... I look at it and go "Nah, next time maybe"...
Some cards are a bit hard to make out what is really going on in the image.

Just my thought haha... But honestly, I would kind of say go for it, because it IS really unique and special and probably won't be mass-produced so might be too late in a year or so.

The busy-ness was something I was worried about. Most cards are fine, but some majors are just all over the place. I'm hoping that maybe the 3rd edition will have some tweaks to help make a few cards a little less busy.

Still, I think I'm going to go for the 3rd edition when it comes out. Or see if I like the artists new decks better (since they seem to be the same style). You're right Citrin, the 3rd edition will probably be the last one and I don't see a publisher picking it up in the future. Enabled :thumbsup:
 

BeyondtheVeil

Sun and Moon Tarot

I've started a thread to get some info on the Sun and Moon Tarot.
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=275856

What can you guys tell me about it? I would like to be enabled, but if it has some cons.. I should know that before order also. lol

Thanks loves! :heart:
BeyondtheVeil
 

EmpyreanKnight

Lost Tarot of Nostradamus

For the first time in quite a while, I find myself stumped regarding a deck I'm interested in.

Has anyone here worked with the Lost Tarot of Nostradamus deck and book set? How was it?