universal wirth from Lo Scarabeo

I like the art style, so I hope no one will accuse me of being a purist...

HOWEVER, is it just me or does the artwork not correspond to Wirth's own description of the card in his The Tarot of the Magicians? Wirth writes that the liquid of the golden vessel is a "burning liquid to give life to the stagnant water" (hence, I assume, the steam rising from the water on my De L'Aigle edition of the deck). He describes the vegetation as "a branch of acacia" - and connects it with the legend of Hiram - and "a rose in bloom". He describes the stars as "pale before the brilliance of one of them, Lucifer, the Light-bearer, [... which] sends forth green lights between its eight golden rays". The smallest of the blue stars, according to him, is "exactly above the head of the naked girl". Etc, etc.

Is this what LoScarabeo means by "restoring and reconstructing the Major Arcana"? I really don't understand why they didn't follow Wirth's own descriptions of the cards...

Thanks for posting though, Frelkins - I AM still curious to see more!

Spoon

frelkins said:

yes, the pix i have are only the foregrounds. they are from early july.

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Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

spoonbender said:

Is this what LoScarabeo means by "restoring and reconstructing the Major Arcana"? I really don't understand why they didn't follow Wirth's own descriptions of the cards...

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I really don't think LS is interested in restoring or reconstructing Wirth's deck. All you have to do is take one look and see that it's an artist's reinterpretation and redrawing. So if someone is looking for a faithful reproduction they won't find it here, but hopefully it will turn out to be a nice deck all the same.

The L'Aigle version is the best reproduction I've seen and I feel fortunate to have been able to get one. Thanks for posting that info from Wirth's book. I have it but haven't gotten around to reading it. You're right, everything from the book matches up with the L'Aigle card exactly.

Abrac said:

I really don't think LS is interested in restoring or reconstructing Wirth's deck.

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Well, I was quoting the LS catalogue, so apparently they are...

Abrac said:

You're right, everything from the book matches up with the L'Aigle card exactly.

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Yeah, the De L'Aigle edition is great. Not everything matches up exactly though - Lucifer or Venus should be the most brilliant of the stars and should send out green lights according to Wirth's description. You see, the more I think about it, the more I think it is SUCH a missed opportunity that LS didn't decide to follow Wirth's own vision. You'd think that'd have been the starting point, but maybe they just hired the artist to copy an existing Wirth deck but to make things prettier. It's a real pity.

We just completed the deck in the rush hours just before we closed down for holiday.

I must admit that as I staretd working on the deck very late in the production process I was sort of disappointed from the minors. Anyway I'll try to convey a little of my feeling for the deck. I hope, however, if I have time to try to stretch the discussion from the deck "per se" to a wider consideration.

Stefano Palumbo does not have any direct experience of Wirth writings. All the symbolic consideration were dealt to him by Giordano Berti. As I understand it was quite important not just to “copy” but to try to give Stefano some angle in which to express himself. In my experience, if You don’t give the artist a way to speak, the best you can hope for is a cold and lifeless deck. This was however a problem with the Wirth project. Ayway my ignorance of Wirth symbology is impressive so I can’t in any way judge the quality of the deck. I must say that most majors have bene redone, and some up to three times before the final card was done. As for the style Stefano has an angular way of drawing with clear lines: very neat, very precise. I personally think it misses, at least a bit, the auratic, statuary feeling a deck such as this should possess.
I found the Minors to have changed since the first concept of the deck. The idea was originally to expand the Wirth philosophy and deck symbolism to the minors. What was done, however, was to use on the minor the symbolic descriptions of Wirth contemporary Picard (I had a wild hope he was called Jean Luc but alas…). The deck, I think, is solid and homogeneous. I would have preferred, however, the more daring (and possibly totally wrong) original direction.

All of this said… I’m not talking anymnore of the deck, but I would like to share a few consideration on the broader subject of “esoteric decks”.
When we talk Wirth (but it’s the same with all turn of the century authors) we usually find ourselves before a very different deck than we are used to. While the deck was conceived as a divination tool and in a way as a meditation tool, it was quite different.
At the base of each deck there was a philosophical – often very complex – map of reality. A map where magic had its place but that was probably very rational (we must be prepared to admit all the implications, for instance, that the huge work of the Golden Dawn was very well embedded into the positivism cultural movement). The deck itself was an expression of that map… and very often a graphical representation of the nodes.
My question is “how can we use a deck like that, when we do not share the map?”. That’s maybe just me, but I disagree fully with most philosophical representation of my reality, as done over 100 years ago. I don’t believe in the Magician, for instance… a man strong and brave enough to dominate the Universe. And yet, at the same time, I can only admire the delicate precision and the indepth expression of such decks…
But still, I am quite unsure on how to use them. And, every time I work on a new deck, I still ask myself if it would be necessary to express/propose a particular philosophical take, and than map it through the Tarot, or just work with intuition decks… soft variables, flowing expressions.

All the best, I return to my holiday.

ric

spoonbender said:

Well, I was quoting the LS catalogue, so apparently they are...

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Right, that's what they say, but...

RiccardoLS said:

But still, I am quite unsure on how to use them. And, every time I work on a new deck, I still ask myself if it would be necessary to express/propose a particular philosophical take, and than map it through the Tarot, or just work with intuition decks… soft variables, flowing expressions.

All the best, I return to my holiday.

ric

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First ric I am so glad to see you back! We have missed you so! I find your comments above to be incredibly thought-provoking. I still would love someday to hear more about how you personally read tarot. Enjoy your holiday and come back to tell us more, please!

About the Wirth minors and Picard's work.

Hello Ricacrdo,

I think that the autor you've choose for the Wirth minors is probably "Eudes Picard", who did extensive search in the ealy 1900 about tarot minors. (Jean-Luc Picard is a fashion designer by the way.)

Here's a very compelte link to his works here <http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=60038&page=2&pp=10>
and pics of all his cards.

I'am a little sad that you did'nt go with the first options, Wirth symbolism minors, as I am very found of his works, and was dreaming of a full deck... But anyhow, I am sure that I'll enjoy very much your coming deck.

Hope it wont be delayed as much as the Botticelli (gee the ships sail slowly for the US... )

Thanks very much for your insight and informations, they're always so interesting... And it is great to know how things are working from the inside.

Take care

It seems really beautiful.. I hope for some more scans.. I think it's going to be on my wishlist .. Where will I find the money???

Lexie said:

I hope for some more scans..

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Me too! A little while ago I asked Frelkins if she could share more images with us, but she never replied.

I really like the art style - plus, I want to see how the cards hold up when compared with Wirth's Tarot of the Magicians!

Spoon