"Those Cards"

Laura Borealis said:

Or a just lady flexing her biceps is good too. I'd totally dig a tarot with a Rosie the Riveter style Strength!

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O_O

Ok, so just an aside, but..... I just totally had a lightning flash to an tarot made completely out of WWII propaganda style posters. I have always loved that 'style' of artwork and to see that incorporated into a tarot deck would be amazing. I think there's enough imagery out there from all sides...even if you had to create some original artwork in the style for certain cards. Artists!!!??? Unfortunately I can't draw a straight line with a ruler lol

On the flip side, so that the post isn't completely off topic I agree with what some people have said earlier about the pip cards. I don't do well with decks where the minor arcana cards don't really depict anything going on. Some decks it works...and other decks it just feels like a cop-out

DEATH, death is my one true make or break card. It needs to be titled Death or just have the number. It should probably be skeletal, though that's not exactly *required*. And if Death is gendered, I prefer him male, but that isn't a strict requirement, either. I can't abide a deck with a fluffy Death card. "Rebirth" or whatever on a Death card is off putting to me.

A cute cartoony skull Death is fine if the rest of the deck is like that.

I also pay special attention to the Fool and the Magician. A really good Moon and Star in a deck will make up for other flaws. I check out the Queen of Swords, too, usually. But Death is the big one.

I like pip decks, but in a deck with illustrated minors I'm partial to variants on the RWS 3 of Swords. My ideal deck would probably be a pip deck that just happened to have that card illustrated.

I don't think I have a deck with the animal on Strength being killed, but I totally agree that it would be a bummer and keep me from fully connecting with the deck.

Oh, wow, I just clicked the link to the "mean to animals" example of Strength and UGH, new standard for me: no cruelty to dogs.

Hah--I once passed up a cat deck because the Strength card was a cat pushing down a dog and I didn't like it.

My "Those Cards" are:

Death
Devil
The Star
High Priestess
Hierophant
Empress
The Moon
Queens
Aces

I often find myself checking out the Fool. Maybe because it's the first card in the deck, it seems to set the tone for everything that comes after. IDK. It's not even one of my favorite cards, either.

The cards that I DO need to see are the Moon and the High Priestess. I also usually take a look at the Magician. And I also check out all those cards that I hate getting in a reading -- Death, the Devil, the Tower.

In the Minors I usually take a look at the Ace of Wands (especially in non-illustrated decks), and the 8 of Cups. I usually check out the whole Swords suit too, especially the Queen, the 10, the 9, and the 4.

Star, lovers, death, devil and court cards.
Just as an aside, I dearly loved my Morgan Greer deck until I noticed that a good proportion of the men look like 70s porn stars. The hippies in there, I can cope with, but the porn stars just put me off now

Fizzgig said:

Star, lovers, death, devil and court cards.
Just as an aside, I dearly loved my Morgan Greer deck until I noticed that a good proportion of the men look like 70s porn stars. The hippies in there, I can cope with, but the porn stars just put me off now

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Lololol. I'm so glad you said that. The reason I've never taken to Morgan Greer is precisely that.

Aaaand, to keep this post on topic: I have to be certain the magician does not look like a 70s porn star.

dannyboy8406 said:

So, I'm pretty sure everyone here is in the same boat. When you look at a deck and consider adding it to your collection....you may look at the overall artwork, but we all have "those cards" that we look at which can make or break a deck for us.

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Actually ... I'm not sure I do.

Well...

Those cards:
The Hermit
Justice
The Star
The Court cards, especially the page of swords, he is so sly and cheeky. Always has something under his sleeve.
Unillustrated pips.

No specific card makes or breaks my decks any more (If I got over the Fool in the Gilded looking like George Bush I can get over anything. I grew to love that humour. Besides the Magician totally made up for it).

The overall theme of it is what I go by, however the cards I prefer to be wonderful are:

The Magician
The Hermit
The High Priestess
The Moon