firefrost
Le Fanu said:And even if you don't like vampires, go for it! Go for it whatever, it's fantastic! There's no excuse not to buy it!
I looked at the book recommended by Asher - but it's expensive
My thoughts on the Vampire Tarot by Robert Place
I looked at the book recommended by Asher - but it's expensive
Hedera
I kept going back and forth on this deck, sometimes really liking it and sometimes not...
So I ended up ordering it, just to be able to finally make up my mind.
I think one of the things I like about it, is that it doesn't try to be a RWS-clone; cards are named for what they depict (The Count, The Three Brides, The Madman etc) rather than for their RWS equivalent.
I would have had a problem with the Madman card if it had been called 'The Hanged Man' - but this way, I think (I hope) I'll be able to read with it.
I'm definitely going to round the corners (I've owned decks with pointy corners before, it's just not practical; they get damaged when you shuffle, for one thing) and I might trim the deck as well - I am not very partial to large decks.
But, with the thick cardstock, it sounds like it would be heavy going, so we'll see.
In happy anticipation of the deck, I'm now re-reading Stoker's Dracula (a very cheap edition, picked up second-hand in Oxford years ago), and I'm pleasantly surprised at how fresh and modern the book sounds!
Most of the movies tend to be quite... darkly melodramatic, perhaps, but the book is much less so. It reads like a surprisingly modern work of fiction.
Even though the decks are very different in both style and subject matter, I somehow keep wanting to compare it in my head to the Bohemian Gothic.
Like they're very different (distant) relatives of the same family.
And, oddly enough, the Halloween as well.
So I ended up ordering it, just to be able to finally make up my mind.
I think one of the things I like about it, is that it doesn't try to be a RWS-clone; cards are named for what they depict (The Count, The Three Brides, The Madman etc) rather than for their RWS equivalent.
I would have had a problem with the Madman card if it had been called 'The Hanged Man' - but this way, I think (I hope) I'll be able to read with it.
I'm definitely going to round the corners (I've owned decks with pointy corners before, it's just not practical; they get damaged when you shuffle, for one thing) and I might trim the deck as well - I am not very partial to large decks.
But, with the thick cardstock, it sounds like it would be heavy going, so we'll see.
In happy anticipation of the deck, I'm now re-reading Stoker's Dracula (a very cheap edition, picked up second-hand in Oxford years ago), and I'm pleasantly surprised at how fresh and modern the book sounds!
Most of the movies tend to be quite... darkly melodramatic, perhaps, but the book is much less so. It reads like a surprisingly modern work of fiction.
Even though the decks are very different in both style and subject matter, I somehow keep wanting to compare it in my head to the Bohemian Gothic.
Like they're very different (distant) relatives of the same family.
And, oddly enough, the Halloween as well.
firefrost
I agree about the difference in the cards, Hedera. We're learning a whole new system.
As for other 'dark' decks, I've owned the Bohemian Gothic and Vargo Gothic a long time and always said I couldn't read with them. Now I'm not so sure...
Let us know when you get it!
By the way - I trimmed mine a few weeks ago - and parts of my cutting thumb are still numb!
As for other 'dark' decks, I've owned the Bohemian Gothic and Vargo Gothic a long time and always said I couldn't read with them. Now I'm not so sure...
Let us know when you get it!
By the way - I trimmed mine a few weeks ago - and parts of my cutting thumb are still numb!
firefrost
Hedera
firefrost said:
And it looks like a valid system in itself - not the vague hodge-podge that some decks are.
I couldn't read with the Vargo - too many cards were just rather bland to me, plenty of blood & skulls & gloominess but not enough symbolism.
(on the other hand, it's been years since I've tried, I might see things differently now)
The Bohemian Gothic reads beautifully for me, but so far I've only used it for one or two daily cards - I could see myself using it for a larger spread eventually, though.
It's a great story-telling deck, with a rather silly sense of humour, and it feels very women-empowering to me.
Yes, that's what worries me - I would have to take it very slow, maybe just do one suit per day... But while it's in the middle of being trimmed, it's not really useable, so that will be quite tantalizing!
I wonder how huge the cards really are - much bigger than MRP decks?
If they're not as huge as I'm thinking, I might get away with just rounding the corners...
Although there are some decks I never use mainly because of their unwieldy size (Phantasmagoric Theater, Inner Child, Karma etc).
And first rounding the corners and then deciding I want the whole thing trimmed would mean a lot of extra work.
rwcarter
This post has the dimensions of the deck.Hedera said:I wonder how huge the cards really are - much bigger than MRP decks?
If they're not as huge as I'm thinking, I might get away with just rounding the corners...
Although there are some decks I never use mainly because of their unwieldy size (Phantasmagoric Theater, Inner Child, Karma etc).
And first rounding the corners and then deciding I want the whole thing trimmed would mean a lot of extra work.
Rodney
Soothsayer
The cards measure 9 x 13.4cm or about 3.5 x 5.25 inches. They are like small postcards. The white borders are pretty thick and measure between 0.6-0.8mm.
Le Fanu
Funny. Me too. The artwork is not at all similar, but somehow the mood and darkness feel similar.Hedera said:
I was amazed at the difference that rounding the corners did. I swear they felt considerably smaller just for having lost the corners, just by dint of not having to shuffle quite so carefully. I rounded my corners with the very basic corner-rounder from a stationers. Not at all industrial. The card is thick, but not beermat thick...
Soothsayer
I also own Vargo's Gothic tarot. I think the main difference between these two decks (aside from the style of artwork) is that the Vargo deck was not created specifically for a tarot deck. I think I read somewhere that the Vargo deck is basically a showcase for the artist's work (like the Favole tarot), whereas the Place deck was drawn from scratch specifically for the deck. So the Place deck should, in theory, read better than the Vargo deck. Can anyone confirm or deny that?
Le Fanu
I don't have any solid proof of anything, but - blimey - there's a world of difference between the two decks. the Vargo's one seems so insubstantial in comparison. I certainly think it shows that the Vargo one was created for another purpose and that only afterwards somebody thought "hey! let's string 'em together and make a tarot deck!"Soothsayer said:
I can never quite see anything in this deck to - forgive the pun - get one's teeth into
