Reactions to Deviant Moon Tarot?

faunabay

I didn't like it at all. Wasn't planning on buying it. It did creep me out as well. But.........in last years halloween exchange I got it in my box. My first reaction was "Oh No! (shudder)"



Then I tried a reading with it. Boy was it spot on and not creepy at all! It gave very straight forward information. It's funny how doing a reading with it changed the way I look at and think about it.
 

Zezina

Manda said:
I'll tell you what deck really gives me the shivers - Sacred Rose! But sometimes, I need to get the creeps and be shaken up out of my comfy little spot, so I still use it.

I'll just check I'm referring to the correct deck here.

*Z*
 

Myrrha

3crows said:
I spent the weekend at a jamband music festival and was going to offer donation only tarot readings (couldn't afford the booth fee), and everyone cautioned me against using this deck because people at this festival would either be a) tripping on psychedelics and could not handle the illustrations without getting hurled into a bad trip, or b) people would become depressed and confused.

I like the Deviant Moon's artwork. However it is good manners and common sense to be careful in a situation where you are aware that people might be on drugs or suffering from an illness like schizophrenia. It isn't a comment on the worth of the art, just that certain drugs (not just psychedelics) and mental illnesses can leave people wide open to taking things.... very badly. If someone did have a bad reaction it would be unpleasant for you as well as for them so why risk it?
 

Zezina

Sacred Rose deck

Manda said:
I'll tell you what deck really gives me the shivers - Sacred Rose! But sometimes, I need to get the creeps and be shaken up out of my comfy little spot, so I still use it.

I was really interested and also relieved to see your post , Manda. :heart: Because Sacred Rose tarot has been in its time a very popular deck, and is considered by many to be really beautiful. It was on that basis that I bought the deck many years ago.

Sacred Rose is beautiful in its imagery, and the symbolism is intellectually well thought out and applied.

But I find the faces of most of the people on the cards ugly and very disturbing. Usually the eyes are plain white, and/or the faces are distorted sideways. The Sacred Rose 'The World' card in particular gives and has always given me the creeps every time I see it.

Yours and my reactions to this deck are echoed by only one of the S-R reviewers on Amazon - some reviewers give Sacred Rose a really top review.

Must be something to do with our perception - perhaps we see the faces first ahead of everything else, whereas maybe most other people see the card surface as a whole and may not even notice the disturbing facial characteristics.

You didn't mention that it was the faces on the S-R that bothered you, so maybe I'm wide of the mark there?

My response to this deck has been consistent for many years. I owned it before one could check a deck out online before buying, and I was so disturbed every time I handled it that I eventually got rid of the deck about 10 years ago.

I'm not generally an avoider of dark cards, and have just ordered the Dark Grimoire Tarot, after viewing all the cards several times to be sure I could handle it, and wanted to. The Dark Grimoire cards seem to echo all the nightmares I've ever had, which is why I want it, and I feel able to handle the Dark Grimoire, but not the Sacred Rose.

I feel that you, and that one reviewer on Amazon, have validated my until now seemingly ridiculous response to the S-R deck, so thank you!

*Z*
 

FatesLady

LotusSong said:
I find the deck to be very repulsive. Not that it is ugly, but that it repels me. It does not give me the pleasant warm feeling I get when I normally look at surreal art. Looking at those cards is like being unceremoniously dumped into a bathtub full of ice. I cannot relate to the pictures; I have a hard time looking past them to find meaning. They send a dark chill down my spine. Note that this is not always a bad thing, and I'm pretty sure I enabled someone on this deck yesterday.

EXACTLY! They don't scare me so much as they just sort of gross me out, like seeing ants all over my kitchen counter. Ick!
 

Onyx

My reaction to the deck was one of surprise.

I wasn't following the original thread for the deck for a long time but then just out of curiostiy I checked into the deck. I like what I read and the images that I saw online. I was in an IDS with another deck and so I wasn't buying any new decks for a while.

But that first night after I saw the online scans the images on the deck invaded my dream and I dreamt about it all night long. I have sorry, I mean SORRY, dream recall. I had never dreamed about a specific deck's images before then or since, other than this one. Well after that first night I knew I had to own a copy.

Yes, there are many people who are turned off by the art and the images and so I regret that I can't use it for more readings. I thought that the competition for deck of the year last year was steep and I was unsure if this deck deserved to win the popularity vote. But after a year, I am more and more convinced that this may be a new standard. It is my belief that many creators in the years to come may see this as a deck to compare their work with in beauty, depth and style. I think that the printing of the deck did is a disservice and I am looking forward to the China printing in hope that it will ahve a more matte finish than the glossy that it currently has.

As a wild fan of the Liber T deck I am very familiar with the idea that the decks I love and use and work with are not decks I can use with others. In the end I think that this is one of those decks that you either like or don't. I am hopeful for a companion book as well but I am studying these cards, constantly flipping through them and entering a surreal world that is very unique and full of suprises.


I am very curious to see what the neck deck that Patrick comes out with, it is in the works. Will in be more of a softer, gentler Tarot? Maybe, but maybe not. Either way I think that there will be many of us who will be thristing for every scrape of news, image and update that we can get.

Onyx.
 

morticia monroe

I guess I've just led a Deviant Moon kind of life...I get it..totally.
 

lilangel09

The art is very beautiful, but it leaves me cold. I find it difficult to connect and read with the deck. It appears edgy, quirky, and intense to me. Playful in a crazy fashion. Not a bad deck in itself, but it may scare some people away.

I haven't spent much time with the cards, but those are my first impressions.
 

Aerin

Abrac said:
I can't believe anyone would think the Deviant Moon is creepy. :laugh: To me it seems cute in a way. Now the Sinister, that's a little creepy. I guess it just depends on you level of sensitivity. :)

I think it depends on what presses your buttons. Some people think the Bohemian Gothic is creepy, or the Dark Grimoire. I find the Deviant Moon disturbing in parts due to what I perceive as the creature's attitudes to pain in themselves and others plus the fact that the images are in part derived from insane asylums and graveyards.

I also find that my readings exaggerate every little incident into full blown drama.
 

Spoon Bender

Onyx said:
But that first night after I saw the online scans the images on the deck invaded my dream and I dreamt about it all night long. I have sorry, I mean SORRY, dream recall. I had never dreamed about a specific deck's images before then or since, other than this one. Well after that first night I knew I had to own a copy.

But after a year, I am more and more convinced that this may be a new standard. It is my belief that many creators in the years to come may see this as a deck to compare their work with in beauty, depth and style.

I think that there will be many of us who will be thristing for every scrape of news, image and update that we can get.

Onyx.

Yes, the dreams! I have them too. I have been having dreams about good things I have looooooong forgot. I was talking with my art teacher about the deck and she says its because the images are so powerful in a symbolic psycological way. Unlike other dark decks that rely on boring vampires or stuff like that. The cards are timeless. This deck gets inside of you in such a good way, or maybe it brings whats inside to the outside?. It has totally changed my own painting style. I want soooooo bad to create my own deck oneday. What is the new deck going to be about anyhow?