Cranky and ranting: the Wheel of Change Tarot

I too was seduced by this decks images--I got it when I was flush (back in pre-history) and I tried so hard to work with it. And the book. I couldn't relate to a lot of her writing, it felt like a very dense stuffy required course with a rigid teacher. I was constantly impressed to the point of AWE with the amount of work her work represented. I almost felt guilty for finding it so disagreeable.

Very political agenda. Also, numerolicaly based in the minors so that a lot of them where unreadable for me. (Numbers??You want Numbers?? I spit on your numbers!!!)
I got to where all I had to do was look at them to become raging angry. The final thing was the 10 wands as the flags outside the UN. Pissed me off beyound belief. I'm not sure if the book or the deck itself annoyed me more.

And while I'm complaining, I found the smeary faces on the "human" cards both prentious and unsettling, was it a statement? Where'd all that lovely precision go?? Wha'happon, Mon? Bad batch of ganja, or what??

So I traded it in at the local bookstore where it keeps returning...and for some crazy reason I don't get at all, every now and then I want to buy it and try again....woooooooo

Very very interesting... very interesting indeed. It really does push a bunch of buttons some how. Its kind of hard to put the finger on it. I'm very interested to hear that it made you angry too. LOL.

magpie9 said:

Also, numerolicaly based in the minors so that a lot of them where unreadable for me. (Numbers??You want Numbers?? I spit on your numbers!!!)

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OMG! I'm sorry, I had to quote that, that's one of the funniest things I've read in a while!

I recently aquired this deck and I admit that I am still in the state of Aahs and Oohs, etc.

However, I can also see where everyone else comes from in regard to their comments on this work.
As I hold the cards in my hands, I admit I feel 'taken back' a bit by a few interpretations of the cards, as I try very hard to see where the artist comes from.

Most of the artwork is beautiful although some are hard to decipher and relate to the real meanings of traditional cards, such as the six of wands, 2 of wands, 9 of swords, 8 of disks, 5 of wands, 10 of wands, 2 of disks, 7 of swords, 4 of swords, 8 of wands and a few others.

And like you Firemaiden I am trying to relate to this deck, having liked the artwork so much, but maybe I really should take what she says in her book with a grain of salt.

I still like to just hold this deck and look through the cards often, but I admit I am not sure it helped me much in readings so far.

But maybe in due time and with frequent use, I will feel the cards more and be able to read them without being much influenced by what the creator's initial intention were, and start making my personal interpretations, mixing traditional, Genetti's and mine .

MJ07,
Thank you for laughing and letting me know you did. I halfway expected a body slam from someone for my bad attitude towards numerology, so you were an excellent surprise.

This is me laughing all the way to the bookstore to go look at that *$%@&&^# deck again LOL

(sound of teeeny-tiny violin in background playing "Maybe This Time" from "Cabaret")

Earth to Firemaiden (I realize earth is not your element, however), did you read my last post in this thread?

SongDeva said:

Well, firemaiden, I haven't actually progress beyond experiencing the deck yet. Haven't read with it to be able to report back.
What say I do a reading for you?

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Sorry Song-deva... got a bit pre-occupied. (LOL) Actually - I am an earth sign. (4 earth signs, 3 fire signs, 2 water and 2 air)

Er... a reading? about why I hate the deck? okay sure, why not, that could be amusing!

Cool beans!
It doesn' t actually have to be about why you hate the deck.
But we can do that if you like. Could be neat.

I also have problems with this deck. I like the artwork on some cards, but not all by any means. The cards are also not very pleasant to the touch -- they are coarse, somehow.

As to the political agenda:

I applaud her for making a political deck -- lest we forget, the original Tarot was extremely political, heretical in a time when you could be tortured or killed for heretical beliefs. The High Priestess was originally the Popess - a huge political statement.

So I don't have a problem with politics. What I do have a problem with is simplistic politics, or uninformed politics.


It is one thing, for example, to challenge a stereotype, or to show a situation, such as war or epidemic or poverty or political power in regards to a particular card, that will expand our vision of it, and help us to make sense of it, and take action in our lives.

But I agree there is something not right in her portrayal of "noble savages" - the images are false and offensive. (I am Indian myself, and find those images enraging.) A better use of Native images (not perfect, but better) isin the World Spirit deck.

What I struggle with as a poet, and I think the same is true of other artists, is how to find the image that is true, that has resonance, that is not simple-minded or trendy. I expect this from the Tarot deck, and when it is not there, I feel angry.

I think it is terrifically challenging to make a good deck, just as it is to write a good poem. It would be interesting to be here a hundred years from now and see which decks have become the new classics.

wheel of change, ritual,etc.

I've been enjoying reading this thread. Here's my take on it. The Wheel of Change Tarot attracted me to buy it because of the artwork-vibrant, and some of it very beautiful. But the book made my heart sink! It was so BIG, and so repetitive-like many people here I am concerned about the environment, and I also see myself as a feminist, but this book just went on and on and on and on. . .as if we hadn't heard of those things ourselves, almost. In the end, I chucked the book out. RELEASE! Soon afterwards-and I've only ever done this with one other deck-I threw out the Minor Arcana-I just felt burdened by them somehow. I've kept the Major Arcana-theoretically, I may use them for a soul reading, something really archetypal. I love the Strength card in particular, and the Hermit with his telescope( a lovely marriage of art and science there).
There is one other deck which I enjoy, the book of which I hated -Waking the Wild Spirit. The book got on my nerves for the same reason-a very long political agenda, presented in a way that felt patronizing.

As for ritual. There's nothing more deadening than an oft-enacted ritual. When I was more Christian-or more mainstream Christian-than I am now, I was first a Catholic(until aged 21) and then a marginal member of the Church of Scotland. The latter's Communion service once a month or so felt much more meaningful than the former's Holy Communion- with- everything.

Also, an IMPOSED ritual is deadening. It might make millions of other people feel great, and if it helps them be wiser and kinder and more compassionate, good, but if it doesn't work for you, go elsewhere/make your own. I've adopted the custom of lighting a large candle on the anniversary of someone's death and letting it burn all day-this is from the Jewish tradition-I'm not a Jew but I find it a beautiful custom. Lighting a particular incense to greet the day is a ritual, so is lighting a candle in front of someone's photo, so is placing flowers at the side of the road where someone has died in a road accident-as long as it speaks to YOU.