Pros and Cons Thread #3 - Enabling and De-Enabling

banbha

I had it a long time ago- part of my gold/silver collection when I was collecting. I was actually rather meh about this deck. First of all- it was VERY gold, almost too much of a good thing. And the images were simply flat. It wasn't a deck that was easy to read with- I had to be significantly in the mood to read in order to get anything from it. And toward the end, before I ditched the collection, I didn't even bother pulling it out. Other than the ooo's and ahhh's of the gold, it was a pretty keepsake that wasn't very functional.

That's what is attracting me, all that gold and images of Egyptian wall paintings. I don't mind if those look a bit flat to be honest due to the historical accuracy of the style.

You are echoing a concern of mine -how it reads- because I've never heard much about its functionality or popularity in that vein and that can't be good. So I'm holding off.

I wonder how it compares to the Etruscan tarot, if anyone has both.
 

G6

Wooden Tarot

I have the Wooden Oracle. Do I really need the Wooden Tarot?
 

lantana

I have the Wooden Oracle. Do I really need the Wooden Tarot?

You mean the Earthbound Oracle? I would say no, you don't really NEED it. But if the Wooden Tarot is interesting to you I'd give it a go. It's one of my favorite decks, but for every person out there who loves it there's someone else who can't get anything from it. Plenty of people seem to do just fine with owning the Earthbound.
 

lantana

Two decks I'm on the fence about: Mary-El Tarot and Color Mage Oracle.

Mary-El is super interesting and has a Strength card I love, but I hate the Hierophant (and not just because it's ugly, I don't like really negative Hierophants) and I heard someone say that the esoteric stuff in the guidebook felt really hamfisted. Thoughts?

As for the Color Mage, it's just a bit pricey for my budget. Especially since they now have an "add-on" deck to go with it (for extra money, of course). But it is a beautiful, well crafted color oracle. I'd love to know other's experiences with it before I put it on a wishlist.
 

Galadhwen

Hello everyone! What is your experience with the Klimt Tarot? Do you find the images easy to connect with?
 

G6

Hello everyone! What is your experience with the Klimt Tarot? Do you find the images easy to connect with?

I had the mini. I didn't give it enough time because I decided I don't want anymore mini decks. Pocket size is fine, but mini is too small. I think I would like it, but I need the regular size to find out for sure. If you feel drawn to it I'd try it. It's a cool deck.
 

G6

You mean the Earthbound Oracle? I would say no, you don't really NEED it. But if the Wooden Tarot is interesting to you I'd give it a go. It's one of my favorite decks, but for every person out there who loves it there's someone else who can't get anything from it. Plenty of people seem to do just fine with owning the Earthbound.

Yes, it's the Earthbound Oracle, lol. 😊 I'd like an Earthbound Oracle Part II, same size etc., because they should start making oracle decks with as many cards as tarot or more. Ill see if the Wooden Tarot comes my way, thanks.
 

barefootlife

Two decks I'm on the fence about: Mary-El Tarot and Color Mage Oracle.

Mary-El is super interesting and has a Strength card I love, but I hate the Hierophant (and not just because it's ugly, I don't like really negative Hierophants) and I heard someone say that the esoteric stuff in the guidebook felt really hamfisted. Thoughts?

The Mary-El is beautiful, but the cardstock is pretty crap, which has made me put off digging into the deck. It almost feels brittle to me. The care and luxury of the art is truly not reflected in the quality of the cards, which is a huge disappointment for me.

I'm not trying to draw every meaning in the world out of each card, and the book assumes you have a base knowledge of a lot of the esoteric stuff, so it gets a bit blah-blah-blah if you don't have the kaballah/thoth/variety of pantheons/etc background, even though it's pretty much an RWS-y deck. If you like the artwork and aren't picky about cardstock, I think it's worth it, it's just not the priority in my new decks to explore like I thought it would be.

Especially because my Slow Holler arrived today, and holy smokes, it's beautiful. I thought the fact that it was a collaborative deck would be offputting, but it's really not, and I like their renaming choices to de-gender the deck and make some of the major arcana more representative of their meanings. The gilding makes the cards even more lovely in person. It's not a deck for everyone by any means, and it would probably be offputting to more conservative readers and sitters (there are lots of naked genderfluid people (including exposed breasts, but no genitals) who have different shapes and *gasp* body hair. there's also some mild body horror). But if you've been on the fence about this one, it's worth it.
 

barefootlife

I have the Wooden Oracle. Do I really need the Wooden Tarot?

If you love the imagery of the Earthbound Oracle, some of it also runs through the Wooden Tarot. It's not the easiest deck to read, between the changed suit names and the sometimes not-so-intuitive pictures, but it's an interesting stylistic step away from the RWS while still following the basic meanings. There's no LWB and some of the cards don't give you much to work with, so it really is geared toward experienced readers. I haven't had a chance to work much with it, but as someone who prefers decks that deviate from traditional RWS human imagery the learning curve seems worth it.
 

AJ

As for the Color Mage, it's just a bit pricey for my budget. Especially since they now have an "add-on" deck to go with it (for extra money, of course). But it is a beautiful, well crafted color oracle. I'd love to know other's experiences with it before I put it on a wishlist.

At its base color mage is paint chips. That isn't a diss, just an observation.
Go to any big do it yourself store and take a look at their paint department. The world is your oyster there, both color, and lots of brands now have chips with images (blossoming apple trees come to mind). Unless you take the whole stack of one color, they don't mind how many you take, that is the point of them being there.
The paint names are interesting in themselves, or you can write oracle names in yourself. A new name each time the cards come up because that is the strength of oracles, no set fool or 9 of swords...