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Masculine tarot decks out there?
starlightexp
What I do find interesting and a bit lacking are decks that speak to the spiritual side of the male experience. Most of the decks that are cited as being ‘male’ are ones that are heavy on the ceremonial magick or have a homosexual bent and not speaking to the average spiritual male. Just because a deck has harsh straight lines or layers of complex occult symbolism on it doesn’t make it male. By throwing more men into the RWS images makes it look more male but that’s just more of a sausage fest. To me, being a male, when I think of decks that have a more masculine feel but not having to fit into the “ceremonial mold” I think of:
Osho Zen
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/osho-zen/
Darkana
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/darkana/
Aquarian
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/aquarian/
Greenwood
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/greenwood/
Devient Moon
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/deviant-moon/
All are decks that I have had guys pick out of the pile to have readings with. Not all men want to be head of a holy order or need sexual healing with tarot sometimes we to come to tarot out of peace and spirituality to seek wisdom.
Osho Zen
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/osho-zen/
Darkana
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/darkana/
Aquarian
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/aquarian/
Greenwood
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/greenwood/
Devient Moon
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/deviant-moon/
All are decks that I have had guys pick out of the pile to have readings with. Not all men want to be head of a holy order or need sexual healing with tarot sometimes we to come to tarot out of peace and spirituality to seek wisdom.
Farzon
Fascinating. I wouldn't call the Osho Zen male and the rest not spiritual (with exception of the Greenwood).What I do find interesting and a bit lacking are decks that speak to the spiritual side of the male experience. Most of the decks that are cited as being ‘male’ are ones that are heavy on the ceremonial magick or have a homosexual bent and not speaking to the average spiritual male. Just because a deck has harsh straight lines or layers of complex occult symbolism on it doesn’t make it male. By throwing more men into the RWS images makes it look more male but that’s just more of a sausage fest. To me, being a male, when I think of decks that have a more masculine feel but not having to fit into the “ceremonial mold” I think of:
Osho Zen
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/osho-zen/
Darkana
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/darkana/
Aquarian
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/aquarian/
Greenwood
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/greenwood/
Devient Moon
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/deviant-moon/
All are decks that I have had guys pick out of the pile to have readings with. Not all men want to be head of a holy order or need sexual healing with tarot sometimes we to come to tarot out of peace and spirituality to seek wisdom.
I think this shows how different we connect to decks. The decks I see as spiritual give me mostly a gender-neutral impression.
How do you define the spiritual side of a man? How can a deck speak to this past of you?
starlightexp
Fascinating. I wouldn't call the Osho Zen male and the rest not spiritual (with exception of the Greenwood).
Not all the decks that I listed are exactly spiritual in nature but rather decks that have more male energy to me then others.
I think this shows how different we connect to decks. The decks I see as spiritual give me mostly a gender-neutral impression.
Which is maybe why I see the Osho as a good male deck it has a balance to it. There are oodles of decks out there for feminine spirituality and the feminine experience of living but little to none of the male experience of emerging into the world. Both genders go through puberty but while the experience of a woman going through the cycle of emergence through motherhood to being a wise woman are depicted on card after card after card the male emergence through fatherhood to being a wise sage are not. My personal thinking is that this has something to do with the feminist movement through Pagan spiritual world in the 60s' and 70s'. It got very matriarchal there for a time and only in about the last 10 years are men being able to stop apologizing for being a man and more public rituals are being held to celebrate the changes a man goes through as well. I'm not looking to get into a battle of the sexes but just point out that men have not been courted as much by tarot artist as women have. Straight men have it the worst because there are a good dozen or so decks out there for gay men but just a dude looking for guidance it's not as easy.
Farzon
Not all the decks that I listed are exactly spiritual in nature but rather decks that have more male energy to me then others.
Which is maybe why I see the Osho as a good male deck it has a balance to it. There are oodles of decks out there for feminine spirituality and the feminine experience of living but little to none of the male experience of emerging into the world. Both genders go through puberty but while the experience of a woman going through the cycle of emergence through motherhood to being a wise woman are depicted on card after card after card the male emergence through fatherhood to being a wise sage are not. My personal thinking is that this has something to do with the feminist movement through Pagan spiritual world in the 60s' and 70s'. It got very matriarchal there for a time and only in about the last 10 years are men being able to stop apologizing for being a man and more public rituals are being held to celebrate the changes a man goes through as well. I'm not looking to get into a battle of the sexes but just point out that men have not been courted as much by tarot artist as women have. Straight men have it the worst because there are a good dozen or so decks out there for gay men but just a dude looking for guidance it's not as easy.
Take a look at the Wildwood, the reworking of the Greenwood. You will like it I think!
I don't agree with you on the last point though. I took a look at the Gay-themed decks on AT and with the exception of the Renaissance Tarot and the Gay Tarot I don't find them very appealing. So I don't see a lot of choice here....
Decks like Toth and Hermetic, Tarot of the Spirit or animal themed Tarot Decks offer a more gender neutral experience.
I think it depends on what you expect from a deck's imagery. "human" decks focus a lot on women, yes.... most likely because spirituality is not part of the cultural image of being male.
You come from the Pagan side? Then you're absolutely right, there's much more female centered decks out there.
Aeric
Also that there are very few pagan/Wiccan groups that explicitly focus on the God, or who elevate the God to the same status as Goddess Movement groups have done for her. The way the duality is constructed, the masculine portion of the Deities plays an emergent role from the feminine: he is her son, then her consort, the Horned God. The feminine is the original source; the God cannot exist without the Goddess. There is one small Wiccan group I've read about called the Path of the Green Man that was a gay men-only group that revered the God foremost, but I don't know if it still exists today.
The Wildwood Tarot is a great deck but still an example of the emergence dynamic. The secondary cannot stand on his own with the way that the vast majority of pagan groups have treated him, while several groups such as Dianics have given the primary Goddess a sole status, largely as a result of the politicized Goddess Movement.
A Neopagan/Wiccan exclusively Divine Masculine Horned God deck, such as a God-only version of Wildwood, is arguably impossible because of this. Even if he isn't the patriarchal god of the Abrahamic religions, the Wiccan God must always be balanced by and emerge from the Goddess.
The Wildwood Tarot is a great deck but still an example of the emergence dynamic. The secondary cannot stand on his own with the way that the vast majority of pagan groups have treated him, while several groups such as Dianics have given the primary Goddess a sole status, largely as a result of the politicized Goddess Movement.
A Neopagan/Wiccan exclusively Divine Masculine Horned God deck, such as a God-only version of Wildwood, is arguably impossible because of this. Even if he isn't the patriarchal god of the Abrahamic religions, the Wiccan God must always be balanced by and emerge from the Goddess.
x-man
What I do find interesting and a bit lacking are decks that speak to the spiritual side of the male experience. Most of the decks that are cited as being ‘male’ are ones that are heavy on the ceremonial magick or have a homosexual bent and not speaking to the average spiritual male........Not all men want to be head of a holy order or need sexual healing with tarot sometimes we to come to tarot out of peace and spirituality to seek wisdom.
You contrast gay men with "the average spiritual male." I resent the equation of "average" with "straight" in this context. What is this contrast based on? Also, are you equating the use of a deck like The Gay Tarot, or the very use of Tarot by gay men with our need for "sexual healing?" You know, lots of us do not look upon ourselves as needing sexual healing. We don't feel broken because we are gay, and we don't need fixing. We are quite happy being gay, and use Tarot for the same reasons everyone else does. Careful with your implications.
x-man
Straight men have it the worst because there are a good dozen or so decks out there for gay men but just a dude looking for guidance it's not as easy.
Why can't a gay dude be "just a dude looking for guidance?" Here again you are making a distinction where there is no difference. This kind of use of language is lurching very close to unconscious or unintended homophobia. Again I urge caution.
starlightexp
Why can't a gay dude be "just a dude looking for guidance?" Here again you are making a distinction where there is no difference. This kind of use of language is lurching very close to unconscious or unintended homophobia. Again I urge caution.
Well that would be funny being that I am a gay myself. Please don't think homophobia was my meaning. I personally don't connect with gat themed tarot decks myself but that is just me and I know that somewhere there is an audience for them.
starlightexp
You contrast gay men with "the average spiritual male." I resent the equation of "average" with "straight" in this context. What is this contrast based on? Also, are you equating the use of a deck like The Gay Tarot, or the very use of Tarot by gay men with our need for "sexual healing?" You know, lots of us do not look upon ourselves as needing sexual healing. We don't feel broken because we are gay, and we don't need fixing. We are quite happy being gay, and use Tarot for the same reasons everyone else does. Careful with your implications.
While not all gay men need sexual healing there are several decks out there with images that relate to the gay male experience that a straight male would not relate to. For some the coming out process was turbulent, others have had hardships coming to terms with themselves sexually. These themes are not ones I resonate with and would not typically be part of a non gay deck. Take a deep breath, again I'M GAY, If my wording offended you I apologize but I feel comfortable with what I am saying.
