A new De-enabling thread for 2008

Dark Sister

lunakasha said:

OK....I need serious help. I am now "on the fence" with the Bohemian Gothic deck (aka "Dark Sister").
After months of waiting and thinking it was a definite MUST-have....I now find myself hesitating.

I know that there are a lot of people who LOVE this deck, but I am asking for reasons why I should resist temptation (hence the title: DE enabling), at least until the regular, non-silver edition comes out.

Someone PLEASE talk me out of it if you can~ thanks!

Luna

Click to expand...

Ok, personally I love it and it reads beautifully for me (have the silver and the regular edition as well straight from Prague) , BUT if you have no affinity or liking for, or are creeped out by, or dissolve into mocking laughter when confronted by:

Gothic fiction e.g. M R James, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu, Mary Shelley, Robert Loius Stevenson et al

Old fashioned horror films e.g. Hammer, Amicus

The darker side of folklore - vampires, werewolves, animated skeletons, Victorian type graveyard and stately home architecture settings, creepy children, generally scary although not particularly bloodthirsty stuff

Dark and shadowy meanings for familiar cards

Dark and shadowy atmospheres where you just KNOW that the stupid heroine exploring a strange noise will get chomped or at least have to scream and faint/ whatever

then you will probably not get on with it too well and would do best to avoid it. Also you can see all the cards at http://www.bohemiangothic.com/ which may help one way or another.

Aerin

Trying to de-enable both the Graven Images and the Bohemian Gothic:

I think you have to ask yourself, what is the purpose of tarot? If your purpose is to have a deck you can read or study I can't see how these "boneyard and horror" decks can work. I admire Morticia Addams and her demented family but when I read for myself or others, it simply doesn't make sense to have nothing but Gothic images, because the Gothic world-view--its emotional range and possibilities--are limited in ways that the real world is not.

On the other hand, if it's the pictures you like, why not make a screen saver or bookmark the links to the deck and look at them when you want to?

~deleted~

Just remember this is a De-enabling thread. There are other threads to gush over a deck, no mush here!!!

Okay, not sure if this will de-enable, but some thoughts.

The entire deck is essentially reversed meanings. It is like trying to read using only the negative or reversed meanings of every card. I cannot imagine using it for a normal situation, it would depress Princess Buttercup (and she's pretty hard to depress). Everything would look evil and twisted.

Now, of course, there are uses for a deck like this, but unless looking at the potential for nastiness all over the place appeals, be de-enabled because honestly you will put this deck aside after paying good money for it.

The images are literally dark and hard to see. The accompanying book is great because the b&w images increase the contrast enough to see what you are looking at. Okay, anyone de-enabled?

I, btw, do like the deck and plan to use it; I just realize its limited applicability.

Wrong thread, Miss Divine. This thread here is for de-enabling. Love letters go elsewhere!

Aerin said:

....BUT if you have no affinity or liking for, or are creeped out by, or dissolve into mocking laughter when confronted by:

Gothic fiction e.g. M R James, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu, Mary Shelley, Robert Loius Stevenson et al

Old fashioned horror films e.g. Hammer, Amicus

The darker side of folklore - vampires, werewolves, animated skeletons, Victorian type graveyard and stately home architecture settings, creepy children, generally scary although not particularly bloodthirsty stuff

Dark and shadowy meanings for familiar cards

Dark and shadowy atmospheres where you just KNOW that the stupid heroine exploring a strange noise will get chomped or at least have to scream and faint/ whatever

then you will probably not get on with it too well and would do best to avoid it.

Click to expand...

Thanks Aerin!

The thing is....I LOVE all of these things you mentioned above, LOL!!!

Which is why I was so excited about this deck initially. I'm not sure exactly why I changed my mind (still on the fence really) but I think I am just wondering if I really need another *pretty* deck when I already have so many gathering dust.

~Luna

Debra said:

Trying to de-enable both the Graven Images and the Bohemian Gothic:

I think you have to ask yourself, what is the purpose of tarot? If your purpose is to have a deck you can read or study I can't see how these "boneyard and horror" decks can work. I admire Morticia Addams and her demented family but when I read for myself or others, it simply doesn't make sense to have nothing but Gothic images, because the Gothic world-view--its emotional range and possibilities--are limited in ways that the real world is not.

On the other hand, if it's the pictures you like, why not make a screen saver or bookmark the links to the deck and look at them when you want to?

Click to expand...

Thanks Debra!

I think you make a very good point here....I wonder how this deck would read for the everyday kind of "non-Goth" or non-DARK situations. If it is just a matter of admiring the artwork~ and it is VERY pretty ~I could just continue to admire them online.

~Luna

Why I do believe I detect ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DE-ENABLING! LOL.

(Let's see if it lasts...)

Marion said:

Just remember this is a De-enabling thread. There are other threads to gush over a deck, no mush here!!!

Okay, not sure if this will de-enable, but some thoughts.

The entire deck is essentially reversed meanings. It is like trying to read using only the negative or reversed meanings of every card. I cannot imagine using it for a normal situation, it would depress Princess Buttercup (and she's pretty hard to depress). Everything would look evil and twisted.

Now, of course, there are uses for a deck like this, but unless looking at the potential for nastiness all over the place appeals, be de-enabled because honestly you will put this deck aside after paying good money for it.

The images are literally dark and hard to see. The accompanying book is great because the b&w images increase the contrast enough to see what you are looking at. Okay, anyone de-enabled?

I, btw, do like the deck and plan to use it; I just realize its limited applicability.

Click to expand...

Thanks Marion!

I think that I have been successfully de-enabled, thanks to your very honest comments above, and also thanks to Aerin and Debra. I am slowly learning to become more selective when it comes to spending lots of money on decks that may end up not being used or appreciated.

I wanted to ask Aerin (and anyone else who has both the silver AND regular editions): could you please comment on the silver highlights, and whether or not they add or detract from the images in any way??? (gregory mentioned this in her post also). I remember being disappointed in the lack of gold on the VR Gold edition and wondered if the silver BG is worth the splurge, versus the non-silver deck.

Thanks again to all of you for your efforts....I am very close to being fully DE-enabled, just curious about the two editions since the silver is quite pricey.

~Luna

lunakasha said:

Which is why I was so excited about this deck initially. I'm not sure exactly why I changed my mind (still on the fence really) but I think I am just wondering if I really need another *pretty* deck when I already have so many gathering dust.

Click to expand...

But like I said (and Marion too) it isn't that pretty when you have to resort to the book to see the detail.... *denabling here* Oh - one biggie - the book is downright patronising in places.... Sorry to fans - but it is. The "Further ways to consider this card" bits annoy me. And some of the meanings as given come over a bit bullying.