My New Heron

Sherryl

I've seen the Devil card associated with marriage in many TdM books, which makes sense with two people linked together. The Star as dying and going up to heaven also make sense. But so many of the card meanings in the LWB are so arbitrary, I think they must be from a cartomancy tradition we aren't aware of. Or, the folks at the Heron publishing house went out for happy hour and had a hilarious time writing the LWB over drinks.

This reminds me of a talk I heard at a conference by someone who used to work for Lo Scarabeo. She was given just a few hours to write the LWB for a deck, with no opportunity to consult with the artist. Just free-associate, crank it out, and get on to the next project. Perhaps we shouldn't take this or any LWB so seriously.
 

Luminosa

I think we should think about these meanings and try to understand how they would eventually fit. I will do this exercise and if I find something out will let you know.
 

Spectre Made Flesh

I got the Heron Marseille Conver for Yule, and am delighted with it; the vintage look of this reproduction is very evocative. As others have said, (including the amusing content of the blog post that was linked to!), the LWB that comes with this deck is bonkers!

I like the whole range of card meanings given, from the dramatic:
"The Wheel of Fortune (upright): death threat by excesses after an orgy."

To the, er, not quite so dramatic:
"Knave of Batons next to The Empress: You will lose a book that you liked very much."
 

nuttyprofessor

Most people are craving for excitement and thrill, not at least the ones that venture for the supernatural. You can't blame them, there was no tv or internet, not even a movie theatre. I suppose there were people that took tarot serious beyond the sensational in those times.
 

Barleywine

Perhaps we shouldn't take this or any LWB so seriously.

That's pretty much how I see it. They are necessarily limited in scope, and most contain nothing I haven't seen in much greater detail elsewhere. The "creator's unique vision" often turns out to be nothing more than revisionism, and I do enough of that on my own, through long experience.