21st Century RWS

I found this while searching on Etteila's influence on Waite.
"Think of the Etteilla as a deck to the 19th century as what the Waite Colman Smith is to the 20th: major modifications, highly popular, with a number of variants." (originally posted by jmd)
So, what do you think, which (if any) deck could "mark" the 21st century?

you may find this interesting and amusing regarding Etteilla:

http://noreah.typepad.com/tarot_arkletters/2007/02/masonic_martini.html

as to your original question, a deck that is a marker for the 21st century, I have to wonder, does it exist? has there really been any major change (since the end of the 20th century) to tarot structure and esoteric thought?
it seems to me, we are simply more willing to embrace a broader spectrum of concepts and experimentation.
if there is a trend that might define 21st century tarot, it's the increasing use of information technology as a vehicle for readings and raising awareness about tarot.

since you asked specifically about a particular deck, I guess we could nominate the PoMo or Vanessa or the Silicon Valley Tarot.....or some other design of that ilk.
I guess one could argue that they make tarot more meaningful and accessible in contemporary society, instead of constantly pulling old material out of moth balls and trying to dress it up.

I think we need to give it some time--we're only 7 years into this century now.

It might be hard to predict what deck (if any) will rise above the herd and make its mark. But it's interesting to note that both the Etteilla and the Waite-Smith are, for lack of a better word, "occult" decks that are fairly traditional, at least in their hidden meaning. What that hidden meaning is is not always easy to define, but the symbolism reminds me of an earlier time when philosophy and religion were not separate and the Mystery schools still predominated. I believe their mystery has accounted for much of their popularity. I'm not sure if, in the 21st century, philosophy or religion either one will survive as we move more and more into materialism. As Papageno said, computer technology married to Tarot might be the wave of the future.

“since you asked specifically about a particular deck, I guess we could nominate the PoMo or Vanessa or the Silicon Valley Tarot.....”
Papageno

“I'm not sure if, in the 21st century, philosophy or religion either one will survive as we move more and more into materialism. As Papageno said, computer technology married to Tarot might be the wave of the future.”
Abrac
I agree with you, guys, in a sense that Tarot and all forms spirituality in 21st century are ( or will be) in sort of "unia mistica" with pc's and www; but i see it for the better, definitely.
i'll post exceprts from an article i wrote for the Ars magazine, so you can see what i mean.

The World
and
New Technologies

The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
Thomas Carlyle

I am reading Time magazine online. Person of the year 2006 is... me! You! Yes, you. Us, „ordinary people“. Untill now our destiny as a kind has been decided upon by the great guys, „tough players“, leaders of all kinds. We, little people, didn’t have a chance. For the first time in the history, because of world wide web, blogs, forums, various communities, we have a word. Twenty first century is deniying scotish philosofer Thomas Carlyle who claimed the history of the world to be „but the biograhy of gret man.“ He believed a handfull of famous and strong are molding our destiny. He is not right. At least not anymore.
This trend can be observed in global economy as well. Reading “Funky business”, this Evangely of new economy by Swedish academics and antigurus Jonas Ridderstråle and Kjell A Nordström , one comes to the conclusion that old, good Karl Marx actually was right. The producing recourses must be in possession of workers, the main producing mean being small, gray and weighted 1.3 kg - the human brain. The subtitle of the book, Talent makes capital dance, conveys in my opinion the author’s main message; people in their work are searching for meaning; in the (nearest) future they wont want just career, but something more- a vocation. And here, we can speak about about Soul, about adding the know-why to the notorious know-how, which is – adding the meaning to the skill.

We are condemned to freedom. Be it an abstraction. Be it a philosophical category. The freedom of speech. The freedom of choice. We must not let the future be decided by blasé politicians and greedy corporate executives. We, little people, have to make the difference. Funky Business says the World is all different now. Forget about old system. Say it good buy for good. Corporations are passé, people are bonding into global tribes, connecting on the base of what they believe in- be it Kabbalah, Tarot, Harley-Davidson or woman’s feet fetish.
Like it or not. Public norms and social criteria are going through seismic changes. The Society has been reconstructed and divided into tribes that become the way of living (and doing business).
Kabbalists say it’s not by chance that internet is given to us now, in the era of Aquarius. The time has come to spread the Light and the knowledge. Now every single person” with a cause “ can share her experience, begin an initiative, stand up for the cause she believes - in a nanosecond and thus put her own stamp on the (un)predictable course of history.
Sometimes when i post a thread in a wrong place or send a mail to a wrong adress – i somewhat simphatise with Osama B’n Laden’s hateful attitude towards internet. During this techno- phobia attacs i sometimes do wish to activate the napalm bomb and blow off the Microsoft. But, than i remeber, if not for the internet, i could never discuss the srong and weak sides of three schools of Tarot, at least not in this life and not from the comfor of my own home. I give up my destructive intentions and enroll one more course of computers for techno- idiots.

Although we are in the process of exiting that Age of Pisces, we are still very much in it, and will be for the rest of this century (and the next!) - the Age of Aquarius will not be inaugurated within our lifetime, nor the lifetime of our children. This does not mean that those pulses of the future do not have the tips of their fingers in our own time.

With regards to Tarot, then, this century will be its sixth (as far as we can tell with relative certainty). For the past two centuries, to one that became dominant for that era was so not just for the era, but also for a linguistic region. The 19th century that saw the dominance of the Etteilla-type did so within a world dominated by Francophony (and hence Tarot escaped, on the whole, the notice of the Anglophonic world); and in the 20th the dominance of the Waite Colman Smith arose and spread in a world dominaned by Anglophony (and that deck similarly escaped, on the whole, the notice of the French). Perhaps, then, in addition to considerations of seeking to alter tarot to bring to light some of its esoteric aspects, it also points to a discovery of the deck in a specific linguistic region.

In each case what appears to have also occured is that once the happy discovery of the dominant deck's foundation was discovered, a new phase towards the Marseille style resurged.

With that in mind, I would suggest that the Marseille-style will become the dominant styled deck in both continental Europe and in English-speaking nations.

So what will be the equivalent to this discovery in the 21st century?

I would suggest that is will arise in another linguistic milieu, and one for which the Tarot has not as yet really taken hold, but will likely do so as part of a re-discovery of spiritual and esoteric ideals. Further, it will likely arise in a linguistic region where contact with those regions that have tarot remains high, but also relatively isolated one from the other. With that in mind, I can only think of the Chinese linguistic group - in that it has all the preconditions for its likely success, and also as something that those of us outside its boundaries are likely to not really become fully aware of.

Within that framework, I would expect a deck whose drawings are redesigned in a totally different form, yet 'respects' the foundation of tarot whilst significantly changing it (as both the Etteilla and the Waite Smith have done), with incorporation of the I-Ching, a fuller reflection of the 5 (Chinese) elements as part of the five suits, and perhaps even echoes of the cycle of the Chinese horoscope. Not something that many of us are likely to take as a tarot that sticks to tradition - which is similarly part of the reason, after all, that many on the continent of Europe do not take to the Waite Smith.

So, which deck for the 21st century? Within those regions that have had the influence of the Etteilla and the Waite-Smith, a 'return' to the Marseille-type; and in a major alternate linguistic region (which I predict to be Chinese), a new style of deck yet to emerge.

Jmd, I am so happy you replied! It is you who inspired this topic in the first place
“The 19th century that saw the dominance of the Etteilla-type did so within a world dominated by Francophony (and hence Tarot escaped, on the whole, the notice of the Anglophonic world); and in the 20th the dominance of the Waite Colman Smith arose and spread in a world dominaned by Anglophony (and that deck similarly escaped, on the whole, the notice of the French). Perhaps, then, in addition to considerations of seeking to alter tarot to bring to light some of its esoteric aspects, it also points to a discovery of the deck in a specific linguistic region.”
(originally posted by jmd)
Wow! You know, it hasn’t occurred to me, but it so makes sense! In this light, we can expect influence from Tarots created in China (as we are already), as it’s the most spoken language of the world and…
Russian? You know, I thought how is it possible that “Russian influence” on Tarot is not bigger , but than I realized that actually during 18th and 19th century Russian Royal Court and the whole society has been mostly Franco phonic an francofill en masse, so maybe that’s why they haven’t developed their own school of Tarot thought to bigger extent. (Than, the 20th century and communism, definitely no ground for further development.)

I came later on to this part of your thread, jmd ( I am typing replay in a word document simultaneously, commenting part by part without having red the whole thread , not sure why but I alaways do so, hope you don’t mind )
“I would suggest that is will arise in another linguistic milieu, and one for which the Tarot has not as yet really taken hold, but will likely do so as part of a re-discovery of spiritual and esoteric ideals. Further, it will likely arise in a linguistic region where contact with those regions that have tarot remains high, but also relatively isolated one from the other. With that in mind, I can only think of the Chinese linguistic group - in that it has all the preconditions for its likely success, and also as something that those of us outside its boundaries are likely to not really become fully aware of”
I agree totally. It will be interesting to observe the evolution of Tarot thought when Chinese Tarotist become less influenced by European decks (what I’ve seen so far, apart from I Ching deck are variations to European decks, pardon me if I am wrong) and began including elements of Chinese Philosophy into their decks. Than, again, it might be more “active” in Chinese Diaspora, because my experience in the mainland Chine says it’s not free ground for spirituality yet. (Communism, again.)

“Within that framework, I would expect a deck whose drawings are redesigned in a totally different form, yet 'respects' the foundation of tarot whilst significantly changing it (as both the Etteilla and the Waite Smith have done), with incorporation of the I-Ching, a fuller reflection of the 5 (Chinese) elements as part of the five suits, and perhaps even echoes of the cycle of the Chinese horoscope. Not something that many of us are likely to take as a tarot that sticks to tradition - which is similarly part of the reason, after all, that many on the continent of Europe do not take to the Waite Smith.” (jmd)
As you see, I totally resonate with you
“So, which deck for the 21st century? Within those regions that have had the influence of the Etteilla and the Waite-Smith, a 'return' to the Marseille-type; and in a major alternate linguistic region (which I predict to be Chinese), a new style of deck yet to emerge.”
Agree 100% plus I put my bets on Druid Tarot, Pagan Tarot and Kabbalah inspired decks; they go to absolutely different final goal, the first two, in my opinion, heading to “back to the nature” (compare with postmodernism in literature), whereas the third one could become widespread in post-communist countries in the period that Huntington calls “revenge de Dies”. ( of course, there is no such thing as “revenge of God” lol, it’s a term he uses for the general atmosphere in transiting countries that lacked any form of spirituality/ religion for some 70 years of communism.)
Thank you, jmd, for the awasome replay!
Love&Light
Lena Ruth

what a great thought provoking thread.

JMD's argument makes me draw an anology to the evolution of western culinary preferences during the past 2 decades, wherein Japanese Sushi - Sashimi was catapulted from the derogatory state of "fish bait" (as it was regarded by many westerners only a generation ago) to a much sought after and very expensive delicacy and status symbol.
that trend alone forever transformed the desirability of the once lowly Tuna and materially ￥$ redefined an entire segment of the fishing/food service industry.

Papageno, i never new that!
"JMD's argument makes me draw an anology to the evolution of western culinary preferences during the past 2 decades, wherein Japanese Sushi - Sashimi was catapulted from the derogatory state of "fish bait" (as it was regarded by many westerners only a generation ago) to a much sought after and very expensive delicacy and status symbol.
that trend alone forever transformed the desirability of the once lowly Tuna and materially ￥$ redefined an entire segment of the fishing/food service industry." (Papageno)
Because in this part of Europe ( SE -Serbia, Croatia etc) sushi arrived already "formed" as an elitist food, even more, as we don't have kosher restorants around, observant Jewish people can dine only there (don't ask me why, but it maches all the 100000000 criteria for the food to be "clean"), which makes sushi places even more exclusive and... expencive. Of course, when you think of it, it's rice (cheap carbs) and some tuna or other sea stuff which easily found and inexpencive... Good marketing or...?

I would have to say the Tarot of Dreams is probably the first "mark" towards a new trend in tarot, as well as the Gilded. But more so the TofD. I would not be the least surprised if we find ourselves gliding into more interactive CD'DVD's of tarot decks, where you are actually "walking" through the deck, experiencing the sounds and seeing the characters actually moving, representing both traditional and non traditional meanings, helping to evolve you intuitive side. I guess you could say "Live Tarot Decks" will be the future, IMO.