The things I missed in this deck - after 28 years of looking!!

Things I missed

The Cave certainly adds a deep dimension to the Image. It implies that death is a descent and a return, based on the Persephone and Demeter myth.

in reference to yaweh being a volcano god, if you can get your hands on a copy (it's out of print) read "moses and monotheism" by freud. very eye opening on that subject...

Emily said:

I always look for the cave in the Death card. In all the recoloured versions this cave is missing......

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With one exception. I don't mean to be nitpicking. I just jump at excuses to promote one of my favorite decks.

The cave is depicted in the classic 1968 Albano-Waite recoloring, but not in the more modern variants done by artists who apparently had at most a superficial understanding of the RWS. The Albano is a scrupulously authentic version of the Rider-Waite, whose colors are based on the Golden Dawn color scales as adapted for Tarot by Dr. Paul Foster Case, the founder of BOTA (Builders of the Adytum).

I didn't know that the cave was shown in the earlier versions of the Albano. I know it's not shown in the Universal or the Radiant.

I don't own any of the older/vintage versions of the RWS, the colouring of the so called 'Original' was always too dark and the standard RWS, the yellow jars with me for some reason so that was why I was pleased with the PCS Centennial to find the colours suit the deck (and me) and little details, like the cave, are all there.

Emily said:

I didn't know that the cave was shown in the earlier versions of the Albano. I know it's not shown in the Universal or the Radiant......

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The cave is still in the current printings of the Albano. I meant that the Albano originally appeared in 1968, much earlier than these newcomers like the Universal or Radiant.

LRichard said:

The cave is still in the current printings of the Albano. I meant that the Albano originally appeared in 1968, much earlier than these newcomers like the Universal or Radiant.

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Ahh I get you now. I was just looking at the Albano and did notice the cave. Have the colours of the Albano changed since the first printing or would you say that they are still in line with the Golden Dawn scales and Paul Foster Case? I had quite a few happy years with the Morgan Greer in which the colouring of the deck is also important and follows Paul Foster Case's adaptations. Although a few years ago Bill Greer did say that the colours that appeared on the cards wasn't what he originally wanted. The printings of the Morgan Greer now have brighter colours, or so I have been told.

You may have already encountered this, but I found a quite thorough paper about this cave -- and the river Styx and the boat of Charon, if indeed those are what are depicted there.

Check it out: http://www2.ida.net/graphics/shirtail/death13.htm

I am very glad that I have a copy of the Centennial RWS to see the cave clearly. I want to say that I can see it in my Pocket Universal Waite, but the ink deposit in that one is far less crisp and washed out to a lighter, violet hue. Knowing what it is supposed to look like, though, I do see it.

Emily said:

Ahh I get you now. I was just looking at the Albano and did notice the cave. Have the colours of the Albano changed since the first printing or would you say that they are still in line with the Golden Dawn scales and Paul Foster Case? I had quite a few happy years with the Morgan Greer in which the colouring of the deck is also important and follows Paul Foster Case's adaptations. Although a few years ago Bill Greer did say that the colours that appeared on the cards wasn't what he originally wanted. The printings of the Morgan Greer now have brighter colours, or so I have been told.

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I have the original Tarot Productions edition, which I bought around 1969-70, now worn out and missing a few cards. The current USG printing has much more saturated colors, too intense for my taste. I did find a 1987 Belgian-German edition, which is very close to the original colors.

a_gnostic said:

You may have already encountered this, but I found a quite thorough paper about this cave -- and the river Styx and the boat of Charon, if indeed those are what are depicted there.......

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That reminds me......

Those are not moons...

...those crescent shapes on the thrones of the King and Queen of Swords, they are sickles. Look at them, they have short handles underneath them. When discussing symbolism so far I've only heard people refer to them as "moons", but they are not!

The sickles are turned away from each other on the Queen's throne but towards each other on the King's throne - where they are framing (trapping?) a butterfly. Why sickles? What's the idea and symbolism behind that? If anybody knows, please tell...

ETA: I'm looking at a standard USGames RWS deck, pocket edition. Don't know how old it is but it's from when they still had the hand-drawn font.