interpretations *specific* to the Chinese Tarot?

Tiggy-cat

Hi all. I just got the Chinese Tarot deck, (I was VERY lucky to find it on eBay for a phenomenal price!) and immediately wanted to do a reading with it, which brought up a question. Some of the cards have alternate titles from most decks, for instance "Hanging Ghost" is # XII, instead of "Hanged Man", and the definition in the book that came with it seems much more negative than what I would normally assign to the Hanged Man. Most sources online don't talk specifically about one deck vs. any other, even though threads here have suggested that the meanings really are radically different from one deck to the next. So do people have any thoughts on that card specifically in the Chinese Tarot deck?
 

rwcarter

The story behind the image may be somewhat depressing, but the divinatory and reversed meanings aren't really all that different to "traditional" interpretations for the Hanged Man. If the story bothers you, don't use it. But you'll have a heck of a time explaining why she's upright instead of reversed. If the story bothers you that much, maybe use "hanging" in the sense of "hanging around" as in the ghost hasn't moved onto the next plain, instead hanging around where she lived and died.
 

Tiggy-cat

Ah, thanks very much rwcarter! That's a good rationalization for the "hanging" part, so I'll disregard the back-story. I just wasn't sure how differently I should be interpreting the alternate titles compared to how I normally do.
 

Tiggy-cat

Something very interesting, looking through the cards again today very carefully, and noticed the 4 of Swords had a typo and was marked "4 of Swards". Any ideas if that would affect the value of the deck in any way, make it worth less because of the mistake or more, like some coins become more valuable if they have a defect? Or neither?
 

rwcarter

My first edition, first printing deck with fold out instructions as opposed to LWB says 4 SWORDS. What is the lowest printing number on the inside cover of your LWB? I think the printing number would be a better guide to the deck's value than a misprint, depending on how many decks went out with that misprint (was it multiple print runs?)....

Word to the wise - Don't plan the kid's college education or your retirement income on the worth of tarot decks in your collection. That deck is worth the intersection of how much you're willing to sell it for and how much a buyer is willing to pay. That figure is likely to be high one day and low the next.
 

Tiggy-cat

Hmm, would it be the ISBN #? I actually wonder if the company has started printing these again because I notice it says ©1989, 2013. I didn't pay much for them and I think it's a beautiful deck in any case, so I'm glad to have the deck even if it's not especially valuable.
 

Tiggy-cat

OK, just looked on usgames.com for the ISBN # and it looks like they're reprinting them. Good news for anyone who wants the beautiful deck just because it's a great deck!
 

rwcarter

Inside the front cover of the LWB should be a series of numbers like

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

The lowest number would be the printing. If you see 2013 copyrights then you have the second (or possibly third) edition of the deck, likely the 1st or 2nd printing.

In 10-20 years that misprint might have a positive effect on the value of the deck. Or it may not.
 

Le Fanu

Something very interesting, looking through the cards again today very carefully, and noticed the 4 of Swords had a typo and was marked "4 of Swards". Any ideas if that would affect the value of the deck in any way, make it worth less because of the mistake or more, like some coins become more valuable if they have a defect? Or neither?
Presumably you've got the reprint. My older (the only) edition of this deck has 4 of Swords. This deck has been reprinted along with the Ukiyoe so presumably this is the new, easily-available-again edition?
 

Tiggy-cat

Yes, I believe I have the brand new, easily available version. The numbers inside go 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 .

Is the Ukiyoe deck also in reprint now? Interesting, that's so far my favorite and I have that one also.