"Embarassing" Decks

Quite some time ago, I couldn't resist the Jonathan Dee deck that I found in a shop for £1.99. I remember a friend telling me at the time that that was £1.98 too much!

I ended up giving it away.

I think that "depth" is subjective -- something that is imposed on the cards rather than arising from the cards themselves. So even though the Housewives Tarot was made for novelty purposes, it has as much meaning and depth as you give it.

Kabbalah, esoteric symbolism, etc, were assigned to the cards long after they were conceived. The rich history of the TdM, its medieval imagery, certainly give these cards a degree of complexity and depth that matches that of any of the "esoteric" decks -- though in my opinion, esotericism tends to complicate and cloud readings. The TdM gives clear, direct answers to questions, and even more elaborate spreads yield succinct readings when using this style of deck.

Housewives, likewise. The imagery is undeniably kitchy and lighthearted, but something about the "recent-history" quality of images that we can all relate to, the idealism of the 50s, and that the traditional meanings behind the cards were largely retained, make this deck surprisingly useful and easy to use.

I just got this deck, so I'm glad to hear good things about the Housewives Tarot. It had a bad first impression on me but the more people I knew that had it the more it grew on me and now I own it.

The point of collecting, for me now, is to balance the "collection." And so for now, with the addition of two Portmeirion Decks

(I didn't get the pdf book I ordered with it.... darn it) The artist signed everything and I got two different art books.

And the Baba decks, I'm at rest for the moment.

I had a Hanson-Roberts deck (a gift) but I can't find it. Maybe it just left me?

I never touched it, and it didn't fit my other decks.

Greg Stanton said:

I think that "depth" is subjective -- something that is imposed on the cards rather than arising from the cards themselves. So even though the Housewives Tarot was made for novelty purposes, it has as much meaning and depth as you give it.

Click to expand...

That's exactly why I put "depth" into quotes. I surely don't require a deck to have a ton of esoteric symbolism to like it. I know far too little about all these "additional things" to get much out of them anyway!

Maybe I should just have said that I got bored with using the same deck every day for two months (I haven't tried an Intensive Deck Study (IDS) with any other deck, so my eventual annoyance with the Housewives might be saying more about me and my need for variance in imagery than about this particular deck, mind you!).

Greg Stanton said:

The imagery is undeniably kitchy and lighthearted, but something about the "recent-history" quality of images that we can all relate to, the idealism of the 50s, and that the traditional meanings behind the cards were largely retained, make this deck surprisingly useful and easy to use.

Click to expand...

I still love the imagery and campy humor of the Housewives. I also never understood it as a novelty deck only, but always assumed that a reader must be able to use it seriously, too. But maybe I went too far in the other direction and came to expect a bit too much from it. *shrug* I don't know. I don't seem to be able to properly express what eventually annoyed me about it so much that I stopped my IDS a month early. As I said, maybe I would have gotten bored with any other deck, too.

Cat* I've never done an IDS but I did join my first study group and even though it is one of the only two decks I'm using right now, I got a little burnt out. Two months of in depth study on the Housewives tarot could certainly be too much.

I bought the Miss Cleo deck, too, to do a reading exchange here where you needed to use a deck you weren't familiar with at the time.

It's really not a bad deck at all, and I found some parts of of the LWB quite interesting...even fitting...although I'd never heard of those "meanings" before.

And I like it in the tactile sense...the size is good, and the stiffness of the cards feels good to my hands. I tend to like a deck with a lot more depth to its imagery, though. Some of the pictures on the cards are less intricate than I prefer. But I do read with it sometimes, and I'd like to take it for a spin in public...but I'm not sure if I'm up to that yet!

I have Russell Grants Astro Tarot - a deck that isn't readable without the book. It's very cheap cardstock and the artwork gets on your nerves after a while, its not a deck you can just pick up and use - infact its more like an oracle than a tarot deck. The deck is very much like Russell Grant, flamboyant and very in your face.

Lol! Jonathon Dee- well I love this little mongrel deck (as in hybrid mixed breed)- not for Tarot reasons because it is quite ugly and does not know what strain of Tarot it belongs to- because it was a gift from a young lad that had the bravery to come for a reading- whilst been teased by his mates. So I am not embarrassed by it....but I am embarrassed when I make a crappy choice and I just made one a few weeks ago. The deck is not embarrassing per se- but my choice was.
I bought it because the Artist who did the collage, name sounded so right for Tarot. Andre' Vat-es St Dryden. I forgot to take into consideration that I am fairly blind and his 'Sacred Art' Tarot needs an enlarger to get the best benefit.
Also to take Sacred Art and stick suit symbols on the art- just looks rushed. The Prince of Cups is about to pour his Cup contents into his pocket. Some cards look better in the scanning, than in reality. Ah well a little egg on my face is a reality check.
~Rosanne

I have- and LOVE my Gummy Bear Tarot! I don't even know why I got it, I literally woke up one morning and HAD TO HAVE IT!! I got lucky and got the deck that comes with the tin, which I love.

Manda

The deck that only my closest friends know I have (at least till now) is the Manara Tarot. I do use it for myself on occasion and would only dare use it on my closest friends otherwise. ... because it is so X-rated...

Babs