The Tarot of Vampyres

[Le Fanu]

Originally Posted by Aerin

I read the review that she thinks the Vampyres blows the BG away.

You're right. I misread it. She says "can't compete with this set. " I understood, this, i.e the Vampyres, cannot compete with the BG, but actually, I think she means the BG cannot compete with this set , i.e this set, the Vampyres, is better!

[Sulis]

Originally Posted by Carla

Not me. I like vampire stories and even films, but this deck does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever. I think it's quite ugly and lifeless and the Hanged Man card is simply horrid. I read her review before I saw it mentioned in this thread; I was looking for a review of World Spirit and idly clicked on Vampyres to see what she thought. I was really shocked she said this was better than BG, even though I have yet to actually see BG in real life. I'm surprised she's so gushing, I really can't see the charm. But then, I have yet to find a vampires deck that I like.

I completely agree with you Carla. I love vampire fiction and mythology but this deck leaves me cold; I think it looks like greetings cards and I just cannot get past the cheese factor but I think it's more that I just don't want to mix vampires and tarot.
I really fancy reading the book but the deck is definitely not for me and nothing will persuade me otherwise...
I'm not surprised that Janet Boyer loves it though..

Now the World Spirit; that's a whole different story (but that's a whole different topic too).

[TreeLeafe]

I am a fan of the Vampyre Tarot.
But I don't consider it better than the BG.

I don't know if I'll find one better than the other (My BG2 Standard is on its way to me) but I think in the end I'll find that they're two separate themes/styles of deck and really can't be compared to each other.

[irisa]

Originally Posted by Le Fanu

You're right. I misread it. She says "can't compete with this set. " I understood, this, i.e the Vampyres, cannot compete with the BG, but actually, I think she means the BG cannot compete with this set , i.e this set, the Vampyres, is better!

That confused me too I'm not at all sure. I've re-read it several times and I still think you can take it either way. Personally the only comparisons I do with BG is the one between 1st and 2nd editions. But at the same time it's not on a pedestal I love many other decks just as much.

irisa

[Chiriku]

Every time I think I'm close to buying it, I keep finding cards that give me pause.

Janet Boyer's reviews always have scans of cards not available elsewhere on the usual suspect sites (I think she must do it that way purposely, and I am thankful for that). In this batch, there was a Prince of Knives that is somewhat repellant to me. I'm not sure why, but it's something about the bone structure of his face and jaw.

Do you see how ungodly picky I am?

It's true she loved Daniels' work, but she stated that she still prefers the digital artwork of the Corsi deck to Vampyres' handpainted illustrations. Even though I don't care for digitally created (or photographic or collage) artwork in a deck, I have to say she did pick some very good examples on her Corsi deck review page.

I would have preferred for her to also have reviews on her site for Place's deck and BoGo so that the uninformed deck-seeker could put into context her comparison statement about the four different decks.
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QUESTION: does it bother anyone that many of the Minors appear not to have the number of cups, knives, etc. illustrated on the card? (For other reasons, I already suspected that many images started life as stand-alone paintings that were conscripted into service for this deck).

[HighPriestess]

Originally Posted by Chiriku

QUESTION: does it bother anyone that many of the Minors appear not to have the number of cups, knives, etc. illustrated on the card? (For other reasons, I already suspected that many images started life as stand-alone paintings that were conscripted into service for this deck).

I thought the lack of suit symbols would bother me (I'm usually picky about it) but now that I've used the deck a few times I'm used to it.

The paintings for cards like the Sun have different titles ("Black Witch" in that case) but Daniels is an artist, so I would expect he'd use some of his existing paintings. I don't mind because I LOVE the Sun card--it's so steamy!

[Le Fanu]

Originally Posted by Chiriku

QUESTION: does it bother anyone that many of the Minors appear not to have the number of cups, knives, etc. illustrated on the card? (For other reasons, I already suspected that many images started life as stand-alone paintings that were conscripted into service for this deck).

Gosh, no! having 8 Cups on the 8 of Cups and 10 Swords on the 10 of Swords is sooo passé! Where have you been? Nobody does that anymore!

[Chiriku]

Originally Posted by HighPriestess

I thought the lack of suit symbols would bother me (I'm usually picky about it) but now that I've used the deck a few times I'm used to it.

I imagine I'd get used to it over time too...if I used the deck enough.

The Sun is one of the best paintings, certainly. I'd be interested to read his card description for that one, to see how he explains the choice of this image for The Sun archetype.

Originally Posted by Le Fanu

Gosh, no! having 8 Cups on the 8 of Cups and 10 Swords on the 10 of Swords is sooo passé! Where have you been? Nobody does that anymore!

Oh, dear, my tarot hiatus *was* too long, wasn't it?

[shadowdancer]

well, I am still not sure about this deck I fell for the gushing over the Deviant Moon, and kicked myself for it. I want to know in 6 months time:

a) If people have used it in readings or is it sitting there purely as an art deck.
b) How easy it is to use in a reading without the recourse of using the book to look up symbolism etc.
c) Does it fit for any reading or is it more user friendly for only certain types of reading.

So, if anyone cares to pop back in 6 months and let me know, I promise I am open enough to reconsider my thoughts.

Davina

[Chiriku]

Originally Posted by shadowdancer

So, if anyone cares to pop back in 6 months and let me know, I promise I am open enough to reconsider my thoughts.

Davina

I'd be interested in that, too, ust for curiosity's sake, not to help me decide whether to buy it (I find each person connects differently with different things, plus, I don't mind having a deck that's only for one sort of feeling or season or mood).

However, I think you'd do better to check in after the northern hemisphere has had its springtime. It seems from recent threads that many people like a vampy and/or dark (not the same thing to me!) deck in the autumn and winter.

So the answers to your survey above might, in 6 months' time, be skewed heavily toward still favoring the deck for readings and study.