Strange decks; which are the ones that tempt you?

[Cat*]

Originally Posted by Alamaris

The Silicon Dawn. Don't give me that look -- it may be vaguely RWS, but it is deeply weird. And although I adore it with ungodly passion, it's language lies somewhere between a cajun mash-up of Klingon and C++, splattered liberally with backstage drag show lingo. Night classes are required.

I love that description! For some reason, I have no problems understanding the Silicon Dawn, though.

Originally Posted by Alamaris

Morgan's Tarot. It's not a real tarot, it's more like an oracle that took the wrong tab of ecstacy three miles back and hasn't quite recovered, but I'm steadfastly determined to find a serious divinatory core to it, despite how silly it appears. This is probably fruitless. I persevere regardless.

Yep. That's another deck I really like but that I can't quite read with. But I still keep it to try again.

Originally Posted by Alamaris

The New Orleans Voodoo is my "bought it once and sold it and have meant to rebuy it for years" deck. It's a strange, difficult deck, which is why I want it..and also why I've been putting it off.

And another one that's on my list, together with the Shining Tribe: I want to learn it some day but haven't gotten around to do so, yet. But I have a distinct sense that my usual "intuitive" reading style may not get me very far with these two...

Originally Posted by Penthasilia

ETA: <in a small voice> Oh- and am I the only one that loves and uses the Discordian deck?

No! That one has been the nicest surprise so far on my "deck of the week" journey. Genius graphics, wonderfully readable. Love it!

Originally Posted by Nina*

Tarot of the Origins. I deeply love this deck, but am afraid I'll never really get it.

I used this for the first time very recently. I think I should like it, and I apparently did some okay readings with it, but I never got a sense of "getting it" despite that.

Originally Posted by Alamaris

Oh! I forgot about the Tarot of Metamorphosis. One of my favorite decks, but mad as a fish.

Mad and great for "intuitive" readings.

Oh, and then there are the two German majors-only decks I own:
The Baum Tarot and the Im Haus der gefiederten Schlange Tarot. Never read with them. Wouldn't even know how. But I want to. (Plus, they're so small they barely take up any space, so they stay.)

[Le Fanu]

Originally Posted by vee

I think Etteilla is kind of a meeting place between Tarot and Lenormand. It's definitely geared towards huge spreads where the cards are interpreted based on their position and proximity towards other cards, like a Grand Tableau. On the other hand, it does have those deep archetypes of the Tarot that just beg for solitary reflection. I think it's a balance between the two styles. I cannot claim to have mastered it yet, though.

Those supposedly Lenormand ways of reading that everyone is loving right now started with Ettteilla. He invented this stringing together of snippets I think. I'm not quite sure - or rather I've yet to discover - exactly what Mme Lenormand invented, apart from some lovely little cards from beyond the grave.

Ones I forget for the this thread; yes, Nina, The Tarot of the Origins, III Millennium Minors, Tarot of the Imagination (but this last one I don't much care for). And a big YES for the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot. Morgans Tarot is hippie weirdness that doesn't do much for me.

A biggie for me is the Tarot of the Holy Light. I love it. I'm up against a brick wall though now, pending book. I simply cannot take it any further but I get it out and love it to bits.

[Alamaris]

Originally Posted by Cat*

I love that description! For some reason, I have no problems understanding the Silicon Dawn, though.

You read intuitively though, yes? Maybe that's my problem -- I focus heavily on the book, which, while brilliant, is notoriously vague at times. The scenes are heavily character-driven and I can see them working better through an intuitive, image-based method rather than directed research or a book study. A few of the strange decks in this thread match that description, methinks!

[Egypt Urnash]

Originally Posted by Alamaris

The Silicon Dawn. Don't give me that look -- it may be vaguely RWS, but it is deeply weird. And although I adore it with ungodly passion, it's language lies somewhere between a cajun mash-up of Klingon and C++, splattered liberally with backstage drag show lingo. Night classes are required.

oh god I love you and am kind of thinking I should quote this on the deck's page. n.n

the book, which, while brilliant, is notoriously vague at times.

Guilty as charged! There are a few places I was deliberately vague, but there were other places I was simply not able to fully articulate my thoughts, plus the whole "this book is already too long for our budget" thing. There was gonna be a section running down all the small cards grouped together by the numbers! If you've got any particular cards you'd like some clarification on, pm/email me, or start a thread in the IDS forum and poke me about it - I'll try to say SOMETHING useful! And maybe even incorporate that into a revised and expanded book, if a second edition ever happens...

[Masa]

Originally Posted by Egypt Urnash

If you've got any particular cards you'd like some clarification on, pm/email me, or start a thread in the IDS forum and poke me about it - I'll try to say SOMETHING useful! And maybe even incorporate that into a revised and expanded book, if a second edition ever happens...

Whee!! I just paid for my copy this morning, because it is my answer to this thread as well. Totally excited. I will definitely take you up on this offer once it arrives.

(I'm using it as a prop for a tabletop roleplaying game I'm participating in soon. The plan is for my character to be all based around the deck's personality. )

[Egypt Urnash]

Your character is going to be a TOTAL FLIRT of a sexy robot lady who may or may not have Deep Meaningful Knowledge, then? n.n

And to be on topic, the decks that always feel kind of compellingly strange to me? The Crowley/Harris Thoth is just... deeply insane, somewhere down at its core. There's something alien about it that draws me.

And every time I see the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot, it tempts me. Maybe this is just because I'm from New Orleans and want to have a few tokens of that city's strangeness hanging around my life now that I live elsewhere. But it, too, is just... alien. And almost dangerous; I'm just not sure I want to be talking to the loa, you know? They're capricious.

[Alamaris]

Originally Posted by Egypt Urnash

oh god I love you and am kind of thinking I should quote this on the deck's page. n.n

You are more than welcome to, if it strikes your fancy!

Guilty as charged! There are a few places I was deliberately vague, but there were other places I was simply not able to fully articulate my thoughts, plus the whole "this book is already too long for our budget" thing. There was gonna be a section running down all the small cards grouped together by the numbers! If you've got any particular cards you'd like some clarification on, pm/email me, or start a thread in the IDS forum and poke me about it - I'll try to say SOMETHING useful! And maybe even incorporate that into a revised and expanded book, if a second edition ever happens...

That darn budget issue. Every time. I'm running up against that myself with my deck in progress. It also often seems that sometimes what we feel to be clear and well-elucidated ends up being confusing to other readers -- the flip side to not being able to articulate ourselves! Other than my occasional complaint of vagueness, I adore the book, and my only real beef is that I want it to be longer, which I'm sure is a wish we both share.

I was very sad to see the study group for the Silicon Dawn languish, as many of the study groups do. I definitely have plans to go through the whole deck card by card at some point, because it certainly deserves the attention -- I'll send you a PM if I make a serious start on that project. If I could have it my way, the deck would come with an enormously lavish hardcover book, so hopefully we the forum can make a "book" of our own to do it justice.

*

On the thread's main topic, I had a thought: what about strange, difficult decks that seem to do better without a book? I mentioned in the Deck-A-Week thread that I found the Navigators of the Mystic SEA easier to read without the book, because it added so much overwhelming symbolic information that wasn't immediately necessary for readings. I've heard similar comments about the Wheel of Change, if I recall, and we could probably also charge the original Book of Thoth with that. Are there any difficult decks that are made more difficult by their companion volumes?

[Terrapin]

Originally Posted by Alamaris

You are more than welcome to, if it strikes your fancy!




On the thread's main topic, I had a thought: what about strange, difficult decks that seem to do better without a book? I mentioned in the Deck-A-Week thread that I found the Navigators of the Mystic SEA easier to read without the book, because it added so much overwhelming symbolic information that wasn't immediately necessary for readings. I've heard similar comments about the Wheel of Change, if I recall, and we could probably also charge the original Book of Thoth with that. Are there any difficult decks that are made more difficult by their companion volumes?

Really agree about the Navigators of the Mystic Sea book. It kind of ruined the deck for me a bit; not only in terms of overwhelming volumes of bits of information, but also in making me feel at the time that I wasn't adequately understanding the deck to really appreciate it. That's a deck about which I really wish I could have read some straight talk instead of projectile shards of flotsum & jestsum.

[Masa]

Originally Posted by Egypt Urnash

Your character is going to be a TOTAL FLIRT of a sexy robot lady who may or may not have Deep Meaningful Knowledge, then? n.n

Let me put it this way: he wishes!

[WolfSpirit]

Tarot of the Four Elements
Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot
Tarot of the Holy Light
Tarot of the Sepiroth
They all want some extra study and attention, and I think they will be so worth it.
And I think I want to study them without the book first to make them more personal.