About the Tarot of the Saints

How come few people ever talk about this deck? I just ordered it and I'm all excited.

I just bought it last week!

I bought it because of a discussion in the History forum about the Black Death which led to a history of 14 saints called the "14 Holy Helpers". I had never heard of them before.

Here is the thread:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27614

Some of the Holy Helpers, Saint Barbara and Saint Catherine for instance, have strong relationships to traditional tarot cards... in this case Barbara to the Tower and Catherine to the Wheel.

When I discovered that the Tarot of the Saints used these two saints for those two cards, I went out and bought it right away.

The book that comes with it is very, very good. It has one of the best explanations of the development of the influences of tarot that I have ever read. Great for beginners trying understand what the kabbalah, neoplatonism, gnosticism and other "related" issues are and how they might have effected the tarot. I haven't got to the actually Saints yet, but I can tell this is going to become one of my favorite decks.

robert

I have Tarot of the Saints and would welcome discussion of it. I have purchased sooooooooo many decks recently that some just get overlooked in the stampede. (Planning to slow down as soon as ToP and the BBC are in the door next month!!)

To those that own this deck already, do you feel that it would be worthwhile to someone that was not raised Catholic?

I am a big Robert Place fan and have his Angel, Alchemical, and Buddah Tarot, but have not purchased this one because of it's "Catholiciness". Am I over reacting?

Thanks,
Mimi

IMHO, you might want to give it a try, Mimers. I think one of the really interesting things about Robert Place's tarot decks IS the way they explore different symbolic systems and show similarities between religions/philosophies that you would have thought totally unrelated. I know nothing about Alchemy, for example, but I find the images and symbolism in his Alchemical Tarot totally fascinating. I wasn't raised Catholic either and lI ook forward to learning more about the saints by studying this deck.

Thanks for the thread. I've always wondered about this deck and may order it now. I have looked at it many times but thought it may be an intense study deck, which is o.k. I never have heard much about it either.

Mimers said:

I am a big Robert Place fan and have his Angel, Alchemical, and Buddah Tarot, but have not purchased this one because of it's "Catholiciness". Am I over reacting?

Click to expand...

Mimette, you of all people should know anything Robert Place is worth checking out. You want a reading on your reactions to Catholicism? Could be a past life one.

Actually, I posted elsewhere that I found and Alchemical last w/e in a little metaphysical store on the Cape (at regular price - ole'!! Yes, I digress) and they had the Saints too. I thought about getting it too, but money was tight so I decided to hold off. I too have the Buddha, and actually, got a good ebay deal on the Angels, which is on it's way to me.

I'd love to read some Saints discussion. Discuss already!

I have seen this deck

Untill I read this thread, I hadn' given it much consideration. Now I see it in a different manner. Thanks.--Tao

I bought this deck on a whim, and it arrived yesterday. I am a recovered Catholic, but I always was and still am fascinated by the saints. I have my favorites -- Mary, Joan, Francis, Clare -- and my not-so-favorites, like Paul and Augustine.

Unfortunately, on my first look through this deck, I found it to be completely unusable for me. Mary, the mother of Christ, is demoted to the Moon, while a virgin saint who never gave birth to a child is the Empress. This absolutely flabbergasts me. Speaking from a Tarot standpoint, the Empress (for me) is the mother of all life, the feminine creative force, the nourisher and protectress of her children. Speaking from a Catholic standpoint, Mary -- the blessed Virgin Mother, the Queen of Heaven -- is the Empress of the Church. This demotion is, to me, so fundamentally wrong-headed that I simply cannot touch this deck anymore. Consequently, it's up for trade in the trading forum.

I understand that Robert Place is the designer, and it's his vision that counts when creating a deck. However, as a reader, it's my vision that counts when choosing a deck, and this deck is one that I can never choose to read with.

Profoundly disappointed,

Kim

I used to own this deck and I enjoyed all the stories and anecdotes that come with it, but one day on a whim I gave it as a gift to a dear friend.

He is Christian, but not a devout one per ce, i.e he doesn't attend mass on a regualr basis, if at all, and he drinks a bit too much most days.

But he got curious when I told him I was into 'tarot' and asked me if I could give him one deck to check 'it' out; that was when I decided to give him this one, as a gift as I mentioned above.

Later, he told me that he read the stories, and many of them were 'almost' true, but he didn't really 'look' at the images on the cards.

I guess for him, these are just cards, nothing more, and on days I think I sort of regret that I gave him this lovely deck, because I really liked the artwork and the cards were easy to handle . Well, I hope he is learning something, more than 'stories' from the bible and some related literature .