new "Classic Golden Dawn Tarot" deck

[Rusty Neon]

Does anyone yet have this deck, the Classic Golden Dawn Tarot? I was made aware of this deck from posts on the TarotL and ComparativeTarot groups.

This new deck is a limited edition, black and white tarot deck following the descriptions set out in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's manuscript _Book T_. Thus, it joins in the company of Wang's and the Cicero's GD decks.

http://www.classicgd.bigstep.com/homepage.html

Unfortunately, the distributor's mailing cost supplement to Canada (versus mailing within the U.S.) is exorbitant.

http://www.classicgd.bigstep.com/generic3.html

[fyreflye]

The Fool and Lovers cards demonstrate that it's definitely based on the Book T instructions, but the art work is too elementary. If it's a b&w Golden Dawn tarot you want Dowson's Hermetic beats all contenders, even the colored versions. The Hermetic will cost you a lot more than air postage to Canada, though; but it's worth it.

[Tsuzuki]

These appear to be the Whare Ra cards.
http://www.hermetic.com/gdlibrary/tarot/whare_ra/

I don't think they're 100% original Golden Dawn cards, though, seeing as how the planet Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930, and there it is on the Judgment card. I do, however, think that this is the natural evolution of the Golden Dawn cards. I just wish they used the esoteric glyph for Pluto. I hate that 'PL' one.

[Elizabeth Genco]

The website says:

Introducing the Classic Golden Dawn Tarot in black and white. This is a limited first edition of 1200 decks, numbered and signed by the authors. The Classic Golden Dawn Tarot is an effort to restore as nearly as possible, the original Order deck. However, the deck was constantly under revision by various temples and at various periods of time. We believe what we have presented here, as accurately as possible, is the deck in it’s first form.

Each member of the Second Order was required to make their own hand drawn deck according to the instructions given them. Some freedom was given in the coloring of the cards, and each deck became highly individualized. No two decks were exactly the same. But then, the habit of simply copying the decks of others to save time became the norm.

Here's what I don't get. If every member was to draw their own deck, then it would stand to reason that everyone had a completely different deck, both in the linework and the coloring. How, then, can this be "original"? Ok, so, the habit of copying the deck to save time became the norm. So whose deck is this? At what point in the process did the copying start, and of whose artwork? What year was that? Who drew this deck?

I find it really odd that they don't even say who drew it. Maybe that's a secret?

No disrespect meant in any of this; I really am sincerely curious.

[Rusty Neon]

write-up by Nina Lee Braden re: this deck
http://www.ata-tarot.com/reflections...goldendawn.htm

from the write-up:

The Classic Golden Dawn Tarot Deck by Richard Dudschus and David Sledzinski was designed under the guidance of Pat Zalewski. This deck was twelve years in the making and is based on the deck that Mrs. Felkins used in the Whare Ra Temple. It is a black and white deck, to be colored by the individual.

I'd like to see scans of other pip cards besides the 2 of Cups.

[Ruby7]

Originally Posted by Rusty Neon

Unfortunately, the distributor's mailing cost supplement to Canada (versus mailing within the U.S.) is exorbitant.

Ridiculous shipping charges! I just received a tarot deck and book set (Buckland Romani) from the U.S. to Canada shipped by airmail and the actual cost to the sender was $5.70 U.S.

Ruby7

[Tsuzuki]

I just got this in the mail today, signed and numbered #0048.

The cards are the size of the large Thoth deck. The card stock is non-glossy, which is fine for coloring. It doesn't come in a box, but instead comes wrapped in its own deck bag. When I emailed the creators, they said they were looking for a publisher for a larger release.

I like it, and think it's well worth the money. Though, when they do find a publisher, I hope the cards are a little smaller.

[Tsuzuki]

Originally Posted by Rusty Neon

I'd like to see scans of other pip cards besides the 2 of Cups.

Eight of Cups
Two of Disks

These are the only two that are even slightly different than Wang's pips, and as you can tell, they're still pretty much identical. All the others are exactly identical.

Wang's deck:
http://www.angelpaths.com/decks/goldendawn/index.html

[Annabelle]

I'm reviving this thread because I'm thinking of purchasing this deck, but have some reservations after witnessing discussion in another thread, in which a couple of people expressed disappointment in the deck's quality.

What is the card stock like? I understand that the cards aren't coated, so that the owner can color them, but is the deck on real card stock, or is it more like paper? Are the minors just pip cards, similar in style to the BOTA deck? Or are they more (or less) scenic than the BOTA?

Those out there who own this deck - what do you think of it, overall?

[HearthCricket]

I think yuck. I actually took mine and tossed it out. I wouldn't waste postage in sending this to someone. The paper quality is lousy. It is like a cheap thinnish cardboard or a heavy, not so smooth, paper. The edges are rough and not polished off, nicely. The pips are plain and boring. The cards are huge, like Druidcraft. I also noticed that if you wanted to colour this in, there are many places on the majors that the images don't close in...the lines don't hitch up, so you are left with having to make your own or figure out a way to blend it into the background. I am not sure exactly how to explain it, but some pics could be tricky because the whole image is not completely drawn in, if you get my meaning. Like they just didn't finish it off.

Quite frankly I can think of a million better ways to spend your tarot money with!