"Scenic" deck?

I've been thinking about this, and wondering if there are any decks out there which people know of which don't use human figures at all.

Certainly, human figures are central in the tarot, as tarot is the story of humanity's experience with its own consciousness and the universe in which it finds itself... but for this very reason, I think it might be illuminating to see how the archetypes might be presented without human or humanized figures.

For example, the High Priestess card could show the full moon at midnight over the ocean, as the glimmering moonlit waves crash onto the sand. (Has anyone ever seen the amazing display of phosphorescent plankton? I was lucky enough to see this once--the waves flash blue like lightning when they break. If you stamp your foot down on the wet sand, it lights up blue all around it. It makes me think of the High Priestess.)

Perhaps the Fool (or the Magician) card could show images from a particle accelerator. The Empress could show a field full of flowers, or a flower up-close. The Emperor could be a bee. The Tower, a raging forest fire (one of many instances in nature of cleansing destruction which promotes regeneration). The Star, the first tentative green sprouts rising from the charred remains of the forest. The Hermit could show a vast stretch of desert. Etc, etc.

Are there any decks like this out there?

A beautiful idea, noby. The only one that comes to mind is an oracle: the Power Deck ("showing photographic landscape scenes on the front of the cards and explanatory text and the meaning on the back") which Rainwolf has up for trade/gift.

Also the Universe Cards oracle set which is illustrated with astronomical photos...

Hi noby, I believe the Mandala Astrological Tarot has no people:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/mandala-astrological/

http://www.tarotpassages.com/mandala.htm

-- Lee

There are plenty of decks that don't show actual "human" figures on the cards, although you couldn't exactly classify them as "scenic" either. Most are either based around some novelty theme, or are extremely abstract. Here's a few examples:

Fractal Firebird Tarot:
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=fractal+firebird

Le Conchigle Divinatorie:
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=conchiglie+divinatorie

JTG Tarot:
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=jtg

Louttre B Tarot:
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=louttre

The Portal Tarot:
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=portal

- Jeannette
The Tarot Garden

Wow, these are all interesting and thought-provoking decks. Thanks for sharing them, everyone!

I think the JTG is my favorite. Really neat art. Like Escher and Dalí had an affair and conceived a tarot deck. The author was also apparently very well-versed in the different symbolic systems and ideas behind the different archetypes. Neat-o.

None so far are exactly what I'm looking for (the Power Deck seems closest, but it's not a tarot deck, and I'm not sure I like it), but perhaps that just means it's time for me to embark on a fun project and scrounge something together myself!

My first thought for a 'no people' deck was the Crow's magick deck.

But that does have a human figure in. Though it is mostly a 'no people' deck.

I think there are other animal decks, with no people.

But of course these are different from scenic.

Yes you should make one, it sounds like a great thing to do.
You seem to have thought out some cards already.

As someone who has an affinity for crows, the Crow's Magick has caught my eye more than once, but I don't quite click with it.

And even in "animal decks" which don't anthropomorphize the animals in some way, there is still the tendency to want to project some kind of personality on to the animal(s). I'm interested in a deck that would totally strip the user of the ability to do that.

I'm fascinated by the affect different spaces and natural events have on our psyches, and the way we instinctively respond to them in different ways. I feel a tarot deck which represented the archetypes as scenes would invite the reader to "step into" the space and just feel it, just sense it. I'm surprised it hasn't been done already.

I don't know if I have the time and patience to put something like this together myself, but it might be fun to play with, at least.

Hi noby!

After reading your description of the kind of deck you are searching for...this one sprang immediately to mind...

The Garden Path

http://antipodeantarot.com/gp/

Some of the most amazing tarot symbolism stored in natural wonder.

That's interesting.
I have never seen that one before.

Nice to see another corvid fan here.

I'm a big fan of the little black feathery chaps.

My objection to the crow deck is 'not enough crows!'

Cute, though, arn't they!

Just realised what has been bugging me since I read this thread.

There is a deck I have seen on Ebay.

The cornish Tarot, Tarot Kernow.

It is photographs of cornish landscapes and stuff.
Or at least, that is what it appears to be.

The decks are all limited editions, but not too expensive. £20, I think, which is the high side of normal.

It is English/Cornish bilingual.

The little I saw looks rather pretty.

Maybe this is what you are after?