Ansata Tarot - preliminary remarks

I've decided to give the study group a go.

As all of you who own the deck know, the astrological correspondences differ greatly from traditional tarot. I think we should discuss the variations with each individual card rather than in a separate thread, but I'm open to suggestions.

The LWB of the Ansata Tarot remarks that the deck was specifically designed to enhance the connection between tarot and astrology. The authors state that the connection is as old as human history but has never been as thoroughly examined as in this deck and its accompanying book (now out of print). I doubt it somewhat. The Thoth deck and others of the Golden Dawn tradition work extensively with astrological correspondences.

The authors further state that through the inclusion of astrology the tarot gains in depth, which I think is true, judging from my study of the Thoth deck (and all the helpful comments of the Thoth specialists at AT). This is also worth exploring in connection with each individual card.

I shall stop my ramblings here for now, hoping others will join in.

I'm posting a reply to my own thread here, but I just thought of something else: the name of the deck!

Ansata, I believe, derives from 'crux ansata' (ansata cross), which is more commonly known as Ankh, the Egyptian sign of life. I googled it the other day but can't remember it all now. It's only by a phonetic coincidence that the cross stands for 'life'. In Egyptian the word for 'sandal strap' ( the shape of the hhop?) sounds like that for 'life'. There is no real consensus among scholars what the crux ansata was supposed to represent. Some say the rising sun (meaning rebirth), others the male and female sexual organs. Both would echo 'life'.

Any idea why this deck of cards might have the name it has (other than that it's the name of the publishing house as well)?