I can't find a scan of the card to compare, but I myself don't mind "shock imagery" when it is useful and done well. Look, for example, at the Thoth Lust. Not only does it show what it does, but the BoT goes even further and tells you flat out that what you think you're seeing really is what is there. I don't find it gratuitous, though; it makes sense and has a beautiful, sublime message to it. The Great Whore can be a very pure, holy and beautiful idea, from the proper perspective.
Abstract, meditative ideas can be communicated in a variety of ways, and sometimes how we deal with those images is a type of "test" of how we will deal with the deck in general. Another example is the Thoth Devil. Some may use a Waite meaning for it, and in doing so completely miss the point of that card, and probably much of the spirit of the deck. We don't always have to agree with an image or agenda, but we should allow it to challenge us, to create turmoil within us, to unsteady our preconceptions, to create dialogue. Even if after the "battle" is over we appear unchanged, we aren't, and we are probably stronger for it.
So... what do
you think of the Ten of Cups?
