Rediscovering the International Icon Tarot

[Satori]

I've been carrying around the International Icon lately and have been doing some readings and wow, I have to say, that this deck really rocks. I think it is supremely accessible! I have used the deck exclusively for my One Deck Wonder work, but now, returning to it again, has been a very interesting experience.

I notice that some of the people who I've read for with it either love it or hate it. And more than any other deck they seem totally mystified by me getting any thing off of it! I have to laugh because people will look at the card and look at me like, "How did you get That from THAT?" Which actually, I love! I love that the deck is sort of undercover if you will.

In fact, asking the sitter to participate with the IIT, and having them tell you how they feel about the cards really turns a reading around as well. I asked a woman to look at the III of Wands and tell me which way the person was looking...at the ships or at us, and she chose at us. Changed the whole reading for us.

Returning to a more densely illustrated RWS deck yields surprising new insights as well. I find that after looking at the IIT and then going back to the Universal is very profitable in terms of insights. You realize which details you want to work with and which details are no longer meaningful. It is a more personal decision about how to work with the deck, creating a more personal relationship with the cards.

 

[Quester]

Thank you Satori for your information about this deck. It is one that I have on my wish list. I am drawn to it for some reason and not been able to figure out why. I think your observation about not really knowing which direction the figures are looking adds a lot of depth. Now I know I have to get it.

 

[Sulis]

Nothing to add really.

Ya gotta love the International Icon

And yes, it does surprise people because they just don't expect a tarot deck to look like the ITT looks.

It's the colours that do it, when you have a reading laid out, the images almost seem to move...

I haven't used it for a long time but I may just have to get it out for a play

 

[Acacia]

I find myself unable to read with any other deck. I spent a few months with the IIT as a One Deck Wonder, and now that I want to go back to reading with something else I just can't. Well, I can, but I have to struggle to break through even with one of my old regular decks. Very interesting and probably means I am not done with the IIT.

 

[Umbrae]

Perhaps...Robin Ator is the most evil man alive – having created something so innocuous, so insidious, we allow it into our reading lives (“Hey baby, first one’s free…”) with the old, “Ugly as sin, but I’ll use it just this once…”

The next thing we know – we’ve become like monsters, the villagers chasing up towards the tower with torches in hand…

Thanks Robin.

 

[Julien]

This has not been a deck I've been drawn to because, well, the figures have no feet or hands. Sounds silly perhaps, but whenever I looked at it on-line, that's all I saw. But then recently I had a reading with it (Umbrae read for me via Tarot Garden). When I printed the reading out on my color printer, I really didn't notice the footless/handless condition of the various figures...

It got me curious, and I'm awaiting it in the mail... All of your comments have me looking forward to seeing it "for real."

Julien

 

[Skydancer]

Mr. Umbrae - you slay me! (and no I'm not a dragon ... although, come to think of it, my other name is Skydragon "depending on my mood.") And I'm not so sure you're a Knight. But I digress.

II and Ator, not necessarily in that order, are 2 of my most bestest decks to read with. I've only had them a couple of months. So sweet - so innocent. So simple. Pieces of cardboard. Yeah - right.

*S*

 

[firemaiden]

Firemaiden squinches... "no don't make me, no, no, don't make me"... imagines self giving readings in her style to unprepared queer-ants. "You will soon lose both hands and feet in a bizarre crocodile expedition... you're head will become loosened from your body... you will soon begin to feel very monochrome and flat...you will soon grow bald... "

 

[Skydancer]

And in Ator you will have one permanently dislodged eyeball.

And something very peculiar will happen to your nose requiring cosmetic surgery. I'd watch our for my pets too, if I were you.



Seriously though, the II is a wonderful reading deck for me too. Ator is close, but II is precise and, I think, eloquent. It cuts to the chase without distractions. I would never have known about it if it hadn't been for this forum.

 

[Lee]

Resurrecting this old thread -- I have a recently-rediscovered appreciation for this deck. I've had it set as my screensaver (through Window's screensaver function) for a few months now, and what really draws me to this deck is something which I don't see a lot of people mention -- the sheer beauty of the cards. I find them extremely aesthetically appealing. The way color is used takes it into a whole dimension beyond RWS. Many of the cards have an early '60s vibe which I like.