Year End Show Me the Love Thread

[Satori]

Call me an optimist, Pollyanna, Susy Sunshine, but I think we have a good group of people here on AT, and I think we can end the year on a positive note, loving the artists who work so hard to create the decks we just can't get enough of.

I love AT for many reasons. I love being able to meet and talk to the artists who create the decks that I have in my Tarot cabinet. I like seeing the artistic creative process, and I truly feel honored that people like Karen Mahoney, Ciro Marchetti, Riccardo and Bob Place to name only a few, actually allow us to see their work in process and welcome our comments.

The least we can do is treat them honorably and respectfully, you know, the way we ourselves would want to be treated.

I thought that it might be nice to end the year with a discussion, a positive and joyful discussion of what we love about the work that these artists have brought to our fingertips. I'd like to thank some of these deck creators for doing what they do. I know that it is a labor of love. And I love the smell of a new deck and the feeling of anticipation I get pulling the cellophane off and sifting through each card, one by one, grinning and enjoying the little surprises in each card.

I know that with each deck that I've used I get stretched in new directions, I learn new things about the symbols and what they have to say to me, and I learn new things about how to read. Because of the risks these artists have taken on my behalf I've become a better reader. Because of the way these artists have stretched the symbols and played with color, light, mood, and deck structure I've been able to experiment with so many wild storytelling adventures with my clients...and what do you know.....I've been an accurate reader to boot! Hehehe.

I've been surprised to find that decks I once thought I would not be able to read with have pulled me through to new levels of understanding of the human condition. I've learned that cats in silk dresses have something to say. I've learned that Angels and Vampires, and Paintings can come to life in such a way so as to animate my world in a way that I never before thought possible.

I know that my life is richer because of the deck creators I've met on AT. I know that I'm better for having held something of theirs in my hands. So please, join me in telling stories from the reading table, maintaining professional ethics of course, sharing how the artists who have shared these forums with us have inspired us, taught us and entertained us with their art.

This is not a deck criticism thread. This is a place for celebrating the artistry and beauty of the tarot, and of the people who bring us the decks that we love.

 

[Satori]

The Legacy: Ciro Marchetti

So I never have bought any of Ciro's decks until the Legacy came out. I decided to get the Legacy, figuring if this was Ciro's last Tarot (really?) then I better at least get his final work. Scion found a great deal on the set and we ordered them together.

Let's rewind a little. I did have a Guilded for about a week. I found one in a used clothing store!! and I picked it up. I ended up trading it here on the forum, and so I knew the style that Ciro uses. Also, at fairs and stuff I always see someone with the Guilded in their hands. It is a beloved deck out there in the world. The people who love Ciro's work love it. As well they should. Because now I am numbered in the ranks of the Ciro fans.

The Legacy has stolen my heart.

I have this new gig doing these girl's night out parties once a month and I started taking the Legacy around with me. And I was using it recently for a reading thing I did at a lady's house who was having a Pampered Chef show and she asked me to read for folks in a side room. Whatever. Bring me snacks I'll read for anyone anywhere! Also I did this big Witch party this past Halloween and I used the Legacy. And I was sort of shocked by it. It bamboozled me.

The faces of the people are so expressive. And whenever the cards that look like Ciro pop up I just smile and feel like he is there sort of grinning at me and supporting me, enjoying my great readings using his deck!!! LOL.

I've grown to LOVE the Knights. At first I was unsure, but I let the deck take me to the Zone and I trusted that I'd know how to work with the cards. I always connect to the deck by thinking about the concept. I sort of think of the Next Generation episode where Jean Luc gets sucked into the ancient records of a lost race. He lives an entire life in the records of this destroyed culture, meets people, loves, grows old.

When I use the Legacy I ask the lost people of the deck to share their wisdom with me. I approach the deck like a photo album from this lost culture, and I let them take me on a journey, and their pictures are stories that have the seeds in them that will unlock wisdom for me and my clients.

High Priestess is one of my favorite cards. Her face is amazing. Sometimes she looks very old to me, as if she is about to blow away to dust, and sometimes she is young with her old eyes.

Faith is amazing. Love it. Love it. I had it come up recently, and I was so amazed by it, non-denominational, telling a story about the practice of faith, the ritual, the focus of what brings us together in belief, and I was able to assist someone with an issue that I know I couldn't have done with any other deck. That image touched something off in me that no other deck has ever been able to find. Thank you for that Ciro. Thank you.

I was reading for a friend with Legacy at breakfast the other day. Her reading was so life affirming. She is in her 60's and she is so into personal growth. The 6 of cups came up and she grabbed the card and she was just IN the card. She loved it. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. I often have people take a picture of their spread, and with Legacy i always do, and she took her picture of the 6 of cups and was so happy to have it with her always.

So Ciro, my thanks to you for this deck. Legacy has a home in my heart and on my shelf. I love her. Not just that, I treasure her.

 

[nisaba]

I love being able to meet and talk to the artists who create the decks that I have in my Tarot cabinet. I like seeing the artistic creative process, and I truly feel honored that people like Karen Mahoney, Ciro Marchetti, Riccardo and Bob Place to name only a few, actually allow us to see their work in process and welcome our comments.

The least we can do is treat them honorably and respectfully, you know, the way we ourselves would want to be treated.

Hear, hear!

I thought that it might be nice to end the year with a discussion, a positive and joyful discussion of what we love about the work that these artists have brought to our fingertips. I'd like to thank some of these deck creators for doing what they do.

And the more personal things that they do, too.

Ciro Marchetti, knowing that I lost my last job months ago, gave me a freely-given gift of his second-edition Tarot of Dreams, for no better reason than we'd exchanged a few PMs and had been cyber-smiling at each other for a bit. I reviewed it: it was not a review-copy, but nor have many of the decks I've reviewed since I've been here. It was the least I could do for a Nice Man.

Major Tom gave me a review-copy of his Major Tom's Marseilles, which broke my Marseilles-drought and was my first-ever modern-Marseilles. Again, he was very gracious about sending it, and very accepting of the fact that my review not only contained what I thought was good about the deck, but also what I thought worked less well. It's still here with me, Major.

Karen Mahony, even though I'd bought my Fairytale through my favourite online purveyor-of-Tarot and not directly from them, was decent enough, when I realised it was down a King Pentacles and had two Six Cups cards, to send out a replacement King, AND a second title-card signed by both of them, and was happy for me to hang onto the extra Six (which is now involved in the Bride of Frankenstein patchwork deck project)

Even when a person might produce a deck I actively dislike (and I love all Tarot, really), I fully recognise that that may well be down to the idiosyncracies of my taste. People who create Tarot decks spend a hell of a lot of time, emotional energy, and sheer, back-breaking *thought* on their babies - and all the ones I have dealt with have then been gracious enough to listen to people bagging their creations, which must be hurtful even if it might be slightly deserved. They all seem open-minded, receptive, communicative, and in the cases I have particularly singled out, open-handed as well.

I have enjoyed the conversations I've had, public and private, with the creators of other decks as well, so please don't feel left out. Those three just happened to put solid, tangible things in my hands as well. If I'm going to start listing everyone whose decks I have bought without problems and whom I have talked to and appreciated, or those whose deck I don't have yet but have very much enjoyed communicating with, I might forget someone and really cause offence.

So, ladies and gentlemen, don't be offended. Have a fabulous Summer/Winter Solstice, secure in the knowledge that your Old Auntie Nisaba loves each and every one of you.

 

[Carla]

Well, I must send love and gratitude to Anna Klaffinger, creator of the Anna K Tarot. I bought her deck when my collection extended to three decks total, and though I've bought another 20 or so more since then (and will no doubt continue to buy decks left and right!), I just have a feeling hers will be the deck that I will always love the most. It's a truly special deck. So many people here say it's 'the' deck for them. It's certainly the one that's most comfortable for me and easiest to read. I took my 1st edition to the Tarot Conference in London in October and it created an absolute sensation amongst the readers there. I hope every single one of them went straight home and bought a copy. Well done, Anna. I know you've said you'll probably never do another tarot--so bring on the oracle decks please!

Ooh, and I can't leave out Will Worthington. I love his work in the Druidcraft Tarot and Druid Plant and Animal Oracles, and looking forward to Wild Wood.

 

[Ashtaroot]

I want to send love and gratitude to Ricardo and LS for all their artists and amazing decks. I will never forget how he graciously sent me the 8 cards that went missing from my Botticelli

Love and gratitude to Scott Grossberg creator of the Deck of Shadows for his great deck and for standing behind his product and immediately sending me a replacement to my deck that had a flaw.

Love and gratitude to Karen Mahony and the Baba group for their beautiful delicious work and the great customer service especially when replacing all those cards.

Love and gratitude for Lynyrd Narciso for all his beautiful decks and my fav Vanessa

Love and gratitude to Lisa Hunt and her magical decks, I created beautiful
memories with my 3 boys and her fairytales

Love and gratitude to Emily Carding and her transparent innovations that got my then 7 year old boy hooked on reading using his intuition with the TT, and for his 8th birthday asking for the Transparent Oracle. And now the Sidhe are coming

Love and gratitude to Ciro for getting me hooked as soon as I saw the Tarot of Dreams and especially for getting my then 10 year old boy into tarot, first with the Gilded and now the Legacy.

Love and gratitude for our own Gloria Jean I love her Infinite Vision

Love and gratitude to Nigel Jackson for his art and knowledge and especially for the Rumi tarot

Love and gratitude to the creators of the Fifth Tarot, it really took my readings to another level.

Love and gratitude to our starlight Edmund and his Pixie s Lenormand, for infecting more people with the bug

The creators I mentioned have literally shaped my spiritual path with their
work and vision. I know I am forgetting a lot more but this is what I have around me right now. I have love and gratitude for every artist and creator

And lot of love and gratitude to the most important part that brings all of us together here Aeclectic Tarot and all the ATers and friends that being with you I am always learning and evolving

Thank you

 

[Baroli]

I would like to touch on a deck creator that a lot of people don't say much about, buy her decks, say a couple of things positive (or negative) and then put her decks aside. She doesn't say much,...she doesn't have to. Her decks speak volumes for her.

Chronata, when I first bought your Halloween Tarot deck and picked it up, it literally vibrated in my hand. I LOVE when tools for divination talk to me and in this case the deck said hello to me. Even now, I am looking at the Happy Squirrel card and there he is, sitting there, munching on a nut, looking at me and wondering what am I doing? I love your artistry, the way you take a slightly whimsical approach to your drawings, that are so serious in intent. Your work has inspired me and encouraged me to pursue a project I have been toying with for a few years, but didn't have the balls to continue with.

Your deck is bright, beautiful, dark, and in some readings bring out the ugliness of situations that need to be dealt with. It's emotional, it's evocative. It is without a doubt one the finest decks I have worked with and I usually don't rave about decks. (I think the last rave was the Victorian Romantic and Boho gothic 2nd ed.).

I love the Legacy, Robert Places' decks, and I have a special afinity with Karen Mahoney's decks,....but yours are personal. Your decks make themselves at home in my hands and I just so enjoy that. Please keep doing what you do. You are an artist, and a lover of Tarot. Thank you.

 

[Satori]

Chronata: Self-Publisher of Many a Fantastic Divinatory System

Meeting Chronata pushed me a to new level in my readings. She had all these little things, not so little really, but stuff....magic! She had trinkets and shells, and operculums and crystals and a cloth, a cool deck I'd never seen before (The Clow), a Three Sisters Reading, a minute deck, a long skirt and freckles and fun and smiles.

This woman with her way of turning everyday life into a magical journey was one of the women who helped to create the reader I am today. With Chronata it wasn't about the deck, at least not only the decks, it was about the woman walking a path, sharing her knowledge, teaching just by being.

 

[Ashtaroot]

I want to add love and gratitude to Sylvie Steinbach to her
Great contribution to the Lenormand world also it is through her that I found my way to this purple world AT I am grateful

Love and gratitude to the art of Jessica Godino & Lauren O'Leary for the great deck World Spirit Tarot that literally fell into my hands

 

[zan_chan]

I've always dreamed that Hermann Haindl, of Haindl Tarot and Haindl Rune Oracle fame, is out there watching my incredible adoration of his decks, of his art, and of the way he silently watches over me as spiritual adviser, and wishing that one day when I check my PM box there's one to say, "Hey, glad someone out there gets me as much as you do."

So Hermann, um, Herr Haindl, if you're out there and feel like saying hi, let me use this thread to say how much I appreciate your work, and how quickly I might have given up on tarot all together had I not found your beautiful deck

So yeah, let me show my love with that

Oh, and also some love to Stuart Kaplan and USG for printing the thing for so long, and being so attentive to their adoring customers

 

[Satori]

Magic Realist Press

The collection of decks from Magic Realist Press are amazing. I think I have owned them all, but at this time don't have them all, and I love each one in a different way.

Karen and Alex's decks sort of marked a coming of age for me in Tarot. When I finally got my hands on the Prague it was a pretty amazing experience. I loved the larger sized cards, I loved the quirky scenes, the blending of traditions, and the colors. I sort of went crazy with buying and trading decks after that! Suddenly I realized that there was a whole world of Tarot decks out there just waiting for me.

Of course part of that is being a member here and having access to the scans, the discussions and study groups. I know that being a part of AT, and having access not only to the scans but to the deck creators matured me as a reader.

The Fairytale Tarot was a gift to me from Scion and that deck was another eye opener. This deck was my constant companion for a year. I didn't use it exclusively, but I used it alot. I loved the readings I was getting with it. So special. I saw a lot of women that year who were having marital issues. I thought that was sort of ironic! "the Fairytale Tarot" was showing me trouble with the "Happy Ending". What happens after the prince sweeps you off your feet? Does the story end? No, the Wicked Witch tempts your Prince, you realize you may have left the village but you are stuck in the prison-kitchen of the mini-mansion, and you want to run away with the Dish and the Spoon.

Thanks for the great decks, the great lessons, the wonderful conversations. Oh and the purses....the beautiful purses and deck bags, oh my!