Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot

Ah Skytwig, now that is useful to know. Yes, I have a problem with anything that looks like it could show dead animals - it's the reason we kept the Death card with live cats - I mean in one way it's grim but in another, it's actually quite sweet and even funny - they are acting and you can read it as serious or not.

The Tower is very problematic. In one way I do agree with Melvis when she says that cats always land on their feet. In another way, yes, it could bring tears to your eyes. I will talk with Alex seriously about this. Thank-you.

and no - any honour is mine (ours) to be able to show these and get informed and honest feedback. It's such a help you know. Even when we seem to react by saying 'no, no, no, we are right" - in fact we tend to go off and discuss things and we do take them seriously.

baba-prague said:

The Tower is very problematic. In one way I do agree with Melvis when she says that cats always land on their feet.

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Yes, I think Melvis has pointed out the theme of that card, actually..... maybe the Tower could be a tree or a pile of wooden crates ...... and the cat is about to land on the ground... not so twisted maybe.....

Just some thoughts.....

The Tower

Karen and Alex,

I actually like this Tower card a lot. You've incorporated the outside forces lifting the lid off the structure, and you have your cats falling. I also like the cloudy sky. And by looking at the different positions of the two cats, you can kind of see how they twist until they do land on their feet. (Which is true, by the way! )

But what I did find interesting is that these cats are not wearing any clothes, unlike the other cats in all the other cards you've shown us. Is there a significance to this?

Job well done!

Blessings,
Karen

HudsonGray said:

As you've said, the Tarot isn't all sweetness and light, there is a bite to it too.

The cats are ok, they're only falling in the picture, not real life.

Baba, in the main museum here there's research sections a person can go in & use so long as they don't take anything out of the rooms. Like bird skins for study, their non-display taxidermy mounts, bones, art, etc. A person has to get special permission to photograph, but all we have to do is ask. The behind the scenes stuff isn't generally known to most people.

Were you allowed to photograph some of your backgrounds & items from the museums in your area? I can't imagine having to go out and haunt antique shops looking for all the tiny details you're putting into your cards.

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Yes, we don't want a "fluffy" deck (they can be great too - but it's not us). But on the other hand, I don't want any card that makes people burst into tears! I think there may be a way - which I can't see right now - of just very slightly lightening this. Probably we'll put it to one side and try to come up with something.
(okay I know someone will point out to me that we showed falling people in ToP - but somehow with falling cats it may feel different - I think it was a very valid point).

Museums? You have hit it right on the head! Yes, we are allowed to photograph at Prague Museum of Decorative Arts, as long as we don't use a tripod - and pay some fee. It makes a huge difference because it means we have a whole heap of amazing objects - the porcelain woman who represents "sight" in the Queen of Swords is fantastic .

There is one amazing little figure - ivory - of an old woman who is wearing the mask of a young woman - that I'd really like to use. But I feel it may be too serious for this deck. Alex says it's too ugly in meaning. He may be right.
Anyway, it's wonderful to find all these incredible things - the museum here is quite famous.

Oh - we also did a lot of photography at Cesky Krumlov, which is supposed to be the most unspoilt renaissance town in Europe. It is unbelievable. We just spent our days there in astonishment. I'll try to point out when we use images from there, but for now, the beautiful pink (! it really is pink) castle tower in the Queen of Swords is Cesky Krumlov Castle. Haunted by a tragic White Lady too...

he...he...

i like the baba intends to talk about it with Alex SERIOUSLY. I can see the picture...!!!

I think that if we don't freak out seeing people falling off a burning tower, then why should we freak out by seeing cats fall down, which are much better equipped for the landing than humans. And no flames around, so even better...

I actually think this is a very mild card on that aspect, but it does show the upheaval and then the reconstruction, so...

oh, yea, where are the clothes?
I would love to see some cats bohemian panties showing on their way down!!!!

ps: I must type really slowly...

M-Press - you have no idea how seriously we do talk about this deck. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we have debates at length about bits. Well, it's our whole focus right now. Perhaps we are very odd!

Oh - I am kind of stunned how people here focus in on some of the real nitty gritty questions. Clothing the cats!? This one almost came to an argument you know (well not really, in fact we are lucky and hardly ever argue).

Alex felt that the cats should be unclothed as otherwise he could not show then properly - twisting as cats do when falling (don't tell anyone, but in the originals these cats are sleeping on their backs - we did work on the pictures but NO, we did not drop cats from a height.) I felt they should be in at least underclothes. He said this would end up looking awful - like we had just turned pictures upside down. When it comes to a difference of opinion that is purely visual, I usually go with his preference - simply because he is a much better artist than me. So - unclothed cats.
It does look convincing - maybe almost too much so.

In fact it is a BIG issue in this deck. We have had the same sort of endless discussion about cards like The World and The Star. You will see the solution we came up with presently

Interesting though isn't it? These issues come up and you don't really see them in advance (at least I didn't) - but they do make such a huge difference in the end, and they do need thinking through.

Well . . . if you're considering changing the Tower, how about two mice leaping out of the tower, on top of which sits a cat with a paw dangling over the side? After all, the Tower was originally called the House of God, right???

Kim

AHA. The call for terrified mice again. I smell a rat...

or is it an online cat? =^\^=

___________

edited to add - it IS cats themselves who always remember they were once gods isn't it? I really wonder if the one who REALLY typed the above message had whiskers...

baba-prague said:

AHA. The call for terrified mice again. I smell a rat...

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And, of course, they must have fancy little dressies on too.....

If I tell Anna that she has to scale down the clothes to mouse size I can just imagine what she'll say
(but it would be fun wouldn't it? I might see if we could manage just one little dressed mouse - but not scared and not in the paws of a cat)