The Sherlock Holmes Tarot

Melia said:

Not even an oracle hey ... does it not give any messages at all, not even ambiguous ones, when reading with it?

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I haven't tried to read with it as such. What I did do was go through one suit of cards one by one to see what came, and I got nothing relating to what was in the book or anything to do with traditional meanings. When I did check with the book, the cards did not appear to me to portray what the book described, mainly because the figures didn't feel right I think.... the expressions not relating to the book explanation etc.

I will try intuitive reading with it one day, but I need to let it grow on me... or not! For now I am accepting it as a story deck!

Winterchild said:

I haven't tried to read with it as such. What I did do was go through one suit of cards one by one to see what came, and I got nothing relating to what was in the book or anything to do with traditional meanings. When I did check with the book, the cards did not appear to me to portray what the book described, mainly because the figures didn't feel right I think.... the expressions not relating to the book explanation etc.

I will try intuitive reading with it one day, but I need to let it grow on me... or not! For now I am accepting it as a story deck!

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I'll reserve judgement until I see it, because people's experience with decks varies so wildly. I'm getting what is probably an amazon return so it was cheap.

I remember when the Fey came out. It was the first deck I'd ever had where I could just see all the RWS meanings straight away in the cards, and then some people said they couldn't see any of them in there. Equally well people read with decks where I go 'you what???'. This could still go either way for me

Aerin said:

I'll reserve judgement until I see it, because people's experience with decks varies so wildly. I'm getting what is probably an amazon return so it was cheap.



I remember when the Fey came out. It was the first deck I'd ever had where I could just see all the RWS meanings straight away in the cards, and then some people said they couldn't see any of them in there. Equally well people read with decks where I go 'you what???'. This could still go either way for me

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Great.... Please post here when you have had a chance to digest it... I would really like to know others opinions and I do remain open on decks... Sometimes reading with them can make all the difference... I love the actually physicality of this deck... I want to get more enabled with it!

From the pictures this reminds me of the Gothic Tarot of Vampires- cinematic images with a lot of action. People *doing* things rather than standing there looking symbolic. This kind of deck works well by reading the pictures rather than imposing traditional meanings on the cards.

Like most of us I have several decks already where the traditional meanings come through and it might be nice to have a deck where the pictures are less weighed down by traditional interpretations.

I don't know yet though, although the fog and dramatic lighting appeals to me it might be a little too biased toward logic and analysis.

Myrrha said:

From the pictures this reminds me of the Gothic Tarot of Vampires- cinematic images with a lot of action. People *doing* things rather than standing there looking symbolic. This kind of deck works well by reading the pictures rather than imposing traditional meanings on the cards.

Like most of us I have several decks already where the traditional meanings come through and it might be nice to have a deck where the pictures are less weighed down by traditional interpretations.

I don't know yet though, although the fog and dramatic lighting appeals to me it might be a little too biased toward logic and analysis.

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If I were to throw away the book I think it would help. Approaching the narrative of the cards outside of the RWS descriptions that are implied would make a difference. I would say if you are interested this is definitely a deck to buy as a standalone rather than in the kit if you intend to read with it. For collectors the kit is beautiful ... And you can just ignore the book ; as long as you don't start reading lol!!!

Calling Glass Owl keen to know what you think... If you have had a chance to play !

Winterchild said:

Calling Glass Owl keen to know what you think... If you have had a chance to play !

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I have only had a chance to briefly go through the cards and haven't read with it yet. I have been reading through the book and find it to be a valuable resource. I think it is really laid out well and a lot when into it. I love the little details like the magnifying glass image for each card that contains a "Holmesian Wisdom" which is a quote from one of the books.

It goes into depth the choices that were made for each card and explains what is going on in each card which is really helpful, especially if one doesn't know or remember all of the details from the stories. A lot of the cards feature characters in action which I like, it has a very cinematic feel to it.

This Tarot deck leans very much towards the intellectual side of things and really gets to the heart of Sherlock Holmes as a detective and it is reflected in the decisions that were made. So for some this may not be their cup of tea. (For the Ravenclaw in me, it suits me very well.) If it had been their intention to just pluck out the most iconic stuff I suppose it would have been easy to go with making the Pentacles suit a list of objects, pieces of evidence, or places from the books.

To be honest, I am still wrapping my mind around it though and taking my time to digest it all but I am enjoying it very much. I think that their explanations regarding the change in suits is very helpful towards understanding the deck and how it is presented. As this is definitely a deck that I will be using the book to read with, I am very glad I got the kit.

A few minor quibbles:
- There is some glue residue where the front cover meets the first page and has pulled away a bit. When I get time I will probably put a tiny bit of super glue to make sure it doesn't pull away more.
- The box is large to accompany the book and so the deck is split into two and housed beneath it. If I can find an appropriate bag for the deck, I may just remove that cardboard section.

I am making a bag for mine when I get time out of an old tweed jacket I totally agree about the book... This is one deck that does not stand alone although if you had a lot if time and the original stories it could be a fun game to see where each card comes from. I had to abandon the book for study but you have inspired me to look again ASAP, so thanks a Glass Owl. I still have issues with the expressions on some cards and the burly ruddy Sherlock just does not fit my vision of Holmes!!!! Mr Rathbone would er turn in his grave...!

Oh, I love the idea of making a bag for it out of a tweed jacket! That would be awesome!

I think that this deck may inspire someone who hasn't read the Sherlock Holmes stories to check them out so I think that is a good thing.

As for how Sherlock is featured in the deck, he doesn't bother me although he does deviate a bit from how I would picture him. But then again, I love both the tv show, Elementary (which features a female Watson!) and BBC's sherlock. They both have different Sherlocks and I love them both equally.

Overall, I try to be open minded and not judge book adaptations too harshly when they are brought to life visually. Deviations are going to happen, choices are going to be made. I think that retaining the spirit of the material is probably the hardest thing to pull off.

I am usually the most critical when books are made into films! Mostly I don't bother seeing the movie !! Never heard of Elementary... I didn't like the Benedict wotsit modern Sherlock much.... I think Basil would be my fave Holmes. Martin Freeman and Ben make a good Holnes and Watson but I am not keen on the modern take! I have a huge old Sherlock complete edition somewhere... I think you could devise a great game with these cards among fans... This is the first book adaptation Tarot I have come across I think... Quite brave...