Tinker's Damn Tarot

Freder

Hi, ruby --

The Soldier / Knight thing would be a bit of confusion at the time I created the card. Creating a tarot deck is a long process, and one changes one's mind at various stages. The preview image was made months ago when I first completed the design. It's been corrected for the release, and he is now a Soldier like his fellows.

But -- why is the card back a struggle?
 

MaeWasteland

Ooh, this looks awesome (and options! I like options!) I wish the website didn't open everything I click on as a new tab, though, is it meant to do that? Like, I click on the image to 'enter' the website, new tab. Click on the deck I want to find out more about, new tab... Bit frustrating, esp if I want to go back a page and realise I closed the other tab. Love the Courier of Fire, btw, is that Cary Grant?
 

SharonRA

I've already ordered the matching minors to go with my collector's 'jumbo majors' edition, which has the default card back, but if anybody orders one of other card backs, please post photos when your deck arrives. :) Eventually, (when I'm not broke, lol) I'd love to order another large deck with the 310 linen cardstock (the collectors edition is 330 gsm), but choose a different back, perhaps the tooled leather one, which I think would be beautiful.
 

mydearruby

But -- why is the card back a struggle?

I love the gryphon pattern for all the colors and they all match the mood of the deck: red for the fierce energy, green for the sinister vibe, and purple for the decadence. The deck also reminds me a bit of Victorian Regina Tarot, but more powerful and grotesque.

Please also make a book for it!
 

Freder

Thank you so much, Sharon!

Mae -- Thanks! yes, I designed the website that way. It will frustrate some but help others, depending on your browsing habits. The site is very deep and complicated (or so I've been told) and its easy to get lost, so I thought this would work as a fail-safe... but I can't please everyone!

ruby -- Thank you, too. There will be a book someday. But it's going to be written gradually and serialized in... some... other new project I have planned but haven't announced at the site yet... After writing two of the things (one each for the Zirkus and Punch) I have had my fill of writing Tarot Books and needed to come up with a method of making the task palatable.

Nope, that's not Cary Grant! He is actually a nameless Hollywood extra on the set of "The Bride of Frankenstein!"

Onward!
 

Essjay

What a wonderful deck. It may have to wait until pay day but it shall eventually be mine!
 

Nemia

I'll have to save up... and then one glorious day... I'll have a Duck Soup splurge. There are at least four decks that I want so much!!!!

Freder, you are very very talented. And the much-exploited word Steampunk came up in my mind, too, when I looked at the wonderful images. So much creativity, intelligence and artistic vision in your decks!
 

mydearruby

I received my deck today and was struck in awe! I have always tried to avoid "what is your favorite deck" sort of question, but this one certainly pushes me close to a settled answer as of now.

This is the kind of deck that can only be created by someone with not only visual sensibility, but also a literary and philosophical mind. The keywords are well thought-over and evocative: "zeitgeist" for 0"evolution" for VI, "the only certainty" for XIII, "the new deal" for XX, among many others.

Another great thing I noticed is how each suit contains an implicitly recurrent visual theme, though not in a mechanic manner: tiger for fire, heart for water, owl for air (nothing more appropriate for the swords if we think about Hegel's famous metaphor for philosophy and reflexivity), and "earth" for earth. Love the way that the tiger and earth occasionally break through the frame of the image!

So far my favorite cards are the moon (the clock and time-management as the new hallucination of our time--genius sense of irony, as in six of fire), four of fire (hardly have I encountered any four of wands that can grasp the exhaustion behind completion), five of air (oh dear, only a writer knows how it feels), two of earth (the lunar eclipse raises the juggling trick to a new magnitude),and a whole lot others (mayer of air, four of water, evolution, eight of earth)...I still need some time to absorb them... but this is beyond just brainy, it is at once powerful and contemplative--consider how often powerful images would fall short of subtlety.

Freder, can you explain a bit your own perception of six of earth? I am also very tempted to get the matching lenormand----is it of the same linen cardstock?

I have a feeling that this is not an intuitive deck for everyone. But those who appreciate it would definitely appreciate it deeply. What a tour de force...
 

Freder

Ruby, thank you so much for the kind words. As the decks have been delivered I have had my fingers crossed about people's reactions. Quite nervous about it. Yours are the first real comments I have heard one way or the other. It's quite a relief.

Keyeord -- if I used them -- for the six of earth would be "patronage." It connects to Major Arcana #20 and depicts one of those great public murals funded throughout the Depression years by the Works Progress Administration. More details to come in ....

... what I can announce as my next project, the first issue of a "bookazine" I'm calling "The Sanctum." People keep asking me to write books to go with my decks, and I'm frankly bored writing those books (does the world really need another Tarot book? I honestly don't think so) ... so this project is an attempt to meet those requests in a way that will hopefully be as entertaining for them as it is for me. I haven't got a link to post as yet. My Facebook friends have seen a couple of preview images, that's all.

RE: The tinker Lenormand: yes, it's on the same stock, but I should warn you that I don;t think it has nearly the depth of the Tarot deck. This is partly due to the difference between Tarot and Lenormand, but also due to me just beginning to discover the style that that I was looking for. I think it's a perfectly serviceable Lenormand deck but... it's not my favorite child...

Best wishes to you and again many, many thanks for your kind comments!!!

--DT