Baum Tarot II

Recently, I was able to track down a copy of Frederik Hetman's novel "Im Haus der gefierderten Schlange" (In the House of the feathered Serpent), the sequel to "Madru", the novel going with the Baum Tarot.

To my surprise, the book had a set of Major Arcana in its flap, just like the original Madru novel! They were different from the Baum too, a bit more eclectic (the story of the book, about Madru's son, is pretty whacky too...).

I really like the images - see some of them here:

oh! Interesting!
I got the Baum Tarot in a trade, and since it is German, had no idea that it was actually released as an extra for a novel.

Do you know if these books are available in English?
And since you siad "track down" I assume that means it is going to be hard to find even in German, let alone English....

Yes... the Madru novel was released in the late 80ies, the Serpent one is from 1990.

Madru got reprinted a few times, I have never seen a copy though and so I'm only sure the version I have myself, from Diederichs Verlag, has the uncut cards in the flap.

The Serpent one is definitely OOP. I've looked into it and not found an English edition. The German ones are regularly listed at Amazon marketplace... but as usual with them, the books are not well described, so it's a bit of a gamble if it comes with or without cards!

I wonder why they never released that second version as a separately packaged deck. The Baum Tarot is really popular, and I'm sure many people would like the other cards as well... they are even by the same artist!

In case anyone wants to give it a go, here are the dates for the book:

Author: Frederik Hetmann
Title: Im Haus der Gefiederten Schlange
Publisher: Goldmann Verlag
Year of publication: 1990
ISBN: 3-442-30355-9

Fantasy World has a Baum for sale in the trades forum in case you're lookin' for one....

Wow! I just picked up the Baum deck, and also had no idea it went with a novel! It won't do me much good because I can't read German, but at least I know.

I was searching for a thread on the Baum because I need help from you polyglots out there.

The Hanged Man card is named "Die Prufüng." I know that doesn't mean "hanged," so what DOES it mean?

(Been trying out all the free on-line translation programs for these cards to get the tree names right. Then I noticed some card names were a bit different, too.) I like the a bit differently named cards, like "The Star Woman," "The Moon Woman," "The Sun Woman," and "Lady World." (Well, that's how I translated Frau Welt.) And the Priestess and Priest are The Goddess and the God. Cool.

Well, if anyone can give me a quick translation for

Die Prufüng

please let me know! Thanks!

I've also bought a copy of both books a while ago. "Madru oder der grosse Wald" has the original Baum tarot cards in the inner flap (the set that is sold separately is redrawn). "Im Haus der gefiederten Schlange" also has its own deck in the book flap, just as Aulruna said.

I opened a thread about the latter deck. I also posted a few pics there.

Rachelcat, "die Prüfung" here means "the trial" or maybe "the ordeal", that is, what the hero has to get through to reach the goal.

Give me a little while and I'll see if I can come up with some more pictures and information...

Oh, thanks so much for the translation. I checked your link. Didn't realize we were talking about the same books and decks! Very interesting! I like the second deck, too. Now to decide if I absolutely must have it!

Looking forward to more info! Thanks!

ETA: Here's my little translation chart, if anyone's interested. I have a feeling I've missed some planets. Let me know if you see anything missing or wrong.

Translations of card titles + trees for Baum Tarot

0. Der Narr (Birke) - The Fool (Birch)
1. Der Magier (Buche) - The Magician (Beech)
2. Die Göttin (Erle) - The Goddess (Alder)
3. Die Fürstin (Linde) - The (ruling) Princess (Lime/Linden Tree)
4. Der Fürst (Tanne) - The (ruling) Prince (Fir)
5. Der Gott (Pappel) - The God (Poplar)
6. Die Liebenden (Heckenrose) - The Lovers (Dog Rose)
7. Der Wagenlenker (Hainbuche) - The Charioteer (Hornbeam)
8. Die Gerechtigkeit (Eiche) - Justice (Oak)
9. Der Einsiedler (Haselnuss) - The Hermit (Hazelnut)
10. Das Rad des Lebens (Walnuss) - The Wheel of Life (Walnut)
11. Die Kraft (Wacholder) - Strength (Juniper)
12. Die Prüfung (Lärche) - The Trial/Ordeal (Larch)
13. Der Tod (Efeu) - Death (Ivy)
14. Die Mässigung (Kiefer) - Temperance (Pine)
15. Der Dämon (Eberesche) - The Demon (Rowan)
16. Der Turm (Birnbaum) - The Tower (Pear)
17. Die Sternenfrau (Kirschbaum) - The Star Woman (Cherry)
18. Die Mondfrau (Holunder) - The Moon Woman (Elder)
19. Die Sonnenfrau (Ginster) - The Sun Woman (Gorse)
20. Das Gericht (Weissdorn) - Judgment (Hawthorn)
21. Frau Welt (Apfelbaum) - Ms. World (Apple)

The ISBN for the book "Madru oder Der große Wald" (Madru or The Big Forest) by Frederik Hetmann with cards by Tilman Michalski in inner flap (2nd edition from 1984, Diederichs Verlag):
ISBN 3-424-00782-X

I've attached photos of four cards so you can see how different the two editions of the Baum Tarot are (the small ones are cut from the book flap, the larger ones are from the separately sold deck). The other redrawings are less drastic, but still pretty different.

Translation of card titles for "Im Haus der gefiederten Schlange" Tarot

Compared to the Baum Tarot, these titles are pretty common ones, with the exception of the Moon. You see, in German the moon (der Mond) is grammatically male. Adding "-in" (die Mondin) makes the word grammatically female, a spelling I've rarely ever seen outside of feminist texts.

0. Der Narr - The Fool
1. Der Magier - The Magician
2. Die Hohe Priesterin - The High Priestess
3. Die Kaiserin - The Empress
4. Der Kaiser - The Emperor
5. Der Hierophant - The Hierophant
6. Die Liebenden - The Lovers
7. Der Wagen - The Chariot
8. Die Gerechtigkeit - Justice
9. Der Eremit - The Hermit
10. Das Glücksrad - The Wheel of Fortune
11. Die Kraft - Strength
12. Der Gehängte - The Hanged Man
13. Der Tod - Death
14. Die Mässigkeit - Temperance
15. Der Teufel - The Devil
16. Der Turm - The Tower
17. Der Stern - The Star
18. Die Mondin - The (female) Moon
19. Die Sonne - The Sun
20. Das Jüngste Gericht - Judgment
21. Die Welt - The World

My edition of "Im Haus der gefiederten Schlange" (In the House of the Feathered Serpent) is the same as Aulruna's: ISBN 3-442-30355-9, book by Frederik Hetmann, cards by Tilman Michalski, published by Goldmann Verlag, 1990.

Rachelcat,
I didn't see your attachment until now. As far as I can see, the Magician (in the separately sold Baum Tarot deck) has the symbols for Venus, Mercury, and Moon (possibly Sun, too). Death has a small sun and moon, but not their astrological symbols. The same goes for Frau Welt. Die Sternenfrau has a big Mercury symbol and a small one of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter, each. Der Dämon has a small white pentagram and a blue moon in addition to the Sagittarius symbol. Oh, and die Fürstin has the Mars symbol, not die Göttin (she has none).

The Baum Tarot from the book doesn't have many astrological symbols. I could only find symbols on die Fürstin (who has the symbol for Venus here, not for Mars, as in the newer edition), der Fürst, der Wagenlenker, der Einsiedler, die Gerechtigkeit, das Rad des Lebens, die Kraft, die Prüfung, die Sonnenfrau, and das Gericht. Except the Fürstin they all have the symbols from your chart.

I'll leave the checking of the Hebrew letters to someone else, since I still know nothing about them.