I spent a little time with the deck last evening. There is so much detail in these cards that I cannot comprehend any one card fully. Somehow, I find it a refreshing change from the standard RWS clones. The only one in that genre that has captivated me as much is the Tarot of Prague - another deck with many little wonderful mysteries.
For example, I am pulling a card at random right now and will describe everything I see at first glance:
I picked the nine of chalices. Like all chalices in the deck, it is a winter scene. In the foreground to the right appears to be an older couple, each brandishing two chalices and smiling at each other. To their left is an angel who is smiling dreamily to her right, maybe looking off-card, maybe looking athe the golden pot at the base of her feet. She is dressed in a blue robe with a blue wreath upon her head, and wearing a bright sun ornament on her chest. She seems to be pointing to the scene behind her, or perhaps at the couple mentioned above. Behind her slightly to her left are three people, two are people of undetermined wealth and one is Jesus. They each hold a chalice except for Jesus who holds two. Directly behind the angel stands a man in the cold river, holding a fan and apparently shouting at the sky. Further behind him are two more people with their backs to us, both dressed in blue and wearing tan, wide-brimmed hats. They are both also holding objects skyward - the one on the left is holding a hat identical to the one she/he is wearing, the other is holding a stick with a green snake intertwined. They are both walking on a snow-covered path. Finally, amongst the low level mountains in the back sits a castle on a rocky ridge.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I was hoping to illustrate how these cards are layed out. Unlike many decks, I think I could sit down with each one and write a detailed story about it. I probably even missed some imagery here, and some of the other cards have even more little nuances that are fun to discover. Also, it shows a unique aspect of this card when compared to the standard RWS decks - each of those decks would have nine chalices, but this deck also had nine people. I am sure there is some significance there somehow.
I also found it interesting that I picked the nine of chalices. In a standard deck, this is considered the "wish" card. In the brief description in the LWB, that is also implied (I hesitate copying the verbiage from the book - not sure if copyright laws apply here). However, this is one of the few cards I totally disliked in RWS. Something about that smarmy little man hording all those cups that annoyed me.
I may start posting card studies here as time permits - hopefully more people will join in as we go on.
Dan
