Hermetic Tarot

[Little Baron]

After another long chat with the helpful and interesting lady in Mysteries in London, I bought this deck [I always chat to her for so long, it feels rude to not buy something].

I have been quite good with decks of late - sticking to a small handful - The Renaisance for my bang, bang, bang reads; the Margarete Petersen for the deeper and reflective ones; and the Voodoo as a study vehicle and for something 'else' in reading. So it didn't feel wrong to add one more to the little grouping. I received the Hoi Polloi from Martyn last week, but I am saving that as one 'just for me' when I want a blatant RWS clone.

I always wanted the Hermetic. When I started all of this, ten years ago, that was the one I remember looking at in the sample catalogue in the very same shop. But in the end, it was the eyes of the Rohrig Devil that bought me, so I bought it. Years later, I looked again. But by that time, a big sticker was stuck over the top, saying 'Out of Stock'. And they wern't getting anymore.

So it was a pleasant surprise that it is available again. I looked at it recently but didn't have the time to give to it, but on my sunny Friday, it felt right.

Ok. Let me get the gripes out of the way first.

The card stock is too laminated. It is plasticy. It smells. It doesn't shuffle great. It sticks. It just ain't my kind of card stock. If it had the same stock as the Tarot of Prague or other MR decks, then I would not be complaining.

Next. They changed the font. Why, oh why, oh why can't USBG [US Bloody Games] leave things alone? Their card stock and changes to what have become classics is really getting to me.

Next. On close inspection, a few cards [like the Tower] seem pixilated. Not a big problem from a reading distance, but it is just something I noticed.

And finally, the artist, at times, draws a very uncomfortable looking figure or face. Quite poorly in a few examples.

But apart from that, as a whole, I love it. I love the black and whitness of it. I love some of the minors. I EVEN like the subtitles. They are not as brash as on the Thoth and they don't distract.

I thought I would open this thread because all other ones seem to concentrate on it being out of print. And it seems to have ducked into the background, now that it is [maybe people are not as interested now that it is available, you shallow things, you ].

There is a lot in it, waiting to be found. I did my first reading with it at my friend's last night. Her response - 'absolutely ******* spot on!'.

I think I am going to enjoy working with this one.

Any other interesting tales about this deck?????

LB

 

[room]

I love the black and whitness of it. I love some of the minors. I EVEN like the subtitles.

Me too, that's why I bought it. Didn't realize they changed the font from the original edition. I'll have to look up an old card online and compare it to the new printing to see this.

I do not have a great interest in esoteric systems, as I find people bastardize them to mean what they feel they should mean and end up ripping the guts out of the real history with their sham of expertise and study. But Hermeticism as a vital part of human history and art, interests me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to slog through the deeper meanings in this deck. I don't see how you could use it otherwise though--there is so much symbolism.

I have a book by Taschen with beautiful paper and full colour art called Alchemy & Mysticism : The Hermetic Museum by Alexander Roob, which I bought to go with the deck. You know what I'm like, I like artistic and historical references for my decks that aren't mainstream esoteric gobbledygook.

Being an artist, you might enjoy the book to go with your deck. That's my interesting tale. <g> The book is an absolute gobsmacker, very rich in history and art and hidden symbolism in art.

 

[Little Baron]

Ah, I think I have seen that book, room. There is a Taschen store in London and they hold all of the titles there. If I remember rightly, a lot of them are quite inexpensive. I shall keep a look out. Thanks.

I actually like the sub-titles. They are nicely poetic and also give me something else to think about, rather than slapping me round the face with a keyword. I am not sure how I will use it. I will probably find ways of research and learning, as I do with a lot of my decks - like with the Voodoo, how I approached it from many different authors, opinions and handles. I would like to use it for readings though. that black and whiteness looks great in a layout.

And unfortunately, even though I am not terrible fussed, the original font was far nicer Those people at USGames are such gremlins. I am sure that a lot of discussion goes into ******* up already established and valued decks. I just wonder how they decide that a lot of these changes are better. That card lamination they use now is probably the worst on the market. It reminds me of those old wipe boards you used to get with the special pen. And for a deck like this, it just doesn't fit.

LB

 

[room]

There is a Taschen store in London and they hold all of the titles there. If I remember rightly, a lot of them are quite inexpensive.

Great publisher. Drooling for that store. I got a great deal on their huge book about Illuminated Manuscripts last summer for my birthday.

Well, at least have a look at the book again in relation to the deck. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

 

[Little Baron]

Well, at least have a look at the book again in relation to the deck. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

I most definitely will.

Do you, or anyone else, know of any good websites that might aid the Hermetic?

LB

 

[room]

I most definitely will.

Do you, or anyone else, know of any good websites that might aid the Hermetic?

LB

Try the history forum, I think they have several threads and links.

 

[Tesseljoan]

I must agree with you on the artist: the human figure and face are not his strongest points. On the other hand, I love his more abstract drawings on the minors. I was very disappointed at first because of the poorly drawn humans in the deck, but I've grown to love it and it is a keeper.

 

[TallTarotGuy]

Really disappointed

I was excited that the Hermetic was going to be reprinted. I had an old edition, and was looking forward to the larger cards. I agree with you LB, in that I think USG really dropped the ball on this reprinting.

I find that many of the cards look pixelated, not just the Tower. And, I'm not sure if it's just my deck, but the 7 of Disks (I think that's the one..will have to double-check) looks blurry. On a positive note, I do like the new font that they used.

<SIGH> At least I have two copies of the first edition that I can use. The new one is probably going to be traded or sold off. All of that being said, though...the Hermetic is a great deck! I love the artwork and all of the esoteric symbolism.

TTG

 

[WolfSpirit]

The card stock is too laminated. It is plasticy. It smells. It doesn't shuffle great. It sticks. It just ain't my kind of card stock. If it had the same stock as the Tarot of Prague or other MR decks, then I would not be complaining.

That is strange. I had the Hermetic on pre-order from TarotGarden when the new edition just came out and the card stock is very good. Definitely not smelly or sticky.
I like it that the new edition is a little bigger than the old one (which I have as well). There is so much going on in the cards, they could definitely do with a bigger size - makes them look less busy.

I read somewhere - I think it was one of the reviews on Tarot Passages - that the deck reminded the reviewer of heavy metal posters from the seventies. It made me look at the deck differently - not just as a serious deck, but also a deck with a (darkish) sense of humour. I see it in the hands that look like claws, the weird faces, the skull in the death card.

I got the book by Robert Wang, the Qabalistic Tarot, to go with the deck. The book is very good but not an easy read and since then I went from being unemployed to working full-time and there always seem to be so many more urgent things to do than studying esoteric decks and I read the Hermetic in a more intuitive way. I still intend to study deck and book more thoroughly though, one day

 

[Little Baron]

Thanks TTG and WS.

Despite all that I have said, I can live with these small inperfections. I had the chance of looking through the deck in the shop for a long time and if it had offended me too much, I wouldn't have bought it.

The blurry bits are a shame, but as I said, when you have them at a table in front of you, they are not really noticable.
I really don't understand what USGames are playing at. I was horrified by their vile large RWS new printing - more gloss, loss of detail and 'in your face' colour. And their decision [if I have this right] to put borders on the Witches deck. And the changing of Pamela's beautiful handwritten fonts. All of the bits that really 'make' a deck and give it individuality and character, they seem to be changing. This one seems to have the same lamination as the Universal Waite that I have. That also seems a bit too shiny for my liking.

But on the plus side, I really like a lot of the minors. One of my gripes around the Thoth was that in places, I felt the artwork was not consistant. That green abstract prince seemed to jar heavily with some of the more elegant courts. And then there were pips that seemed [to me] to look as thought they were painted by two different people. But here, I have an alternative that works. Off the top of my head, the 'Four of Cups' and 'Three of wands' are fabulous. And how wonderful is that 'King of Pentacles'??!!! There are a few duds [the Star looks like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards], but as a whole, I really like it.

So where did you guys start with this one? I will definitely look up room's recommendation. I am sure I have some books here already that I can dip into.

LB