Tarot of the Origins

RiccardoLS

Artwork by Sergio Toppi
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The deck is OOP since a while back, so this is not any kind of advertisment.
It always had abysmal sales, and it was not RWS-structured.
However, in my opinion, it was one of the best LS decks ever done.

Anyone has it (or had it), and want to share an opinion on it?

ric
 

Hedera

I quite like the deck; I use it for daily draws, sometimes.

Most of the cards are quite readable, but some (several from the suit of... Jewels, I think, whatever the equivalent of pentacles was) are just baffling, and didn't yield to any intuitive prodding.

There was also a discrepancy between the depiction of men and women (happens a lot in LS decks), where the men tend to look slightly silly, or brutish, and the women are all aloof and beautiful. It made me feel like they weren't quite from the same universe, let alone the same tarot deck.

It's another deep, beautiful deck that suffered greatly from lack of a good book (or even a decent LWB), I think.
 

Le Fanu

Im not familiar with the deck; or rather, I don't have it. Looking through scans it is obvious to me that it would be a "difficult" deck for many people (something Im sure you know already) and as we all know, people are often immediately distanced when something requires concentration and a certain "looseness". I personally am finding that the less obvious the tarot structure (i.e the less RWS it is) the more it stimulates me. I currently find myself drawn to decks (invariably LoS I have to say and I don't say that to flatter) which have cards which I cannot always "fit" into familiar compartments.

(Dark Grimoire, Tarot of the Imagination, III Millennium, Secret Forest, Circle of Life &c)

As for the Tarot of the Origins, I suspect people are put off by the artwork ("too dark/limited palate"), the imagery ("too raw") and a general lack of identification with the prehistoric. Much as people often think they like to be in touch with the roots of man, the primeval, it is a certain "industrialised" concept of the primeval.

Then (as we all know; and I also understand the reasoning behind it)...

difficult deck + no explanatory book = "abysmal sales"

(I know you are asking who uses it and Im not answering the question, but just wanted to contribute :))
 

oak_woman

Well I have it and I've tried using it!

It's a strange deck: attractive and repellent in equal measures I think. I do like the limited palette very much. I love the Star, Moon and Sun cards. The Star, in particular, with the hands striking the flint, I find very beautiful and possibly unique. Temperance (re-named The Source) is probably my favourite in any deck.

The LWB is useless though and seems to leave a sour taste in the mouth.

I find it too scary to read with! Part of me wants to keep it for the haunting artwork, but because I don't read or meditate with it I've actually got it up for trade.
 

Aulruna

I have both the Majors-only and the full deck and I find it deep and haunting.

Especially the Majors capture the sense of what the archetypes were before man started intellectualizing them, if you get my meaning.

At the same time, the deck is sort of post-modern or even timeless.

It directly targets my root Chakra.

However, I hardly read with the Minors, because the meanings stray too far from any traditional frame and there is no explanation of what their structure might be. A deck does not need to follow a certain path for me, but I want to understand how it is constructed.

If it has no recognizable structure, it's an oracle or, worst case, just a pile of more ore less effective visual stimuli.

I find some of the cards truly unreadable, which is a pity because the deck does not feel random at all, but very well conceived.
 

Hedera

oak_woman said:
Temperance (re-named The Source) is probably my favourite in any deck.

The LWB is useless though and seems to leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Click to expand...

Ooooh, I forgot about the Source, that's a great card indeed!
One of my other favorites is the Chariot, I think that's a great interpretation (a hand drawing a Chariot/cart on a rock wall).

But, like you said, shame about the LWB.
If it's going to be like that, I'd rather they'd leave it out alltogether; it's literally less than useless.
 

oak_woman

Aulruna said:
Especially the Majors capture the sense of what the archetypes were before man started intellectualizing them, if you get my meaning.
Click to expand...

Why didn't I think of that! *strikes self on forehead* Thanks, Aulruna :heart:

Just read with the MAJORS!!
 

SphinYote

I have it. I absolutely LOVE some of the cards, such as the Wheel of Fortune, with it's emphasis on evolutionary cycles and change.

Others, because of the blood and violence, make this a difficult deck to work with, in some respects give it a cliche, savage feel. Red of tooth and claw. And in some respects stereotypical....I'm not sure that it was intended that way, but the effort at the intensity of emotion works with some cards, but makes others into a parody of the red-man (or whatever color) savage stereotype. It's not deliberate I don't think, but definitely there....dated I think toward the earlier 1950s-1960s caveman illustrations almost...I think I'm reminded of my father's "How and Why" science books that dated to the 1950s.

In a way that's one of the reasons I like the deck, it brings back memories of going through those books that I inherited (and then stupidly got rid of). But it also makes me cringe a little, considering how much effort now goes on in academia to dispel the savagery stereotypes (Oh, I have no doubt it was there to an extent, and we're sweeping more under the rug than we really should as academics, but the deck capitalizes on it in a rather bold and blatant way).

Thank you for reminding me of it, I have to go look at it now again when I get home this evening.

There was another thread asking about it recently where I gave a slightly different take on it, I'm not going to repeat it here if I can locate the thread....the other one if I recall was more positive, but since your post seemed to likewise be a query about the negative, I thought I'd attempt an answer on that here.

I'll see if I can dig up the other thread.

CCL
 

Umbrae

Although it was not my cup of tea, I loved the Universal by Sergio Toppi. I like his work...

Origini was lovely - but not for my reading style.
 
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