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Tarot cards

I have a bunch of decks; probably several dozen. I haven't used them for years since I came to the realization that they are "woo." Off the top of my head I have several Egyptian ones, Wiccan ones, Baseball, Halloween, Vampire, Cosmic, Robin Wood, Shakespearean, Goddess, Indian, Dragon, Unicorn, Rider Waite, Russian St. Petersburgh, Renaissance, and others I can't recall at the moment. They are beautiful and fun to collect.
 
Back when I was single, tarot cards were a great 'in' whenever there was a flat surface handy.
 
What repulsive-looking things! Second rate applied-art at best.
 
karmicserenade said:
Okay, now how many of you actually use them??
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Me, at least I used to. Had a classic deck originally but now own a 'Celtic' deck which is very attractive. Used to do readings for friends 'for a laugh' but stopped when they kept telling me how good I was and started taking it seriously. Didn't matter how much I told them that half the things I said were based on what I already knew about them and the other half they'd actually told me during the reading: 'This represents a male figure...' 'That's my dad! That's amazing, how did you know I had a difficult relationship with my dad!' 'Er, I've known you for 10 years but anyway I didn't say it was your dad, just a male figure or potentially any authority figure' 'No, it's amazing how the cards fit exactly, do some more, you're really good at this!'.

Even when you explain to them that books on Tarot instruct you on very loose generalised readings that can be adapted if they don't fit the facts you know about the person and some even positively encourage that ('This card represents blah blah...unless you know that doesn't fit the person in which case it means whatever fits') they still feel there's something in it - even those who profess not to believe!

Doesn't seem as strong with other divination tools* I Ching, Crystal Oracle, Rune Stones etc

*All owned for the same reason ie I find them attractive / fascinating that people believe in them.
 
TheDoLittle said:
I seem to remember Phil and/or Kaja Foglio doing some tarot illustrations a while back, around the same time they were doing illustrations for Magic: The Gathering. Anyone seen these?
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Do you actually like Kaja Foglio's illustrations? I've only ever seen her Magic cards, but I always thought they were pretty ugly.
 
I used to read them, and was told I was quite good at it. All the ritual and double talk certainly helps.
 
There was a story in one of the skeptic magazines not so long ago (within the last year or so?) about a woman who collected Tarot cards and then ended up doing readings while in Latinamerica. I don't remember much else.

Someone with fewer destroyed brain cells or a handy copy of that mag might be able to say more about it.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
There was a story in one of the skeptic magazines not so long ago (within the last year or so?) about a woman who collected Tarot cards and then ended up doing readings while in Latinamerica. I don't remember much else.

Someone with fewer destroyed brain cells or a handy copy of that mag might be able to say more about it.
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Yeah, I have that. They aren't Tarot cards but actually just Poker cards with more romantic drawings (cups for hearts for example). She made a prediction which was both vague and incorrect and people started flocking to her. She predicted that a household would get money; what actually happened is that the woman's daughter died and the ex-husband gave the mother money to pay expenses. But it was enough to get her a reputation as a seer.
 
ChristineR said:
I love Tarot decks, although I only own a couple. I prefer the older pre-Rider-Waite decks. As odd as this sounds, Rider and Waite really distorted the woo, including such extraneous stuff as astrology, numerology, pre-Rosetta stone junk Egyptology, and the Kabbala, and changed a lot of the imagery to match what they claimed was the original mystical meaning.

The exact origins of the original imagery are obscure, but they seem to include some sort of renaissance Christian cosmology and are divided into earthly, spiritual, and heavenly powers. They may also represent some sort of parade or pageant based around the same thing (possibly a pre-lenten, Mardi Gras parade) and the models may be really members of the family who owned the two oldest known Tarot sets.

And the regular number cards are just as fascinating, but I won't get started on them. :)
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The Kaballah and the tarot are linked through the tree of life.
 
ChristineR said:
They aren't Tarot cards but actually just Poker cards with more romantic drawings (cups for hearts for example).
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Both standard Italian decks and standard Spanish decks use Cups for one of the suits.

The deck which most of the Enlish-speaking world is familiar (hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades) is the French suit system.

There are other standard suit-systems, such as:

Latin (Spanish): swords, cudgels, cups and coins

Latin (Italian): swords, sticks, cups and coins

German: acorns, leaves, heart and bells

Swiss: acornd, flowers, shields and bells
 
fuelair said:
Loved their Xxxenophile deck!!:D
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I'm glad I'm not the only pervert who liked that comic, but I'll one better you...

So far I think I'm the only person who owns a set of Xxxenohile ButtenMen... or one who willingly admits it!! 8-)
 
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