Frankendecken; Instructions & General discussion

Le Fanu

Frankendecken; Tarot of the 78 Spares is the fruits of a project by AT members to create a tarot deck entirely made up of spare, orphaned and loose cards. The aim was to create a deck from these cards without repetition, i.e a deck could only be represented once. The result is a deck of 78 cards from 78 different decks. Members from around the globe sent their cards to me and the deck then set about travelling the world, spending time with those members who collaborated in the project. It all started here. This thread has now been closed and here is the place for general discussion and chat about the Frankendecken.

Those of you who participated, please bookmark this thread.

The list of participants and the order of mailing, which documents the deck's progress is here.

At least 2 people before it’s your turn, PM the person after you to make sure you have their address and that they are there and ready and expecting it! DO NOT mail the deck to anyone who fails to answer you; instead, post in the progress thread and PM me. Any emergency, please PM me as I cannot promise that I will check the other thread every day. Probably the best thing is to mail it to the person after the one who was supposed to get it – after checking with them, of course… With the travelling deck, we once had a guy in Brazil go missing for a week, but he was back in time to take it on before it left South America…. Keeping tabs is very important.

When you receive the deck, take note of the following;

Keep the deck for 7 days. Please post on the 8th day at the latest. This may sound like a very short time but remember there are 34 of us and a lot of time will be spent with the deck between participants and waiting in mail deposits. Having the deck in your possession for 7 days means that at least it will span a weekend so you should be able to have some quality time together. While the deck is in your possession, enjoy it, take it out and about with you, show it your local sights. Take it to a park and go though the cards one by one in the sun, enjoying the artwork. Do whatever you feel like doing! Frankendecken is a beautiful creature to behold.

When it’s time to pass it on, and wave Frankendecken on his merry way, send me a postcard from your area (you should still have my address from when you sent me your cards), pack the deck up well; DO put the deck itself - and the patchwork pouch - in a plastic bag in case of rain, dog pee, or (as happened to me once) a broken bottle of olive oil which was in the packet that was leaning against my packet etc. Mail it on to the next person on the list. Do NOT add anything to the package unless you have a burning personal need to send a gift to the next person on the list, in which case you are stuck with the extra postage but no-one else is! When mailing, BE SURE to mark it as a gift and put the value low. Customs can be a nightmare. They'd hate to think we were having fun.

Write up your experiences with the deck, your thoughts about it, whatever; take photos but post those things in the journal thread here. Do NOT post anything else there. Any other posts will be deleted. At the end, the journal will be converted into a pdf file, with the photos in, and gregory will email it to anyone who wants a copy.

And one last thing; please send Thorhammer a PM saying where you are so she can mark you on the itinerary map. Then we will have a complete record of exactly where Frankendecken has been.

This is the thread for general chat about the deck. Think of this as also replacing the other thread from Tarot Deck Creation, which was closed. Remember, as the deck is nearing the end of its journey there will be lucky draw. Someone special will draw a card from their favourite deck and the collaborator who corresponds to that card will be the lucky winner of this unique deck, which will come to you imbued with the fond affections & tarot love of AT members! The winner will also receive all the postmarked postcards from the members who participated.

Below is a list of the cards from the deck, who contributed what and which deck the cards all came from. For easy reference.

Here is an index of all Frankendecken threads.

There is also a thread dedicated to Readings with the Frankendecken; participants should feel free at any time to offer readings & add to it if they wish. The thread can be found here. Offering Readings is not obligatory.

Non-participants can post in this thread but not the other two threads!

Update; July 2010
WendyWu has kindly offered to send front-and-back scans of all cards to participants. In order to maintain the element of surprise, they will be sent out after the deck completes each leg of its journey. At the moment there are 5 "legs";

Europe
Singapore/Japan
Australia
Canada (to date, Alta only, possibly Rasa in Uruguay)
U.S.A (and possibly Rasa in Uruguay)

Each time a leg has been completed, Wendy can send out scans. Think of it as a souvenir to remember Frankie after he's gone. Wendy will also include a "how to print" guide. Printing is easier if all the images are the same size.

When the deck has finished your "leg" of its journey (and if you want scans), send WendyWu a PM with your email and also say whether you want scans of cards as they are, i.e to scale OR, standardised to one size to make it easier for printing.
 

Le Fanu

The deck

The Fool; RWS Plaid backs (BlueDragonfly)
The Magician; Victoria Regina (Rasa)
The High Priestess; Midnight Masquerade (Chronata)
The Empress; Yoga Tarot (rhombchick)
The Emperor; Legend; Arthurian Tarot (FaireMaiden)
The Hierophant; Hudes (Alta)
The Lovers; Unidentified Thai deck (Rasa)
The Chariot; Thoth (gregory)
Strength; Universal Waite (Le fanu)
The Hermit; Meneghello Tarocchi Neoclassico (Le Fanu)
The Wheel of Fortune; Feng Shui (jcwirish)
Justice; Karma Music (Oddity)
The Hanged Man; Cat People (gregory)
Death; 1JJ Swiss (Lillie)
Temperance; MRP Fairy Tale Tarot (OctoberGwen)
The Devil; Sheridan Douglas (Pipistrelle)
The Tower; Chronatarot (Chronata)
The Star; Balbi (photokat)
The Moon; Albano Waite (1968) (photokat)
The Sun; Tarot of the Old Path (WendyWu)
Judgment; Tarot de Marsella (Fire Cat)
The World; Sacred Rose (gregory)

Ace of Wands; Angel Tarot (Oddity)
Two of Wands; Mystic Meg (thorhammer)
Three of Wands; Housewives Tarot (VGimlet)
Four of Wands; Hoi Polloi (photokat)
Five of Wands; LoS Dragon Tarot (Briar Rose)
Six of Wands; Spirit Tarot (iceclone)
Seven of Wands; Inner Child (Brigid):
Eight of Wands; /Rods. The Intuitive (nicky)
Nine of Wands; Tarot of the Princesses (nicole_)
Ten of Wands; Crow's Magickal tarot (Pipistrelle)
Page of Wands; The Astrology Tarot - a TdM deck -(Elven)
Knight of Wands; /Rods, Aquarian (morticia monroe)
Queen of Wands; Palladini (gregory)
King of Wands; Comparative (Aulruna)

Ace of Cups; Illuminated (lark)
Two of Cups; Williams' Minchiate Tarot (Fire Cat)
Three of Cups; 1st edition Tarot of Prague (Mimers)
Four of Cups; Spanish Tarot (nicky)
Five of Cups; El Teddy Tarot (aurarcana)
Six of Cups; LoS Pagan Tarot (FaireMaiden)
Seven of Cups; Shapeshifters (Brigid)
Eight of Cups; Baroque Bohemian Cats (Celice)
Nine of Cups; LoS Egyptian Tarot (Le fanu)
Ten of Cups; Davis/Paterson Celtic Tarot (Fire Cat)
Page of Cups /Princess of Cups; Druid Craft (Cat*)
Knight of Cups; Radiant RWS (Le fanu)
Queen of Cups; Cosmic (Oddity)
King of Cups; Gilded (Briar Rose)

Ace of Swords; Golden Dragon (WendyWu)
Two of Swords; Women's Tarot (Pipistrelle)
Three of Swords; University Books RWS (photokat)
Four of Swords; Old English Tarot (Pipistrelle)
Five of Swords /Five of Flamingos; Wonderland Tarot (faunabay), received from Oddity
Six of Swords; Kurmay (Brigid)
Seven of Swords; Modern Medieval Tarot (Le fanu)
Eight of Swords; Sweet Twilight (gregory)
Nine of Swords; Fantastical Creatures (Pipistrelle)
Ten of Swords; Mage The Awakening (Pipistrelle)
Page of Swords; Natalie Herz's Fantastical Tarot (le Fanu)
Knight of Swords ; Papus (Le Fanu)
Queen of Swords; LoS Visconti-Sforza (cardlady22)
King of Swords; Robin Wood (gregory)

Ace of Pentacles: Haindl (zan)
Two of Pentacles; Tarot Noir (faunabay) received from Chronata
Three of Pentacles; /"three of bells" The Ironwing (aurarcana)
Four of Pentacles, The Mythic Tarot (GeorgiePorgie)
Five of Pentacles; Tarot of the Secret Forest (Cat*)
Six of Pentacles; Celtic Dragon (Fire Cat)
Seven of Pentacles, Stella's tarot (cardlady22)
Eight of Pentacles; Napo (FaireMaiden)
Nine of Pentacles, /Nine of Pumpkins, Halloween Tarot (cardlady22)
Ten of Pentacles; Magic Manga (Pipistrelle)
Page of Pentacles; Ukiyoe (morticia monroe)
Knight of Pentacles: Spiral (nisaba)
Queen of Pentacles; Fergus Hall Witches tarot (Oddity)
King of Pentacles; Renaissance Tarot (OctoberGwen)

Patchwork pouch, created and donated by BlueDragonfly
 

cardlady22

Thread added to my Watch List with Daily Notifications! This is very exciting!
 

Le Fanu

cardlady22 said:
Thread added to my Watch List with Daily Notifications! This is very exciting!
Congratulations on being the first poster. ;)
 

Wendywu

Thanks for doing all this Fanu :) Thread bookmarked!
 

cardlady22

Regarding customs forms . . . how should we specify the contents?
78 card samples
 

Le Fanu

Wendywu said:
Thanks for doing all this Fanu
It was gregory who tutored me. The voice of experience.
 

MareSaturni

Ohhhh, I can't believe I missed this :(
I have this 1981 Grimaud TdM missing the World card. It could be a part of the Frankendeck :)

Great idea, Le Fanu! I wish you and the other much fun!
 

Le Fanu

Marina said:
Ohhhh, I can't believe I missed this :(
I have this 1981 Grimaud TdM missing the World card. It could be a part of the Frankendeck :)

Great idea, Le Fanu! I wish you and the other much fun!
Where were you when we needed you? And it could have visited Brazil on its travels! We were looking for cards right up until last week!
 

Cat*

I'll be the first to continue the discussion from the Creation Thread then...

Aulruna said:
Cat said:
This may be a silly question, but how would I find out if there are any historical rune sites in my area?
In fact, there are, lucky you!!!!
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runenstein
I've always wanted to go to the Haithabu museum myslef ... reenactor's heaven!! But alas, I'm at the other end of the country...
Thanks for the hint! Looks like the museum is indeed worth a trip. I won't promise to go there with the Frankendecken, though...
(Maybe we could do an exchange of sorts sometime, Aulruna. You come up here for the Vikings museum, and I come down for the Rocky Horror Picture Show cinema... ;))

nisaba said:
I dreamt I drove through Europe to Prague a few nights ago. Stalking Baba-Prague, I was. I got to have coffee in the dream, so I figure each of us should buy the deck coffee and photograph it in the cafes with it. (The city of Prague has excellent coffee, if the dream was anything to go by!)

I'm thinking about that Coffee Oracle again - the Frankendecker (much more authentically German than Frankendecken, the plural offends me!) would make a great Fool Card, for no better reason than its Fool's Journey could be literally portrayed in all the other cards, sitting near different kinds of brews.
But I stopped drinking coffee! Hm, I probably could get my Beloved to share a Latte with the Frankendecken... (Actually, the correct German plural would be "Frankendecks," the correct singular would be "Frankendeck." But it sounds way more heavy metal the way it is now. Maybe we should also put an umlaut in there, for increased metal-trueness and fake-Germanness? "Fränkendecken" sounds fine to me! :D)

morticia monroe said:
Maybe spread out on a bartop on Bourbon Street? On a stump in the bayou? On the staircase in an antebellum home? Going through a drive-through liquor store?
All of the above! But no losing any cards, no matter how drunk you get poor Frankie! ;)

OctoberGwen said:
I can't think of anything cool to photograph Frank with. Who wants to see him hanging out with a housewife and her sons (no matter how cute they are)?
I'd love to see the scary Frankendecken hang out with a nice family!

jcwirish said:
I think I'll take Frank out to the desert near the red rocks for a photo op, and maybe down to the strip for some excitement. Maybe I'll find an Elvis impersonator to pose with him!
Just make sure you don't get married to Frankie in a moment of bedazzlement caused by an overabundance of flickering colored lights (I hear those Elvis impersonators do all sorts of jobs these days!).

Oddity said:
Cat* said:
Frankendecken vomiting into the Elbe from all the greasy food...
(...a tiny little stream of confetti... poor Frankie...)
:laugh: Who wants to bet it would be exactly 78 pieces of confetti?

nicole_ said:
In Singapore, I'll plan the monthly tarot gathering to coincide with Frankendecken's stay and take a group picture with him being the centre of attraction :D He is truely something special. World Tarot Ambassador!
That sounds fabulous!

Even if none of these are ever realized, I've already had a lot of fun imagining them!