Universal Tarot - Maxwell Miller

Patrick Booker

I have this deck from when it was first published (1996), and always find the images interesting. It has been reduced to 74 cards (King, Queen and Knave for the Court Cards), which Miller justifies on numerological and astrological grounds. However, I suspect that this may have reduced its appeal.
I just wondered if anyone knew if the artist had ever produced anything else, tarot related or not. The Internet has not yielded any results.
 

rwcarter

I got the set a couple of weeks ago. I'm still not sure how I feel about the missing court card though.

Unfortunately, I know nothing else about the author.

Rodney
 

Patrick Booker

The accompanying book gives a bit of information about the artist, and is pretty good. Apparently a performance artist who travelled widely in Asia. The Indian influence is obvious, and references to Gurdjieff. Frankly, I felt unhappy at losing the fourth Court Card, because it is one of those decks whose images give me a 'jolt' (Chesca Potter's Greenwood does too), although in both cases I don't use them. But the little book suggests to me someone who knows what he is talking about, which made me curious about any further activities.
The Queen of Cups is terrific.
 

Le Fanu

I received this deck yesterday from gregory and I absolutely love it. I am ashamed to say I had simply never heard of it. It passed under the radar over 15 years ago and only now do I discover it (thanks to gregory). The colours and the artwork are superb. And yes only this thread. No other mention. Does nobody else know of or use this deck? Scans here at AT are not great as the cards are (obviosuly) bigger and richer in colour. I just loved it straight out of the box. Amazing to find a deck you have never heard of - and love - that has been out for over 15 years!
 

Chiriku

I'm quite surprised this isn't more widely-mentioned on this forum. For a time in the not-too-distant past (I'd say late 90s), it was a mainstay on US bookstore shelves, at least in the states I lived in and visited (the tarot section of any shop was invariably my first stop in any visit to a bookshop).

Maybe it was always the same copy just sitting there, but there it was in the tarot case along with classics like RWS, Thoth and Aquarian, and other improbable mainstays like the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot (both it and the Universal came packaged in distinctive boxes that one could spot easily within the case).

I believe the Queen of Disks was pictured somewhere on the box (or as a sample card in those laminated display books Borders used to have), and that turned me right off the deck even in a time when I collected decks fairly indiscriminately. Something about her bothered me.

We often wonder why certain decks remain in stock. I once created a thread asking why certain decks were mainstays on bookshop shelves, no matter how improbably so. I was thinking of the Universal by Maxwell Miller and the Voodoo as examples. This is not to say they are not quality decks (I have neither one), just that I wouldn't have thought either the art or non-typical structure in the former, or the specialized and decidedly non-Celtic or faeries theme in the latter would merit such ubiquity in the market.
 

Le Fanu

Chiriku said:
I'm quite surprised this isn't more widely-mentioned on this forum. For a time in the not-too-distant past (I'd say late 90s), it was a mainstay on US bookstore shelves, at least in the states I lived in and visited (the tarot section of any shop was invariably my first stop in any visit to a bookshop).

Maybe it was always the same copy just sitting there, but there it was in the tarot case along with classics like RWS, Thoth and Aquarian, and other improbable mainstays like the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot (both it and the Universal came packaged in distinctive boxes that one could spot easily within the case).

I believe the Queen of Disks was pictured somewhere on the box (or as a sample card in those laminated display books Borders used to have), and that turned me right off the deck even in a time when I collected decks fairly indiscriminately. Something about her bothered me.

We often wonder why certain decks remain in stock. I once created a thread asking why certain decks were mainstays on bookshop shelves, no matter how improbably so. I was thinking of the Universal by Maxwell Miller and the Voodoo as examples. This is not to say they are not quality decks (I have neither one), just that I wouldn't have thought either the art or non-typical structure in the former, or the specialized and decidedly non-Celtic or faeries theme in the latter would merit such ubiquity in the market.
Click to expand...
Interesting points. Especially as I believe the Univesal wasn't published in the USA. From what I can see from the packaging/book it was published in Scotland and I don't remember seeing it much in Europe though in my searches I now see it has a Spanish and a German edition. Where you are, it's always the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot, here in Europe it tends to be (at least where I am) mostly LoS deck. But back to the Universal; I suspect having three court cards didn't do it any favours, though for me that's an advantage. I'm quite happy to have one court card less, though I'd rather have a Knight than a Page.
 

Patrick Booker

I was quite surprised to see this old thread being given the kiss of life. I dug the deck out and had another look at it, and was again impressed by the powerful imagery. Have a look at the Ace of Wands - a wonderful image. I agree that the loss of a Court Card may well have restricted its appeal.

Maxwell Miller explains the reasons for the omission in the accompanying booklet, with an explanation of the numerological system behind the deck. Clearly a great deal of work has gone into this deck, drawing upon many diverse sources. Echoing my earlier post, I wonder what happened to him. According to the back cover of the booklet, he was at one time a performance artist.

Patrick
 

Chiska

I have this deck - and it is so fascinating!! There is so much going on and I find it works really well for the ISG type readings (ISG -intuitive study group). And for having larger cards, the deck shuffles beautifully.

The book is great as well.
 

G6

Hello Tarot Lovers,

What size are these cards? Are there no Pages in the courts? 74 cards total? Reason?

Thnx,

G6

ETA: Looks like opening post says only Pages and no Knight cards. Why? How does it read without them/in general?

I like the artwork.
 

Le Fanu

I love this deck. Oh the relief of one less court card in each suit! It reads fine, honestly it does.

We always think we need ALL the cards in line with the rules and if tarot decks had 87 cards we would NEED 87 cards and if they had 259 cards we would NEED 259 cards. Really - this deck works fine.
 
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