celticnoodle
another deck that I have and just thought of is Ghost and Spirits by Lisa Hunt. I love the artwork, but again, I cannot read with this deck comfortably. Again--no substance there. But the artwork is gorgeous!
All show no substance decks
VioletEye
Tarot can get very tribal and becomes divisive if we don't acknowledge that people use it for different reasons and in my opinon, those reasons should be respected. If one person uses it to do endless teenage love readings or to find out where their lost shoe is then that is what they use tarot for. If another uses it to find out the mysteries of the universe then that is what they use tarot for. Why do we have to sit and judge, point the finger and ridicule if not to make ourselves feel better? smug? more intelligent? intellectually superior? and all those other things that point the finger back at us and our motivations.
Not sure where that came from
this is such an excellent point, caridwen! as well, people use different decks for different kind of readings, different spreads... perhaps a deck can lack "substance" because it is more conducive to a whole 'nother kind of reading than you used it for.
this conversation has been very interesting! i've always thought that the substance came from me. some people like stripped-down, simplified images, devoid of "clutter", whereas other people like a lot of symbolism to deepen the reading for them. and so what if a deck was created simply as an art project, with no real prior knowledge of the tarot - who's to say that that artwork can't speak to someone and give them really awesome readings? to each their own!
(though i personally like a little infused magic with my cards...
caridwen
this is such an excellent point, caridwen! as well, people use different decks for different kind of readings, different spreads... perhaps a deck can lack "substance" because it is more conducive to a whole 'nother kind of reading than you used it for.
this conversation has been very interesting! i've always thought that the substance came from me. some people like stripped-down, simplified images, devoid of "clutter", whereas other people like a lot of symbolism to deepen the reading for them. and so what if a deck was created simply as an art project, with no real prior knowledge of the tarot - who's to say that that artwork can't speak to someone and give them really awesome readings? to each their own!
(though i personally like a little infused magic with my cards...
Thank you
I need a deck with a lot of layers or something. I was about to say symbolism but I love the Vertigo and that doesn't have that much symbolism to it. I get bored if I am not challenged and tend to not take something in if there is just vapour rather than substance. Other though really like pared down decks - not sure whyMetafizzypop
This.
Le Fanu
I should also add that many are the occasions when I fancy a frothy, unsymbolic, pretty and (preferably needlessly) ornate deck with lots of fluttering trimmings and gossamer loveliness.
I
them. But then sometimes I have an urge for something more demanding.
I
them. But then sometimes I have an urge for something more demanding.nisaba
<shakes head sadly> You're letting your stereotype show, le Fanu.
beginagain
Atm I am interpretating strictly with manuals in hand... Everyone has to start somewhere. I'm only just coming to grips with the majors; the pips are far, far off in the distance right now. Maybe that's why I like the Steampunk tarot so much, b/c the symbolism is so clear and laid out so well in the manual. I came by the Imagination tarot cheap on eBay and bought it on the grounds that it was indeed cheap. When I got it the bleakness of the artwork made me feel depressed just holding it. Nevertheless, I get frighteningly accurate readings with it. But I don't enjoy using it. I do enjoy using the Fell/Moore Steampunk so that's what I use. I can actually see how the things that I like about it could be the very same things that a more experienced reader <i>doesn't<\i> like about it. The very first working deck I ever bought was Selina Lin's manga tarot. I haven't used it in years because I've found that the older I get, the more shallow it feels. It may be as I become more knowledgable I will start to feel the same way about the Steampunk and move on to more abstract decks. But for now, it's the thing that works for the me with the training wheels still on.
Marie-Bernard
Although some of the pips fall flat for me, one of the things I really like about the BM/AF Steampunk is the court cards. With some courts (RWS included) it can be hard to differentiate an individual personality, not so with Steampunk, they have a ton of presence. Probably because they have such personality it's harder for me to associate a symbolic meaning with them.
