Hello - and news

Jewel-ry

Hi Kissa,

I have the reprint and I really like it. The card stock is thinner and the cards slightly larger but it works really well. Prudence is beautiful, I havn't quite worked out a meaning for her yet but then she hasn't come up in a reading yet so I have that pleasure to come!

The backs are the same but in a 'sepia blue' (I think thats what Karen called it) and I much prefer them. Some of the cards have been changed slightly but I won't spoil it for you by telling you all about them. Let me know what you think when they arrive.

I have done a couple of readings and I think I actually prefer to handle this deck (the original can now be kept nice and snug in that beautiful box!).

:)
 

Kissa

you know what, Jewel-ry? I've never thought as my copy of the ToP being a limited edition/collectable item. I have been using it, shuffling it (i am a gentle shuffler, i suck as a tarot reader but i am great at shuffling ;) ). I have this Greenwood tarot i've never used and i sweat, shake and shiver everytime i have to move the box because i think of what it is worth (around $200 on ebay). But the Tarot of Prague? No, it is a deck i want to hold and use.

I think the commercial value of the set is a steal. The packaging is gorgeous, the cards so high quality, the box original, the book is absolutely brilliant.

Yet the value of this set for me is in my wonderful experiences with it. The first contact was incredible. The deck reads like a dream. There is a closeness, an intimacy with the cards that i don't get with any others. Maybe it is because we are lucky enough to have Karen online with us? Maybe partly? The Tarot of Prague cards are the only cards i dive into, i feel the sun on my skin, the wind in my hair, the rain running on my face and the snow in my neck. I hear ppl walking on the pavement and whispering, laughing, arguing. I never thought a deck could be so alive. That's why i don't let my cards on the tv when i watch the Bold and the Beautiful, it could spoil them forever... ;)

I am really eager to get my reprint. I think i will love the new backs. Thanks for not spoiling the surprises about the slight modifications, you're an angel! Of course, i'll tell you how i like the new deck. I can already see myself comparing each card of both decks... BTW you know the difference between the finnish winter and the finnish summer? in winter, i watch my Tarot of Prague cards inside the house and ouside, it is cold and grey. in the summer, i watch my Tarot of Prague reprint cards inside the house and outside, it is cold and grey... :D

Kissa
 

baba-prague

Jewel-ry said:
Hi Kissa,

I have the reprint and I really like it. The card stock is thinner and the cards slightly larger but it works really well.

That's good to hear. The stock is now special playing card stock with a layer of something black (which I am told is carbon, but I'm no expert!) in the centre. This makes it completely opaque and also much harder to bend or break. We had to import it months in advance, so it was all a bit nail-biting, but I think it's been worth it. The new deck (BBCats) is on exactly the same stock by the way. In both cases we used more varnish this time, but still kept it light. I am really reluctant to move to the more plasticised varnish, even though I know it's more durable long-term. But I think the more old-fashioned varnish we use will still wear well - and I like it.

I think the "cut" is crisper this time too - we used a different technology. Having said all this, Alex still likes the older cards best, so it really is a matter of opinion (no, we don't argue about it, but we talk about it endlessly and would seem very boring to others!)
 

Jewel-ry

baba-prague said:
I am really reluctant to move to the more plasticised varnish, even though I know it's more durable long-term.

Please dont! I hate that plasticisezed varnish. Its awful stuff and often smells too!

:)
 

baba-prague

Alex now smells all our decks. He is sensitive to smells and dislikes the "chemical" smelling decks. One friend thinks it very odd that Alex will also smell any new books (and we get lots and lots of books as our printer just hands out beautiful art books like sweeties - which is gorgeous).

It's one reason I would be very nervous about handing one of our decks to another publisher. The details that seem small can actually be very important.

Anyway, I ought to find time to be more active here now. Plus I did the most startling reading with ToP a week ago and it made me want to get back to using the deck a lot more. I've never really stopped, but I cut down readings hugely while we were doing the new deck - I found it all too confusing somehow (very different images clashing in my head).

I've been asked to teach a class here and I am really getting very interested in the idea. Wouldn't it be revealing to be able sometimes to ask people to go to the site of a card? Alex got interested in this too. He said that someone could meditate on a card by actually being at the place shown - and use all their senses, not just sight. It could open up all sorts of possibilities. I'd like to think this through a bit. I used to do a lot of teaching (I was a university lecturer) but haven't for a while now, but it is tempting. It must be reasonably unique to be able to project cards into places in this way. I would love to see/hear the results.
 

Kissa

baba-prague said:
Alex now smells all our decks. He is sensitive to smells and dislikes the "chemical" smelling decks. One friend thinks it very odd that Alex will also smell any new books (and we get lots and lots of books as our printer just hands out beautiful art books like sweeties - which is gorgeous).

he he! funny to imagine Alex smelling all the decks but i cannot blame him really. Let him smell, please... I don't want any chemical smell either.
Your position about the varnish is the right one too. These slippery plastic decks are just awful.

I have been asked to teach a class here and I am really getting very interested in the idea.
OH YESSSSS!
Please! *Kissa grabs some Moomins pens and a nice new Marimekko notepad*

Kissa
 

walkert

Tarot of Prague

I would also be interested in getting a Tarot of Prague deck.
 

Jewel-ry

Teaching a class with your own deck sounds like a great idea Karen and, as you say, to be able to actually go to the site and meditate on the card would indeed be an interesting experience.

Welcome walkert! Do get a Tarot of Prague, you wont regret it and then you could join in with some of the card studies. In fact you could join in anyway because I think you can see all of the cards on-line here

http://www.tarotofprague.com/

:)
 

The 78th Fool

baba-prague said:
Alex now smells all our decks. He is sensitive to smells and dislikes the "chemical" smelling decks. One friend thinks it very odd that Alex will also smell any new books (and we get lots and lots of books as our printer just hands out beautiful art books like sweeties - which is gorgeous).

It's one reason I would be very nervous about handing one of our decks to another publisher. The details that seem small can actually be very important.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So it's not just me!

The smell of a deck is as important to me as the feel and look of it. I don't mind the chemical smell of some decks though - quite the reverse because it has very special associations.

In the early summer of 2002, after a severe personal and professional crisis which ultimately culminated in total change of direction, I rediscovered the tarot and bought my first tarot deck in over twenty years. It was an Original Rider Waite Deck and Book Set. I can still 'smell' how it smelt when the cellophane came off the deck (on the street outside the bookshop!) and it's this very smell that represents a homecoming to me.

Maybe I'm trying to recapture that moment but I still smell every deck as I open it and it's one of the things that contributes to the deck's personality as I get to know it.

As to books - My favourites are the boxed sets I've had from my childhood or teens. The boxes have managed to contain and preserve the smell of the books. My copies of the Narnia Chronicles and the Lord of the Rings when put to my nose evoke memories of the Lake District from childhood holidays. I can remember the smell of the books as I sat reading in our caravan - often on rainy days where we didn't go out. It was magical.

Tarot of Prague second edition?
I love the new cardstock.
I really love Prudence,
and yes,
they smell very friendly!

Chris. xx