Etruscan Tarot

magpie9 said:

This is a delightful deck, one that I read with a lot. The Etruscans had Italy before the Romans, and had a delightful easy-going culture. I think they were a lot ore peaceful than the romans.
They kind of remingd me of the Minoans(sp?) ...I wish LS would do a Minoen deck. It would be a good mate for this one!

Click to expand...

I think we share something on this, thinking alike. I think I had expressed my wish to see an Minoan deck somewhere else on on the board (the thread on deck we wished for to see in reality. Too bad I haven't seen the thread on the board. Must be an old one now). I admit I have a soft spot for the Minoan and the Etruscan art. And the Etruscan deck have a similar feeling of what I had seen in Minoan art.

But I must say that you have a good idea. I haven't thought of an Minoan deck complementing the Etruscan. I haven't seen it in this angle. Would be great to try it.

Freddie thank you for that site...very interesting info.
I love this deck...and so happy people are talking about it a little...
It's a deck that begs to have an informative little book written about it.

lark said:

Freddie thank you for that site...very interesting info.
I love this deck...and so happy people are talking about it a little...
It's a deck that begs to have an informative little book written about it.

Click to expand...

You are most welcome Lark,

The poem I referred to earlier is included this Tarot Passages review not on the webpage I gave a link for:

http://www.tarotpassages.com/etruscan-mh.htm

I have studied a tad bit more on this subject and it appears that the Etruscan people considered male and female equal to each other (I believe in this myself) and this is reflected in the deck as well. Some of their 'equal' practices so pissed off the later Romans (who stole everything from them) and Christians (stole from them as well) that they tried to destroy everything that they could concerning them. It may be a truism that the early Etruscans were a lost Jewish tribe...hmmm Kabbalah...I guess we'll never know. If this was the 'Thoth part of this forum', I suppose we could be more frank about what we feel might be really happening in some of the cards of this deck. I'm sure others here are thinking the same thoughts. Shall we say it is lovely, calming, but deep in ancient magic symbolism.

I have some other really cool links for this deck that I'll post on here if everyone here is interested.


Keep the cool posts and information coming,

Freddie

Here is a link to the image of 'The Magician'. It is in the 'Tomb of The Lioness'. I believe it describes the image as a male dancing with a woman in white, notice how his priest (I assume) vestments look like the ones used in Roman Catholic/Church of England (Which I attend) to this day.

http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tarlioness.html

This is the big link to other tombs listed including the Lioness:

http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tombs.html

Enjoy folks,

Freddie

I truly love the Etruscan tarot! I'm a big fan of all things ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt so it' snot a hard sell for me but I like that if you can suspend disbelief for a little bit you can imagine that this deck would have been used in the ancient world.

I think that that ancient art style and the fact that it doesn't sync up exactly with the RWS both contribute to this deck's niche status.

This is a great deck for the art and for the history and for the symbolism. The pamphlet includes really relevant, powerful statements about the major arcana. It indicates that the cards go in opposite pairs through the major arcana -- for instance, for (moon) XVIII, "I seek the shadow," and for the next card (sun),XIX, "I seek the light." This pairing begins with O and I and ends with XX and XXI ("I am at the end" and "I am at the beginning." Such pairing of major arcana cards with complementary parallel proclamations is unique and striking. Also, the two spreads explained in the pamphlet, "Tomb" and "Banquet," are historically/artistically most appropriate, as well as being parallel opposites. I like the way this deck really moves into a cultural setting with insight and intelligence, not bound to previous decks, Renaissance, Marseilles, Etteilla, Waite-Smith, or Crowley (each deserving respect and awe.). Tarot grows and develops like a great oak tree with many boughs and needs no singular historic roots to hold it to the ground. Time cannot control its continuing timeless expression of beauty-truth. Back to the Esruscan Tarot: it's full of the joy of life, like the Etruscans lived it. Nothing heavy-dark about this one. Light and luminous.

I like the fact that much of the art from this deck seems to be from actual B.C. tombs/murals/pottery and much of it looks almost line per line with the original images. To me the deck has a certain eerie feel about it and even more so since I discoved the images are real, kinda of like looking at Egyptian tomb artifacts. I quite like a deck with a little edge to it.

If I am not mistaken, it has been said that this deck is sadly OOP. Anyone here notice that when the back of the deck is turned on it's side that it resembles like an eye? I'm still guessing the back is a salamander upright as the Etruscans used them for magical purposes and for making perfume.


Freddie

I think what is wonderful about this deck is how there really is no other deck quite like it. All other themes - Egyptian, Fairies, cats etc - seem so saturated & done-to-death and yet here is a rich theme which no-one else has done before or since.

Plus no-one mentions it which helps it - for me - to stay fresh!

I also find that, being 2-dimensional, the figures don't have excessive personality, in the way, antique images on friezes or sarcophagi don't seem so individualised. So it "works" in the way they say the International Icon Tarot "works".

Plus there are some very clever cards in there....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guido_camici/sets/72157624160743932/show/with/4662495321/

This is an awesome slide show of tomb pictures.


Freddie

Although I believe the Etruscan is formally out of print, this thread stimulated my interest enough in a tarot I've looked at for years, but never bought. I went on a quest for it, and found that it was still offered by Amazon, although with a 1-3 week 'delay'. That's often a prelude to an email (if ordered) that the item is no longer available, but today I received notification from Amazon that it would arrive earlier than the estimated delivery of Aug. 9. So just a heads up - apparently there are still copies floating around, and you may be able to pick one up at Amazon, if you're interested.