Tarot of the Cat People

raeanne said:

Hi all,
The Tarot of the Cat People reads very well for me. There are a couple of cards that are out of order. I don't have the deck with me right now but if I remember correctly the Five of Cups (or is it the Five of Pentacles?) is one that has switched meanings with another card but that doesn't seem to bother me in a reading. The art is wonderful!

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If you have time I would love to hear which cards seemed switched to you.

I don't use RWS meanings with the minors of this deck, some of the pictures have quite a bit going on in them that seems to give a different message. For example the Nine of Wands where the guy had all those poor kitties shut up behind bars (brings to mind repressed energies) and one of them in the back has been there so long he's gotten really big and scary looking.

But none of them seemed really far from the RWS meanings, sort of "around the corner".
--Myrrha

Hi Myrrha,
It's the Four and Five of Cups that seem reversed to me. For me the five should definitely have a solitary figure on it. I see the Four of Cups as being about ambivalence and the feeling of not really knowing what you want but certainly not wanting what is being offered at the time. The Five of Cups is more about being ostracized, loneliness, and sadness. The images on these two cards just seem to be switched. The image on the Four of Cups shows a solitary figure sitting on some stones. A cup in her hand is tipped over and a single drop is falling from the cup. Three other cups are on the floor; two are tipped over and one is still standing upright. The large cat image in the background has a single tear falling from one eye. To me this image has the loneliness and isolation feel that is typical of the Five of Cups instead of the Four. The image on the Five of Cups has two figures, a man and a woman. The man has his back to the woman and has a cup in his hand. The cup is tipped over with a single drop falling from it. The other four cups are on the floor and all of them are standing upright. To me this image has the 'not knowing what you want' feel to it that is more typical of the Four of Cups. I can certain make up stories to make these cards fit the RWS meaning but they would have worked better for me if they were switched.

I have the same situation as lolakate mentioned in her first post - it was the first deck that worked so well for me, but after a couple of years of using it I couldn't get them to work at all. Possibly because of the colours, as I look at the deck now I feel it's too dull, there's not much meaning flowing from the colours, for me at least.

is it true that this is OOP now?

I've been seeing it that last 4-5 months with a different box cover, I would think that means it's been reprinted? Else why a new box?

We started a study group here but like most study groups it sort of petered out..

I remember this being the first deck I ever bought for myself. (all the ones before were gifted) and I remember it now fondly.

I don't know why that is. Because when I had it, I kind of disliked it.
I thought it was muddy and stubborn and just being difficult.

Now, I see it, and I have a little pang of regret for giving it away, and never replacing it (like the Robin Wood..which someday in the misty distant future I will own again as well)

But I do think the Cat People is unique and rare, and quite beautiful and interesting now. Took 20 years to come to that conclusion, but oh well.

AJ said:

I've been seeing it that last 4-5 months with a different box cover, I would think that means it's been reprinted? Else why a new box?

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yes i asked if it was oop cuz i think i read someone mentioning somewhere here that it is, and when i went to amazon i found there were 2 kinds like you said, a $40something one from a seller, and a $20someting one stocked by amazon (curiously, the cheaper one's the one with the book).

Does this deck have anything to do with the movie? That was a strange movie, with the black leopards.

Do you mean the movie with Natasha Kinski? meow!

Then no, it is not related to that movie.

The cat people is an place created by Karen Kyuckendall, a most original and awesome lady. If you google her you can find pics of her in the outfits you see the cat people in. She made them herself and went to Sci Fi cons in the 80's. She lived in the desert Southwest USA and made the cat people tarot. There is a, I do not know, a mythology? that goes with her place. I believe she and Andre Norton co-wrote a book about the land of the cat people.

AJ said:

I've been seeing it that last 4-5 months with a different box cover, I would think that means it's been reprinted? Else why a new box?

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It has been re-printed and I have a copy of each. If anyone is looking for this deck I'd strongly recommend that they look for the older version, the colours in the new are horrible.