Just a thought

pandora

I have been really "looking" at my cards and the "staged" cards have caught my interest.

I have pulled them and studied them because I think these must have a great meaning to the artist. Then I noted the Knight of Wands is the only card with Pamela's signiture on the left of the card (she did sign her art work in various places in her illustrations), but within this deck only on this card is it on the left.
Perhaps Pamela wants us to look at this card, but not as an upright but a a reversed card.
Then when I look at the 10 of pentacles, the header looks like a “staged” card if you invert it.
So I put these two cards together to read as a two card spread.
Every where I read it states that nothing was put on the cards that didn’t have meaning.
Do you think this is something that the artist wanted to say ...... about whom......my guess....perhaps her partner who talked her into more work than she thought with less money than promised.
Am I getting into to much symbolism.... a oldie/newbie on a rampage of knew knowledge, or is it something others have thought about.

And I would love to hear about your thoughts on the "staged" cards because I can not turn one of these cards over now without thinking .......hmmm ...real or imagined, real or staged ...ect ...........

Pandora
 

Mesara

Sorry to ask a probably stupid question, but what are "staged" cards?
 

Mesara

Thank you Maria- I now understand what everyone means when they are talking about staged cards!

Pandora- Interesting thoughts you have. I can see what you are saying; but sadly no one will ever know for sure. How sly of Pamela Smith to pull off such a thing though!
 

pandora

sorry Mesara I should have been more clear instead of rambling on.

while studying my RWS deck I came across the mention of how some of the cards look as if they were set on a “stage” and separate from the background. Then many of the threads here mentioned the same thing.
I had never taken much notice of this before and now that I am aware I can’t leave it alone. Every time I pull one of these "staged" cards I start thinking more of about this aspect, Pamela's reasoning for doing so, why these cards in particular, and get lost in contemplation.
I am having fun with my research but realize I need to resolve this issue for myself before I can move on. (needs to move on/get a life!)

This is why I started looking at all the cards in this deck together and noticed the 10 pentacles. Reversed it looks to me as if “staged” too and that PCS’s signature then matched the Knight of Wands placement (which struck me as odd being the only card signed on the left hand side.)
So now I have more questions and decided to bring it to the wise.

I suppose I am attempting to put myself in the mind of creators a 100 years ago, a hopeless task and probably the silliest thing you’ve ever heard, but for unfathomable reasons important to me.
I was wondering if anyone else saw anything to this. The 10 of pentacles being a reversed “stage” card......the matching up with the Knight, my odd man out? Is the change at the bottom of some cards for esthetic reasons, or symbolizing what others have thought?


Pandora
 

Fulgour

pandora said:
I have been really "looking" at my cards and the
"staged" cards have caught my interest.
Shakespeare's Players on Postcards
Emory University Introduction

The "golden age" of postcards corresponds roughly with
the first decade of the twentieth century. During the quarter
of a century that preceded the Great War in 1914, it would
have been hard to find anyone who did not buy postcards
from genuine pleasure. The great number of cards dealing
with Shakespeare tell us something about his popularity
at the turn of the century.

The Victorian theatre-goers loved pantomime, music hall,
and spectacular play production. They expected and got
"authenticity" and grandeur in the costuming and scenery
of their Shakespeare plays, much of which may be seen in
the postcards of that era.

Player's Postcards:
http://shakespeare.emory.edu/actors.cfm

Nora Lancaster as ~ The Page of Swords...?
 

Fulgour

the plays the thing

And for anyone who has felt Pam speaking to them,
as if whispering out from the images on her cards,
remember we are involved physically, as if part
of a wonderful, real life magical Pantomime Play!
 

pandora

Thank you so much for the links Fulgour.

I had been going through my books of illustrators of that era, Crane and Caldecott etc. to get a feeling for the work being done at the time. Seeing these postcards from the theaters and combining the two really is amazing.

So many of the poses on the postcards I can now see on Pamela’s cards. I think I now understand so much more of where she was coming from, her inspiration, her time, her surroundings, and her models.
I have also been studying the meanings of the cards from that time as they seem so much changed now a days and I think it is important to for me to understand first the original thoughts before moving on to my intuitional 2004 feelings.

So, I still wonder, any symbolism meant with the foregrounds or pure artistic aesthetics?
See anything to the 10 of pents not as happy as it looks at first?

Pandora
 

Fulgour

Hi Pandora,
Help me out and I promise to try and find an answer.
What's your question here:
___________________________

So I put these two cards together to read as a two card spread.
Every where I read it states that nothing was put on the cards
that didn’t have meaning. Do you think this is something that the
artist wanted to say ...... about whom......my guess....perhaps
her partner who talked her into more work than she thought
with less money than promised.
___________________________

I was wondering if anyone else saw anything to this.
The 10 of pentacles being a reversed “stage” card......
the matching up with the Knight, my odd man out?
Is the change at the bottom of some cards for esthetic
reasons, or symbolizing what others have thought?
___________________________

So, I still wonder, any symbolism meant with the
foregrounds or pure artistic aesthetics? See anything
to the 10 of pents not as happy as it looks at first?
___________________________

Sincerely,
Fulgour
 

pandora

What is my question here........

I had to think about that for a little while and I don't know if I will be able to be any clearer for you Fulgour as it all seems to be one big conected mess.

I think my problem and question is probably where does symbolism end and an over active imagination begin.

I never realized how much was ‘hidden’ in the cards until I came here. Now that I have started this new faze of study my personal interpretations are having to change significantly and I am hitting the students typically frustrating period of half grasped ideas.

The ‘stage’ cards are something I am having a hard time deciding what significance I should place on them. Usually I don’t have any difficulty reviewing everyones comments and taking what is most meaningful to me but this issue seems to be a huge stumbling block I can’t move around or past. Think it is because this ‘stage’ appears on such a large number of the cards.

What do most people see, are they really stages, are they and their colour symbolically important, or do they consider them Pamela’s style of artistic expression.
If the stage like setting is important then would not the grey band at the top of the 10 of pentacles and the odd placement of the signatures be too?

Oh no, I’ve just asked another load of questions on top of all the rest, is anyone as confused or as confusing as me.

I stick with my original thought of what I think I am truly asking here ........ where does symbolism end and an over active imagination begin ...... the rest are all questions I have had but we will put it down to a glimpse into my thought process you probably didn't need to see or be bothered with.

Thanks for anything you care to share and help me over this hump.

Pandora