[flying black kat]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dancing Bear
Thanks for the link. I also went in search for the deck.. it is out of stock.. someone beat me to it LOL!

Here is a link to: carte-karuta. He is on ebay, as well as having his own web site. I was just at his web site, url below, and he lists 6 in stock. He is great to do bussines with and very fast shipments.

http://www.carte-karuta.com/catalog/...products_id=72

[Bernice]

Originally posted by Dancing Bear: ....and probably start researching all the symbolism and wording in them.

Have you made any inroads with the symbolism Dancing Bear?

Bee

[Moonbow]

It would be wonderful to make more headway with the symbolism in this deck whereas at the moment it seems more of an expression of the arts, particularly in the pips. Tying up the Swords in ribbons and bows is so intriguing in the way it can change a card's divinatory meaning. Have a look at the four and nine in the Swords suit.

What is clear is the occupation or social standing as a theme which runs through the suits. For example the Bastoni represent the peasant workers, fishing and agriculture and perhaps also musicians. The Swords represent Soldiers. The Coins represent merchants and the Cups, although not being quite as clear is perhaps gentry?

Here is a link to all of the cards

[Greg Stanton]

I have a friend who was looking to "get away" from the traditional RWS interpretations and imagery. I gave him I Naibi di G. Vacchetta, which he immediately fell in love with.

Now, when I read with this deck, I usually combine the "traditional" Marseilles pip meanings (or at least the ones I've worked out for myself) with the scenic images on the cards, whichever feels right for the reading.

My friend gave me a reading with this deck (his first time using it), and his approach was revealing. He completely ignored all tradition and established meanings, and simply interpreted the pictures. It was a dead-on reading, one of the very best I've ever gotten.

I know some people read this way, I'd just never experienced it firsthand. Completely changed the way I read with the Vacchetta.

What I love about this deck is that it's pre-Golden Dawn, and therefore completely free of esoteric claptrap -- and therefore gives more direct readings. Just like the Marseilles, it appears to have been designed for card play, the game of tarocchi that is still played in Italy and Europe. One of the very best decks ever produced, imo.

[sapienza]

It is a beautiful deck. I have found this deck reads so well if you just go with the images. I did use it quite a lot for awhile earlier in the year and had some great readings, but I've used it less of late. There is just so much to love about it I'm always surprised it's not more popular. For me, it was the deck that lured me in to the historical decks in general. Once I realised I could read with the Vacchetta, I took the plunge with the Ancient Italian and fell in love.

[dancing_moon]

This is a great deck and utterly readable too. I got it quite by chance last year, though I'd wanted to have it for a while before, only there were other, more urgent decks on my wishlist.

Like sapienza mentioned, it reads well once you start looking at the images. I also found a certain playful and gentle humor about the way it answers questions. It's a great deck for those who'd like to expand their skills in historical decks, but aren't quite ready to dive into the unillustrated-pip world of TdM.

[SweetIsTheTruth]

Originally Posted by Greg Stanton

He completely ignored all tradition and established meanings, and simply interpreted the pictures.

THIS! That's exactly what this deck is for.

What is happening in the 6 coins? Is he hiding? And if so, from what? Is he shielding himself? He is armored, as if for war. Yet, the 6 coins are his protection.

What about the Sword Page? He kneels, as if in submission, not even wielding his sword. He has an audience. What he does, he does in public, where others can see. Is his supposed submission only for appearances, when others are watching?

In the two swords, the swords are encased and do not touch each other. What are the implications of this? I would lean more toward's Crowley's interpretation of the card, rather than RWS, solely due to the image on the card.

I just got il Meneghello's version of this deck. For me, the entire point is to toss out everything I know and just read what's actually on the cards.

[Sherryl]

A little more on Vachetta and his deck from an article by Giordani Berti in the book Il Castello dei Tarocchi edited by Andrea Vitali.

Vachetta taught industrial design, was enamored of archaeology, medieval art, and the neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles. In 1884 he designed a medieval castle and village in Torino for an exposition. He seemed to be very much into the romantic aspects of medievalism. In this spirit, he referred to his deck as "naib". "Naib", "naip", "naipes", were mangled Arabic words used in Europe for playing cards up to the middle 1400s.

He was interested in reviving traditional Italian industrial crafts, including card printing, which was dominated by Germany in his day. This was in the same spirit as the Arts and Craft movement in England.

The deck was published in a very limited edition, and there are scattered individual cards in private collections. It almost never comes up on the market.

His deck is the first one to have illustrated pip cards since the Sola Busca deck @1475. According to Berti, the Trump cards are based on traditional Piemontese tarocchi decks with a little influence from Etteilla. The court cards are inspired by courtly literature from the 1400s, and the pips are inspired by Renaissance emblems and allegories. He says the deck is just a design exercise and has nothing to do with occultism or divination.

The original plates and designs are lost. The deck was reproduced in 1910 in a book on Italian design. I'm not sure if the current decks by Lo Scarabeo and Il Meneghello are from printed reproductions or a deck in a collection somewhere.

[ueI]

Are the cards pictured here from a real deck?
http://aartedotaro.blogspot.com/2010...vacchetta.html
They look like the Lo Scarabeo edition, but with nicer borders and no stains on the cards.

[Sherryl]

This is intriguing. The images are Lo Scarabeo's, with exact colors, and so is the "Tarot of the Master" name. But the borders are different. I just went to Lo Scarabeo's website and only found one version of this deck with the usual solid green borders. I wonder if Lo Scarabeo licensed another publisher to put out a version with different borders?