Barleywine
Welcome back, I remember you from before I went delurking.
That first sentence made me chuckle because it's a picture-perfect description of the POMO (Post-Modern) Tarot (well, it's called tarot, anyway). It gets a check-mark in almost every category (and in every category if 1980s kitsch is your "period.") It even has a suit called TVs .
Ah, yes, the Thoth - "assault with a deadly weapon."
I believe our discussion was about the visceral impact - or not - of the artwork itself. The Sword courts always seemed a bit "thin" to me artistically (as befits Air?) but that in no way compromises the inspiring lucidity of the imagery. I agree with you completely on that. (BTW, in the BoT Crowley called it a "severed head" but my thought was always that it looks like a mask, or maybe a deflated - "popped" - head from that terrible old movie, "Scanners.")
Amen to that!
A suitable analogy might be that other decks are like television shows - this one a child's cartoon, this a cooking and homemaking show, that a soap opera, the other a period drama. But the Thoth is life itself, with no aesthetic theme or pretence, and most especially no simplification. It is what it is and perhaps, artistically and visually it's a bit whiplash-inducing but at the end of the day, it is exactly what it needed to be. That uncompromising truth is a testament to the faith the creators had in their vision and in each other, I think.
That first sentence made me chuckle because it's a picture-perfect description of the POMO (Post-Modern) Tarot (well, it's called tarot, anyway). It gets a check-mark in almost every category (and in every category if 1980s kitsch is your "period.") It even has a suit called TVs .
Ah, yes, the Thoth - "assault with a deadly weapon."
A few thoughts on individual cards: I agree with the poster who said that the Disks courts are particularly strong - they're astonishing. That Knight is so overwhelmingly evocative, and the Princess...doesn't she just steal the whole show? But I think the Swords Courts are getting short shrift here - the Princess is leaping upwards, straining away from gravity (she is, after all, Air of Earth), reckless and unthinking and instinctive. The Prince is savage and destructive, and the greatest casualty of his death wish is himself...and perhaps his ego. He teaches us a lesson in courage. The Queen - I don't see a severed head! I see a severed mask, as she combines the intuitive power of Water with the truth-seeking excision of Air. And the Knight, speeding arrow of directed passionate thought, knowing exactly where he is going...who could be but thrilled to go along for that ride?
I believe our discussion was about the visceral impact - or not - of the artwork itself. The Sword courts always seemed a bit "thin" to me artistically (as befits Air?) but that in no way compromises the inspiring lucidity of the imagery. I agree with you completely on that. (BTW, in the BoT Crowley called it a "severed head" but my thought was always that it looks like a mask, or maybe a deflated - "popped" - head from that terrible old movie, "Scanners.")
Yes, it is definitely the best deck I've used. I barely ever use any other now, no matter how I love them for their art or tactility or sentimental value. It's all about the Thoth.
Amen to that!