Soul cards by Deborah Koff-Chapin ?

This is the only deck I ever used that made a grown man start sobbing and get up and leave in the middle of a reading...saying he couldn't take it any more.
They are powerful...something about them just pulls up stuff from the bottom of your soul ...and some people have alot of muck down there....
Maybe they should come with a warning lable.

Wow lark that is amazing


Where did you get them from?

Soul Cards? I think are from US Games...I got mine a long time ago at least Deck 1.
I ordered them right from US Games probably...I used to order straight from them a lot back then.... I got deck 2 in a trade...I think deck 1 is better.

It seems that these images evoke a definate positive/negative reaction from people, as there have been no in-between responses.

Acacia: I didn't follow up on the Touch Drawing technique at the artists website, because dabbing a work in progress with screwed up paper (or any other material) is a common practice, especially with water-colour paintings. The artist clearly saw a marketing value in it and acted on it, successfully it seems.

HearthCricket: You found them depressing and disturbing.... I can relate to this description. When looking at the cards I don't feel personally disturbed, but do have doubts about the artists' state of mind/emotions. They remind me of doodles, those odd unconcious 'drawings' that people sometimes do.

Debra: The 'tormented soul' description is probably the best way to describe them!

Lark, Raeanne & Strangebrew: The cards obviously have an appeal for you. Maybe as Faolainn Storm says, they hit a 'deep spot' inside you.

Thank you all for your opinions. I think I've decided that I could use this deck, but only for special circumstances, preferably not personal ones!

Bee

lark said:

This is the only deck I ever used that made a grown man start sobbing and get up and leave in the middle of a reading...saying he couldn't take it any more.
They are powerful...something about them just pulls up stuff from the bottom of your soul ...and some people have alot of muck down there....
Maybe they should come with a warning lable.

Click to expand...

Thank you for telling that story, Lark!
This is exactly the reason these cards should not be used in public readings by people that have no training an therapists. With many of the images you unleash deep unconscious residues that lead people to be deeply disturbed, or "clamp up"or just leave with an old wound scratched open and untreated - - -or unprofessionaly patched over.....
I wanted to use them in therapy -(- and I AM trained) but decided not to. There are gentler roads into people's souls than - - as Faolainn Storm said:
[Quote: pin you down and hit you over the head with the message, punch you in the gut with a blow that really knocks you for six if your not expecting it. "end Quote]

Mi-Shell said:

Thank you for telling that story, Lark!
This is exactly the reason these cards should not be used in public readings by people that have no training an therapists. With many of the images you unleash deep unconscious residues that lead people to be deeply disturbed, or "clamp up"or just leave with an old wound scratched open and untreated - - -or unprofessionaly patched over.....
I wanted to use them in therapy -(- and I AM trained) but decided not to. There are gentler roads into people's souls than - - as Faolainn Storm said:
[Quote: pin you down and hit you over the head with the message, punch you in the gut with a blow that really knocks you for six if your not expecting it. "end Quote]

Click to expand...

Yup, I agree
And it was the first and last time I used them for public reading.
I sometimes use them for myself...but that's all.

I've got them and have done a couple of online readings with them - they are very deep. It's all about where you are or where your sitter is when you are reading with them. I see light in darkness - that has alway been me - they don't freak me out - not in the least.

If I were looking at them as art I wouldn't want them on my walls but they are deep not freaky.

Another perspective

I have had the Soulcards 1 and Soulcards 2 for several years and find them to be a unique part of my Tarot and Oracle collection. The responses they invoke in me and my friends who look through my collection is very intimate, emotional, and deep. My interactions with them often send chills down my body as they invoke responses that are not easily expressed into spoken language. Above all else I find these cards to invoke nonverbal sensations and deep psyche responses.

What I like about these sets of cards in comparison to other oracle decks, Tarot decks, and the Runes is that it helps me access very deep parts of my inner psyche. These cards remind me of the image of the crawdad emerging from the pools of the deep unconscious in The Moon card of many Tarot decks. I find by drinking in one of these card’s images I can call forth unconscious content and then surface it and process it into consciousness. Because of this I only on rare occasion use these cards for myself after sagely consideration due to how acutely they pierce through layers of consciousness. As for work with others who find the images fascinating I typically only advise having them browse through the images and self-select ones they want to discuss rather than having them pull one at random for this very reason. I find that for most people when given conscious choice will unconsciously avoid or reject potential cards which would potentially evoke psychologically threatening material.

So in short I find them to be a unique and powerful tool in my collection. However, I only use them very methodically and carefully with myself and even more carefully and controlled when working with others who request to work with them.

Forrest