Der-Jen Tarot

Does anyone have this deck? From what I've seen, I like it. Just kind of curious about the over all feel of it, card size, opinions weather they be good or bad, etc. Provided Jeannette gets it back in stock at Tarot Garden, I'll buy it. Just want to get some more information about the deck.

Der-Jen is a stunningly illustrated in the classical painting style.

Its apparent first or title card depicts a beautiful young woman richly dressed in a pensive pose. The card has tiny Chinese print on the bottom. The back of this card bears a Chinese text with its only English words "Oriental Ethic Series" near the top.

The Major Arcana & the minor arcana bear captions or titles on the bottom of the cards in both Chinese characters & English; & conventional numerals. The backs of the cards are of plum red, pale pinks & a bit of white.

Many of the figures attired in traditional dress & include men. Engaged in activity or action appropriate to the card & bear some resemblance to the RWS tradition though some of the cards quite different--such as Wheel of Fortune.

The pips of the non-illustrated variety, but distinguished by the use of background colours & the particular objects to represent each suit or element.

Wands echo the ornate staff held by The Magician.

Cups represented by an ancient, ceremonial vessel.

Coins by the traditional round Chinese coin with a square hole in the middle & engraved with calligraphy.

Swords by jewel-encrusted daggers.

The card size is 4 7/8 by 2 1/2 inches or 12 by 6.5 cms, which makes the deck a bit larger than the Chinese Tarot.

The companion softcover book is basically entirely in Chinese. The book's cover has the same colours as the card backs.

Underneath the Chinese characters on the front cover: "Der Jen" & "China Tarot".

The individual sections for each of the Major Arcana includes the English title; ditto for the minor arcana, but all else is Chinese.

The few examples of Der-Jen Tarot on Tarot Garden's site are truely lovely. I have noticed over the last few years, that I like the Eastern imput into Deck Art. Do you use it for readings MeeWah? ~Rosanne

Thus far, only use it for the meditative or reflective.

Der-Jen strikes as with an ambience similar to the Golden Tarot of Klimt--perhaps because of the colours & that the images derived from paintings. In a way, Der-Jen seems similar to the character-driven decks such as the Londa, albeit more colourful.

I have the Chinese version of the deck that I got direct from Taiwan off eBay (the one currently pictured on Tarot Garden with the white borders)--back before I realized Lo Scarabeo was about to come out with one But the price was pretty decent and I like the borders better so I'm not complaining. The images are gorgeous--I found it when I was looking for another Chinese deck and couldn't resist. The titles are in English and Chinese. It is so far just an art deck for me, due to the unillustrated pips--but the paintings for the majors are very breathtaking, meditative and evocative.

I am so interested to get the version that Llewellyn publish next year.
http://www.llewellyn.com/bookstore/book.php?pn=H058

And by looking at the description on Amazon, it said box set... may be it will come with a nice book too?? Anyhow, it will be great to compare it to the one I have...

~JO

I had been interested in this one for some time. I wrote to Jeanette about it a while back and she said that she would let me know when they get some copies in. I havn't heard from her so I imagine it doesn't come through as often as a lot of the decks. I don't know.

But I always liked it.

I just looked at the link. Was quite excited that it would be more easily available until I saw that LoScarebeo had tarnished it with their unique style of branding. I will hold out for an original, if that is still possible.

LB

LittleBuddha,
Let me know if you need some help. Think I could order it here thru the local book shop =)
~Jo

edited to add: Or..I still see copy on ebay for US$23.99

Thankyou Jo. That is very kind of you.

At the moment, I am a little short of cash as I am inbetween jobs. But when I get some money coming in, I will look into it. I have enough decks to play with at the moment but the Der Jen (original) looks very lovely. The LoS one would be a consideration if it was not for the many titles. It may help with the language barriers for many customers, but it's crudeness alienates many others. Such a shame.

LB