Recently purchased Sacred Rose?

[Le Fanu]

Has anyone recently bought a copy of the Sacred Rose Tarot from the usual sources, amazon etc? I'm curious as to where the newer decks are printed. Somebody somewhere said that even the recent ones are (still) printed in Belgium, which would be a first for U.S Games.

Could be Italy, could be China but it would be nice if they were still printed in Belgium as I'd like to pick up another one.

I've been using this deck quite a bit recently - working my way through my 80s decks - and wonder if there are any more fans out there.

 

[kalliope]

I was thinking that I'd bought my backup copy recently, but I just checked my Amazon receipt and it was in August 2011, heh. But for what it's worth, that deck was printed in Belgium.

When did you buy your Sacred Rose? My original deck is from the mid-90s, and that printing is richer and the cardstock is slightly better than the 2011 Belgium printing. I no longer have the box for the older deck (although it looked like this as opposed to the newer box), so I don't know where it was printed. I didn't pay attention to things like that back then.

I've been a fan of this deck since I first got it, and I'm always sad when people say they don't care for it or that the eyes freak them out. I find the art very emotive even while the figures seem distant (probably due to the glowing eyes, yes). When I first bought it, it was only deck, along with the Thoth, with which I could read. (Before that I only had the RWS which I found grating because of the shade of yellow, and the Londa which spoke to my cheesy goth girl heart & aesthetics but lacked depth.)

I see that were was also an AG Muller edition of the deck. Does anyone know how that compares? Could that be an option for you?

 

[Bhavana]

I have a special place in my heart for this deck, considering it is the first one I ever bought, way back in the mid 80's thereabouts. I still have my old copy, beat up, scarred, knocked around - once it got wet and a bunch of the cards stuck together and...well, it's in pretty bad shape. During many of my non-tarot periods, it lived in my kitchen "junk drawer" with nothing but a rubber band around the cards for protection. I don't have the box anymore, so I do not know where the deck was printed - but it was the older box. I do have the LWB that came with it, and according to the LWB, it's the 2nd edition. Now we all know the LWB may be made at different times than the deck - but considering my deck was bought when the Sacred Rose was still fairly new to the market, my old deck is probably as old as the LWB.

Last year I found this guy thru CL that was selling for I think $20 a Sacred Rose, Oswald Wirth, and the Mayan deck, all vintage. The Sacred Rose, in mint condition except for a teeny bit of warp, came with the older box, but no LWB. According to the box, this deck was printed in Switzerland by AGMuller. It also says on one end of the box "SR78 Sacred Rose", whatever that might mean. The cards in this second deck are indentical to the one's in my old deck. Both decks have the 1982 copyrite on each card. I can't say for sure since the 2nd deck didn't come with a LWB, but I would guess that both of my decks are from the same time period. Maybe AGM was the first printer of the Sacred Rose - possibly later USG did the Belgium printings. I have never seen any of the newer editions of this deck, so I can't say how they compare to my older ones....but I would LOVE a copy printed in China. Maybe I will write to USG and see if they will tell me where it is printed now.

Hope this helps!

 

[toj]

The new box as sold new in stores is definitely printed in Belgium because I looked the box while I was in a store that sold it a few days ago and that is the one I bought last year. Winterchild was looking for the book written by Johanna Gargulo-Sherman recently and ended up buying a boxed set with what for her was a second deck that she had shipped to me in the states so that I could forward it on. The set she got had noticeably richer colors than the new one. There was no copyright on the card and the card stock had a sturdier glossy finish. There was a noticeable difference in how rich the colors were even before I opened up my newer deck to compare the two. I can't remember the box specifically, but I think it matched the current one because that is what matched the colors of the book. Can't comment on location of printing as shown on the box, because I just wasn't concentrating on that at the time.

I liked her older printing so much that I bid on an eBay copy recently and won it. It is the older purple box and is printed in Switzerland. There are copyrights on the actual cards unlike the ones with the boxed set. The cards are richer and glossier than the new set, but they don't seem to be as rich as those in the boxed set. It may be the same as the boxed set version, but right offhand I don't think so. The card stock on those two are about the same however. Having said that, I like the card stock on the new, made in Belgium cards very much.

Purple box version LWB printed in New York with no mention of second edition. New LWB printed in Connecticut.

 

[Le Fanu]

Thank you for for all the informatively nerdy pointers!

When did you buy your Sacred Rose? My original deck is from the mid-90s, and that printing is richer and the cardstock is slightly better than the 2011 Belgium printing. I no longer have the box for the older deck (although it looked like this as opposed to the newer box), so I don't know where it was printed. I didn't pay attention to things like that back then.

I bought mine about 5 years ago but it was old stock in a taped up battered & dusty box (the first one in kalliope's link). There was a shop near me that sold tarot and I gradually - over a period of three years or more - bought up all their wonderful stock and picked up some fabulous bargains in the process. When I look back they had some incredible decks languishing in the cabinet; Ravenswood Eastern, Meneghello decks, Tarot of Prague and many others. This was one of the decks I bought, forlorn and forgotten on the bottom shelf.

Beautiful cardstock and lovely colours. I imagine it is the kind of deck that could easily be printed with muddy, flat colours and be a different deck altogether.

If there is a kit available I might be tempted to get that as I'm sure the book is fascinating.

I love the scribbly, scratchy, gnarled artwork and gloomy, primeval vibe. Every scene seems to take place in a sinister forest. Such a strange deck. So out of step with nowadays where decks have to be immediately accessible to teenage girls. There would be no room for these mysterious, possessed beings whose eyes roll into the back of their head and whose hair spreads like tree roots, coming to get you.

 

[WyrdRaven]

I love the scribbly, scratchy, gnarled artwork and gloomy, primeval vibe. Every scene seems to take place in a sinister forest. Such a strange deck. So out of step with nowadays where decks have to be immediately accessible to teenage girls. There would be no room for these mysterious, possessed beings whose eyes roll into the back of their head and whose hair spreads like tree roots, coming to get you.

These words sent me scurrying off to look at card images. Now I have seen the Sacred Rose with new eyes. How could I have missed the great qualities of this deck the first time around? Now I realize that it is just my cup of tea. Adroitly enabled, once again!

 

[Morwenna]

Mine, mid-80s, purple & red box, says copyright 1982 by US Games, made in Switzerland by AGMuller, box and booklet printed in USA.

It still has the $12.95 sticker on it.

I do like this deck very much. I need to use it more often.

 

[Winterchild]

Sacred Rose

Oh yes I loved the deck for the same scratchy, gnarly and especially gloomy reasons...!! The one thing that put me off for years was the eyes!!

My boxed set is printed in Belgium copyright US Games 1999

My new deck from Book Depot recently was also printed in Belgium, but I passed this one on without opening it, as I didn't need two... so was unable to compare the too.

So presuming BD has the most recent printing then it is Belgium or was as of January 2013.

HTH

 

[Bhavana]

Straight from the horse's mouth ---

I emailed USGames, they got back to me, the latest Sacred Rose decks are printed in China!! This is good news for me, as I love the China printings from USG. The card stock is on the thicker side, and the finish is a sort of satin matte. If you are unfamiliar, other recent USG China printed decks would be the Dreaming Way, and the Paulina. Older ones would be the 2nd edition of the Deviant Moon, the Haindl, and the Sun and Moon tarot. The Morgan Greer is a China printing too - but I am not sure if that is now, or if it was before, because there are some glossy Italian Morgan Greers around too.

If you order from Amazon, or ebay, or any direct sourse other than USG, you may get an older deck - it's likely these sources are still selling off older stock that they may have purchased in bulk from USG years ago.... but if you order from USGames, you should get a China printing. I am really tempted to do it! I don't mind my Swiss printed older deck - but it has a slight warp, which means the cards don't lie flat, and that annoys me to the point that I don't use it.

 

[Chronata]

Another fan of the deck here!
Mine (exactly the same edition as Morwenna's) was a gift from a friend, back in the 80's when I had bounced into everything occult.

I had told him I wanted a Golden Dawn, he bought me a Sacred Rose. It was a much better fit for me at the time!

Recently I unearthed it, thinking of selling it. But one look at those images, and I fell in love all over again.
It's a deck that is walks the fine line between Light and Shadow.
It is both colorful and luminous, but also slightly sinister.