Tarot of the Cat People

[Myrrha]

Odd to find this thread resurrected now! This was my very first deck. I couldn't read with it whatsoever back then. A few years after, I dated a complete jerk who would have burned all my tarot cards on me. So I handed them over to my best friend. 20 odd years later and she's bringing them back to me.

Now I see the images online and get flashes off them! Can't wait to see what they are like in person after all these years!

I do have a question for you guys. I've read that they could be rws based, tdm based, or a marriage between the two. I know about the outer realms. So what do you guys think it's closest too?

Being between the two would kinda be awesome for me since I have almost no experience with rws. However with the outer realms aspect, I almost feel its unfair to consider this deck to be based off anything but her amazing visions of another dimension.

That's great that you get flashes from the images online, i hope you love the deck when it arrives. I do think the intended meanings for the Minors are RWS based but take a different slant with some cards being quite different. It shouldn't matter that you don't have experience with RWS.

I've seen reviews that said the experience of reading with this deck is like reading with the TdM or another pip deck. I don't find that to be the case although the images might be a bit less detailed than some other decks. I kind of like that you have to ponder it or try to get a flash or go by the emotions shown in the image. It doesn't spell everything out. This is one that I don't reach for so much right now. I agree with DarkVictory'39 that the look and the pallette is very lunar and mysterious.

There was an original painting by Karen Kukyendall on ebay not long ago, a warrior like the ones in the deck but with no cat. It was quirky and gorgeous but expensive of course.

 

[mrpants]

Memories!

I can't help but reply to all in this thread, especially those that revived it this year.

This was my first deck; I think I got it when I was twelve. Maybe thirteen. It was the beginning of my journey with the tarot.

What drew me to the deck was, of course, the gorgeous artwork. Also, I appreciated the deck for not being a strict RWS clone, though clearly, that is the basic template for its structure and content. I was at first very confused by Justice and Strength being numbered as such, which is how I learned about the Tarot of Marseille. I will be forever in Karen's debt for that!

For most of my teen years, this was my only reading and meditation deck. And I highly recommend this one for meditation, especially for those with a sci-fi tendency. It is truly otherworldly!

I do not use this deck today for reading, as I mostly use pips-based decks from the traditional TdM format. But I will always have my first deck in my cabinet; and sometimes, on a full moon, or when my partner is out of town, or if my high school buddies are hanging around, or if I just need to remember those timid first steps into the Labyrinth, I'll bring out Karen's Story. It still fills me with wonder, excitement, and awe.

 

[Hooked on TdM]

My best friend will be arriving tonight, with both my cards and her new honey! I'm so excited I feel like I could explode. Lol she has that effect on me

Myrrha: Good to know that it's more of a loose association with RWS. I don't see how it's related to TdM other then where Justice and Strength land. I'm sure I will love them all over again. It's like meeting a long lost friend. Ah, I wish I had seen her picture on ebay. She's an amazing artist. I'll update after my deck arrives.

Mrpants: it's neat to see how many of us had this deck as our first. Sounds like a true old friend to you. lovely to hear your experience with it!

 

[velvetina]

This was my second deck, bought after a couple of years with the Waite-Smith, and a couple of weeks before my first Thoth.

Because of My First Thoth, the poor old Cat People deck was quickly ignored, and considered to be a bit pointless.

Then other decks arrived over the years , and it was this thread that caused me to re-appraise the deck.

The very first thing I noticed was it's purr! My cards were kind of stuck together, so I was doing that thing where you rub the ends with your thumb, allowing them to drop, and a bit of rifle-shuffling & the sound was so reminiscent of a throaty cat purr, it amused me no end!

I love the rich colours, the expressive cats, even the backs!

So we've got off to an excellent start; clearly the deck holds no grudges

It reminds me too of the brief time we spent together; a mix of familiar & unfamiliar, I think I might be playing with it for a while - it is definitely not a pointless-vanilla-candy-vapid deck at all!

 

[Hooked on TdM]

Ah my gf forgot to pack it. Thankfully she's coming back next weekend so I only have to wait another week. Lol what's that after twenty years, right?

*repeats to self*

 

[mrpants]

Hooked, do you have the companion book? It's AMAZING!

 

[Morwenna]

I agree; I love that book. It's a whole other world! I'm a sucker for other worlds. (Being a sociology geek helps.) Funny thing, though: I've had the deck for many years, probably around 20, but I never found the book till a few years ago!

 

[Hooked on TdM]

No I don't. It's on my to get list though.

 

[mrpants]

Morwenna, same thing happened to me! I wish I'd had it all those years, but it's never too late to geek out, I guess. Hooked, it's still in print, and rather inexpensive. A must read!

 

[Hooked on TdM]

It's here!!!! And I did have the book, I just forgot. 20 years is too long to remember stuff like that! I'm very excited to see them again. Both the book and cards have been well used during its travels away from me. Kinda neat to get my original deck back that was once crisp and now is all banged up from use.

Reading the book now...