Visconti.
Sola-Busca.
Tarot de Marseille.
Rider Waite Smith.
Thoth.
Aquarian.
Morgan-Greer.
Motherpeace.
Cosmic.
Druidcraft.
Deviant Moon.
The Wild Unknown.
Contemporary Tarot. This chapter is an overview of some additional contemporary decks. This chapter means to look more at some recent trends.
The book is interesting and informative. We get for the most part a good history of each deck including what makes it distinctive and what is the deck's legacy. A bonus is that at the end of each chapter you get "other decks you may like" that may be similar to the featured deck. Additionally, the book is well illustrated with photos and images from decks and other relevant art pieces. As I said, for the most part the book is interesting and informative. It provides some substance in looking at the cards and the deck creators.
I said informative for the most part because the authors have a tendency to insert their snarky commentary and at times very strong opinions on their pet topics. If they like a deck, they gush all over it. If they hate it, like the Thoth Tarot, they spend a lot of a chapter bitching about the deck and its creator. In this example, they really hate Aleister Crowley, and they want to make sure everyone knows it. The authors are podcasters, so the book suffers a bit from what books based on podcasts, blogs, TikTok, etc. tend to suffer: too much informality. That informality detracts from what can be a solid and mostly very good overview of the topic.
Despite the authors most of the book is a good read. A good point they make is about Lady Frida Harris. Just like Pamela Colman Smith is getting more recognition now, Harris is another artist that deserves her day in the sun.
In addition, the book does feature a small appendix on how to read Tarot for folks who may feel inspired to give it a go. It also has a small resources list with a few books and websites if you readers want to learn more.
"Tarot grew out of the universal human desire to demystify the future. It started as a card game played mostly by medieval upper classes, but eventually turned into a divinatory process accessible to laypeople without formal training" (7).
"There was a backlash as tarot came to be associated with witchcraft. Powerful religious communities forced tarot to go underground for most of the nineteenth century, and it was taught and shared only in secret. That's why there's an old wives' tale in tarot communities that you need to be gifted your first deck, because stepping into tarot required a trust between teacher and student" (9).
No comments:
Post a Comment