I was just reading a fascinating wiki article about Canadian cultural philosopher Marshall McLuhan, who coined the phrase "the medium is the message" while analyzing the impact of media sources like television on society, and who concluded that the delivery system is more revealing of modern collective values than the contents. In commenting on his … Continue reading Call Them “TINOs”
Tarot Decks
DAS: A Joyful Scourge
Around the end of every year there seems to be a flood of new-deck announcements and glossy (albeit online for most of us) catalogs from Lo Scarabeo, U.S. Games Systems and a few smaller publishing houses. These feed the pernicious addiction many of us share: "Deck Acquisition Syndrome." Every tarot forum I've participated in (I'm … Continue reading DAS: A Joyful Scourge
The Dali Universal Tarot Deck Interview
The 1984 Dali Universal Tarot was recently reissued by German publisher Taschen, and I received a copy of the updated deck as a gift. While not as sumptuous as the original version (no gilt edges and the card stock is on the lighter side), it is still an impressive product; the large box has a … Continue reading The Dali Universal Tarot Deck Interview
A Valuable Resource
Although it's far from comprehensive given the explosion of new tarot decks in the last few years, there is a "tarot-card gallery" website that offers complete scans of numerous popular and historically-significant decks. My understanding is that the German owner of the site has authorization to publish the images from the copyright owners of the … Continue reading A Valuable Resource
Deck Wish List for 2020
Around this time every year I take a look at the decks I've wanted but still don't have. The list gets shorter each year, not because I've been buying a lot of decks (I haven't) but because my interests have been changing as I focus more on the Tarot de Marseille and other historical decks … Continue reading Deck Wish List for 2020
A Tarot de Marseille Two-Deck Comparison Reading
For quite some time I've been intending to use my "Friend or Foe" deck comparison spread with my two Fournier TdM decks, Le Tarot de Marseille and the Spanish Tarot. I finally got around to doing it. First, here is a link to the spread, followed by the reading layout. I prefer not to anthropomorphize … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Two-Deck Comparison Reading
The Tarot Classic Deck Interview
Since many of you will have read my previous thoughts on the subject and perhaps some of the several "deck interviews" I've posted here, let me reiterate. I'm not one who believes that tarot decks have distinct personalities, nor that they possess speech other than what we endow them with through a convenient form of … Continue reading The Tarot Classic Deck Interview
“. . . and I Must Scream.”
In thinking about the widely-held but just as widely dismissed opinion that tarot cards have personalities and "speak" to us with anthropomorphic aptness, I recalled that science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison once wrote a story titled "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream." This led me to finally pin down what makes for my ideal … Continue reading “. . . and I Must Scream.”
The Joie de Vivre Tarot
Paulina Cassidy's second deck has been described by some reviewers as "child-like," an impression that is explicitly touted by the wording on the box, leading to the assumption that it is light-weight and not suitable for answering serious questions. This is an older deck, first published in 2011, that never caught my eye because my … Continue reading The Joie de Vivre Tarot
Foreverquest
Back in the early "aughts," when I was still playing Everquest Online relentlessly (what can I say, I'm a throwback), my wife dubbed it "Foreverquest" (that was before her own fling with World of Warcraft). That epithet reminds me of the situation I find myself in whenever I decide it's time to chase down a … Continue reading Foreverquest
