My In-Depth, Very Very Long Review of the Bohemian Gothic 2nd Edition

Monday, August 23, 2010

(My original review for the Bohemian Gothic Tarot can be found here. You can view images for all of the cards in the deck at the Bohemian Gothic Tarot website.)




It's no secret that I am passionately, fanatically, and deeply devoted to my Bohemian Gothic tarot. It's unusual, because I hate horror movies, scary books have no place on my shelf (sorry, Stephen King!) and I despise being frightened. Anything that falls into that arena, therefore, is normally an automatic "no" for me. However, much like I will play any game that Bioware releases simply because they are the very, very best in their business, I will at least try any deck that Magic Realist Press releases because they never, ever disappoint. Their decks don't always work for me (Fantastic Menagerie, anyone?), but they're always gorgeous.

The BG isn't my normal cup of tea, but it is, somehow, perfect for me. I have said before that I think it's because the deck's inherent darkness makes it impossible for me to twist the message into something purely good and happy. I hate giving bad news, but there's a dark side to everything, and the BG doesn't let you forget it. I also appreciate that it's a dark deck, but it's not a violent deck. Many of the images, while dark, still evoke a sense of stillness and peace.

My second edition arrived on Saturday, while I was out clothes-shopping with my daughter. Instead of a shiny new deck to play with, I got a yellow slip telling me to go to the post office and pick it up on Monday morning. To make my anticipation more painful, Sunday evening my car, The Prissiest Minivan in the World, refused to start. The horror! So, this morning, I hopped on my bike and rode to the post office in 90 degree weather. (See how devoted I am?) As soon as I got home, I washed the sweat off my hands (ew!) and peeled open the new deck.

I was quite impressed with the box. It's lovely, opens and closes smoothly, and it's quite easy to get the deck in and out. One corner was a wee bit crushed from shipping, but that's happened with every deck I've gotten that comes in a cigar-style box, and it doesn't really effect the appearance of the box. More importantly, the deck was fine. I would feel perfectly comfortable carrying the deck, in the box, in my purse.

See? You can't even tell.

Inside the box, there was a LWB and a coupon for 10% off my next purchase. Very nice! The deck itself was wrapped in cellophane, which was secure but not so snug that I feared damaging the deck in my attempts to get it off, as I do with some decks.

First, my observations and comparisons of the deck as a whole:

The deck is thicker than the first edition. The cards have a matte finish; the first edition cards feel absolutely slick in comparison. The cardstock feels slightly stiffer than the first edition, as well, but that might not be a valid observation, since I'm comparing a broken- in deck to one I haven't even shuffled yet. The cards are also slightly smaller than the first edition, by maybe 1 millimeter in both height and length, and the corners are slightly more rounded.

The Second edition is on the left.

A second edition card face down on top of the Nine of Wands from the first edition. You can see the size difference on the top and the right edge.

The back of the card is the same design as the first, but done completely in black and silver. (The first edition deck was black and white with silver shadowing.) This gives it a much softer, darker feel than the first, almost like if you put your hand towards it, you could get pulled in and swallowed up. Which, now that I think about it, is pretty creepy.



On the front of the cards, the biggest change to the deck as a whole seems to be the clarity of the pictures. In the first edition, the images were so sharp you could cut yourself on them. In the second edition, the images were softened, giving them a more dreamy quality. I prefer the sharper images of the first edition, myself; the new version is lovely, but I like the harshness of the original. The Hierophant, for example, has always struck me (in this deck) as an uncompromising man, who is almost cruel in his absolute authority. His unwillingness to bend or to see other viewpoints isolates him, but as far as he's concerned, that's the fault of others.The sharp lines around him made that clear; there was his way, and his way was right, and that was that. The new card is almost exactly the same; the red hat is a bit brighter, the blue robe is a bit softer a blue- but the biggest change was softening the image.

There are many other slight color changes throughout the deck. For example, a gray which is bluer in one deck might be greener in the other. The small border on the bottom that carries the card's name is a bit shorter in the second edition, as well, although the text appears to be the same size.

In some cards, the colors seemed more muted and less vibrant, such as the reds in the Eight of Wands, the smoke in The Magician, and to a lesser degree, the Hermit's lantern. I'm not really a fan of this; I loved those vibrant, passionate, eye-catching colors!

Card By Card comparison:

I am not going to actually do every card in this deck. Many of the cards are very nearly exactly the same as the first, with slight changes in tint or sharpness that I have already mentioned. I'm just going over the ones that struck me, for whatever reason.

Where the 2nd Edition wins:

Ready?
The Moon: They changed her face. She has a regal, calm look now, a certain tilt to her head that is confident , mysterious, and almost haughty. In the first edition, she looked worried and weak willed. The new card is a win.

Justice: The cover of the book is actually much clearer, and the robe on the figure in the background is red now instead of black. The judge's different colored eyes are more noticeable, and the furnace in the background is much more muted in color. I love these changes.


The Devil: I adore the addition of a gold earring on the woman. Somehow such a small thing adds so much to this image!

The Sun: Another card with simple color changes, yet the new card is beautiful and powerful.

Judgement: The painting behind the angel is now muted and fades into the background, giving the image a sense of depth and allowing the reader to focus on the people in the card. as a result, the contrast between her peace and his horror is more tangible.

Two of Wands: Not much was done to this card, mostly cropping, I think, but the woman seems more ghostly and more wistful, bringing the emotion of the card to the forefront and involving the reader more than the first edition.

Nine of Wands: At first glance, you'd think it was exactly the same, but the softer focus of the image is more reminiscent of early morning light, and underscores the meaning of the card. Love it.

Six of Cups: The new picture on the headstone is a definite win. It makes the image far more personal, and easier to relate to.

Nine of Cups: They changed the glass style in the drinker's hand. I love the new glass, it seems to fit more readily with the mood of the card.

Eight of Swords: I really like the addition of the rats. It suggests that, yes, there ARE things to be afraid of, but it's not something you can't overcome.

Knight of Wands: LOVE the new background!


Queen of Pentacles: Thank you, MRP, for NOT CHANGING HER FACE! She is my favorite card in the deck, because of that look on her face, and I am delighted you left it alone.

Where I'm Undecided:

The Lovers: I'm kind of split on this one. The woman in the new card is far and away lovelier than the woman in the first, and looking at her does evoke images and emotions; she appears to be making a difficult choice, leaving something behind for the sake of something that means more. It's a more emotional card, compared to the more physical composition of the first edition Lovers. The problem is her male counterpart. In the new one, he has this expression on his face that suggests he's just about had it with her Edward Cullen obsession. He doesn't appear loverlike or passionate or even a little creepy. He just looks bored and slightly irritated. I also much preferred the original background, with the light of the moon peeking from behind the black clouds. The new card, on the whole, is much prettier, and I suspect in time I'll prefer it. I just have to reconcile that look on his face, and the fact that it is vaguely Twilight-esque.


The Tower: I adore the new red shadowing on the statues; however, I also adore the purple sky in the first.

Six of Pentacles: Do I prefer him with horns or without? I can't decide.

Where the Second Edition leaves me cold:

The Emperor and The High Priestess: I preferred the original backgrounds. The skulls on the ceiling in the Emperor were much clearer and more powerful, while the forest behind the HP was more symbolic, to me, of mystery and the unknown.


Queen of Wands: There was a wealth of emotion in the first Queen's expression; wistfulness, hope, sorrow, even quiet laughter. Her successor looks irritated, or even bored. I suspect she's in a secret society with the gentleman on the Lover's card, where they read Very Serious Literature and eat very small sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Also, the fact that the original Queen was likely a transvestite added an entire world of meaning to the card that is now missing.


Five of Wands: for some reason, simply cropping this card neutered it for me. It has always been representative, to me, of either making things harder for yourself by fighting things that aren't there, or refusing to see what is. Having those ghouls closer gives them more substance, and alters the way I read the card.

Three of Cups: I don't like the vampire puncture marks in the oldest girl's throat. (Assuming that is what they are, and I didn't just get a misprinted card!) They feel unnecessarily violent.

The King of Cups: Expression again. In the original, he clearly felt both wistfulness and hope, sadness and longing. This time, I rather get the impression that his lady love ate broccoli and beans for dinner and is emitting some rather indelicate odors there at the window.

Queen of Swords: I loved the old Queen of Swords, because at first glance she looks so unassuming, but if you take a second look at her face you know she will cut you. She is perfectly lovely, and yet her direct, unwavering and calm expression says, "I see through you." She looks powerful and unafraid. She doesn't need to keep her hand on her sword because the sword is just a distraction- the truly dangerous thing in that image is the Queen herself.

Although the symbols of power and danger are more overt in the new image, with her hand on her sword and her teeth all vampire-y, I would be far less intimidated by the new queen than I would the old, and far less confident in her wisdom and impartiality.

After showing the deck to Wakingspirit, she commented that the new deck "looks more cohesive and less photo-edited, which is good. The colors are clearer and brighter, but because of that, the deck is less creepy. Still creepy, just... less." She was also extremely taken by the Momento Mori card, which is lovely.

So, overall, it appears that the deck is a win. To finish this post up, I finally gave the deck it's first shuffle, and it is stiff and hard to manage, I suspect it will soften up beautifully in time. It will be interesting to see how the gilding wears with use.

The fact that this deck has always reminded me of campy B-Movie horror in the very best ways has always been one of my favorite things about it. Even though the characters in the cards should seem dangerous or evil, when you really look at them, you get the feeling that they're just as prone to bumbling mistakes as the rest of us. These monsters throb with humanity, and we can relate to their struggles and their triumphs. That is what makes it a great reading deck, and that is why I love the Bohemian Gothic, both old and new.



Images used with permission, Copyright @Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony, Baba Studio 2010.

New Deck Interview

Monday, June 14, 2010

I've never done a deck interview, so I took myself over to aeclectic.net and picked one out of the many offered by members there. I sat down with Shadowscapes, some incense, and had a chat. Here are my results, see what you think:

1. Tell me about yourself
Result: 4 of cups--isolated, self focused, introspective, narcissistic. Perhaps a good deck for growth of self, or reflection of inner states.

2. Strengths
Result: Queen of Wands--passionate, lyrical, attractive, draws you in, inspiring, confident, creative, feminine. Feels like the deck is very inspiring to creativity and spirituality, especially for women.

3. Limits
Result: Fool reversed--overconfident, foolISH, stagnant, rooted, careful, plodding. Deck might be a bit too cautious, not want to push the querent into harder territory.

4. What are you here to teach me?
Result: Page of pentacles--Deck has potential wisdom, to trust the earth and the messages received. To rise above difficulty, or to see difficulty as potential. You are a part of everything.

5. How can I learn and collaborate with you?
Result: 4 of pentacles--Selfish or greedy. Perhaps deck wants to be used for readings for self only, rather than be shared.

6. Potential outcome of our working relationship?
Result (this one made me giggle): Wheel of Fortune--eh, things always change anyway. Seems like the deck is telling me that it isn't the life changing sort, rather a companion for each turn of the wheel.

All in all, I interpreted this to mean that the deck will work better for personal readings than reading for other people. That it is clearly feminine and creative, passionate and engaged but not particularly pushy or daring. And that it remains staunchly committed to the 8 fold path ;)

So, I probably won't be reading much for others with this one, but I revel in its beauty and earthy spirituality all the same.

Dark Decks

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Note: Apparently I wrote this and failed to post it in October. My bad.

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain, everyone! In honor of the day (and also the fact that I just received my brand new Bohemian Gothic tarot), we're going to talk about "dark" decks.

There are thousands of different tarot decks out there, with imagery that will appeal to just about everyone. There are tarot decks devoted to cats, ferrets, and even (ugh) baseball. There are decks aimed at different cultures; Native American decks, Chinese decks, Norse decks. There are decks about angels, fairies, saints, and dragons.

I have two "dark" decks. One is the Deviant Moon.



This deck sometimes gives me the crawlies. The imagery is beautifully done, the art is amazing, and the deck stayed on my mind until I gave in and bought it. It's not really a horrifying deck; it's more just that the inhabitants of the deck are "different"- but if you look past the differences, they're living lives not much different from ours. The cards themselves are brightly colored; it's not the first thing you notice when you look at them, but eventually the thought creeps in... "These are oddly... cheerful."

This deck is different, and takes a definite turn from my other decks, but it is a walk in a sun-filled rose garden compared to my other dark deck- my brand new, deliciously creepy Bohemian Gothic.



This deck is, to put it plainly, creepy as hell. Some of the cards give me shivers- if you're interested and in the Halloween mood, go check out the Four of Wands on the Bohemian Gothic website. That card makes a chill crawl up my spine- and as my husband says, the really fantastic thing about this deck is that the images that really make you shudder are the ones that look the most benign. This deck isn't blood and gore horror, though- it's a more thoughtful kind of horror from a time when artists really understood that sometimes, true fear isn't about having zombies jump out at you and graphically eat your face off. (Have I mentioned that I REALLY hate horror flicks?) This deck is somehow over the top and subtle at the same time.

There are some decks that may not be described as "dark"- but that I won't touch with a ten foot pole. The Morgan Greer, while a favorite for many and not to different from some decks I do have (and love!), creeps me right out. It's that Devil card. The Barbara Walker literally makes my skin crawl.

There are other decks, far, far darker than the two I've profiled here. You can check out a great variety of dark decks at Aeclectic.

So why have dark decks? For some people, it's just what they're comfortable with. For me, it's about understanding that there is a balance of light and dark in the world, and in the people, around us. The fact that there is always another battle to fight, always another struggle on the horizon; the fact that people are NOT always fair, kind and just; the fact that most people are generally, at the heart of it, out for themselves- these are things I am finally learning to accept, and it's not easy.

Tarot is a reflection of life. Every card represents something that every person has experienced in some way. Change, heartbreak, growth, celebration- these are all universal experiences, and every different depiction of these experiences in different decks can teach you something different about that situation- a new angle to view it from.


(The Death Card image up there is from the Dark Tarot series by Tease Tarot. As far as I can figure, it's not an actual deck, simply the covers for a series of books- but if it is available as a deck, can someone please tell me where to buy it?)

Connection

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I keep talking about my tarot hiatus. In reality, it was more of a spirituality hiatus; I played a lot of video games and did really nothing else.

I'm ok with that. For whatever reason, a period of stasis was what I needed, and I am a firm believer in giving yourself what you need. (Also, I REALLY like video games.)

Coming back to the Tarot, however, has been an interesting experience. I expected to pick up a deck and be able to read with it the same way I could six months ago, and that's just not what is happening. I remember my book meanings, but the connection I had with my cards, the ability to hook into my intuition and see what the cards were really saying, is hard to tap into. It was a climb the first time, and I can already see it's going to be a climb again.

And I don't mind. In my earlier post about apples, I mentioned that I had immersed myself into tarot to the point where I wasn't really paying attention to anything else. I was excited about the journey and the possibilities; I was very much the Fool stepping off into a brand new adventure, never seeing the dangers or day-to-day concerns around him.

This time, I am more grounded and more aware. I am back on track to developing my spirituality, but in a slower, more careful way. More of the Eight of Pentacles in me this time, I think, than the Fool. And it's better, and I am happy with that.

Balance is good.

Hey a post! Shadowscapes

Friday, June 4, 2010

I know, I know, NaNoWriMo totally derailed my posting, and then... yeah. But I refuse to let pixels make me feel guilty!

Anyway.

My sweetie and I were discussing the "perfect" tarot deck some time ago, and we hatched the brilliant plan to create one from scratch. I'm not an artist by any means, so my plan was to scour the internets for images that spoke to me, and combine them into one self-use-only tarot deck. I was pretty excited about this, and I went searching for images right away. As soon as I found one I liked, I would save it to my hard drive and move on. After doing this for, oh, an hour or two, I realized something--nearly all the images I was saving came from one tarot deck. A then-unpublished tarot deck called Shadowscapes.

Problem thus solved, I settled in to wait for Shadowscapes to be published. I just received my copy about a week ago, and I absolutely love it.

The images call to me on a very spiritual, intimate level. Taking a leave from the more Christian-based imagery of the Rider-Waite, the artist instead draws from nature and fantasy to create images based in the four elements. The deck truly speaks to my woo-woo pagan nature, down to depicting the Hierophant as a treeman and Death as a phoenix rising from her own ashes.

The natural world crawls through the deck, even nature spirits like sylphs, dryads and dragons make an appearance.

I hope to do a deck interview and post the results here... as soon as I get a quiet moment, which during the summer with two crazy kids can be a challenge! So far the deck seems to give soft answers, gentle and spiritual rather than the more person-centered Mystic Dreamer I use often. I'm very excited to do more with Shadowscapes!

Image ©Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

In Which Apples = Tarot

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Imagine you love apples. You adore apples. You eat apples for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then you have apple pie for dessert.

You explore all different kinds of apples. Braeburn, Gala, Granny Smith. You start tracking down gourmet apples, investigating different apple recipes, even creating some of your own.

You join an apple fan club. Then you start an apple fan club.

Your internet browser is full of websites devoted to the history and mythology of apples. Eventually, if someone has an apple related question, they call you first. They even call to find out what type of apple might best suit their friend, who is fond of apples, but has not yet found the perfect apple for her.

This goes on for months. Then, one day, you get out of bed, look at your apple pancakes, and think, "Apples are rubbish. I could really use some fish custard right now."

It was bound to happen. No one can eat that many apples for that long without eventually growing sick of them.

Hopefully, if you take a break from apples, and start eating other foods, you'll rediscover the joy you once had with apples. Hopefully, you've also learned your lesson, and are able to balance your diet- and your life- in a healthier manner.

That's the plan, anyway.

Out with the old, and in with the new.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

In a manner of speaking, anyway. I recently cleared out a good number of decks, and it was NOT easy. I love my decks.

Still, no matter how much I love them, I was being buried alive by the sheer number of them in my tiny, already overcluttered home, and most of them not only did not get used, but were likely NEVER to get used. I liked them, but I didn't connect with them. Therefore, a number of them left my loving care and moved on to people who might actually, y'know, USE them. I haven't felt the loss so much as I've felt the pain of saying, "I have 40- Imean, 20- no,I mean...14 decks."

Ouch.

So, most of my once abundant collection is gone, and I find myself shepherding a small number of decks that I either already communicate well with, or that I have high hopes for. Lisa Hunt's Fairy Tale deck is gone, although I am already regretting that and will probably buy it back pretty quickly. Magic Realist Press' most successful deck, the Baroque Bohemian Cats, is also out of my hands now, which was difficult for a number of reasons. The only deck I parted with that I probably will not be able to replace if I decide I want to is the Tea Leaf Fortune Card deck. I hope I don't end up kicking myself over that, but the person it went to will take wonderful care of it, and I am content knowing it's in good hands, even if they aren't mine.

This clearing out occurred at roughly the same time as my addiction and dependence on the Bohemian Gothic tarot started to wane, and I started to play with some of the decks I have left. The Revelations got another spin around the track, and I found it sadly much less compelling than the first time I used it. The Tarot of Prague also got to stretch her legs. She confused the heck out of me and got stored until I get a chance to read the book and speak her language. And then, the Victoria Regina came out to play.

I have GOT to stop taking one look at decks and deciding that I hate them. The same thing that happened with the Bohemian Gothic is happening with the Victoria Regina; I didn't immediately fall in love with it at first sight, so therefore decided it wasn't a good deck for me and put it away. The only reason I didn't sell it with the others was because it would be virtually impossible to replace, and so I decided to give it a chance.

It reads brilliantly. It is a very inspiring deck in the sense that it really does draw very much on your intuition. The images are extremely detailed, and I believe that being in black and white suits the mood of this deck far better than being in color. Even soft watercolors would only detract.

These are large cards, suitable for the intricate artwork, and can be a bit difficult to shuffle. The are very well made, sturdy and glossy. The backs are quite simple, white with the image of Queen Victoria as she appeared on some coin or the other.

Where this deck really shines, though, is not the deck at all. It's the companion book. The book is a wonderful amalgamation of Victorian history and tarot. The court cards are all represented by different personalities from the Victorian era, including Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, Oscar Wilde, and of course, Victoria herself. The parallels between the lives of these people and the personality traits represented in the cards is absolutely brilliant, and by far the most inspired writing I've ever seen in regard to the court cards.

Once again, however, I am taunting you with a deck that is not easy to find. There is a Chinese version for sale through ebay, as long as you don't mind not reading the book and can disregard the Chinese writing on the cards. Unfortunately, reviews of the Chinese version are not positive, stating that the cards are far too small (much smaller than the original, English version), the lamination is sticky and gritty, and the cardstock is not as well made.

I am entranced by the Victoria Regina at the moment- but when that wears off, I am quite excited to see what surprises my much smaller collection of decks has in store for me.

Can we talk Oracles for a moment?

Saturday, January 16, 2010

I was very excited today to learn that Morgan's Tarot (which is an 88 card oracle, and not a tarot at all) is going to be reprinted by US Games and should be in stock in a couple of weeks. I've wanted this deck for months (which is forever, as far as my interest in tarot is concerned!) but never managed to bid quite enough on ebay. I'm feeling rather fortunate in that, now, although I am a bit concerned that the deck is going to come on US Games' heavily laminated stock, which I generally like but which doesn't fit into the vibe of this deck at all.

In general, I am not a fan of oracles. They tend to be too one dimensional for me; more bluntly, I cannot read with them at all. There has so far been one exception to the rule:


The Oracle Of The Grail Code. This oracle was (obviously) inspired by Dan Brown's popular book, "The Da Vinci Code", and so I am terribly embarrassed to be so enamored of it. There is a very snobby part of myself that snickers and whispers, "Why don't you just put those New Kid On The Block posters back on your wall, while you're at it" every time I pull this deck out. In the long run, though, it doesn't matter, because this deck is beautiful, and very, very chatty.

The artist, Amy Sophia Marashinsky, took strong and evocative female images from some of the most famous paintings in the world, and applied keywords to them. The cards are oversized and are far too large for me to riffle shuffle; I tend to dump them out on the floor and mix them around. There are 33 cards; they come in a cigar-style box with a book.

The only problem that I have with the manufacture of this set is that the back of each card shouts out the name of the deck, followed by the words, "The Book and Card Collection." Thank you for that, Barnes and Noble. The book is hardbound, and includes spreads, description of the cards, and meditations for each card, as well as artistic credits.

I have used this deck for single card draws and three card draws; I have also used it for a celtic cross. Every single time I use this deck, it is very clear and concise, telling me in simple terms exactly what I need to know. The keywords are not so specific that they limit the meaning of the card, which is a problem with some oracles.

Love, love this deck- I only hope that, when the Morgan's Tarot finally gets here, it performs as well.