Part II: THE FANTASY SHOWCASE TAROT

Be sure to see the post immediately prior to this one for more complete information on this 26 year old 85 card deck, each card of which was designed by a different science fiction or fantasy artist. As I promised in that post, here are additional selections from the deck. (Now that I am able to upload the images, which I had not been able to do when I was working on the previous post.)

Although the nine cards below give some indication of the amazing variety of styles and implicit meanings of this unique deck, it does not do it full justice by any means. I'll just have to post samples from it in the future.:-)


FIRST CARD -- Five of Pentacles (artist Reed Waller). For some reason I have a King Midas association to this version. It's not clear in this scan but it's a couple embracing in the picture the lion is holding and he looks distinctly disturbed, outside of it all maybe -- a rather Five of Pentacles experience. :-)
SECOND CARD -- Nine of Cups (artist Gary Anderson), I love this space frog, bellying up to the bar. Talk about happiness!
THIRD CARD -- Ten of Cups (artist Randy Bathurst), another amusing interpretation, that can also be very pointed. The scene in the blitzed gnome's dream is from the actual Rider/ Waite/ Smith Ten of Cups.




FIRST CARD -- The Fool (artist Bruce Duncan), usually The Fool is at the edge of a cliff in danger of walking off it. This version is both funny and intriguing. I began to see it as a Fool card up-dated for modern times.
SECOND CARD -- The Wheel Fortune (artist Linda Miller), the traditional title of this card says it all! Though this is an untraditional way of representing it.
THIRD CARD -- The Seven of Swords (artist George Jones), one of the few "hard sci-fi" designs in the deck. I really like how dynamic it is and the light refractions.



FIRST CARD -- The Six of Wands (artist Jane & Philip Hagopian), I really like this art style. The interpretation itself is traditional.
SECOND CARD -- The Hermit (artist James Patrick), another art style I find very moving. It's not usual for The Hermit to be at the edge of a cliff -- this put me in mind of The Fool above.
THIRD CARD -- Lady of Swords (artist Cecilia Cosentini), this is an additional card that the editor, Bruce Pelz, developed that does not exist in the traditional deck (The Lady, who fits between the Knight and the Queen of a suit). I really like both the art style and uncommon perspective.



In my next post, I'll share the cards by Kelly Freas, John Kirby, and Karen Kuykendall. The latter is the designer of the Tarot of the Cat People. Kuykendall created an entire fantasy world for the Tarot of the Cat People, one in which each of the four realms/cultures reveres cats. Her design in The Fantasy Showcase Tarot is The Hierophant/High Priest, and is clearly related to her High Priest/Hierophant design in The Tarot of the Cat People (published in 1985). I'll post both cards here.

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Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep enjoying the wild and wondrous universe of The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****