THE FANTASY SHOWCASE TAROT (Comments & Sample Cards)

THE FANTASY SHOWCASE TAROT, Little White Book ("LWB") Cover; The Empress card (artist Maxine Miller), which is in color, of course, on the actual card.

I suppose I could have as readily called this a review, only this deck is 26 years old and out of print, originally published by U.S. Games in 1980, with some of its card designs going back as far as 1969. I recalled it while answering comments to my earlier post here on The Chariot card about what it would be like reading with a deck with artwork by 78 different artists. The Fantasy Showcase Tarot has 85 cards by 85 different artists. The extras being two new Majors designed for the deck ("Separation" XXII, and "The Farrier" XXIII) and an innovation of the editor’s ("The Lady," a young woman who fits between the Knight and The Queen of the Court cards).

The cards were done entirely by fantasy and science fiction artists. Many clearly reflect the style of the times (see the Three of Cups below) and that brings back many memories of my own hippie years. But many still appear timeless and I will post some examples of this type in the future. The cards range from humorous to artistic. Many offer interpretations of the cards that are intriguing to me to this day.

This is not a deck I have ever been able to read with. Not only due to the incredible overwhelming diversity of styles, but because the cards frequently are not clearly labeled. The designs are in a couple of cases so different from traditional Tarot it is a huge challenge to identify which cards they are.* However, I can’t stress enough that for me it is an utterly delightful deck to have as a panorama of possible Tarot art styles and interpretations. And being a huge fantasy and science fiction fan, who at one time collected books and prints of fantasy artists’ work, it’s a particular delight. Kudos to Bruce Pelz, editor, the originator of the idea who pulled it all together.

I initially selected a dozen cards to share, in a range of styles in this deck. However, I have been having an extremely difficult time uploading images to blogger for days now. (I thought, from the coding in my pages, I had succeeded finally in getting all 12 of the cards loaded. However, nine of them are only lovely pastel boxes, with no images in them. Grrrrrr.....) So, suffice it to say I only have the three below to share. Unfortunately, only three cards cannot reflect the incredible, fantastic diversity of this deck's designs.

FIRST CARD -- Three of Cups (very 1960's in style, as many of the cards are, but each in their unique way), artist Ellen Green.
SECOND CARD -- Separation XXII (one of the new Majors), artist Gordon Monson. Meanings from the LWB: Loneliness; inability to communicate with others. Conversely, reconciliation; unity of purpose; sharing of emotions.
THIRD CARD -- The Farrier XXIII (the other new Major), artist Dian Crayne. Meanings from the LWB: Forces of the universe; destiny's hand. Conversely, lack of purpose; randomity.



As blogger's system permits, I'll post additional designs from this unique deck in the future. The Fantasy Showcase Tarot has universes that are well worth wandering through and wondering over. (Note of November 5, 2006 -- the next two posts will be about this deck.)

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* Some cards don’t have signatures or even initials so they cannot be found in the little white book, which has the artists' names by their cards. There’s a note you may have read above on the back outside page of the booklet, that the cards are packed in the order in which they are listed in the little white book. But I only saw that too late. I tend to shuffle and read without even cracking any accompanying book/let that comes with a deck, just to get a first fresh feel of the deck. I can imagine many folk missed that note, too. I may someday re-order the deck by the booklet as much as possible, then see if I can determine how which "left-over" card might fit which "empty" space.

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.****

THE TEN OF SWORDS

TODAY'S CARD is the Ten of Swords. This version is from The Manga Tarot, published by Llewellyn and LoScarabeo. (See my recent review of this deck.)



For comparison, here's the Ten of Swords in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck:



THE TEN OF SWORDS: I chose the Ten of Swords for today because I find myself intrigued by the Manga Tarot version; see below for a meaning I gleaned from it. I have a lot of meanings for the Ten of Swords as years back it used to come up in my personal readings a great deal. But before I go on to share them I want to stress that the Ten of Swords carries not only the traditional possible meaning of "Ruin," but of impending rebirth. Note that the sun is just starting to rise in the RWS version above; the dawn is beginning. And in another deck, the Barbara Walker Tarot, a woman in black who's standing near the sword-pierced figure is clearly pregnant. It is also interesting to note that on the Manga version, of the four seasonal glyphs (see the three ideograms in circles on the card) the one missing is spring. (My review of the Manga Tarot goes into which glyph is which.) To me this implies that spring is just about to arrive, to not lose heart.

DIFFERENT OR LESS COMMON, EVEN QUIRKY MEANINGS (i.e. the below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with this card):

Fear of falling out of a good state into ruin.

How a highly intutive and/or psychic person can sometimes experience being around others: invaded and/or overwhelmed.

"Back-stabbing," either real or imagined. Maybe someone who has been actually back-stabbed so much she is almost "spineless" now. (Highly senstive folk tend to be in danger of this, as they are not understood by others very well. See meaning directly above.)

Paranoia.

Meaning I gleaned from the Manga Tarot version above: It is painful to face our fears and wounds. But spring and growth can only come by having the courage to let go of denial.

You can do what you are set on doing, but something else is going to happen and you might do better to be more open to alternative actions.

There are many things motivating you right now. Be still until it is clear which are the right ones to respond to or act on.

Acupuncture.

If the question is about health and/or nutrition: it might be good to eat lightly for a few days. (This card can refer to a feeling of emptiness.)

Don't struggle against the times. The more you go with it all, the better it will go and the sooner things will change for the better.

There is a bottom line beyond which this situation will not go. So it may be hard, but you will survive.

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Resource: The Wander and The Wayfarer, nice introduction to The Tarot, with especially clear section of the general meanings of numbers in The Tarot.

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

‘til next time, keep looking to the dawn, and enjoying 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.****

HAVE A BLESSED SAMHAIN....

AND A

The World card, Halloween Tarot, on aeclectic.net.

For those of us Pagans with leanings to the Celtic traditions, October 31 is also our New Years, so HAPPY NEW YEAR, too!

Although some Pagans find Halloween to be a pale reflection of its deep roots in an honoring of our ancestors and of the turning of the year, I still enjoy Halloween. The resonances are still there to its ancient origins at an implied and/or unconscious level. And Pagans are not the only ones who still remember these ancient traditions (e.g. "All Souls Day" of the Catholic church at this time of year). So I feel lucky, actually. I both have fun with Halloween, and honor an important turning in our earth's yearly cycle with Samhain.

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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 honoring those who have gone before us and enjoying 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.****