This Land of Mystereum Reminds Me of that Other Card
Daily Draw February 2nd, 2013
I received Tarot in the Land of Mystereum yesterday and immediately saw a few images that reminded me of other decks. This is one of my favourite exercises and it doesn’t happen with every deck, but now and then I see something visual that strikes me.
I found it disconcerting that Jordan has done a Fool’s Journey trip with this deck. That is an approach that I find intensely constraining. So in the writing, I’ve got to wade through quite a bit of extraneous associations, to find some of the core ideas. And there are some really wonderful core ideas here, but you have to sift them out.
However, the Fool says the Magician and High Priestess taught him “…the magic of things as they are” which is a philosophy I definitely like. Would I buy the deck again? No, but this is the way things are, that might be an interesting journey.
Firstly, The Fool card with its golden archway reminded me of a couple of cards. Fascinating how those arches turn into smoke stacks or swords in the mind.
I do like hands in decks. The hand image, minus the foliage, is also repeated on another card. I feel a bit distracted when artists repeat motifs. It seems a bit like Where’s Waldo, and all you can see is this familiar face popping up here and there.
Here’s an example of the man on The Chariot being repeated across six cards, which I find terribly distracting to the point of seeming silly. Sometimes he’s small, sometimes he’s big, but his hair is always carefully coiffed, like the mullet of an 80s rocker. The danger of associating across the deck like this is that you can’t actually see the card, the first thing that pops into your mind is “Oh god not another one!” The arches repeat, which might have a point, but when human figures repeat it looks lame to me.
Long ago, a friend of mine and I joined others in a study of the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot and I remember so many of those figures and this Mystereum card reminded me of this fellow.
Quite a few of the cups card reminded me of other things. These, bouncy, floating cups reminded me of a few cards in the Ananda Tarot.
More exuberant bouncing and tumbling cups:
This is the first card I saw online that reminded me of another deck. Looking at the two now the similarity is not that good but that’s how visual memory is, like Chinese whispers. In these two, I think it is the dotted line as well as the golden cups that zinged my mind with familiarity.
I always like to end one of these sessions with my favourite card, which in this case is the 3 of Pentacles. I love trees but I like the idea of growth and potential with showing a tree here. I also think this reflects the natural enthusiasm and exuberance that floods the book.
I have no idea how to use this deck, no idea at all. I wish I’d bought some books from my wish list instead, but I often feel that decks that seem not to my taste at first, or a waste of money, might turn out to be delightful to use in some way, or spark my creativity some how, I just have to find the way.
I was thinking if I concentrate on shapes of colour, kind of like looking at clouds and seeing objects, and then take some of the words and phrases that I like from the book, I might be able to make it work for me, or write poetry or draw mandalas or something, something….
Explore posts in the same categories: Tarot - General
Tags: Ananda Tarot, Cosmic Tribe Tarot, Diary of a Broken Soul Tarot, Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot, Songs for the Journey Home Tarot, tarot card comparison, tarot decks, Tarot in the Land of Mystereum, The Mandala Astrological Tarot, Wheel of Change Tarot
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February 3, 2013 at 9:29 AM
Those repeats are a real disappointment for me. There are so many of them. You probably remember how bothered I was by the same flock of birds being used in about ten or more of the Mystic Dreamer Tarot. It actually prevented me from reading with it because it’s sloppiness annoyed me. And then the same thing as with The Mystereum happens in Doreen Virtue’s Angel Tarot. Even though I do like that, the same angel (not a variation on artwork) is used in multiple cards and the back. And there are other images which have simply been flipped horizontally and used again. How lame is that?! I always think that if you are going to put that much effort into creating something, why cut corners like that? It is very interesting to copy and paste segments in Illustrator that artists often see time-saving options in doing so. It’s a shame, because some of these cards are lovely. In some decks I’ve seen, I’d often rather really pretty pip cards than sloppy half-arsed illustrated minors.
February 3, 2013 at 1:21 PM
There’s another figure that’s repeated on some other cards too.
As you know, I don’t have the money to buy many things and this was more than my whole budget for February, and cost $28.75 with tax. I was just devastated.
February 3, 2013 at 6:46 PM
Ive felt like that many times with decks – that stomach-sinking feeling. That ‘it could have been so good feeling’ is another. I think the cards without figures seem so much stronger from what I can see in this deck. Such a shame. but I know you. you’ll find use for it. I think it could bounce to some nice embroidery or artistic ventures.Especially that card with the tree.
February 3, 2013 at 6:48 PM
P.S. Looking at the cards again, inspired quilting and patchwork comes to mind.
February 3, 2013 at 9:09 PM
I’ve got 50 million unfinished quilting projects. However, I was thinking of trying to sort through coloured pencils and get some matches to the colour, and then perhaps I could draw something quilty? Or I could sew up a quilt block–I need some for a blue sampler quilt that is unfinished as yet.
One thing that did occur to me is that taking the deck as a whole gives me the stomach-sinking feeling, but maybe one card at a time, drawn in the morning, might indeed inspire something creative. I haven’t given up yet!
February 3, 2013 at 9:49 PM
That’s a nice idea. I guess you could always plan quilt designs with coloured pencil and not have to actually make them. Simple ideas, using the colours and style. Maybe just a sketchbook exercise for loosening up. Or something to take onto Illustrator. Or into design for online sites/banners. Doesn’t have to be a big project. Loosening up in the Land of Mystereum.
You may feel different about it in time. It’s probably because it was your last [big] purchase. After a few more, the feelings of disappointment and expectation lessen. And then you can see it differently. I often feel deflated and look for any reason I can think of to suggest I haven’t wasted my money. But eventually, I have appreciated some decks over time. Like The Yoga Tarot. So many reasons why I could have done without that, but now, I just love the colours and style.
February 3, 2013 at 9:52 PM
I’m in a bit of a slump right now, with two quilting projects ready to machine quilt I find I just can’t get going on it, which is why I didn’t want to start anything new quilt-related–you know how it is.
I haven’t got Illustrator in this computer–should probably try to run it in compatibility mode and see if it works. Same with InDesign–my versions of both are older. I should try though and see what happens.
I might try a Mystereum card tomorrow and see what I can come up with. Thanks for trying to encourage me–you understand how it feels!
February 3, 2013 at 10:29 PM
I do. Very much so. When I buy something that I am not happy with, I can go into a real mood with it. With card decks (especially unsatisfying expensive ones), I have often boxed them back up and not been able to look at them in the past. Total rejection. My reactions can be extreme and probably seem nuts to others. Such high hopes and excitement, dashed. But over time, my feelings for some change. And maybe a card on it’s own every so often might be a way through that. Different decks for different things.
I got the Darkana this weekend from Chloe. An interesting one. Of course, not paying for a deck can make you view it in a completely different way. You can tolerate so much more without the financial investment, lol.
February 16, 2013 at 8:56 AM
Here is more on this deck! I love your comparisons. I don’t how you remember all those different cards. I can totally see what you were comparing. It seems as though the Land of Mystereum deck was done digitally… which probably explains some of the repeated images (though that’s just my assumption). It still seems interesting. The colors are really interesting on some of the cards.
February 16, 2013 at 10:07 AM
Yes, it was done digitally–not sure what program, it might be a CAD program with vector drawing. Since Jordan is an architect, he might have the mighty AutoCAD.
Yes, I realized the repeated images were done digitally–doesn’t make them easier to accept. I still find it difficult to get past…the sameness.
I just remember different cards–I’m very visual. Sometimes it takes a while to tease out what deck I am remembering, I have quite a few. It’s an enjoyable thing when I get a deck to try and find other decks that occur to me. In lieu of “interviewing” a deck with questions, I just flow with colour and art.
Years ago Shaheen when I got the Fradella Adventure Tarot (I love comics) one of the cards reminded me of something but I was tired and forgot to look for what it reminded me of. The next time I thought of it, the visual spark, the association I had upon looking at the deck initially was gone from my mind.
It always bugged me, so I try to leap on the feeling and visual memory when it happens–that initial recognition is something I like–gives me a lot of joy. It doesn’t happen with every deck.
I sound like a nutcase!! Yeah, a visual nutcase, carrying around images that fly out every now and then and sing a song of remembrance.
Can’t beat that. 5 a.m. here and I am still awake. No, I’m not a nutcase….hahaha.
February 16, 2013 at 4:56 PM
Oh I agree. I was just saying that it almost seems a little lazy to repeat the same image over and over…. knowing that it’s done digitally. But I guess that’s how decks are…. you win some you lose some. Not everyone will dig it!
March 22, 2013 at 11:22 PM
Great perspectives from you two. Mine was that the Majors should cameo in the Minors in a coordinated way, so the Minors wweren’t minimized. But hey, intention can be over-rated, the way it comes across on its own once released from the studio is all yours. Thanks for your perspective. Glad you are doing what you want with the cards.
I appreciate that you want every card to be unique, though as a Fool’s Journey, a dna of visual connective tissue was a gig I employed. Best to your travels. I love that there is no accounting for taste, one of the chief beauties out there. Best to you Both.
March 23, 2013 at 12:10 AM
Hi Jordan! It must be hard when you create a deck to read the comments from other people. I normally don’t write really bad things and stomp around ripping the heck out of a deck, because I feel I need to simmer down and work with it to have a true opinion.
I also think when you buy things, your anticipation can build up all out of proportion and thus you are disappointed in the product, the reality. I don’t have a lot of money, so I rarely buy decks these days.
See, for me the Minors are the powerful ones! You will notice as I used the deck that my fondness for it grew. I really think this is one deck that needs to be used to be appreciated. And using a deck means applying it to your day, and as you do that the sense of it applied to your life peeks out.
You know, it’s an interesting deck. I really do like your write-ups, you have a way of looking at things that is charming. The Minors in particular are written up in an interesting way. For me anyway.
It took me a while to figure out how to use it, to make it work with me, but I seem to have got the rhythm now. At the minute I’m using basic mandalas and repeating elements from the cards with whatever occurs to me.
Hey, there’s that visual connective tissue in my repeating your elements!
March 23, 2013 at 1:31 PM
Oh, I full-on dug your example of the process of getting to know Mystereum… from a bit disappointed and wouldn’t buy it if you had a do-over to getting into the groove. Your example reminds me a lot of learning to surf … 3 to 4 hours of paddling and standing up just to fall repeatedly for that ONE 6 second stint that made it all worth it so I’d really want to do it again. I immensely like that you are taking Mystereum into mandalas. That IS visual connective tissue… evolved.