Italino Calvino actually put a whole array of them out and tried to tell stories from the spread. He considered the book, 'The Castle of Crossed Destinies', a failure, but I thought it was a neat experiment.
I feel obliged to point out that scientific studies can and are in fact supposed to be pulled apart to figure out if they are playing games with the data. That's why they're supposed to provide such detailed information on data collection and analysis. How did they pick the sample? How long did they observe the patients under the treatment in question? Did they play any games with the statistics? (A classic trick is to test a large number of things and only report the ones that are significant--this is known as 'p-hacking'.) You can often find studies that actually show the opposite of what they purport to.
If you're really interested I can search for a few resources. It's its own form of close reading, really.
I'm a thoroughgoing philosophical materialist, but I actually think Tarot cards are a much-underappreciated art form. Unlike many modern artists, you actually have to be able to draw human figures and often landscapes, and seeing how each artist treats, say, the Wheel of Fortune lets you observe their style and thematic aim. OK, this is a feminist deck, how does she get around the Emperor and all the Kings? This one's dragons, how are they going to handle that? This one's supposed to be pre-Raphaelite, how close to their artistic vision does that go? Ah, look, a bunch of Cthulhu decks, which Lovecraftian god is going to be the Magician? the Devil?
There's also a lot of fun archetypical imagery, what with the Chariot, the Tower, the Sun, and all the Swords and Wands and Cups and Coins (or Pentacles), all of which are great inspiration for artists. Hey, look, a modern deck! They going to turn the swords into guns, or something less obvious like drug needles? Or do they go with the many overlaid metaphorical meanings like the rational mind? What correspondences are you going to do for the Magician? Are you going to use the ones the Golden Dawn developed in their Victorian drawing rooms, Crowley's more...earthy ones, or go with a modern interpretation metaphorical for skill and manipulation?
As life advice, it's questionable. As visual art, it's great fun.
Tarot cards are narrative machines. It's a great exercise.
Italino Calvino actually put a whole array of them out and tried to tell stories from the spread. He considered the book, 'The Castle of Crossed Destinies', a failure, but I thought it was a neat experiment.
I love Calvino but somehow have never heard of this book! I'm gonna have to get a copy...
The cards are quite beautiful. Not so much academia.
I feel obliged to point out that scientific studies can and are in fact supposed to be pulled apart to figure out if they are playing games with the data. That's why they're supposed to provide such detailed information on data collection and analysis. How did they pick the sample? How long did they observe the patients under the treatment in question? Did they play any games with the statistics? (A classic trick is to test a large number of things and only report the ones that are significant--this is known as 'p-hacking'.) You can often find studies that actually show the opposite of what they purport to.
If you're really interested I can search for a few resources. It's its own form of close reading, really.
I'm a thoroughgoing philosophical materialist, but I actually think Tarot cards are a much-underappreciated art form. Unlike many modern artists, you actually have to be able to draw human figures and often landscapes, and seeing how each artist treats, say, the Wheel of Fortune lets you observe their style and thematic aim. OK, this is a feminist deck, how does she get around the Emperor and all the Kings? This one's dragons, how are they going to handle that? This one's supposed to be pre-Raphaelite, how close to their artistic vision does that go? Ah, look, a bunch of Cthulhu decks, which Lovecraftian god is going to be the Magician? the Devil?
There's also a lot of fun archetypical imagery, what with the Chariot, the Tower, the Sun, and all the Swords and Wands and Cups and Coins (or Pentacles), all of which are great inspiration for artists. Hey, look, a modern deck! They going to turn the swords into guns, or something less obvious like drug needles? Or do they go with the many overlaid metaphorical meanings like the rational mind? What correspondences are you going to do for the Magician? Are you going to use the ones the Golden Dawn developed in their Victorian drawing rooms, Crowley's more...earthy ones, or go with a modern interpretation metaphorical for skill and manipulation?
As life advice, it's questionable. As visual art, it's great fun.