Austin Osman Spare

[sus]

someone else might have first "dibs" on the contents of the 'vault', but just in case - what are the financial affiliations of the academic institution? Do they have ties to [ codeword ] 'apartheid states', Nuclear power, err.. are they suspect in any way now or ever in the past?

They're very prestigious and famous, and completely disvested from any questionabl issues

 

[william_kent]

They're very prestigious and famous, and completely disvested from any questionabl issues

do they have statues that need to be pulled down?

I'm guessing you favour East Coast "union" states for academia? so I suppose their statues are probably Ok?

edit: I'm in a Havana club flow, so just ignore me from now on tonight

 

[sus]

Anything DC or south is swamp to me

 

[sus]

Mason Dixon is also the divider line between malarial and nonmalarial stats and... It shows

 

[0bleak]

harsh

 

[william_kent]

What do you make of this one? What do you mean by that last line? The Capitan card? Is the King/Capitan here responsible for the downfall of the tower? What is it he's holding, some sort of measuring or adjusting tool? Is his meddling bringing down the Tower?

The Bacchus deck AKA "Flemish Tarot" is a 19th Century Belgian variation of the Marseilles / "pips" style of tarot ( my preference is for Italian and Marseilles "pip" decks, fuck the GD goons and their "secrets", although Swiss 1JJ is my first and everlasting love )

the"Pope" card is replaced by BACUS, a move I totally approve of ( although "Jupiter" from 1JJ is my favoured V card )



the "high priestess" is replaced by "Le Spagnol Capitano Fracasse ( The Spanish Captain )" AKA the "terrible Spanish captain", a figure of fun - dynamic but too cocky by half








ahhhh...

I fucked up

I was drunk

I previously, erroneously, posted XVII, "the star", because in my drunken haze it looked like a tower and there is a French ( from Paris ) deck that has a similar "tower" card and I took an out of focus photo because I was wasted

but, oops, you can see that this deck is just part of my static collection and not one that I "use", it was just close to hand and didn't involve me falling over while I reached for it on the shelves

here's the real Tower from the Flemish tarot



none the wiser, it looks like a tree to me

anyway, I'm big enough to admit I'm not as familiar with this deck as I should have been while posting in a blind drunk haze

I have a 'few" decks, you can't expect me to know the nooks and crannies of every one...

 

[william_kent]

re: Flemish tarot

even though I have never used this one for 'work", it does have some plus points:

REVERSIBLE BACKS - this is really important, I DO NOT want to know if a card is upright or downwards before I turn it over. So many manufacturers fail to understand this.

CARD STOCK: no gloss, it feels lovely in my hands

SIZE: shuffles well, fits in my palms

 

[william_kent]

I had a mission bringing back some "washi" paper from Japan for my boss who is obsessed with origami - it caused me no end of fuss on my white knuckle ride through "border control" in Finland while trying to make my 20 minute connection back to the UK: "what is this?" and I said "origami paper" and then they had to re-route it to a special machine to check I didn't have A3 sheets of acid

my boss was grateful though and he pawed at the paper and drooled and caressed it and then explained that it is only at origami conventions where he feels comfortable talking about his love of paper and texture...

I know where he is coming from, I get a warm fuzz from some 'card stock" and the Flemish Bacchus deck is one where I love to hold the cards, even if I fuck it up and post the wrong one...ooops

 

[william_kent]

This is incredible. A Berghain-themed Tower. I need this so bad.

I'd recommend this tarot

it almost meets my criteria

REVERSIBLE BACKS: CHECK



pre breakthrough psychedelia, can't tell up from down, like the best trips before they really get going

CARD STOCK: matt, feels nice

SIZE: just right, can shuffle with ease

ACE OF WANDS:



works for me

my only criticism, off the top of my head, is one of the other cards I judge a deck by

QUEEN OF SWORDS:



she should be a "raven haired beauty with a sharp tongue" but benefit of the doubt maybe she has gone wild with peroxide

8 / 10

edit: the box is sturdy, although the text on the back feels a bit MS word. I can't comment on the Little White Book because there becomes a point where the LWB that accompanies a deck is next to meaningless, I haven't examined one in decades - but is there if you like that sort of thing

 

[william_kent]

before I pass out here are a couple more Tower cards

the Diamond Tarot:



When it comes to TAROT I'm not a fan of the GD nonsense ( Thoth & Rider-Waite ) but the Diamond tarot does have a certain trippy feel that I like

The Crystal tarot ( by Elisabetta Trevisan ): "infinite emotions through mystical messages'




I don't know why La Scarabeo, the publisher of this deck, feels the need to totally fuck up every tarot they produce - on the plus side the cards do have reversible backs, but card stock is too glossy for my taste, and what on earth were they thinking with the wonky borders and unnecessary text?

 

[catalog]

Billy please can you bring that colquhoun deck when we meet so I can see it. Or if you don't wanna bring it, can you send me scans of it? I've just been reading about it.