New Age Decks

[devin]

3 hours ago, katrinka said:

But all three are using the same playbook. And I'm sure they nick ideas from one another. That may be part of the reason that evangelical preachers warn their flock away from Deepak Chopra and his ilk: it's essentially the same techniques and BS.

 

Yeah, I was thinking more of Joyce Meyer, but you make an interesting point re: medicine shows. Embarrassingly, if I manage to ignore the content and the reality, I quite enjoy occasionally watching the showmanship of the crazier televangelists. Though I do worry for their souls.

 

 

3 hours ago, katrinka said:

It's ironic that the far right has adopted these views. I remember them being sort of a hippie thing in the past.

 

What I find even weirder is how some new agers have been dragged over to the extreme right. Y'know, like the Q Shaman and his ilk. All I can think of is that conspiracy culture acted as a bridge between the two.

 

Which reminds me, there's a cool podcast out there called Conspirituality that explores the toxic intersection between conspiracies and contemporary spiritual/wellness trends. It can be a little earnestly PC at times for my blood, but it's very interesting. 

 

https://conspirituality.net/

https://conspirituality.net/about/

 

As anyone who takes a gander here can see, it's a growing problem.

Edited February 6, 2022 by devin

[Therese]

16 minutes ago, devin said:

What I find even weirder is how some new agers have been dragged over to the extreme right. Y'know, like the Q Shaman and his ilk. All I can think of is that conspiracy culture acted as a bridge between the two.

 

My assumption is that that is exactly what was intended, that people who already think differently than average should be won over to right wing supporters. I don't think the right-wing movement actually held similar views. 

 

Thank you @devin for the feedback of understanding me! I'm glad. 

 

Thank you @gregory and @Mi-Shell for some other examples for new-agey decks! 

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Therese

[katrinka]

41 minutes ago, devin said:

 

🤣 🤣 🤣

That looks almost like something you'd see on WWE. Bring on the metal trash cans and folding chairs. 😁

 

41 minutes ago, devin said:

What I find even weirder is how some new agers have been dragged over to the extreme right. Y'know, like the Q Shaman and his ilk. All I can think of is that conspiracy culture acted as a bridge between the two.

 

There's been some disgustingly racist pagan factions long before that. Some of them are listed on the ADL and SPLC websites as hate groups. So in a way these far right new agers shouldn't be surprising.
 

41 minutes ago, devin said:

Which reminds me, there's a cool podcast out there called Conspirituality that explores the toxic intersection between conspiracies and contemporary spiritual/wellness trends. It can be a little earnestly PC at times for my blood, but it's very interesting. 

 

https://conspirituality.net/

https://conspirituality.net/about/

 

As anyone who takes a gander here can see, it's a growing problem.

 

Mass psychosis.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/qanon-rolling-stones-mick-jagger-keith-richards-1253314/

 

 

[devin]

1 hour ago, Therese said:

 

My assumption is that that is exactly what was intended, that people who already think differently than average should be won over to right wing supporters. I don't think the right-wing movement actually held similar views. 

 

45 minutes ago, katrinka said:

 

🤣 🤣 🤣

That looks almost like something you'd see on WWE. Bring on the metal trash cans and folding chairs. 😁

 

 

There's been some disgustingly racist pagan factions long before that. Some of them are listed on the ADL and SPLC websites as hate groups. So in a way these far right new agers shouldn't be surprising.
 

 

Mass psychosis.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/qanon-rolling-stones-mick-jagger-keith-richards-1253314/

 

 

 

Very interesting. But I just realized I'm breaking the no politics rule and encouraging others to do the same..... so maybe we should leave it there. 🙂 

[katrinka]

This stuff is beyond politics, though.
Politics is about hashing out at least somewhat sane viewpoints that differ. I'm not sure what this is. I just know it's insane.
But I'll put a sock in it.

[katrinka]

UGH. We were just talking about marketing here.  This was in my email just now:




No, Kickstarter, I am not "energetically aligned" with you. And the fact that I occasionally back a deck does not mean that I'm in the market for "otherworldly games, films, and books made by and for witches and wizards."

Unsubbed.

[devin]

Purely coincidentally, I came across this characterization of the new age last night.

 

"The new age movement secularized religion and spiritualised psychology."

 

In some ways you could probably say the same thing about Jung.

[gregory]

OOOH got another (I am taking this less seriously than some...) - decks which include images of the creator (and friends in some cases).... Rajneesh, for one...

[devin]

1 hour ago, gregory said:

I am taking this less seriously than some...

 

"Divinity, by its nature, is worthy of the most blessed care; but man, as we have said before, is a kind of invented plaything of the gods, and this has essentially become his best possible purpose. This is what we should follow: let every man and every woman spend their life playing the most beautiful games, even though this may contradict all of our existing customs… Everyone should live as long and as well as possible in this world. So, at long last, what is proper? Life should be lived as play." Plato, Laws.

 

15 hours ago, katrinka said:

I just know it's insane.

 

May I please refer you to my current signature.

Edited February 7, 2022 by devin

[gregory]

Oh goody. Back to playing peggle

[Therese]

Sorry for breaking the rules, it seems I can't edit and delete. ☹️

Edited February 8, 2022 by Therese

[DanielJUK]

I don't think you have done anything wrong that I can see @Therese 😀🤷‍♂️

 

let's keep on topic, what is New Age in relation to tarot decks and what are examples of good / bad New Age decks?

[RunningWild]

I can't remember if I saw the MotherPeace Tarot mentioned as a deck of the New Age era, but it is. 

 

There was a thread on AT about decks printed in the '60s, '70s and '80s that would fall under the umbrella term of "New Age" simply because they were printed during that time:

 

https://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=92590

 

There are other, more recently printed, decks that remind me of that time like the Counter Culture Tarot

 

.It was a new age in that there was social resistance to governmental policies.  It was a time of a strong middle class, too, that meant young people had the time and the means to protest the wrongs they perceived in the world such as rigid religious beliefs that favored one group while oppressing others.  Sure, those institutions still exist, but the power they wielded prior to that period of time has waned significantly.

[Bodhiseed]

Thanks for that thread, @RunningWild. I've got the Neuzeit (New Age) Tarot which is really trippy but reads well for me.

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/neuzeit/#cards

I have several that fall into that time period and are colorful, like the Hoi Polloi, Albano Waite and Morgan Greer, but they all are still pretty traditional as far as meanings and symbolism.

[katrinka]

2 hours ago, RunningWild said:

There was a thread on AT about decks printed in the '60s, '70s and '80s that would fall under the umbrella term of "New Age" simply because they were printed during that time

 

Being printed/published during that time doesn't automatically make a deck "new age." That thread mentions decks like the Grimaud TdM, the 1JJ Swiss, and the Albano. The first two are older decks that happened to still be in print, and the Albano is simply RWS colored according to B.O.T.A. instructions (though Albano did have to wing it on the Minors.)

 

And while the new age stuff may have begun rearing its head in the 60's or 70's, it was more of a "hippie aesthetic". Later it went off the deep end.

Edited February 9, 2022 by katrinka

[katrinka]

1 hour ago, Bodhiseed said:

I have several that fall into that time period and are colorful, like the Hoi Polloi, Albano Waite and Morgan Greer, but they all are still pretty traditional as far as meanings and symbolism.

 

Exactly. Not an indigo child, starseed, otherkin or parking space angel to be found. 😉

[RunningWild]

3 hours ago, katrinka said:

Being printed/published during that time doesn't automatically make a deck "new age." That thread mentions decks like the Grimaud TdM, the 1JJ Swiss, and the Albano. The first two are older decks that happened to still be in print, and the Albano is simply RWS colored according to B.O.T.A. instructions (though Albano did have to wing it on the Minors.)

 

And while the new age stuff may have begun rearing its head in the 60's or 70's, it was more of a "hippie aesthetic". Later it went off the deep end.

1 hour ago, katrinka said:

Exactly. Not an indigo child, starseed, otherkin or parking space angel to be found.

On 2/5/2022 at 5:31 AM, Therese said:

Recently I read a comment about new-agey decks. For some reasons I can't imagine what this shall be. Could you help me out and mention some decks you would consider to be new-agey?

 

There is a slightly negative undertone I read out in connection with the word "new-agey". I know that this must sound very naive to ask such a question, but though I read definitions of "new age" I can't get the term right. 

 

Posting this so I can see the question.

 

I think in these modern times, to describe something as "new age-y" does have a tone of cynicism.  All the feel-good gurus, alien watchers, ghost hunting stuff, and the no-one-thought-of-this-before authors are lumped together with occult authors, astrology horary books, and tarot decks.  In one sense I suppose it's all considered "new age" as in, too out there for the fearful.  But that's how you find it in the bookshops.  They have to categorize for shelving somehow.

 

If you just want decks that appear new age-y, then there are plenty of examples.  Most, from what I've seen, are RWS with colorful backs.  Or RWS recolored.  I found a few on Etsy accidentally (I didn't buy them or save the pages as I didn't find them appealing).

 

Until the '60s, I don't think tarot had all that many users.  I'm not saying no one had tarot decks.  My paternal grandmother had at least one during her lifetime.  But interest in the cards surged from that time and throughout the second half of the twentieth century and into this one.   Now it seems fairly mainstream and decks are mass produced all over the place.

 

So then, the question is really:  What do you consider "New Age"?  Most decks are a reinterpretation of either RWS or Thoth.  I consider the Cosmic Tarot by Losche to be an example of a new age deck, but it wasn't published until 1988.  An AT review has it published in 1986.

 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/cosmic/

https://thecosmictarot.wordpress.com/about/about-norbert-losche-and-the-cosmic-tarot/

 

Once you've decided what counts as embodying that period of time, you can search for decks that meet your expectations.  Happy hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RunningWild]

3 hours ago, katrinka said:

Not an indigo child, starseed, otherkin or parking space angel to be found.

 

🤣

 

Shhhh...you never know who's listening.  Some obscure Italian artist could end up getting a call at 3 a.m. local time from some upbeat left coast printing house suggesting a new way to depict parking lot angels.

[katrinka]

3 hours ago, RunningWild said:

So then, the question is really:  What do you consider "New Age"?

 

Ah, semantics.
I don't think of it as an era. For me, it's more like a style, kind of creepy and cultish.

I think this sums it up nicely:

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/New_Age

 

2 hours ago, RunningWild said:

I consider the Cosmic Tarot by Losche to be an example of a new age deck, but it wasn't published until 1988.  An AT review has it published in 1986.

 

I don't think of the Cosmic that way. A lot of thought went into it.

This is one of the quintessential new age decks:

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/angel-doreen-virtue/

 

No Death, no Devil, lots of glowy fantasy stuff, printed meanings so nobody has to learn anything...

 

2 hours ago, RunningWild said:

Shhhh...you never know who's listening.  Some obscure Italian artist could end up getting a call at 3 a.m. local time from some upbeat left coast printing house suggesting a new way to depict parking lot angels.

 

[RunningWild]

I feel the same about she-who-shall-not-be-named (DV) but I don't considered her to be new age even if she falls into that category by accident.  Her god is greed which may be why the Devil card bothered her so much.  The cynicism in the Rational Wiki page is obvious.  And I've never heard of the "Human Potential Movement."  Probably one of those things coined well after the end of all the social upheaval of the times by some university professor whose name no one can remember anymore.

 

Not everything about those times was fluff.  That's a far more modern notion.  And I agree that the Cosmic Tarot was well thought out.  It's just an example of a New Age tarot deck.

 

The period of time that comes to mind when I think about "New Age" includes Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, anti-war protests, Timothy Leary, Carlos Castaneda, homemade tie-die shirts and bell bottom blue jeans, to name just a few things.  I read my first book about astral projection in the late '70s. 

 

 

[devin]

Having trouble picturing the 21st century new age? Check out this documentary trailer. No snickering at the back, please.

 

 

"My true best higher self." Lol.

 

Laughs aside, this stuff can be dangerous.

 

Here's the full documentary.

 

 

On 2/8/2022 at 7:11 PM, Therese said:

Sorry for breaking the rules, it seems I can't edit and delete. ☹️

 

I was breaking the rules, or at least nearly breaking the rules..... not you. ❤️

Edited February 10, 2022 by devin

[RunningWild]

1 hour ago, devin said:

Having trouble picturing the 21st century new age? Check out this documentary trailer. No snickering at the back, please.

 

Ah!  There's the clarification!  See, I didn't realize there was a 21st century new age.  Forgive me but I'm still trying to sort out how to identify millenniums from gen z-ers, gen x-ers and the like.  Never mind my confusion over the idea that successive groups post "the boomers" need a label to begin with since I don't recall labels for those generations that preceded them.

 

I watched the better part of that documentary.  I stopped with the whole inducing vomiting part.  Part of the problem I have with all of that is the extremism.  Welcome to America's competitive culture where extreme situations are thought to bring one fame and fortune. 

[katrinka]

6 hours ago, RunningWild said:

I feel the same about she-who-shall-not-be-named (DV) but I don't considered her to be new age even if she falls into that category by accident.  Her god is greed which may be why the Devil card bothered her so much.  The cynicism in the Rational Wiki page is obvious. 

 

That doesn't negate it. There aren't any factual errors there.
 

6 hours ago, RunningWild said:

And I've never heard of the "Human Potential Movement."

 

It's clickable from the first link. Basically, it's the wacko stuff from the times: discredited ideas, debunked studies, Uri Geller, Jonanthan Livingston Seagull... 🙄

 

6 hours ago, RunningWild said:

Not everything about those times was fluff.  That's a far more modern notion.

 

That's why I mentioned semantics. You're talking about the 60's-70's. I'm talking about something that was popularized in the 80's. The huge cash grab aimed at the ignorant and the vulnerable.
The two may have roots in common, but we're talking about two different things. Nobody here said the 60's-70's was all "fluff."
 

6 hours ago, RunningWild said:

The period of time that comes to mind when I think about "New Age" includes Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, anti-war protests, Timothy Leary, Carlos Castaneda, homemade tie-die shirts and bell bottom blue jeans, to name just a few things.  I read my first book about astral projection in the late '70s.

 

There were books on astral projection long before that.
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//browse?type=lcsubc&key=Astral projection&c=x

 

And while Castaneda could be considered new age (and thoroughly debunked) the other people and things you mention aren't even tangentially related. Janis, especially, would have called them out on their BS. 😁

[RunningWild]

2 minutes ago, katrinka said:

There were books on astral projection long before that.
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//browse?type=lcsubc&key=Astral projection&c=x

 

And I'm sure the book I read, and wish I still had, was written well before I actually read it.  I was a teenager.

 

3 minutes ago, katrinka said:

And while Castaneda could be considered new age (and thoroughly debunked) the other people and things you mention aren't even tangentially related. Janis, especially, would have called them out on their BS.

 

I didn't realize there needed to be a singular related set of people and things to make my point (they were all part of that era).  My bad.  Janis Joplin...you mean when she wasn't stoned out of her mind?

[katrinka]

2 hours ago, devin said:

Having trouble picturing the 21st century new age? Check out this documentary trailer. No snickering at the back, please.

 

 

"My true best higher self." Lol.

 

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I was referring to.

 

2 hours ago, devin said:

Laughs aside, this stuff can be dangerous.

 

It really can. Quack medicine and cults always are.

I think a lot of it could be easily shut down, too. All they would have to do would be to start taxing religious and spiritual organizations that show a certain profit margin and above. Cults and megachurches with one stone. Win/win! 😁

 

2 hours ago, devin said:

Here's the full documentary.

 

I'll watch the whole thing at leisure after awhile. I want to see if they got Gwyneth Paltrow and her vajayjay eggs in there.