New Age Decks

[katrinka]

5 minutes ago, RunningWild said:

Janis Joplin...you mean when she wasn't stoned out of her mind?

 

Had Joplin been nodding out on heroin throughout her career, we'd never have heard of her. And she did possess above-average intelligence and was well-read. Her issues were emotional ones stemming from the way she was treated in Port Arthur.

[katrinka]

50 minutes ago, RunningWild said:

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.

 

Short answer: they don't. Those are stereotypes.

OK, back on topic.

[ilweran]

3 hours ago, RunningWild said:

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.

It's a short-hand to describe a demographic group. Easier than saying 'those born between x date and x date'.

 

Interesting discussion though. I'd probably have classed the Cosmic as New Age. 

[katrinka]

1 minute ago, ilweran said:

It's a short-hand to describe a demographic group. Easier than saying 'those born between x date and x date'.

 

Yes, but it gets misused: people calling millennials "special snowflakes" and talking about "participation trophies", etc. My own kids are millennials and I can assure you that talking to them like that would be cause for regret. 🤣

I was born at the tail end of the boomer era. I didn't have the collective boomer experience, I wasn't on earth yet for Sputnik, Howdy Doody, etc. I didn't go to Woodstock, I was in grade school when it happened. I didn't support the policies that wrecked the economy and made it impossible for most people to pursue higher education these days. Etc.
 

So along comes somebody else who says us people at the tail end of the baby boom are "generation jones" and we're always "jonesing" for stuff. Wrong again. I was always partial to the slogan "die, yuppie scum". 😁

 

As RunningWild said, there were no labels like that for earlier generations. People got on fine without them. It's very simple to type or say 'those born between x date and x date'. The labels are good for nothing but insulting people.
 

[Therese]

Nice how the discussion evolved.

 

Hehe, I saw the documentary too and often thought of you during seeing. 

[devin]

23 hours ago, katrinka said:

I want to see if they got Gwyneth Paltrow and her vajayjay eggs in there.

 

I had to look that one up. 😳

 

On 2/10/2022 at 4:35 PM, katrinka said:

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! 😁

 

A very, very elegant solution!

 

On 2/10/2022 at 4:15 PM, RunningWild said:

I stopped with the whole inducing vomiting part.  Part of the problem I have with all of that is the extremism. 

 

"Deep in the heart of a high-dose sacred experience."

 

 

The above is from JP Sears' book satirizing the new age and holistic health movements. Unfortunately, he has since turned into (or maybe always was) that which he once mocked. Life imitating art or something. https://conspirituality.net/transmissions/the-wellness-grift-of-jp-sears/

[gregory]

It's such a shame; his videos used to be priceless. Flat earth was great, and so was veganism...

[ilweran]

21 hours ago, katrinka said:

As RunningWild said, there were no labels like that for earlier generations. People got on fine without them. It's very simple to type or say 'those born between x date and x date'. The labels are good for nothing but insulting people.

There are names for pre-baby boomer generations, though it's very possible they were applied retrospectively. The problem is the people who use these things as an insult - I hate the term 'snowflake', I would probably be accused by a certain type of being a snowflake about it. Also don't like 'boomer'.

 

Too much unpleasantness and hate these days - and I think the internet has encouraged this.

 

 

15 minutes ago, devin said:

I had to look that one up. 😳

 

Did you look up her candles? 😳

 

But it gets people talking, lots of publicity.

[katrinka]

9 minutes ago, ilweran said:

There are names for pre-baby boomer generations, though it's very possible they were applied retrospectively.

 

I've seen "The Greatest Generation" for the people who fought in WWII, but I only started seeing it in the 90's. It may have existed before that, but if so, it was fairly obscure. I'm not aware of any others.
 

12 minutes ago, ilweran said:

Did you look up her candles? 

 

It's ominous that her brand is called GOOP. 🤮

 

39 minutes ago, Therese said:

Hehe, I saw the documentary too and often thought of you during seeing. 

 

I ended up having to skip huge chunks of it. Cult behavior is repulsive.
It was one of those "Why am I doing this to myself?" moments.


 

[PathWalker]

You folks must have got off-topic because I don't understand anything you've said on this page! (And I don't think I want to , she hastens to add)

Decks - talk about decks 

 

[katrinka]

46 minutes ago, PathWalker said:

You folks must have got off-topic because I don't understand anything you've said on this page! (And I don't think I want to , she hastens to add)

Decks - talk about decks 

 

Admittedly, the denotation here is that we've gone OT. But the connotation is another story.
There is a profoundly disturbing cult mentality behind new age decks. "Everything is good and nice, no bad cards, come into my parlor..." etc.
It all smacks of insanity and manipulation.

[RunningWild]

2 hours ago, PathWalker said:

You folks must have got off-topic because I don't understand anything you've said on this page! (And I don't think I want to , she hastens to add)

Decks - talk about decks 

 

:::::shuffles her feet and looks at the ground:::::   okay....

 

But first!

 

@katrinka  "Die, yuppie scum!"  I was part of that crowd, too, though not vocal.  Just resistant. 

 

If we're referring to the second wave of "new age" then I've got nothing.  A person might as well stick to oracle decks, IMO.  Also, based upon what has been discussed about that second wave, IMO, no one should create a deck based upon that rubbish. 

 

I wonder if perhaps the shift from the freedom sought in the '60s and '70s to a more psychological view of life would count as part of that second wave?  If so, one could include the original Mythic Tarot and decks like the Jungian Tarot.

[devin]

Please everyone, don't get me wrong, I'm not an anti woo sceptic or anything. In fact, I was a bit of a new ager for much of my twenties and only a few short years ago was very into Terence McKenna. Really, I still find some of the new age soup interesting. 

 

 

17 hours ago, gregory said:

It's such a shame; his videos used to be priceless. Flat earth was great, and so was veganism...

 

Flat earth is one of my favourites too. In my view, his content pivot is probably monetarily motivated. It's beyond cynical. Whatever the case, his old stuff is still brilliant.

 

17 hours ago, ilweran said:

Did you look up her candles? 😳

 

But it gets people talking, lots of publicity.

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

17 hours ago, Therese said:

Hehe, I saw the documentary too and often thought of you during seeing. 

 

Who? Me? Is so, I'm glad, it's how I want to be thought of.

Edited February 12, 2022 by devin

[katrinka]

1 hour ago, devin said:

Please everyone, don't get me wrong, I'm not an anti woo sceptic or anything. In fact, I was a bit of a new ager for much of my twenties and only a few short years ago was very into Terence McKenna. Really, I still find some of the new age soup interesting. 

 

I'm OK with woo. The old fashioned kind that isn't cults and unicorn f@rts and bubbles of pink light.

One day when you have time, you must tell us about AR Krishna. 😁 And the alligator portal looks like something that could be useful.
 

13 hours ago, RunningWild said:

I wonder if perhaps the shift from the freedom sought in the '60s and '70s to a more psychological view of life would count as part of that second wave? 

 

The self-help trend was a big contributor.
Case in point:

http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/

 

[gregory]

16 hours ago, PathWalker said:

You folks must have got off-topic because I don't understand anything you've said on this page! (And I don't think I want to , she hastens to add)

Decks - talk about decks 

 

Very sorry - BUT: This.

 

15 hours ago, katrinka said:

 

Admittedly, the denotation here is that we've gone OT. But the connotation is another story.
There is a profoundly disturbing cult mentality behind new age decks. "Everything is good and nice, no bad cards, come into my parlor..." etc.
It all smacks of insanity and manipulation.

 

But but but

1 hour ago, devin said:

Flat earth is one of my favourites too. In my view, his content pivot is probably monetarily motivated. It's beyond cynical. Whatever the case, his old stuff is still brilliant.

 

I almost believed it. It's THAT good. It still worries me a bit when I see ships disappear from the horizon.... Where Did It Go ?

 

And about decks: Here's a new age deck for you.

 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/the-good-tarot/

 

It's a shame as it's quite good in many ways, but.... you cannot BE positive ALL the time. Bad things do happen, and it bugs the hell out of me when decks are actually designed to deny that.

 

At least it admits it's really an oracle.

 

Quote

 

The deck focuses on the present and positive outcomes, rather than divination or fortune telling, and each card has an affirmation rather than a meaning. It's an intuitive oracle in tarot format, aimed at expressing the highest good of all.

 

 

 

 

[katrinka]

5 hours ago, gregory said:

I almost believed it. It's THAT good. It still worries me a bit when I see ships disappear from the horizon.... Where Did It Go ?

 

The cat pushed it off. 😁

 

5 hours ago, gregory said:

And about decks: Here's a new age deck for you.

 

https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/the-good-tarot/

 

ACK. Yes. Just like that.
Even the Fool has been rendered meaningless - no madman, no cliff. Utterly useless.

 

[Therese]

On 2/11/2022 at 4:43 PM, katrinka said:

I ended up having to skip huge chunks of it. Cult behavior is repulsive.

It was one of those "Why am I doing this to myself?" moments.


 

 

I can understand. I don't know, it is fascinating for me, I could hear about cults again and again. I think I try to understand something from my own history (no cult-history, but some people had a strong belief.

 

On 2/12/2022 at 8:50 AM, devin said:

Who? Me? Is so, I'm glad, it's how I want to be thought of.

On 2/12/2022 at 8:50 AM, devin said:

 

 

(I think, I have a bit to learn about quotation...)

 

Yes, I thought of you all my dear tarot friends here at TT&M and what you said about new age. 🙂 You'd like to be thought of as a cult-member? 🙃😉

[frankie]

This thread is a trip! 🤣 I agree with a lot of points made, and if I had to add anything, building on what others have said, another tell-tale sign of a new-age deck would be when the card images are hard to distinguish. So basically you need the titles/numbers and guidebook to figure what is what while simultaneously being encouraged to rely on your intuition.

 

Animals and humans being used interchangeably.

 

Collaborative decks.

[gregory]

Not all collaborative decks. I have some excellent ones. Some from long before all these akashic/chakra/whatever things snuck their way in.

[Niobium]

I like some collab decks but ultimately--and this is less about New Age decks in particular and more about collab decks in general--I find that the varying art styles make it difficult for me to use most collab decks. If the variance is too high, I find it jarring. I've been able to make exceptions in a small handful of cases, but ultimately if I see a deck is a collab I tend to immediately relegate it to 'look don't buy'.

[frankie]

31 minutes ago, gregory said:

Not all collaborative decks.

Ah! Good to know! Yes, there's nothing intrinsic to collaboration that's new age, but I have noticed some decks that fall into the new age category share it as a characteristic. Incidentally, about my other tell-tale sign, the Greenwood Tarot depicts humans and animals interchangeably and it works. But for every exception, it seems like there are countless others that just thoughtlessly meld everything into an incoherent, one-note package for consumption.

[RunningWild]

Is there a thread for collaborative decks?  Once again, I tried searching on the forum but I must not be able to come up with the right wording.

[katrinka]

I contributed to a collab deck once, years ago. A Lenormand. And the thing with those is, you can't keep the new age stuff out since there's a lot of people involved.
Some of the cards were really good. Others were varying degrees of "meh".

And some were just awful. One guy wanted his Whips card to be a Gibson girl. If you tried to explain why that wouldn't work, he'd pitch tantrums and say we were "squashing his creativity." He went on to produce his own Lenormand with lots of unidentifiable images. The Stars card had an octopus on it, IIRC, but it was difficult to discern stars. Talk about THIS:
 

1 hour ago, frankie said:

another tell-tale sign of a new-age deck would be when the card images are hard to distinguish. So basically you need the titles/numbers and guidebook to figure what is what

Someone else had the Book. They free-handed it and turned it in at the last minute. I think it was spines, IIRC. When it was pointed out that the Book should open in one direction or the other, they marked it with an arrow. 🙄

 

So yeah. There's overwhelming odds of a collab deck containing duds and unreadable new age stuff.

 

[DanielJUK]

why not start your own thread discussing collaborative decks @RunningWild? I searched and could not really find a discussion about them but could have missed one early on in the forum. But start a new discussion on it if you like in this section 🙂

[RunningWild]

1 hour ago, DanielJUK said:

why not start your own thread discussing collaborative decks @RunningWild? I searched and could not really find a discussion about them but could have missed one early on in the forum. But start a new discussion on it if you like in this section 🙂

 

  Done!

 

2 hours ago, katrinka said:

I contributed to a collab deck once, years ago. A Lenormand. And the thing with those is, you can't keep the new age stuff out since there's a lot of people involved.
Some of the cards were really good. Others were varying degrees of "meh".

And some were just awful. One guy wanted his Whips card to be a Gibson girl. If you tried to explain why that wouldn't work, he'd pitch tantrums and say we were "squashing his creativity." He went on to produce his own Lenormand with lots of unidentifiable images. The Stars card had an octopus on it, IIRC, but it was difficult to discern stars. Talk about THIS:
 

Someone else had the Book. They free-handed it and turned it in at the last minute. I think it was spines, IIRC. When it was pointed out that the Book should open in one direction or the other, they marked it with an arrow. 🙄

 

So yeah. There's overwhelming odds of a collab deck containing duds and unreadable new age stuff.

 

 

It seems lots of people just disregard the accepted meaning of the cards.  Toss it all in a bowl.  Mix well.  Voila!  A tarot salad.  I don't think it's limited to cards.  It seems to happen with other mundane things, as well.  Or even with religions.  Me?  I like systems.  I like the focus.  Someone else long ago worked out a way of doing it saving me from the heavy work.  I have to honor that.  That system is what makes tarot, or lenormand, or kipper cards or what have you, work.  Even those that consider themselves intuitive readers are often subconsciously follow that system when they've never read a book on the subject.  The images do that for them.