The cancelled Tarot card deck

[Skytteflickan88]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16092
http://www.whedon.info/Buffy-Tarot-Deck-has-officially.html

Darkhorse was going to release a Buffy tarot card deck, several cards were going to allued to Season 8's plot, but it got cancelled, making me so unhappy.

Instead of re-awakening one of the threads in the cementary, I'd figure I should start a new thread for people who haven't seen the cards. I've seen 9 so far, anyone seen any else?

The fool

The High Priestess

Wheel of Fortune

Death

The Tower

The Sun

The Magician

Temperance

The Devil

 

[VisionGirl]

*SPOILERS*

So, a dark-haired Slayer is dead? I wonder if that means that

Spoiler

Kennedy will be the big death.Faith is pictured on the Jeanty cover of #40, so I don't think she dies.

And what's the red star in The Tower? Twilight?
What do the cups signify in The Magician and Temperance?

Spike and Buffy are in The Devil-

Spoiler

is Spike Buffy's betrayer? Is that the hellmouth seal in the background? (y'know, the one from season 7)

So interesting that Spike & Angel are portrayed in their vamped faces.

Anyway, I know nothing about tarot cards, so I don't know what a lot of the symbolism means, but I think they are so cool. Why did they cancel them?

 

[HisMrs]

WOw, very cool!! I had to LOL though that "The Devil" is represented by Spike seducing Buffy. LMFAO

 

[buffyprops]

Typically the "Devil" card signifies Great Change.

 

[sisterofmercy]

Typically the "Devil" card signifies Great Change.

I thought that was what death was supposed to represent?
It has been a while since I studied my tarot cards though so I may be wrong

 

[zobothehobo]

Typically the "Devil" card signifies Great Change.

I thought it was temptation.

 

[buffyprops]

Yup..you are correct, though "Death" signifies more of a change from the outside in and the Devil is exactly opposite that.
Here are some brief examples from ata-tarot.com of what's going on with the Devil Card:
"The Devil is another of the popularly misunderstood cards of the Tarot, perhaps second only to Death in this category.
In our modern world we do not like to think that there is a seed of negativity in everyone, so we assume that anything bad that happens must be the work of some outside Devil, who is to be feared and shunned. But really, people do not do bad things because a force outside them is controlling their actions. They do bad things because the negative part of their own personality is expressing itself. To deny this side of yourself is to give it power over you, and to give it free reign over your life will eventually destroy you. (which is why Spike being on the card is really appropriate)

The symbolic portrayal of the Devil in the Tarot is a clear mockery of two previous Major Arcana, the Lovers and the Hierophant. The former parody is perhaps the more obvious. Where the angel hovers on the Lovers, the Devil stands on his card, cursing the man and woman rather than blessing them. They who were once connected to each other by love are now attached to the Devil by their chains of lust and ignorance. The Devil's hand mimics the gesture of the Hierophant, but perverts it. The true Hierophant offers spiritual wisdom and beckons to us with an open hand. The Devil's gesture hides his true intentions of hurtful wisdom - not really wisdom at all.
It must be stressed again that the Devil is not a force that attacks from without, but a cancer than devours you from within."

 

[zobothehobo]

Yup..you are correct, though "Death" signifies more of a change from the outside in and the Devil is exactly opposite that.
Here are some brief examples from ata-tarot.com of what's going on with the Devil Card:
"The Devil is another of the popularly misunderstood cards of the Tarot, perhaps second only to Death in this category.
In our modern world we do not like to think that there is a seed of negativity in everyone, so we assume that anything bad that happens must be the work of some outside Devil, who is to be feared and shunned. But really, people do not do bad things because a force outside them is controlling their actions. They do bad things because the negative part of their own personality is expressing itself. To deny this side of yourself is to give it power over you, and to give it free reign over your life will eventually destroy you. (which is why Spike being on the card is really appropriate)

The symbolic portrayal of the Devil in the Tarot is a clear mockery of two previous Major Arcana, the Lovers and the Hierophant. The former parody is perhaps the more obvious. Where the angel hovers on the Lovers, the Devil stands on his card, cursing the man and woman rather than blessing them. They who were once connected to each other by love are now attached to the Devil by their chains of lust and ignorance. The Devil's hand mimics the gesture of the Hierophant, but perverts it. The true Hierophant offers spiritual wisdom and beckons to us with an open hand. The Devil's gesture hides his true intentions of hurtful wisdom - not really wisdom at all.
It must be stressed again that the Devil is not a force that attacks from without, but a cancer than devours you from within."

Well gee. As a Spuffy, I kind of want to go crawl in a corner and cry now.

 

[VisionGirl]

So, my question again:

Spoiler

Spike is the betrayer?

 

[Hero]

I sooo would have bought these if they didn't get cancelled, but they do have some pretty big spoilers so I can see why they weren't released.

 

[VisionGirl]

I wonder if they'll release them once season 8 is completed.

 

[buffyprops]

I bet they will. The artwork seems a little too well thought out and put together NOT to eventually offer them.
Don't crawl into a corner and cry Zobo! Remember:

"To deny this side of yourself is to give it power over you"

 

[Skytteflickan88]

They don't necassarily have big spoilers. Spike & Buffy on The Devil card could loosly be representing the season 6 plot, and the dark haired red slayer could represent all slayers, since they all die young. None of the 9 cards are necassarily spoilers, since all could prepresent the past.

I doubt Darkhorse lied when they said they were forced to cancel. Why wait to release a deck, that lots of people have voiced approval off and want to see so they can get clues to season 8, until after Season 8 is over? Bad marketing move. I really believe they were forced to cancel.

 

[buffyprops]

It's not unlike all the other "props related" items that have made it to advertising and then been canceled. These include:
The Hush Box, Urn of Osiris, and the DuLac Cross.

I don't want to encourage copy-right infringement but in cases such as these I usually do a couple of things before I give up completely...

1)Contact the original artist to see about getting copies of ALL the
cards.
2)If it's simply impossible to get the original and it's something I consider a "Must have" item for my collection, I make it myself.

Unfortunately I have to say that while Fan's of Buffy are willing to go GA-GA over things like Lunch Boxes and Pint glasses that have images of Buffy and the gang on them, the "higher end" type items such as this will alway's suffer as there just isn't enough demand for them.

Zobo: I don't mean to get into a "Ship" debate with you because I don't ship.
The essence of Tarot is really about interpretation, and the FACT that it's alway's easier to take it to the negative place, which is one of the big reasons I gave away my Crowley Deck YEARS ago.
Yes they used the word "Cancer" in describing the card with Spike on it, but you have to remember that we ALL have dead cells in us.
In interpreting the card we ALL have to make a choice as to whether or not we ALLOW those dead cells to be active or not.
Shakespeare said it best: "There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so."

 

[VisionGirl]

Why was DH "forced" to cancel the cards?

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I don't think it was ever said, just that it was out of their control.

 

[buffyprops]

I don't know precisely but due to the given clue of them letting it get as far as "Pre-order"...I would have to say they looked at the low numbers and decided to bag it. They won't be forthcoming with their reasons but I think it's pretty obvious that that's what it is.