You have some amazing points in this video. Tarot of Vampyres is a representation of the old Llewelyn 100%. When I see what is OOP from Llewelyn, it’s a lot of decks like Tarot of Vampyres. Such as the Gaian Tarot and Shining Tribe Tarot. It’s a sign that Llewelyn is going in a different direction and I really hope other publishers DON’T follow their example. There is nothing wrong with pop culture decks, but it’s a clear departure with this new vampire deck. Llewellyn had a vampire deck with heart, soul, and BLOOD. They didn’t need another one, come up with an original idea. I feel the same way about all their witchy decks. Again, nothing wrong with it, but does one publisher really need 4 decks along the same theme?? 🤷🏻♀️ It feels cash grabby to me and a little soulless. I’m also coming at this with so much bias because Tarot of Vampyres is my favorite deck of all time. Is it a perfect deck? Heck no, there are issues and I won’t pretend there aren’t. It’s not diverse and the guidebook doesn’t have references for all the esoteric information that he referenced. But in the end it’s a deck with a lot of heart and vision.
This is the video i was looking for! Also, i feel the same about Kabbalah in tarot, but coming from the “outside” as a newbie, its helps to hear someone else say it out loud.
I have both. I even have the Vampyres on that older card stock before they switched to this new one. I actually prefer the new Vampires deck. I can see why it wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea but it’s super readable, something I can’t say for the older deck. While the artwork is beautiful in Vampyres, it feels like artwork that was done before there was any thought of creating a tarot deck, which makes the comprehensive guidebook quite interesting I guess. As for representation, I’ll take some representation over none every time. I do agree that a lot of these newer Llewellyn decks have a very similar look. Most of their new decks don’t interest me, but I had to get this one because vampires! (And no, I’m not a Twilight fan!)
Haahaa! I freaking adore you! Your honest opinion and review is what I respect and can count on!👏 I only have the VampYres version, the other deck looks like a cheaper, less appealing version to me.....😝
For all it's failings, Ian Daniels Tarot of Vampyres functions effectively to bring the philosophical and cultural aspects of the vampire into a Thoth deck that works when I read with it. I pulled it out the other week as I prepared for my grandmothers funeral because it tackles death really well. There is no woo woo shadow work stuff, the book deals instead with the messy stuff of being human, imo. Mine is a 2nd hand trimmed ebay deck and it has held up to rough shuffling. I can't see that potential in the newer deck, it looked superficial from my first impressions. I feel like Lewellyns marketing is superficial and lazily reliant on tarot tubers to bring decks to life.
Also, can the big companies PLEASE check card titles and numbers before printing? Tarot of the Witches Garden got misprint majors numbers on the cards and the book, I picked up 'Journey into the Lonely Soul' which has a great guidebook by Charles Harrington but two awful, glaringly obvious spelling mistakes in the keywords on the cards that Lo Scarabeo didn't bother to reprint. It shows a real sense of can't be arsed-ness from the big companies.
Only started watching but yes! to how hetero the Ian Daniels deck is. I've had it for years and that's the biggest thing that's put me off. (That and the cardstock.) How do you manage to make a vampire deck with zero homoerotic charge? Vampires as a metaphor for queerness are just such a big theme in all sorts of media, how has it not made its way to tarot? What "monstrous desires" are the cishets exploring? And is the vampire the best vehicle for that?
The answer to the Kabbalah question, buy a deck from someone in Isreal...get the book because she talks about it a bit, and also gives us some little insight on the Hebrew letters.😊 I am the Artist Tarot by Sakki-Sakki (I know you already have it)
I love this kind of video, thank you for making it ! Totally agree with this meh feeling about the new one, the "blood" into the older version. There's this vision of the empress I am so SICK of. Mother nature BS, when it's not about pure essentialism on womenhood / motherhood (don't get me wrong, yes having a child can be celebrated but is it the only way we refer to creativity regarding women ?! ) on top of that you add nakedness because nature connection lalala and the emperor is fully clothed and associated with power and reason. I know I have my own sh!t to deal with those two majors and I keep hearing it's only energies but come on ! I've studied empress and only 2 ou 3 LWB spoke about the empress intelligence out of 20 guidebooks / books. How is this not about sexism and stereotypes I wonder. Sorry about this rant, I still have to figure out associations where I can celebrate masculine and feminine power without the stereotypes. But this unbalance in the visual representation irks me so much, it's a political choice at this point in the new deck. Another really bad one for me. If you're looking for mardi gras mode and vampire I can't recomand enough the Interview with a vampire from AMC (Jacob Anderson 🖤) (Yes I'm at the chariot card when I type this) The death card sums it up, it looks like the two caracter shared maybe a story but never met. On the sun card, I assumed it was the same guy as in the death one. So he has his revenge or something. 🤷♀
I totally appreciated this critique and your perspective, Ben. And all the way through I was thinking we need a What We Do In The Shadows style/aesthetic vampire deck. 😂 100% the best show out there. The worst thing, perhaps, is what the latest vampire deck conveys about what Llewelyn’s view of that demographic and the way they’ve completely misunderstood, underestimated and condescended to it. 🤦♀️
I love The Tarot of Vampyres , had it for years. I was interested in the newer deck because I am into vampire’s. Thank you for your honest review . I do not think I will get this newer deck
Can we please get a WWDITS Tarot?! As long as Insight Editions doesn’t do it, I’ll be fine. I totally get what you’re saying. You brought up a lot of valid points across the Llewellyn decks these days. You know I’m a huge fan 😉. It seems for the original vampire deck, they said we need an updated version and they totally made it into a Twilighty deck that sparkles. And with these two decks side by side, I see a lot of inspiration and similarities between the original and new one. Thanks for sharing 💚🧛🏻♂️🧛🏻♀️
I totally agree. I feel like Llewellyn (and lo scarabeo, for that matter) are prioritizing quantity over quality; throwing random or repackaged stuff at the wall to see what sticks for a broader audience. 😅 Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🤖🖤
Honestly, I rarely if ever buy mass market decks because of how I'm so sick of issues like crap cardstock, lack of diversity, tokenism, and refusal to confront/represent controversial topics. A vampire deck should've been embarrassingly easy to sell to me: I'm goth and queer, it should be right up my alley. But I don't like the Vampyres deck because there is NO diversity in it whatsoever. Meanwhile, the Vampires deck has tokenized/bare minimum representation, as if inclusion is just something you tick off a box where the bare minimum is all that's necessary. If I have the money for a deck, I'd rather just give that money to someone who cares about these things. So far, it feels like indie deck creators are the only ones really putting in the work. Yea they can definitely be more expensive, cost prohibitively so for plenty of folk, but they are overall routinely worth the cost to me in every single way. Edit: Just wanna add - I think this is partially why publishers like Hay House are steadily picking up indie decks to mass produce. While I think that's a great idea, especially far as making more things available to all, I noticed that WHO major publishers pick up tend to make art that is (no shade) safer in terms of what is illustrated in comparison to other indie decks. I don't want to name names, in case they don't want to be mentioned in this convo, but I remember one indie deck creator being told they needed to essentially sanitize their art before the publisher would agree to mass market it. That situation still makes me wonder how many mass market decks DID have more diversity, innovative ideas, confrontation of controversial topics, etc etc that was later removed before selling to the masses.
I’m so glad you decided to do a review of the new deck. I saw your post on IG and was hoping you would. I have a lot of the same hang ups about this kind of stuff. I hate tokenism so much. Esp now days when we have tarot in a new level of awareness in the culture at large. Please spare me your hyper heteronormative bs- oh one single card shows a queer person? And only in a vague way on top of that…bye. The Ian daniels deck I’ve never been attracted to, but I did buy the app version just for the book. Academically I think it’s really well done. It does go deeper into the Thoth type direction and all the other occult layers. I’m not one who really reads Kabbalah over the top of tarot- that’s another conversation. The new deck feels very off. The art doesn’t feel taroty to me. I def like the cheesey Victorian style better. I love vampires, but they have been bastardized by the culture. I think what you said about publishers just putting stuff out thoughtlessly to appeal to capitalism is apt. I have some great decks that thematically wouldn’t be my usz that are incredibly well done and I enjoy immensely because they successfully told their story. I grow weary with these new things doing this now because we need to start making diverse decks. Full stop. We have so many decks on the market now, we have to be better. We’ve reached the point where we can’t make those excuses. Show me ppl. I want to see myself in a deck. So does everyone I read for. Big publishers like this really need to step up to the plate and start putting stuff out that we want and responsibly. Fun fact, thin, straight, white, able bodied people aren’t the only ones who exist. Anyway, loved this and I love that you talk about these issues on the regular 😊
For some reason, these two decks and their "nature" (for lack of a better word) remind me of two movies where the first deck would be The Shinning and the second, Mr. Sleep. Maybe I'm old school and not into hyper realistic decks but the second, despite the coloring and details, feels flat...
