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Agonistes
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a few years back i traded with a guy who gave me a deck of tarot cards, made in philadelphia, i think he said.  i have ten files of scans but i will post one here, in hopes anyone can recognize this deck or tell me who the artist might be.


i'm also happy to post the rest of the scans if anyone wants to see the rest of this deck.  i've never seen anything like it.








i apologize for the large size but i wanted them to be visible.

Agonistes
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i thought i would include the scan that has the name of the artist on it, as well:


Abrac
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That's a really unusual looking deck. It's not in the Encyclopedia of Tarot volumes 3 or 4 where they have the unpublished and rare decks. Maybe someone here has seen it but I'll bet it's one of a kind or extremely rare.

There's a book by Peter Stafford, published in 1971, called Psychedelic Baby Reaches Puberty and it's illustrated by a Robin Barnitz. If you could locate a copy you could compare the illustrations in the book to your cards. That number 269 might be the date, 2/1969.

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Those are really cool cards .They kind of remind me of the Story Teller Tarot only these are much more graphic.I would think that would be a good guess that Robin Barnitz of the book is the one who did these cards based on the psychedelic art work and the book is a commentary about Hallucinogenics........
The book can be bought here but their is only one left.

http://www.gojaba.com/book/361009/Psychedelic-Baby-Reaches-Puberty-Stafford-Peter-Editor-Robin-Barnitz

Last edited on Fri Jun 19th, 2009 06:54 am by tantricknite

Agonistes
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thanks for your answers.  i'm happy to post the other scans, if anyone wants to see them, or just wants to preserve the designs, but i didn't want to take up too much space or anything.

i did google the artist, and i would like to order the book (something i didn't find).  hopefully they will still have a copy around payday, lol.  what i know about the deck is scant.  the fellow i traded with (i gave him a two hundred dollar tattoo for this deck; i figured it was worth it after glancing at two or three of the cards) told me he got this set in philadelphia and was told then the artist was an heir to a wealthy family who spent much of his time homeless, but came back periodically to his home and in between, was published on a small scale by whom, we don't know.

this particular set, and i am not certain it is even a full set (there are only 58 cards plus a cover card and a blank card that has little blue lines on it like an index card), is printed on flimsy card-stock with no pattern on the back.  they are definitely printed, not drawn, which is why i hoped there might be more of this deck around, even though i knew it was most likely rare.  i can't find a set to compare them to, they all seem like major arcana cards to me, with no suits, but there seems to be some relation to voodoo in the art.

and, if nothing else, i just wanted some people to see this deck (which i keep put away and rarely touch with my fingers).  the art's so cool and unique, it deserves to be seen.

skad1
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Wow, it's an amazing deck.  I would love to see more, and keep us posted if you learn more about the designer.

goldenweb
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Abrac wrote:
There's a book by Peter Stafford, published in 1971, called Psychedelic Baby Reaches Puberty and it's illustrated by a Robin Barnitz. If you could locate a copy you could compare the illustrations in the book to your cards. That number 269 might be the date, 2/1969.


There's actually one/some? s/hand on Amazon.com - not sure if it's the right edition, but it's a lot cheaper.

Amazing cards - (thanks so much for posting, Agonistes, and welcome to the forum.) Would love to see more of them...

Pen

 

Abrac
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That number 269 could mean 269 of 300 or 400, and if that's the case then there would be more of them out there. It doesn't sound like it's complete. Normally it would have either 22 or 78 but 58 is a bit odd. You never know though.

I would like to see the rest of it if you don't mind putting them up. I don't know if there's a policy here about space restriction. You could check with tarotcol, the site administrator, if you wanted to be sure.

Last edited on Fri Jun 19th, 2009 06:10 pm by Abrac

skad1
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Here's Peter Staffords web site
http://www.geocities.com/psychedelics101/Index.html

According to wiki he died in 2007  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stafford

http://www.abebooks.com/ has the Psychedelic Baby Reaches Puberty
for 5.88 used.
this link has few pix of the book.  http://www.geocities.com/psychedelics101/psychency.html

None seem like the cards shown above.  I am really curious now.

skad1
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Found another link where the illustrations look similar, but are not done in card form.  the book is called the sisters of the extreme.

 http://www.geocities.com/psychedelics101b/books8.html

Agonistes
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wow, thank you all for your responses and links.  i'm happy to post the other eight files.....i think art like this should be shared, definitely.  no reason why this deck shouldn't be available for viewing, rare though it seems to be.

here they are.









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Abrac
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These are definitely some of the coolest cards I've ever seen. I don't think it's actually a tarot. Some of the cards have been influenced by the tarot but it's clearly something else. A lot of the cards aren't numbered, and I see one that looks like it's #34. Check out the one called The Duel, "Shun evils as sins against the Lord" vs. "Do what thou wilt."  Looking forward to giving them a good going over. :ok

Agonistes
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Abrac wrote: These are definitely some of the coolest cards I've ever seen. I don't think it's actually a tarot. Some of the cards have been influenced by the tarot but it's clearly something else. A lot of the cards aren't numbered, and I see one that looks like it's #34. Check out the one called The Duel, "Shun evils as sins against the Lord" vs. "Do what thou wilt."  Looking forward to giving them a good going over. :ok


makes sense.  they are made out of awesome, aren't they?  the drawings attract me mainly because i love pen work, and do most of my own drawing like that, albeit much less distorted and dreamlike.

i think the hanged man is my favorite.

  i've looked at them pretty closely (there is writing on almost every card, all over them), but not for a few years because they are frail, bendy, and already yellowed.  i made the scans about three years ago so that i could look at them without touching them, and possibly post them if i found a collector or someone who could tell me something more about them.

also, out of curiosity, i have asked a practicing reader to look at them.  she didn't like their energy, she said, and was loath to touch the cards themselves, shuffling them gingerly in the plastic bag i kept them in at the time.

as i said, the only card i didn't scan was the one that looked like it was cut from an index card.

i've looked also to see if there were numbers or symbols hidden in the artwork, and can't really decide if i am seeing things in some cards, or not.  there doesn't seem to be that sort of hidden pictures, but in some of the cards it's hard to be sure.

how can i best preserve these?  i've thought of putting them in an album so they would be protected, but still viewable.  i'm not an avid collector of anything in particular, but i have a lot of comic books and some collector's cards, but of course card albums are generally too small.

Last edited on Fri Jun 19th, 2009 10:14 pm by Agonistes

Agonistes
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i noticed on the 'nemesis' card it is signed on the left side, 'robin maclean barnitz.'  i googled this name without much result, however.  i might try a refined search in the philly area.

tantricknite
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Agonistes wrote:

also, out of curiosity, i have asked a practicing reader to look at them.  she didn't like their energy, she said, and was loath to touch the cards themselves, shuffling them gingerly in the plastic bag i kept them in at the time.
 
What! A fluff bunny card reader was shocked by the pictures !?!    LOL
Most readers use soft tarot images .. And some readers are suspicious of touching other readers cards ...



i've looked also to see if there were numbers or symbols hidden in the artwork, and can't really decide if i am seeing things in some cards, or not.  there doesn't seem to be that sort of hidden pictures, but in some of the cards it's hard to be sure.

Thats the L.S.D......

 "Do what thou wilt" sounds Thelemic.
What impresses me is the multicultural aspect of the art work for that period. I may be wrong about this but I don't know of any tarot deck that showed multicultural themes in the late sixties. May be the early seventies ...
Thanks for posting more card images ... Theres a lot going on in the cards yet they don't seem to busy.Their quit fascinating ....

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Hello Agonistes.

Very interesting deck!
It looks like 21 numbered cards of a standard tarot, extended with non-numbered, non-standard cards to 58.
An artifact of the old hippy era.
Reminds me of old Greenwich Village NYC style.
Thanks for posting the whole thing.

Get yourself an Itoya Evolution Portfolio 5x7 to store it in.
24 sleeves will give you 48 views, so you may need two volumes.
It will be very easy to page through to look at, but very well protected.
It's ridiculously cheap, archival, acid free, and polypropylene.

Abrac
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Has anyone found one with #2 on it? There are two slash marks below The Guide's left elbow that I thought might represent 2, but that's the best I can come up with.

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tantricknite, i thought they might be early seventies, myself.  the book mentioned (which i found on amazon for ten bucks--yay!-- and ordered today) is dated 1971, so i'm thinking if it is the same artist, the LSD art career might have been somewhat short-lived, if the apocryphal tale i got along with the deck was anywhere near true, and he was a wanderer with a lot of money inherited at home.  it's a strange style to imagine coming from philly, to me; they look so much like louisiana lowcountry art; even the buildings depicted have kind of a ramshackle new orleans look to them.


a friend of mine who is well versed in tarot history along with various cult and pagan theology thinks it might be intended as a set of voodoo cards, drawn to represent the major arcana of course, but also extended to biblical and lore figures and concepts rather than suits.  she points out the liberal use of biblical language and icons in voodoo.

i believe by the fine quality of the lines that the art was reduced in size before printing...unless this fellow (or lady) used an extremely fine rapidograph pen, but some of the detail is so minute that i'm convinced it was reduced.

skad1, thank you for the links.  they were helpful, as well as interesting.

onepotato, i agree with the grenwich village style also, in composition, mainly.  the figures themselves are still very representative to me of southern folk art, but you'd have seen that more in paint than pen and ink, i think.  the pen style reminds me a lot of r. crumb's art of that era, as well.  thanks also for the suggestion of the book, for storage; i will look one up for sure.


thank you all for looking at these for me and helping me solve what they are and where they came from, as well.  i kind of appeared on this forum without introduction, but i was so excited to find a forum that i could talk to folks who actually could give me helpful advice, and share this cool art with.

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I like card 16, the tower card. "The whore of Babalon and the foretelling of the destruction of the city". Thats a neat interpretation of that card....

Last edited on Sat Jun 20th, 2009 05:15 am by tantricknite

Abrac
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It's part tarot, part oracle and part educational. There are definitely strong Biblical themes. The artist seems to have drawn influence from many different sources and brought them all together. It has all the earmarks of something from the 60s or early 70s.

I like the Candy Man. "What giveth he more to the children than candy?" :cool:

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Your deck of tarot cards was drawn by the late Robin Barnitz of Bryn Athyn, Pa.  I was fortunate enough to have known him.  He had some copies made of his tarot cards and would sell them to family and friends.  He was a brilliant artist and an amazing person.  You got a lucky trade when you got these cards.  If you should ever decide to part with them please let me know.  They have sentimental value for me.  Thank you for sharing the scans.  t.ready

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This is a beautiful deck! I agree, that was a very lucky trade! I would use this deck as a 1 card draw dealing with my attitude. As far as preserving this deck while still allowing it to be usable, one of those photo binders that are acid free may work. Then you can take the pages out for shuffling.

soaper9

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Hey there. I was very good friends with the artist Robin Barnitz who made this potent deck of Tarot cards. I actually lived with him for a while in Huntingdon Valley Pa. back in the 70s. He died about ten (?) years ago. He was also my 6th grade art teacher! A very brilliant, well-read man, and obviously gifted artist. If there were an afterlife, don't you think he and William Blake would hit it off?

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Last edited on Wed Mar 2nd, 2011 02:41 am by psycheready

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I just found your post and am so sorry to read that Robin Barnitz has passed. He and his wife Karen camped beside us along the Navarro River in Mendocino, CA summer of "70. We spent maybe a month together before they moved to the Bay Area.  One night we all went to see Most Allison together in North Beach.  When we came out, the car had been towed.  With anyone else, it would have been a downer, but with Robin, it just became  an extended adventure for the evening. I saw them last in Montauk for New Year's '72, I think.       Were you friends with them? Were  he and Karen still together? I've tried on and off for the past several years to google him and this is the first time to find anything.  I loved his drawings; a true mystic. And now it's too late to see him again.  I'd love to find Karen.
Lynn Kiesewetter, still in Mendocino

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Yes, he did always remind me of Blake, too. Do you know if he was married to Karen still? I haven't been in contact since the '70s and am so sad to hear he's gone.

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Hey there-
I'm not sure if they ever were legally divorced, but in all the years I knew him, he was no longer with Karen. I don't know where she is. He was the sweetest, and extremely tormented soul. I loved him a lot.

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Robin's dad was a Swedenborgian minister, if that clarifies some of the background to the cards. Robin also had a very deep knowledge of Swedenborg himself, as far as I could gather.

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For the many years I knew dear Robin, he and Karen were no longer together.

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Facebook, or people search her.

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Going through the cards, I notice that Robin himself appears in them frequently. Like Hitchcock showing up in his own movies.

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The Angel Mother is beautiful. Some of these cards jump you like someone on the street! POTENT

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Cool cards, interesting story, and a mystery solved. 

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I was also a friend of Robin's. For those interested I can post copies of the complete set along with his hand-lettered directions for casting the tarot. Before the deck was printed some of the images were used to illustrate "Psychedelic baby reaches puberty" by Ptere Stafford. The story that his wife Karen told me was that Robin often destroyed his art and she wanted to both make some money and preserve his works. Robin was indeed the son of a Swedenborgian minister. Later in his life he started having hallucinations which he was able to subdue through alcohol. Essentially disowned by his family, he lived on the street or in friends' garages. he did receive a small trust fund which allowed him to buy beer and some food. But he was no longer drawing at that time. The last time I saw him in 1998 he was still as kind and gentle as always. I was sorry to hear that he passed. I think his work is worth preserving.

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That would be wonderful - given that all the OP's images are gone...

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I am attaching copies of the cards that I have. I used to have the instructions as well - which were printed from a hand-written sheet, but I must have lost track somehow.

Robin was Swedenborgian and his father was a minister in the church. Much of the eschatology of these cards arises from that background


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katroving
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Looks like I need to edit a few of them - I am including ones that are complete. It may take me a few days to get them all.

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Card #3

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card#4

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Card#5

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Card 7-Divine Providing

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The Arrival

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Justice

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Medicine Man

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The Monk and the Madman

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The Moon and the Possessed

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Washing

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Covenant

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Melancholy Spirit

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Decption

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Departure

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Guide

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Man

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Candy Man

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The Assassin and the Victim

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Ahd Own no

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Seth begot Enosh

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Man begot Seth

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goldenweb
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Many thanks for posting these, katroving :)

Last edited on Sun May 13th, 2018 11:35 am by goldenweb

katroving
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You are quite welcome- more to come.

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The Tree of Life and the Tree of the knowledge of Good and evil

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katroving
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Ah seekin aftamah own
For those that were interested- The originals were executed in a slightly larger format and reduced. However most were smaller than a standard sheet of paper. And I can verify that Robin did use very fine pens, with the smallest line available, perhaps .005.
I gave my original deck away - If anyone comes across a deck that has Robin's signature in blue ink on this card- that was my original deck.

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Last edited on Sat Jun 2nd, 2018 02:03 am by katroving

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Merchants without the city

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NemesisOne of the few deck cards with Robin's signature as well as his initials.

Also, one of my favorites. I like the way poison/danger is entangled and so negated/defused

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katroving
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The hanged Man
the web is a particularly strong image here. While it can be seen as the web of life, the wording implies that one is entangled by one's own questions.

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Ahnotha
Also- the cards themselves are quite small - slightly less than 3" x 5".

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katroving
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Sister Mercy and the Devil
"Mercy provideth means whereby a man is saved."

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katroving
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Whom be she
Whom be sheWho comes to mind when be she is calledCall Whom be sheCall whom be sheWhom be she comes to mind when whom be she is called?

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Ahl'llsho'yah
Interesting sense of rebirth- new knowledge, help from without

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trzes
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That really is an amazing deck. Thanks a lot for posting the images. I hope I am not being too cheeky, but are there more images?
ETA: Oh, oops, it seems that my browser simply took to long to download them all.

Last edited on Fri Jun 1st, 2018 12:42 pm by trzes

katroving
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Greetings - Actually there are more cards! I will add some today.

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Conshunsin-Sinuating
One who thou didst once esteem appeareth as a demon and tormentor in thy true lovee's light...He flee-eth out the window into darkness whilsy thy beloved hid her face in her hair.

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Last edited on Sat Jun 2nd, 2018 12:57 am by katroving

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The Deck cover-This was not a card in the deck - and Robin did not use it as such.It was meant as an introduction.  Note the signature.

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The Duel -
Please read the text on the cards - it is really an essential part of the reading

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Last edited on Sat Jun 2nd, 2018 01:01 am by katroving

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Eternal Life

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Habitats of the Banished
whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever layeth any of it upon the stranger shall be cut off from his people EX:33v32These are they who favor the stranger
who are banished - for they see what they may not touchhear what they cannot say& will what they cannot do

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Heymahn
Lemme give ya the wordAh tell yah, whatchoo inO! Heymahn!Lissen to the sound of the voice inside jah

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Alms for the Blind

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ayahm
O dat Ahyahm jis whooee tinkhee izzWhooz tawkin dere!Hee pokin adizz hart!whoobeetin it izz sayin it!Ahyahm it say! Ahyahm...O dat Ahyahm

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Conception

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Instruction
A spirit skilled at mime mocketh the devilHe appeared out of the ground at the left wearing a mask
Among the Moral I am super MoralAmong the Rational I am super rational, Nay,
& among th' spiritual I am Super spiritual
Yes, I Lucifer called myself the Devil & hurled curses against myselfand for this was I extolled to the sky with praises

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I will rise now& Go about the cityIn the streets I will seek whom my soul loveth

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The Judgement

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The King

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The Lovers

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d'Olde Man a th'Mowntain
Go now and slay the one who rules this kingdomwhen thou hast so done, my angels shall bear thee into Paradise& shoudst thou be slain,
even so shall I send my angels to bear thee into Paradisethe olde man must needs die before the new man can be borne

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On the Resistance of Man to Infernal Spirits
It may be said that all resistance is done by the Lordthru man as though or as if of the mahn himselfwhen he knows a thing as evil& says "this is a sin against God"
& does it he not.

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Remember from whence thou hast fallen

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the Riddler

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The Queen

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The Ruler o'th Land

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The Sabbath
Robin's version of the Peaceable Kingdom

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The remainder of the names of the Book of Generations
And there were giants in the earthAnd it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earthbut Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

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The Devil Upon thee!

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Vengeance

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The whore of Babylon
& the foretelling of the destruction of the city
The wolves shall be there& the saturs shall dance thereThe jackalls shall answer in her palacethe daughters of the owlthe trapAnd dragons in the palace of her delights

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The worl

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katroving
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I have posted all the cards. sadly I no longer have the original instructions Robin wrote out.

For anyone who was interested, the last I heard of Karen Habibi she was working in Texas doing radio interviews.

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This is a reply to Agonistes in 2007,Since the seventies, I also found a number of people who would say that the cards were negative.  This was quite interesting to me, as the cards appear to bring out people's own fears and uncertainties. A reading would involve me saying, no, I don't see that at all - to the person.
Part of the discomfort, for some seemed  to stem from the use of snakes as a motif. 
Robin, himself was comfortable with snakes and did not associate any negative feelings with them.  He had an earring which was a good rendering of the Nemesis card snake.  He later gave it to me, but it was stolen from me when my home was robbed in the 80's.
For some people, truly clearing their minds, is quite difficult.  I imagine that if Terry Pratchett's death were on a standard tarot, many readers would see the death card more in the way that it was originally intended.  I, myself,  have taken to doing readings with a plain deck of cards.  The supplicants are usually puzzled when I begin and surprised once I have done the reading.  When cards generate senergy in the supplicant- it really takes a lot of energy to clear that away in addition to clearing one's own mind.




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I also found a number of people who would say that the cards were negative. This was quite interesting to me, as the cards appear to bring out people's own fears and uncertainties. A reading would involve me saying, no, I don't see that at all - to the person.
Part of the discomfort, for some seemed to stem from the use of snakes as a motif.


Hi katroving. This is art that takes no prisoners. It has come to life from the artist's mind without inhibition or modification for its possible reception. The system created strikes one as powerfully occult and dangerous - the snakes may contribute to that, but IMO it's the style/quality and subjects of the art (including the written words) of the deck as a whole that make it too overwhelming for anyone to read with unless they understand or are prepared to spend time learning to work with it.

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Thank you, I see what you mean. I agree that it is not a deck for the casual reader or observer.
Robin was the son of a Swedenborg minister and was raised as Swedenborgian. The philosophy of Emmanuel Swedenborg may be an essential clue to understanding these cards.

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Robin was the son of a Swedenborg minister and was raised as Swedenborgian. The philosophy of Emmanuel Swedenborg may be an essential clue to understanding these cards.

I'm sure you're right. The first impression of the cards is visionary (I'm reminded of William Blake), but the modern characters in many cards and some text (especially the titles) make them feel hallucinatory too. But perhaps visions and hallucinations are not dissimilar. All this combined with biblical quotes. My knowledge of Swedenborg is very limited - it might be enlightening to dig a little...

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I needed to reduce the resolution. Let me know if it is  readable.

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Yes, it is readable (and historically important)- thanks katroving.

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You are quite welcome.

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I am an old friend of Robin Barnitz, and his then wife. We met  in 1970 in Mendocino and lost touch a few years later.  I notice that the cards of his that you posted are no longer  here. Do you still have the cards? I would dearly love to see them. Would you re-post or??
thank you, Lynn

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Dear Lynn, if you check towards the end of page two and on page three you will find links to the cards.
The blank areas were from an earlier post by someone else. I have uploaded all the cards and the instruction sheet. Please let me know if you don't see them.

Last edited on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 11:09 am by katroving

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WOW!!!!!!!  what a trove! thank you for putting these here!!  they are certainly grittier than the drawings i saw in 1970. wish we hadn't lost contact with each other.
thank you very much
lynn

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You are quite welcome.

When  I knew them, Robin was prone to destroy some of the cards as not perfect enough.  Karen took charge of the card originals and when she had enough, had them printed. If the tarot numbers are not completely in sequence, that may be an explanation.
Anyway- I am so glad you are pleased.

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ah, so........are you still in touch with karen? i would so much like to contact her.

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katroving, thank you for taking the time to post these images. I don't see negativity in the deck, I see it more as an oracle deck anyway, even on the verge of protection spells. To me the deck is a bibliomancer's delight! :ro

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I just got an email (as gatekeeper !)

My name is Nicole and my friend Carrie use to work at the Civic & Social Club Inc. in Bryn Athyn, PA. She bartended for awhile there and made some great friends as well as aquired these 60 piece tarot card deck. Since she knew mine were stolen, then after aquiring new ones, lost them by sharing a storage unit, an ex burned them and ohhh lastly i had to get rid of a deck just to live with a reborn couple that fully believed tarot was the devil. So she was very gracious to give them as a gift which i have treasured ever since.
I keep them in a special clutch which i bought to store them in labeled "LOVE." They have brought nothing but wonderful energy to me and my friends, given me insight, and often just reminded me of what i still already know. I have been reading tarot for over 20 years and I've never been wrong once about what came out for all ive read, or instilled any negativity at all. After my date didn't show up i decided to look again into this artist to see if i could find out more about deck or the amazing artist whose work i enjoy upon every reading!!!
Low and behold i came across your neat page and realized how much his work was appreciated. It is with that, that i also realized someone out there may be missing this very deck.
If you or anyone would like to contact me please do. Among anything else in this life, l am a lover of good people, good things, good energy, and good deeds.
I am in South Jersey and look forward to maybe making someone's day!!!


I have asked Adam to admit her as a member !

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What an awesome deck!


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