#38 26 Sep 86 23:14:46 From: L.A. Hussey To: All Subj: Tarot Deck Review This is a review of a deck which I am still not positive exists. I kinda hope it doesn't. But anyway, it's by Arthur Hlavaty of Golden APA fame, as part of his page in APA-Tarot, "Tickets to the Devil". Here we go: THE CUTENESS TAROT With this deck, US Games Systems may have reached the absolute nadir in its efforts to popularize the ancient deck. To see a Cabbage Patch Kid seated upon the Emperor's throne, or wearing the Hermit's robe, is to wonder if anything is safe from Creeping Cutification. The CPK representing Fortitude holds the mouth of a Hello Kitty, while the whole point of the Moon card is lost when both domestic dog and wolf are replaced by Pound Puppies. The Tower is of course a TransFormer; the lightning is turning it into a smiling robot, or perhaps a dump truck. As in French and Italian decks, Trump XIII is not named, but it clearly represents not Death, but Grown-upness. And yet I must admit that the nameless creator of this deck (the signature is unreadable, as all of the letters closely approximate circles; my guess would be that the first name is "Buffy") has a vision, of sorts, and is true to it. As the minor arcana in the traditional deck represent the four elements of the Universe (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water), so the minor suits in this deck represent the four elements of the Cuteness universe. The Smurfs signify smallness; the Care Bears, niceness; the Wuzzles, fuzziness; and the My Little Ponies, simple-mindedness. The imagery is fairly consistent. The Cuteness Tarot cannot be recommended for serious readings, but it may attain a certain amount of success with children and cheerleaders. In a word: gag. The Fortitude card has me stumped, though: Hello Kitty has no mouth to hold! Well, anyway, I'm going to talk to Arthur this weekend, so I'll find out if it's all a cruel hoax cooked up by him and his equally- twisted spouse... "I know, let's Cooperate!" Leigh Ann #72 27 Sep 86 17:31:35 From: L.A. Hussey To: All Subj: Cuteness Tarot Well, I found out today: Arthur made it up. Boy is he sick! -LA --- * Origin: ThelemaNet of Berkeley,CA (415)548-0163 (161/93)