Arica Tarot by Oscar Ichazo

As Egyptian themed decks go this 79-cards deck is probably one of the if not the biggest around, each card is sized 11 inches by 8.5. (278mm by  142).

The deck subtitled Coloring Cards for the Game of the Scarab has 2 dates on in 1978 & 1982 and was published in New York  by the Arica Institute Press as a learning tool with color instructions for each detail put in the detachable borders.

My Tarot by Astrid Pilegaard Larsen & Frank K Jensen

Granted the title of this deck isn't the most original possible (there must been at leas a dozen decks by that name), but it becomes interesting especially from a collectors point of view when you know it's connected to  Frank K Jensen who published between 1989-1997 Manteia still one of the most important sources for decks published in that era, and also grand collector of decks.

This majors only deck was self-published in 1978 in a limited edition of only 200 decks with lots of blank space on the bottom part for students to add their notes and the possibility to color the deck. The images themselves where based upon Court de Gebelin and the notes in his work "Le Monde Primatif".

You can also see it at the Tarot Garden

Satanic Tarot by Juha Vuorma & Faustus Scorpius

One of the subsections in my collection are dark decks and what could be more dark than a satanic deck  (from a conventional view - no offence meant to satanists) and this New-Zealand one has been on my wishlist for quite a while.

Low-budget printed with black ink on red paper it's the adaptation from the satanist point of view, like the renaming of the Emperor into The Anti-Christ but largely following the normal tarot structures. The deck, that is a majors only, resulted and reflects the path-working of Faustus Scorpius, and given form by Finnish artist Juha Vuorma and is accompanied by a 20 page booklet with information about the cards and for each a description of the 'astral journeys' from where the images came from and also  a  satanic spread .

El Autentico Tarot De Dr Gerard Encause (Papus) (1865 - 1916)

A long title for a deck I know very little of, I would even say nothing sadly, but it was at a nice price and i already had a big lot in my bag so how could I resist. The Papus "format" is one rarely used nowadays so every one I see draws my attention.

The deck itself is a black and white rendition in Spanish (judging from the printing quality and materials used I'd say South American rather than from Spain) of the Papus tarot drawn by Jean-Gabriel Gouliat from Papus’ 1909 work Le Tarot Divinatoire.

Le Tarot Traditionnel by Jean Chaboseau

Yet another treasure from another era- created & printing during or just after WWII, this deck does show a certain agelessness, it could have been printed recently or over 100 years ago. It is a well balanced mix of age-old artistry and a style non limited or limited to fading fashions.

The majors are different than the WCS and Marseille decks and show an elegant yet powerful view of the archetypes, due to it's bi-tonal coloring namely deep reds on a yellow (originally white?) background. The minors seem to follow the design from Eudes Picard executed in a flowing & elegant design showing the craftsmanship of the artist..

 

Below you can find a picture of the original box it came in - a bit damaged but knowing its age still a pretty good  condition

 

Minotarot by Eric Provoost.

This is yet another piece I’ve obtained from the Hans Wesseling-Collection (see A.E. Thierens Tarot , Tarot de Marseille by Gilles and Anne Hipeau, Gli Arcani di Elisabetta (color) & Annabella Magie Noire Tarot). 

Self published in 1982 this remarkable deck using only a minimal pallet of black, white and a something between deep red and brown. One of the peculiarities is that it has 2 numberings showing 2 possible sequences, there is the normal one (in roman numerals through all the majors and minors in Arabic all in traditional order – but with the suits being spades, hearts, clubs & diamonds), and then there is the numbering devised by the artist so you can lay out the cards in a panorama telling the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.

The Minotarot was published in a limited edition of 2000 and has achieved to gain a status as being very collectible and sought after so if you happen to stumble upon one (at a good price) snatch it up immediately because if you don’t there are lots who will!

I’m back!

After an interruption of more than a week, due to me moving homes, I’m back online and back onto blogging, I hope to be a bit more regular and catch up some of the time I’ve lost lately. First I will continue to add the decks I’ve bought out of the Hans Wesseling-Collection, followed by new acquisitions (and there are quite a few)

So here I am again, take a seat and (I hope) enjoy my new postings!

Stefan.

A.E. Thierens Tarot

This one is one of the oldest esoteric tarots in my collection, printed in the 1930ies (I have no precise date but I presume it would have been printed around the same period as A.E. Thierens book  now in English as 'General Book of the Tarot' was printed)


Despite his age this tarot has many modern elements and also one of the first to attribute different people to each of the minor arcana's for example the cups are represented by mermaids and the swords by dwarfs. Thierens who was a  Dutch officer in the Royal Marines, an astrologer (he is seen as the founder of the modern astrology in the Netherlands) and esoteric author  redesigned the associations of the cards in a way different to Waite (of whom he seems to have picked up some info) and of the Order of the Golden Dawn, yet some of his influences are said to been the Theosophical movement.
One example of the changes he made in the majors is that he assigned the zodiac signs to the first twelve and planets to the remaining ten.

Tarot de Marseille by Gilles & Anne Hipeau

Yet another part of the lot I bought. For those following my blog, it will be clear I love the Tarot de Marseilles-familly, so obviously I had hat to get those out of the lot availlable.

This elegantly drawn black and white rendition of the TdM was created and published the artisanal way on thick uncoated papers and in limited editions in the 80ies by the then prolific Gilles & Anne Hipeau who created  4 different decks (as far as I know) - all based upon historic French decks. This one is based upon the Conver and the Fautrier decks available in the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, and was intended to be coloured by the owner .

Gli Arcani di Elisabetta (handcolored) by Elisabetta Cassari

This is another rare deck I got out of the collection i mentioned last time, the Gli Arcani di Elisabetta is the third tarot by Elisabetta Cassari and is limited to 99 decks only but halfway through the artist stopped coloring them which is very understandable hand-painting 99 x 22 cards is a huge task for any person - and knowing the low price these where going (only € 130 according to the information I got, at that same time the black and white version was sold at € 50) not that rewarding.

This deck and all deck by miss Cassari dare to depict the human condition is all it's painful and negative sides possible - no compromise no bright side to be found here. Man is worst danger possible to his fellow man, the powerful use that power to grind and torture those under them down into total submission at their only whim. These are truly the dark ages depicted here, but done in such a stile one can only admire the artists craftsmanship.
This whole set stands out as a special luxury product, the sturdy nice sized cards are housed in a cardboard box this is in his turn placed in a cork made box with vinyl top and printed on with gold the frontispiece. 

Annabella Magie Noire Tarot (Dutch version) by Giancarlo Carloni

I was recently lucky enough to be able to buy some decks from a collection being sold off, so my collection got enriched with some new and interesting treasures.

This deck was commissioned by Lancôme (a luxury beauty brand owned by L’Oreal since 1964) to promote its perfume “Magie Noire”. The cards were presented and described in the May 1979 issue of the Italian magazine Annabella. But knowing this is a promotional item, it’s normal, yet not obvious to find always, to see it appear in other languages as here in Dutch.

The artist who created this deck Giancarlo Carloni did a wonderful job combining the archetypes of the tarot with the world of refinement and luxury as represented by Lancôme these cards breathe that atmosphere that would be fitting to any grand mansion or 5 star hotels from the seventies. 

Picture Postcard Tarot by Marcia McCord

For those into tarot tarot comes through other areas of their lives. A prime example is the creator of this deck, reader and all-round tarot lover Marcia McCord created this deck out of her passion for antique picture postcards and dedicated to her mother who ran an antique shop and died in 1983, the last conversations miss McCord had with her mother was about antique picture postcards.

From the LWB we learn that picture postcards were approved by the US Post Office Department in 1898. Same day delivery allowed friends to keep up with the evenings entertainment, as well as personal news. The images used in this deck come from the period 1900 to 1909 to for an eclectic mix ranging from the sweet to the comical and all possible variations, with depictions of persons of all walks of lives and origins to the personal taste of the creator and each time to make a great fit between the image and the meaning of each card.

This 79 cards tarot (78 + happy squirrel card) was published in a limited edition of only 50 decks and is sadly sold out now

Tarot Iniciatico of Alma Ajo

Miss Alma Ajo produced a nice little treasure here, well actually 2 as she sells them in two versions "as they came from the printer" and one version where she hand colored with added glitter and heightened color version (this hand made precede makes each deck of this version slightly different and individual).
I of course got this deck in both versions and am very happy i did - not only are these very limited, of both versions there are only 20 decks, but the differences and feels between both make it well worth getting them.

The style could be described as surreal with a sense of humor and a vibrant sense of life shining through, at only 3,2 x 4,8 inches they are 22 little tarot portraits.
The artists website is here
I posted images from both the "normal" edition here top as the hand colored (bottom) 

Nybor tarot by Nybor (aka James Robin Odbert)

There are many erotic tarot decks, most of them are a 'spiced-up' version of the Waite-Colman-deck not so this one. After his first encounter with the tarot, while creating  a card for the "Fantasy Showcase Tarot" this artist got inspired and researched & worked over thirty years on his own deck, trying it bring up-to-date to our modern world and sensitivities.

The majors are still all there but renamed and put into 5 groups: Beginning & End, the seasons, 6 "realms" cards and 7 family cards, all with updated.Sexuality is  the central theme ranging from soft to over and beyond the legal and ethical, because as Nybor says not everything is good and beautiful, but there is more also  - there are also elements from mythology, psychological insights, pagan & ritual practices and much more.
  
This limited edition of 500 doesn't come cheap but for those looking for erotic deck and for something very special could be interested by it.
For those interested you can see the deck,get information and/or buy it at the artist's  homepage

Millénaire Tarot de Marseilles (Second edition) by Chris Butler

Here's yet another little precious one to add to the neo-Marseille* part of my collection!

This version, as did the previous one, was created from only photoshop custom shapes and clipart to form a modern, and tongue-in cheek Marseilles deck. Stylistically size- and colorwise Chris took inspiration from the Flornoy restoration of the Noblet Tarot but that is where it started but it ended up becomming a very modern vibrant even with a certain pro-active feeling to them, especially in the minors and it's workable deck for readings and a great item for the collector.

For those on FaceBook here is the page for this deck

and you can contact Christ through here

Amy Von Harrington's Homemade Tarot Cards

Fun things can come in little pouches sometimes, like this deck that doesn't take itself too serious, you can almost feel the jolliness that had to be going on while creating it.

The images are collage old stile it seems (being paper, scissor and glue method) to form images ranging from chaotic to playful and comical. Some of the cards are landscape others in upright directions (others i'm not sure what's up- down, or any-other-way) some images are filling the cards entirely some leave some border - the deck as a whole ranges from sweet over playful to a bit chaotic but somehow that adds to it's charm.

For those interested they are sold here and here  is an interview with miss Von Harrington
(o and yes they accept paypal)

Tarot MEM by Mark E. Merrill

Recently I received this very limited edition deck of only 13 decks (the artist always a coven hence this number).

Some tarots are produced in only a few months from conception to printed deck, not so in this case where the first seeds have been planted in 1979 by an 1960's Encyclopedia Britannica article entitled 'Psychic Boom' by Samuel Moffett, the artist was then only thirteen years of age. Many years and also many stages in the decks and also the creators evolution later the decks was ready and in my collection.

The long gestation period gave this deck the possibility to mature and gain a deepening and variation of tarot-understanding that fitted the personal study and insights of its creator, this include also some renaming and switching of cards.  

For those interested in learning more about the artist here is his blog

And here an whole page about the artist by the artist

I Tarocchi Della Cattedrale by Federico Manicardi

There are always new treasures coming out and finding their way into my collection, one of the latest new ones is this deck inspired by the carvings of the Romanesque Cathedral of Modena.

The result is both surreal and at the same time with a playfully ancient feel, some cards show only partial figures, heads, parts of legs or other parts falling outside of the card giving it a very bizarre and playful feeling.

Tarot of the Boroughs by Courtney Weber & George Courtney

Self-described as "a contemporary urban deck set in New York City" this is a deck that brings a modern-day and working view of the world we are living in seen through the eyes of the tarot - and pretty eyes they are. Full colour, glossy and taken with a keen sense of drama and esthetics these 78 pictures of true people, New Yorkers from all walks of life, including well known writers, performing artists (like for example Moby), some less known persons (at least to me) as well as ordinary people.

An interesting element of this deck are the stories told by the minors and that you can see evolve from 1 to 10 with the protagonists coming back as the court-cards.
The website of the deck with all kinds of information and buying possibility is here or at the Tarot Garden

Tarocchio - I Tarocchi Di Pinocchio by Massimiliano Frezzato

There are a few decks inspired by the story of Pinocchio the wooden puppet that came to live and wanted to be a "real boy" made famous internationally thanks to the Disney adaptation. This tarot adaptation is a portfolio (sized 377 x 285mm) by the artist Massimiliano Frezzato a well-known Italian comic book author.

This Pinocchio is fresh and with strong colours, mister Frezzato knows his art, and how to tell a story within a given frame - here that of the tarot and this without changing its structure. The scenes linked to each of e 22 majors are well chosen like for example Geppetto inside the whale as the hermit and as the World Pinocchio after his transformation into a real boy.

I Tarocchi Surrealisti - Emilio Ortu Lieto

This month saw the addition to my collection of Emilio Ortu Lieto's latest tarot, limited to only 30 decks it's not a inexpensive one but to me its worth every cent i paid.

Mr Lieto's has been productive these last five years with 4 decks, published in a limited editions these are  the:Tarocchi Gay Orsi , I Tarocchi Metafisici and the I Tarocchi Sardi.
The artist being a set and costume designer he knows how to create an atmosphere and hold it working and alive over the 'period' of 22 cards, this time the world he created was a surrealist one reworking the images we know all to well into something surprising and fresh.

With some luck you can find one on eBay or here

Revised Edition of The William Blake Tarot by Ed Buryn

This will be a first on my blog - I'm telling about a deck that's not yet out (but you can preorder it at now before October the 1ste a nice special discount). I am always happy to hear about great decks getting a second (or third) youth and the William Blake sure deserves to reach as many persons as it can, and 15 years after its last run a whole new generation of Tarot lovers of any kind will be able to get one!

For the creator of the William Blake tarot this deck has been a long standing passion, first he tried pushing Mary K Greer (to whom he was married at that time) to create one, but then after a (not that gentle push) did it himself. The first was as a majors-only edition in black, white and dusky browns printed upon thick cardboard-like stock. These majors only decks where sold at BATS where someone from HarperCollins saw them, was impressed and thus a new incarnation followed a full deck with a 79th card Eternity.

This new revised edition has had hundreds of changes - such as cleaning up images, reducing the size of the white borders, modifying the borders of the Science and Poetry suits, changing some of the images to make them less cluttered (as in the Ace of Science and 10 of Poetry), brightening some of the images and many other improvements to them.

The price of this new deck will be $32 plus $5 shipping, for a total cost of $37 each. For California orders, add $2.85 sales tax, for a total cost of $39.85 each. Orders to Canada and Mexico are $32 plus $7 shipping, for a total cost of $39 each. Orders to other overseas countries are $32 plus $10 shipping, for a total cost of $42 each.

ADVANCE ORDERS: Orders received before October 1st 2010 will be $26 plus $5 shipping, for a total cost of $31 each. For California advance orders, add $2.35 sales tax, for a total cost of $33.35 each. Advance orders to Canada and Mexico are $26 plus $7 shipping, for a total cost of $33 each. Advance orders to other overseas countries are $26 plus $10 shipping, for a total cost of $36 each.

The Major Arcana by Jak Flash

Supported by BCU's Students' Union and a Grant from Birmingham City Council artistic photographer Jak Flash recently has put on a photographic exhibition and consequently published his tarot inspired work as a book simply called "The Major Arcana".

The result of this project is a very personal and stylish creation, with many many deviations from the classical way the archetypes are portrayed and yet it all fits in.

On his website the artist says about this project: "I developed my own themes based around things like geometric shapes so that I could encode my images with meaning. The images link to each other and can be read to some extent almost as a progressive story, or commentary. Various signifiers are used throughout the images such as cubes, triangles and spheres to help communicate my ideas...." well in my humble opinion the artist has succeded in creating something worthy to be admired and shared - so I'll do just that with you.

Below you can find the images of the Lovers, The Wheel of Fortune and the Moon.
all images van be seen here

I Tarocchi Dell'Archetipo Blu by Claudio Parentela

At the complete opposite, and strangely enough perfectly balancing out the previous deck is this creation by Claudio Parentela, an illustrator,mail artist freelance journalist & cartoonist, very active in the international underground scene. He collaborates with numerous zines, magazines and publishers in Italy and around the world.

Mister Parentela is no stranger to the tarot, previously he collaborated to the Tarocchi eVoluti, "Tarot Christmas Tree Postcard Mail Art Project "and created a black and white deck that was later released in a very boldly colored version as the I Tarocchi Dell’Iride. This very latest of his Tarot endeavorments is true to his style, busy & chaotic yet also playful and original, the result is a art deck fit for the collector who is looking out for something different that leaves a strong impression - good or bad like it or hate it it will not leave you indifferent.
It's published in a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered decks available from the Museo dei Tarocchi (or for those from the USA through the wonderful Arnell Ando)

Daimon Tarot by Jari Casagrande

There are many sorts of collage decks some busy some elegant but they are for the most part figurative this one is the complete opposite of that minimalistic and abstract. The artist crafted these cards with craft papers and a handful of vintage images to form strong yet restfully images that capture the essence of each archetype.
These meditative tableau's invite those looking at it to take a journey into the collective unconscious, there you will meet Daimon.

The deck is published in a limited edition of only 100 decks by the Museo dei Tarocchi (or for those from the USA through the wonderful Arnell Ando) and comes in a big sturdy hinged box that closes thanks to a magnet fastens the overhanging lid nicely to the bottom portion.

Black Tarot by Masahiro Obara

I recently acquired this majors only deck after some considerable efforts by myself and my usual contact for Asian tarots. This stunning black & white deck was created by the (for me) unknown Japanese artist Masahiro Obara . The art is stunning and powerful and has a massive appearance without being crude or heavy the technique used is reminiscent of wood of lino prints but I'm uncertain that that was the technique used here.

The cards are unnumbered and untitled but are easily recognizable yet have definitely a look of their own. A true find and new pearl to my collection

Petrak Tarot by Petra Reiter

There are very few Thoth-based decks around, and most of them are of the darker brooding kind, this deck is the complete opposite of that!
Yes it has darker images, yes there are disturbing looking ones (but then what deck that has a equilibrated structure hasn't?), but that's not all there are light ones luminously looking some even with a happy feel to them.

But above all it's an deck with an highly elegant look, elegant figures and that leave a deep impression when looking at them. The artist has put lots of thought and feeling into the deck, creating at the same time a work of art and a true tarot deck. Based upon & following the structure of the Thoth tarot yet not slavishly following it rather reinterpreting it viewing it through her own eyes this is a nice deck to add to your collection.

The artist website is here
You can try to find it at Roderick Somerville or the German Amazon

8 Bit tarot by Indigo Kelleigh

There are decks for every taste, there are decks for every mood even, and this one is definitely for those who can take life with a smile and who need or want to put that smile into their tarot collection (and or readings even).

It’s a Wait-Coleman remake with may be specially interesting for those among us who remember the arcade games from back in the 80ies and their distinct graphical depiction, bet even those who don’t or had no interest in those may enjoy this deck! The images are rendered in the rounded-pixilated style typical to those videogames mentioned and breathe a fun lighthearted atmosphere.

During the creation process the artist released on a (more-or-less)-regular parts of the deck, 6 packs in all containing between them all 78 cards.

Sadly the deck is on the verge of going OOP so if you want one you get it from the artist here or at Tarot Garden

The Collective Tarot

Some decks stay under my radar and escape me - or at least for some time, the first limited edition of 500 decks published in 2008 escaped me completely the second one of 750 published end 2009 did not!

Despite it's not hugely original name this deck is original and worthy to get into the collection of all who are looking for something different. When you encounter a deck that descibes itself as: "queer-centric, radical-politicked tarot deck re-imaged to fit our times"you can not resist it (well at least i could not). There where over 20 persons involved but despite that the deck has a great consisty and is well worked out in structure and system.

Reworked updated, modernisized and with much renaming into the deck it is different yet remaining true to tarot structures. The suits are found magical objects: Keys (wands), Bottles (Cups), Feathers (Swords) & Bones (Coins) the court cards are fase cards are non hierchical system, stages of growth: seeker, apprentice, artist & mentor.

If you're interested in it you can buy one at Eberhardt Press.

Tarot de Jean Dodal restoration by Pablo Robledo

Tarot forums are a real goldmine for information from and by truly passionate persons, one of those is Pablo Robledo who uses the handle “eltarot78” and has a wonderful longstanding love affair with the Dodal tarot (one of the decks considered as one of the foundations of the Tarot de Marseille family tree). Mister Robledo has spent many hours of hard work restoring the original images we have of the deck to its true glory and one can feel the passion he poured into even at first glance!

I had now my first 48h with my Dodal now and still am very impressed with it.
What I find especially well achieved and deserving lots of praise is the subtle balance achieved in the coloring, the colors are not to soft or mudded or screamingly bold, and have a nice contrast to the background/cardstock shading (something very hard to achieve apparently because most historical restorations are or to white in an effort to be true to the original as they are supposed to have been when first printed or to dark to be true to the cards as they are now)

The material feels great also, not flimsy or thick and with a wonderful silky feel to the touch - a pure joy to handle. Something making this extra special (and even extra-ordinary for the collector) is the very small size of this edition, only 8 decks have been created.
This deck is a true pearl within the Marseilles section of my collection!

Tarocchi I Colori E I Sogni by Maria Carmen Franca

One has not always to be a great artist or show huge craftsmanship to produce an interesting deck worthy to be collected, proof of that is this self published deck very limited edition (only 50 decks where created).

Early this year she released her “I Tarocchi della Notte” (aka Tarot of the Night) this seems to be her next brainchild (that could be translated as Tarot of Colours and dreams). There are lots of similarities with that deck in style and structure (and they both have non-scenic pip cards) but where the previous was clearly inspired by the Papus tarot this one seems more like a personal interpretation of the Tarot de Marseille.

Where the naïve style images may irritate, bore or even appal some people they have character something that can not always be said of the highly polished commercial decks – pretty but dead…. What misses Franca is lacking in the highly skilled artistic field she makes more than good in insight into the tarot tradition, this is a deck that would make proud the big names of old but also I’m sure the modern stars & teachers.

Clown tarot by Debra Klopp-Kersey

There are many themed decks, decks build around a theme be it art, animals, herbs or bygone era’s (think of the dozens of Egyptian themed decks), but to my knowledge there is only one clown cantered deck and that is this one! Many themed decks lack in consistence, to match the chosen theme, but not this one, the images are not yet another copy op the images by Pamela Coleman Smith but with clowns.

The images in this majors only deck are truly original and the clowns are not all happy but further flat emotionless beings but display a wide range of emotions from the sweet innocent to the sad. The settings are sometimes a bit bizarre and surreal and sometimes your looking at them and go Ooo yes indeed it is….indeed they work within their chosen format and within the broader tarot tradition stand tall and strong on their own.

The artist site where you can admire all and buy the deck is here
And here is her Etsy shop
And finally here is her blog

Vitas - Personal Idol Diary Tarot by Sky Lee

One can find sometimes interesting overlooked decks. And the Asian marked is often overlooked by many, one has to say there are many many manga-style decks in Asia and if one does not like those you don't pay much attention to the entire market as a consequence. But sometimes there are decks that are really different and worth looking into it like this one.

While being printed in Asia it does not feel Asian, the persons depicted in it look Caucasian, the imagery is dark-fantasy and the language is ....Greek (the only deck in my collection of 1000+ decks that is in that language). The way the artist depicts the archetypes is fresh and original - original enough to give me for some cards difficulties enough to match the images to a title, i even had to look the titles up using google-translate to be able to match them all.

Message of Elements Tarot by Larissa Renard

With this deck we are back to Russian tarots and to the real of the surprising strangeness (if that is good or bad is up to each individually to say).

Leaving the well know imagery of classical tarot can be at least very refreshing, even if one does have a “what the ‘beep’” is this reaction to each card – and that is what I had at least 99% of the cards. Off course knowing Russian and being able to read the book and what is printed onto the cards may help lots…

What I was able to gather about the deck was that the cards are created to help you learn all about the interaction of male and female energies, which govern the flow of events and the state of the human world. The 56 minors tell about the role that elements play in your life: the freshness and fluidity of water, heat of fire, transparency and freedom of the air or the hardness and reliability of the Earth. Hence the elements of its title.

How all this is translated into images is less clear almost no “person-cards” (only the 2 highest court cards) non scenic minors and loots of swirls and pyramids in all kinds of variations throughout the deck...

In all it’s unconventionality it’s nice deck to look at, nice sized and good quality of both printing and cardstock – possibly great for meditation or creative work.

Italtel - Il Tarocco (aka Il tarocco di Tania Gori )

Yet again a small break from posting my Russian aquisitions, this time it's one of those modern TdM variations i adore and loveingly call Neo-Marseille.It's a full 78 cards deck with recognessable images and a true TdM structure executed in an angular almost entirely geometric style.

Althoug modern it is not really a "new one", it was published in 1989 in a big limited edition of 5000 decks as promotion for Italtel (a major telephone provider in Italy) The deck is bigger than most decks at at approx. 3-1/2 x 6 inches and that combined with it's stong colors and silver and gold ink (not gilded!) makes it a deck with a strong personality that stands out wherever you put it.

Magic Tarot by Aleksey Kluev

Back to Russia so to speak, and with a deck that screams it's name MAGIC the whole deck breaths an atmosphere as it where created to be used by a grand mage, a Voodoo priest or at least someone playing these in a movie of soap. A formula that seems to work as this deck is already at it's third print-run (Published by KSP+ in 1999, 2003 and now in 2010) This new edition has been very slightly restyled by fitting it with very dark blue/black borders giving it an even more 'occult tool' look.

This collage deck combines in an harmonious and apparently seamless works of classical art, magical elements and in the minors own drawings giving an own reinterpretation of the WCS ones original and yet easily recognizable.

As to it's structure? Well although being a Russian deck this one is completely similar to a 'normal western' tarot 78 cards divided in 22 majors, the 4 classical suits and yes even the classic court cards page, knight queen & king are all there, except it being in Russian the whole deck could as well have been printed in Europe or the USA .

Tarot of the Masters

Taking a 'small brake' from the Russian decks - i love to mention this deck by tarot writer, blogger and all round well rounded person James Ricklef. Already to his third small limited edition run it is very well worth having a look into, and perhaps get one now you still can.
(First limited edition of 55 copies; second limited edition of 101 copies & Third limited edition of 110)

The deck has as starting points great masterpieces of classical art and links them to all 78 tarot archetypes, indeed we recognize paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec, Rembrandt and Hieronymus Bosch. But different than other decks who are based upon classical art James takes them and does his 'thing' to them redrawing them in n pen and ink and colored on the computer, giving all cards in the deck an uniform feel and look, something - in my humble opinion - he has very well succeeded in doing.
James website is here
and here is his blog

Rocambole-Tarot

This deck was the first truly Russian deck I ever discovered, although Russian… The artist behind it Anna Nikolaeva and the author of the book Sergey de Rocambole are Ukrainians* and the art is a geometric Mayan/Toltec style.

As with so many east-European decks from Russian or the former USSR, the structure is deviating from standard tarot decks, it has 89 cards made up of the majors + 3 extra fools and the minors have 6 person in the court cards, what gives balance in genders namely: a King and Queen, male and female Riders (who correspond to the Knight), and male and female Servants (who correspond to the Page). So despite the unusual number of cards a nicely balanced out whole.

Thought provoking innovative in structure yes but with a strong and logic structure it’s is a deck that is both modern and in line with classics, a nice addition to any collection, and for the tarot readers among us something you may try out and see on what strange ways it leads you.

The one thing that may hold many persons back are the non-scenic minors, but fear not they are not boring at all, and the decorations and positioning of the suit symbols is very reminiscent of the TdM**.

*(one of the former republics within the USSR, and also known for the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history – what is on the mind of most westerners ‘Russian’),

** TdM = Tarot de Marseille

Demons Tarot

These last weeks i found a reliable way to obtain Russian tarot decks - so I did with great joy and passion (and a budget to fit those). Russian is from a occidental view a 'terra-incognita' when it comes to tarot, so lots of new thing to discover for me

One of these new arrivals is the 'Demons Tarot' by Vera Sklyarov, a very prolific person and big in tarot circles in Russia, who's decks start to fetch high prizes. As one can imagine by its name there are a fair amount of dark images but not in a cheap gruesome way rather surreal strange and captivating.

One characteristic of many Russian decks is their strangeness - or rather not fully tarot structured, there are 78 cards divided into 22 majors who are for the most part easily recognizable the problem reside in the 4 suits of each 14 cards, with each suit having its own color (namely red, blue green and yellow) but without any symbol or recognizable court cards with gives the minors more the feeling of being an oracle rather than a tarot.

Le Tarot Idéographique Du Kébèk.

Each of us had at least once had this; you see a deck, fall in love only to discover its OOP (Out-Of-Print). These last years I found a few places that listed it as in stock so I ordered only to discover they are unable to deliver. So when I found one a few weeks ago at yet another shop I ordered but without much hope (but then you never now was what I was thinking) and YES at last after a hunt of 5 years I found one and even better at a price that seems identical to when it was released.

The Tarot Idéographique Du Kébèk was the first tarot created and published in Canada (Kébèk or Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level)

It is a majors-only deck following the Wirth/ Papus systems and inspirited by the Papus deck but with a twist: the images are constructed entirely by lines and non-elliptical arcs, variant curves are created by joining arcs of different size, and shading is created with crosshatched arcs and lines. The artist, Yves Paquin, restricted himself to using only square rule and compass to accomplish this.

Les Tarots Du Non Être Suprême - le livre qui parle

Highly esoteric decks that are very balanced in their structure convey the system they are based upon and are artistically very nice to look at they exist - proof of it is right here.
In stunning black and white images with an oriental feeling, lots of Buddha's and Buddha like figures represent the supreme un-namable being as seen through the various archetypes he presents himself to those on the lower planes of existence.

This French deck was published in 1979 as 22 oversized (37 x 17 cm) prints with a few pages of information and poetic descriptions of some cards, who have all been renamed to fit the system behind it .

3 faces of Tarot - Variations on a Marseilles

Some 10 years after the first silkscreened and 4 years after the second printed edition of his 'Tarot de la Félicité' came out Pierrick Pinot has now released 2 new decks the 'Le Tarot des Renart' and the 'Le Tarot De Minuit', these last 2 are variations of the first, but what nice variations they are!

With his 'Tarot de la Félicité' Mr Pinot tried to go back to the style and feeling of the old Tarot de Marseilles decks like the Jacques Vieville and Nicolas Conver making a synthesis of these but then with a fine art feeling nicely printed on very thick card stock making it a true gem of craftsmanship.

Last month saw the release of 2 new decks that are born out of the Félicité, the first is the 'Le Tarot des Renart' a stripped down and lightened up version, that feels more close to the older Marseilles, with the second Pierrick wanted to create a deck 'as they arise in the imagination of the person who designs, just before they are embodied' the result is a quite psychedelic deck.

All 3 versions are limited edition major only decks and are availlable at the artists eBay shop here

The artists home page is here but for the moment only the 2 last decks are not yet mentioned in the English version only in the French.

Silver Era Tarot

It's not only rare or Out-Of-Print decks that get my attention or a place in my collection, and some 'big or mid-seized' publishers also produce interesting decks both on the content as from the artistic point. Schiffer Books is a relatively new player on the tarot market but has already earned a lot of good publicity with their good quality decks and broad spectrum of styles in their catalogue. The Silver Era Tarot is one of their latest publications and despite being a classical Waite-Coleman based deck it has some nice differences with it and more important a real personality.

The artist behind the deck Aunia Kahn used black and white photographs with only a bit of color to accentuate elements and details but all with much restraint, giving it an feeling similar to the images from our great grand parents (well if they posed for a tarot deck it would be). The result is both elegant, romantic and gothic.

The artist website is here
And you can get them at Tarot Garden

I 22 Grandi Trionfi Di Mauro Capitani

There those decks that can stay for ages on your wanting list, because they are rare, or because they are really expensive and there are those that are both. One of these is this deck, in the last 10 years I only saw one for sale online and it went quite high.

So when I discovered end April that the artist released 13 years after the original publication, and after much demand by collectors who contacted him, a limited number of 24 copies from uncut sheets and test prints and made these available exclusively through Alida my collectors heart jumped up in my chest and made my blood pressure soar sky high (what for me is rare) – that much I had to check a few times to see if I saw correctly.

I jumped up, grabbed my VISA – stopped to think and ponder off course (this is no small sum of money after all) and finally bought them! And as with all my deck with no regret at all they are sublime, not a readers deck, not for meditation but purely for the die-hard collector and tarot-art lover, but those who count themselves to this last category and can afford it do it, you won’t regret it. They are bold magnificently looking and BIG at 241x154mm and printed on some heavy cardboard.

Le Tarot de l'Etoile

Big, very dense and yes also weird could be a way to describe this true find - and one i'm very proud of having in my collection a new treasure to add to my ever growing collection.

This majors only deck was printed in 1979 in Paris in a limited edition of 303 decks by the Mouvement Nouvelle Civilisation a French esoteric organization and comes in a nice wooden wooden hinged box with a bronzed Egyptian symbol nailed onto it as it's title on a paper sticker - the cards have the look and feeling of meditation or study cards with has the effect of not always giving the most esoteric result but intriguing it sure is!
The deck is populated by Amazon-figures, who populate almost each card, and filled with Hebrew letters and other esoteric symbols.The Tarot de l'Etoile has a very unique look that sets it apart from all others often if not always departing radically from set images.

Tarot Marselles by Alejandra Coirini

I love doing these little discoveries, decks or artists no one has heard off before, makes me fee like one of these explores from times gone by, there are no new countries to discover yet decks there are always and this Argentinian deck certainly was a real find!

There is something fresh to artist who come from 'outside' the tarot world, but decide to study the tarot as yet another way to express themselves, a hook on witch they can hang their art on. Miss Coirini apparently has been working for quite some years now within the tarot structures, studying it, by herself and through interactions with other tarot students the result of this being a deck that not only look nice to the eye but also has meat on it bones, enough even to be a workable deck.
The deck she used as a starting point is the 'Tarot de Marseille' and knowing my fondness for the neo-Marseilles I just had to have one! The result looks far very far even from the classic TdM, and will surely horrify the Marseilles-purists among us but yet it also feels right in a way, and who am I to contradict the artist when she calls her deck 'Marseilles' anyway (for me it's close enough to be counted). Elegant balanced and through the techniques used by the artist this deck has character in the most positive way of the word.

The deck is handmade and laminated (so you can manipulate it without fear of damaging it), provided with it's own individually decorated box and although they where not really cheap, but then what hand-produced piece of art is..., so in order to spread out the cost i've first got the majors and some time later the minors (Miss Coirini sells her Tarot Marseilles in both a 78-cards version or as majors and minors separately)
The artists website is here where you can admire har tarot and other works

Tarot of the Red Jester

I do love Beth Seilonen's decks they breath such a cheer and light hearted atmosphere a what the French would call "Joie de vivre", and who said tarot has to be all serious dark broody and heavily mysterious? Well certainly not me, tarot can be dark symbolically hermetic etc... but it can be also fun and happy and equally be valid!



The latest brainchild (if it's from the brain or from the heart or both...) is the Tarot of the Red Jester, a full 78 cards deck and expansion of one of her very first decks, a fun simple, but not simplistic remake of the WCS-standard but seen through the Red Jesters eyes. No dark or frightening images, even death looks cute while juggling skulls (great deck for readings with children i would say...). There are also, for those who know Beth other work, some returning themes/figures like the Tree Spirits (who now get their own suit even (wands have been renamed Tree Spirits, Pentacles became Spheres). All in all a nice little deck without any pretension, that exists in 2 versions one with and one without key-phrases. This deck (and her others) can be seen at her homepage here