Review by Matt Douglas
First off, I must start this review with one
small disappointment, the pip cards, twos to tens. The pips are not elaborately illustrated, and are
nothing more than than many of that suit. While the swords
look like they could cleave heads, the wands look like
the legs of a kitchen chair. The traditional cups are,
in this deck, to as chalices, and are
acually pictured as bowls with water rising from them like
flame. Despite the simplicity, I do find this interesting
as it seems to combine fire and water, representing
the more stormy side of the emotions. The pentacle is
a rock-carved skull that you'd expect to see in an
ancient underground tomb from some Indiana Jones
knock-off. On some pentacle cards (if it's a small number,
thus allowing for the pentacles themselves to be
larger), we see a women bearing herself in front of said
skull, representing a pride in the beauty of the human
body.
At least, the little booklet that comes with the
deck offers some poetic interpretations. Examples are
"Nine of Swords: Tears. The embarassment of .
Empty thoughts." "Six of Pentacles: Generosity,
goodness. The honey of the shadows. The nectar on the fruits
of the skin. The juice of the apple."l, and "Eight of
Chalices: On the planet of the giants lost in a sea of
words. In a sea where thoughts are only found in the
depths."
Now onto the cards y'all really want to know
about, the Court cards and Major Arcana illustrated by
fantasy artist Luis Royo. The artwork on the cards you
have not yet seen samples of is every bit as darkly
beautiful as what you've seen in the already noted samples.
Granted, the cards were smaller than I expected, but it an
odd sort of way that makes me appreciate the intricate
details all the more.
Early on in the booklet it says, "Do
not get involved with this Tarot if you only want to
know about the good things and guess about exterior and
material events. The Black Tarot forms a symbolic group of
the darkest side, so that the own 'self' and its
demons emerge. the Beauty and the Beast [and it isn't
talkin about the Disney movie] which we carry inside."
Indeed the warning could not be more accurate. I have so
far only done two readings (for others) with this
deck. In one, doors were opened that the poor querent did
not want to look at much less walk through (and yes, I
gave her the booklet's warning first), and I picked up
the cards and gave her another reading with a
different deck. Some people just aren't ready to move on from
denial yet.
The other reading went quite well. while I
was using a full Celtic-cross spread, the most
interesting part of the reading came from the Hierophant in
position 8 (influence of family and friends). This
Hierophant card shows a ghoulish vampire with huge wings
standing behind a beautiful woman. Both with their
left hands are concealing her genitalia. It turned out
that he (the young querent) was very curious about
sexuality, but his family wouldn't really talk
with him about it, and would basically tell him it
was bad and not to think about it. While his family I'm
sure had the best and kindest of
intentions, the feelings and impulses were not going to just go
away and he seemed quite confused. Using the card
symbolism, I as able to encourage him to find counsellors to
talk with about it, and I let him jnow that there is
always info available at the public library (but to be
careful to find honest, reputable sources). I hope he
pursues these avenues; as the card indicates, the
beastliness is really in the cover-up.
My two favorite
are The Fool and the Hanged Man. The Fool shows a
batlike clawed humanoid coming up behind a beautiful young
woman. He holds a mirrors in front of her. Despite the
fact that its him looking into the mirror (and it is
angled back towards him), it is the woman's face that
appears in the mirror. The Hanged Man shows a muscular
ghoul lying down in a sewer, arms at his side. A
minimully clothed woman appear to be "riding"" him, and his
face at first seems in ecstasy. Upon closer inspection,
she's too far in the foreground and his sitting on his
solar plexus, and his facial expression is one of agony
as if his arms are for some reason paralyzed and he
cannot reach out to embrace her. I find this very
symbolic of greatly wanting something and yet knowing you
just can't have it.
Overall, this is a most interesting deck. Despite the obvious sexism of the
artwork, I recommend this deck only for those who are
serious about Tarot. Any Tarot book will tell you that
tarot is a tool that must be used well and this deck is
no exception.
Overall, I highly recommend this deck and give 4 out of 5
stars.
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