Customer Reviews

Afro-Brazilian Tarot (English and Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a psychic reader and normaly use Fortune Telling or Divination Cards to read. One of my friend gave me a deck of these cards as a present as she knows that I am initiated into an Afro-Brazilian Tradition.

The images on these card are beautiful, as are the associations between Orixas and the images of the Mayor Arcana. The Emperor is depicted as Ogum, The Devil as Exu, The Moon shows the Orixa Obba...amazingly beautifull cards!

What I find difficult however is to look at the Orixas depicted on these cards and to interprete the cards according to Tarot Meanings. There is so much more to the orixa Obba then to the card that she is associated with - The Moon. Iemanja has so much more to say then The High Priestess and Orunmila's message is by far deeper then The World (the card he is associated with)...

As a practitioner and initiate of Afro-Brazilian religion I have to remind myself that this is not an Orixa/Orisha divination tool, but simply a cute tarot deck. Orixa does not speak through these cards!

What anoyes me most however is the ignoranze of the publisher! There is no such thing as "Afro-Brazilian Santeria"! Its either called Candomble, Umbanda or - if you want to use slang - Macumba. But I guess marketing reasons forbid the use of the correct terminology!?

This deck has beautiful images but as the 1st reviewer says, it is difficult to use the traditional meaning of the deck with the images of the Orisha. However, because Tarot is supposed to be an intuitive tool, I use my intuition when interpreting the card's meaning. I absolutely believe and have experienced that the Orisha, God and any other aspect of Spirit will speak through anything that you are receptive to including this deck. I am just grateful to begin to see decks with people of color and they are so beautiful. The publisher of this deck also just put out an African American Tarot deck with great images as well. You can see my review of that deck on its page.

i bought this deck cause i am interested in the afro carribean religions, like voodoo, santaria, cantomblé. the first thing i noticed was indeed the afro-brazilian-santaria deck. that made me think. then the cards. i somehow like and dislike the pictures. sometimes it reminds me too much of the fantasy comics i have read. the drawings of the knights totally make no sense. the fool is the worst card. you see chango raging to war.

i can do nothing with the minor arcana. i sometimes think it is just the number and color of the card, with some nice illustration, but that the illustration has nothing to do with the card itself. (this is very black white) and the dark choice of backgroundcolors, does it want to indicate the afro-brazilian-santaria is a dark religion. and then dark in the sense of slightly evil?

i own an orisha deck, a new orleans voodoo deck and a lukumi deck. those ones are exciting to work with. especially the lukumi deck is very beautiful and very useful. there the major and minor arcana cards are well chosen. there the choice of the orisha on the minor cards make sense. no fantasy knights in shining armour.

i sometimes try working with the deck. but this one doesnt work for me. for those who are seeking for an deck with orisha's i can recommand the lukumi deck.

I like this deck for a few Reasons.
its the only deck that communicates with me i tried the Rider deck
and many others.The are work is Truly Viberent and Pops out of the cards
I gave them a (5).Because they work for me not all will have the same
experience. It also helps to have some Knowledge of Afro-Brazilian Spirituality Such as Umbanda or Candomble you might then have some
luck I normally don't post reviews because of the bashing and Flaming
i see on here. Truth be that because one Person see's Functionality,
Success,and give it 5 stars.Then the other person does not like it
so be it that's there Opinion ADVICE TRY IT FOR YOUR SELF Form Your
Own Thoughts Then write a review on your own thoughts

I was SO extremely disappointed with this Tarot deck. The symbology is superficial at best. Although it appears to represent the Orisha/Orixa in the images, the deck does not carry common themes throughout that are well recognized and understood to me as a practitioner of traditional african spiritual practices for almost 20 years.

I purchased this deck because I was drawn to the gorgeous artwork. I am also familiar with Candomblé, and it was nice to find something orixa-related that was Brazilian.

However, I have some issues with the deck. I like a little more information with my book. I've read Tarot for over ten years, but every deck is different, and there is no explanation given for the imagery in the Minor Arcana, only divinatory meanings. Even the information on the Major Arcana is very slim, and for someone not well versed in Orixa religion it may be confusing. Despite having familiarity with Afro-Caribbean religions, I still feel like I am "missing something in translation" because there are no explanations of the illustrations to the Minor Arcana cards.

There are so many Orixa that one could not depict all of them in one deck; however, I felt that the same Orixa were repeated and more could have been included - there is only one card depicting Yewa(as far as I can tell - again, help with the Minor Arcana would have been good!), and it would have been nice to see Logunede. The Knights in this deck are not Orixa or priest/esses - they are shadowy figures fighting dragons, and they are incredibly anomalous.

I was so excited about this deck but I have to admit that I was a little let down when I received it. The artist is so talented and the subject matter is so beautiful, and I feel that this deck could have been so much more majestic than it turned out to be.

The deck is so pretty that I can't even bare to cut the deck! I might have to order another set just for everyday use.