Customer Reviews

Arcus Arcanum Tarot Deck

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4 star:		(2)
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Arcus Arcanum Tarot a rare deck, not only in that it is hard to find, but also rare in its style: the bold, masculine energy that is not found as often as the feminine or gender-neutral decks, of which there are dozens readily available. Yet, it is not only bold, but subtle, beautiful, and clear in form and meaning. The first glance is deceptive - leaving the impression of a caricature of only the most obvious meanings, yet when one looks deeper, really studies and meditates on the images, the plethora of nuances stand forward. The coloring is truly masterful.

There is a significant Nordic feel to the deck as well. `The Chariot', for instance, features a figure resembling Thor in a chariot pulled by two goats... `The Three of Cups' displays a man standing between two women, all three holding large golden goblets, and both woman looking towards the man, obviously highly entertained by a story he is relating... but there is also the undercurrent of loving feelings between the three people, as in close friends... it could be a celebratory reunion after returning from a Viking trip. `The Wheel' might seem simplistic at first, featuring three white-clad blonde women around a wooden wheel, but it is reminiscent of the three fates, and the wheel a spinning wheel, on which the threads of life are spun before being woven into the tapestry of time.

The backs of the cards are not reversible, which I find to be a minor detracting point, but only minor. I was lucky to find a twenty-year-old deck in nearly new condition, and I can guarantee I won't be letting it go. You can check out plenty of card images by doing a google image search for `Arcus Arcanum'.

The Arcus Arcanum deck is worth the effort to find. The fact that it does take a bit more effort to find would suggest that this deck will most likely end up with those who it truly fits. But who knows, it might be re-printed again some day.

I personally know several people who read using this deck,all of whom get excellent readings from it. The style of the artwork is that of the Prince Valiant-type comic books. Hansrudi Wascher is an internationally known comic book artist, and under the direction of Gunter Hager, an expert in tarot and occult systems, he crafted a terrific deck with a lot of visual interest. These cards seem to especially appeal to men, which makes a nice change from all the "feminist" or "women's spirituality" offerings out there. It is nice to see something with a more masculine appeal, while not completely turning away any feminine readers. Overall, this is an excellent deck, and I highly recommend it, especially for men and for those who wish to escape the "feminist" styles which are so prevalent today.

I was fortunate to find this deck used on E-Bay in the Russian language. I am familiar with the alphabet, but dont ask me to translate them! The cards are very thin and smaller than I expected. I dont think I will read for others with this particular deck.

As for the deck itself, I really like its fantasy-like quality! It feels like Prince Valiant or some other grown-up legend. The colors are vibrant, with soft imagery. Very nice in artistic execution. The intention of the artists was to take the "occult symbols" out of the cards. This is done for the most part. The trumps and suits are occult in their own right. This is hard to do, considering the history of modern tarot. The least occult would be to revert back to the Marseille version.

There are Northern mythology references on various cards.The backs are blue and not meant for reversals. The cards reinvent occultism in their own way. The mysterious arc on the Magician repeats itself on the Sun. These are nice features of the deck. Hence its name-sake "bow of mysteries".

The court cards and minors are all handsome and for the most part, loyal to traditional Rider-Waite symbology. I found it easy to figure out without instructions. This may be a problem to many, as most booklets are in continental European languages. Mine is in Russian. This is the only problem with the deck, So it doesnt count! Language should not be a barrier to a good tarot reader.

Unfortuantely, this deck has gone out of print in American distribution. One must try to obtain it through international cardsellers or pick a copy of it up when travelling on the continent. It is worth the effort.

This deck is becoming increasingly hard to find in the States. You never were assured of walking into a local shop and finding it crowded behind the Dragon or Crowley deck, but sometimes you could get lucky; but even that's not the case anymore. I really can't comment about the masculine appeal of this deck (refer to previous review) other than that I'm male and this is the deck I'm most comfortable reading with. Now I just wish they'd make the companion book available to us Yanks.

I had no plans to write a review for this deck. However, I've been using it for a few years, and I'm always surprised to find it described as a masculine deck. Once someone pointed out the comic book style of the cards, I could see what they meant. However, I was never a comic book reader, and I am not a male. I am a woman who tends to prefer feminine things (although not always traditionally feminine). It doesn't feel masculine to me, but it also doesn't feel feminine to me.

I was drawn to this deck because the cards seem to have different interpretations than some of the other decks I've used. I was trained using the Morgan-Greer deck, and I was having problems because the readings only used positive aspects of what was happening in a person's life, so I went shopping for something in the Rider-Waite style that wasn't going to cause the same problems for me. This deck was what I found.

Most Tarot cards are open to a myriad of interpretations (my personal experience is only in the Rider-Waite style of cards, and I avoid the ones that just show a number and the element). This deck is, of course, also open to interpretation. I was particularly drawn to this deck because of the Lovers card. The picture is of two lovers on a path with three possible directions they can take. They are together on one leg of the path, one leg of the path has another woman, and another leg of the path has another man. It so clearly illustrates the choice of love that I fell for the deck after seeing that one card. After getting to know the rest of the deck, I found that many of the cards were like that - they held many of the standard interpretations, but they also offered something more than I'd noted in other decks.

This is a great deck. It might be a deck that more men are drawn to, and it might be seen as having a more "masculine" style, but it's a great deck for anyone who feels drawn to the images.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of the amazing Arcus Arcanum tarot in English.

What an amazing tarot! I feel those who would best relate to this tarot would be those who grew up in the 60s reading comic books from that era. LOVE it! I was a kid holed up in my room (not always, but definitely when I got a new comic!) with a stack of cherished comic books and a vivid imagination. I read into all of those small images and created entire worlds in my mind. Some were sci-fi tales, others horror, all were amazing! (Those were my favorite genres of comic books.)

IF one literally does have a background of reading 60s comics, especially if you were born and raised in the 50s or 60s, you will totally GET this tarot.

If one is younger and was not around during that timeframe, I can't say for sure if you will appreciate the artwork at the same level. Comics were all hand-drawn, and hand-colored. You had to use your imagination when staring at the images.

I have heard some tarot enthusiasts say these figures look "alike" or that they look like they have "mean" expressions on their faces. I would have to totally disagree. They are in line with comic books from that period. One should be a fan of comic book art to appreciate this tarot.

And the pips! The Minors! How clever! They have arranged the suit elements, be they Cups, Wands, Pentacles, Swords, as though they were on an unillustrated pips card, then added in figures and scenes surrounding the strict placement of the suit elements. The result is very unique. I find most very readable as well. A few are not RWS-based, or at least I had to consult the LWB, which is a useful addition to this deck as it was written with this deck in mind.

While some may argue the pips are essentially unillustrated, I would beg to differ. They DO take getting used to. The Two of Swords does show a stalemate, an impasse. Both the man and woman have their hands on the two swords, even though the swords themselves are not crossed as they are in a traditional RWS card. There is water behind them, which indicates blocked emotions. The archway in many cards has its own symbolism which one can read about in the LWB.

I am so glad I discovered this one while it is still (barely) able to be found. It is printed by AG Muller so the card stock is crisp, slightly slick, with a silky matte finish.

Querents may not pick this one, but I will read with it.

My only wish is that the cards -- while they *are* standard size -- were a bit oversized, so that one could more easily see the lush artwork. The Wheel is one of the nicest Wheels I have ever seen. Death is also wonderful. The Fool is comically about to trip over a black cat. The Tower is fantastic.

I highly recommend acquiring this tarot if one is a fan of comic book art. I do wish the cards were larger, but I still highly recommend it.