Customer Reviews

The Black Tarot Deck By Luis Royo

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Card size and consequent image size is almost unusable. Minor Arcana suit cards are without imagery. Images used for the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana court cards bear little relation, if any traditional Tarot symbology. I found it useless as an actual Tarot deck.

Upon opening this tarot deck, I could immediately appreciate the smaller card size. I have small hands and oversized decks are difficult for me to shuffle and manipulate. I have always been a fan of Luis Royo's artwork and it is nicely presented in these cards. There are plenty of buxom nude women, wielding swords and slaughtering hordes of enemies to satisfy anyone who enjoys dark fantasy/sci-fi artwork. I found the pips (the numbered minor arcana cards) to be somewhat disappointing. The main theme is on the Ace of each suit and repeated for each of the pips. I would not recommend this deck to someone just learning to read the tarot as the traditional symbolism of the major arcana is obscured by the theme of each card's artwork - it is also female-form heavy, males being primarily demons or beastlike figures. All in all it makes a great addition to any collection of art-based Tarot or Heavy Metal comic books, and priced at around $20, it is not out of bounds for typical tarot decks.

This deck features the stunningly beautiful dark art work of Luis Royo. I picked up my copy of this deck almost 10 years ago at a comic shop in Santa Monica, CA. The major arcana imagery is comparable to most average decks, but the art on the minor arcana is primarily just art. It will not give you insight into meaning unless you already know your way around a deck of Tarot cards. There is a small booklet with some info about card meanings, but it's small and hard to read. I personally use The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tarot (First Edition) to help me read my spreads anyway. If you want something special and different, and have an existing understanding of Tarot reading, I highly recommend this deck of cards.