Customer Reviews

Bruegel Tarot

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This deck, based on the work of 16th century Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel, is full of rowdy, rollicking peasants and strange proverbs. There is often so much going on in the background that one could nearly call it the "Where's Waldo?" of Tarot decks. There are some lovely things about it, however. I thought that the artist did a very good job capturing the spirit of Bruegel's work, which was generally quite complex. And I love the way that the peasants are robust and very "real." The point of this deck is not to paint a pretty, or idealized image of late medieval life. Here we see everything from the brawling to the drunk, to the mad. Yet, there is a lovely earthy quality to it all and the life depicted on these cards is rather rich and filled with loaves of freshly baked bread, jugs of wine, and pints of beer. Unfortunately, it's also filled with quite complicated symbolism. I find myself squinting at the pictures trying in vain to figure out what has just happened in the scene depicted or what some extremely bizarre image means. People wear beehives on their heads or sprout wings from their ankles, eyeballs with legs dash through the corner of the picture and I can't seem to find a meaning for any of it. That, in itself is rather frustrating, but added to that is the frustration that the small booklet that comes with it only offers vague proverbs as an explanation. All in all, these cards are good if you're a collector of art tarot, a fan of Bruegel's work, or a medieval enthusiast. However, their obscure symbols make them very difficult to deal with in a reading. I would definitely caution beginners to stay away.

I agree with the other reviewer. I collect card sets for the art work and this one is unique, if not weird and bizarre. It's near impossible to figure out what is going on within each image. Worth having as an art deck, but in my opinion pretty much impossible to read.