Customer Reviews

Circle of Life Tarot Deluxe

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

 

 

I have always thought that round tarot cards were a great idea, but
> have never found a round deck that I wanted to read with. The have
> always seemed gimmicky, rather than inspirational. Now I have found
> the Circle of Life Tarot and I am inspired. This is a round deck,
> but it is much more than just a set of round cards. Painting in the
> round is different from painting with straight sides. The images
> tend to wiggle around and the balance is completely different. The
> circle of life uses the shape of the cards to add to the
> composition. Each card is a watercolor painting with magical
> creatures and animals. There is a learning curve with this deck
> because the images are, while still illustrating the steps of the
> tarot, very creative and different. The court cards are especially
> wonderful. The Queen of Swords rides atop snowy white owl over a
> landscape of cracked ice. The sky is gray and filled with wonderful
> watercolor washes and techniques. The Knight of Wands rides atop a
> winged horse-like unicorn creature through a volcanic landscape. The
> Spotting on the steed's back is echoed on the human figure, she
> faces back, as does the unicorn, holding her arms out as if making
> an incantation. Between her palms is a small fire and her headdress
> is a huge snake. All of the images curl and turn around the shape of
> the card. The unicorn's neck is long and curved, as is his tail and
> the shape of the wings. The King of Pentacles wears an eagle cape.
> He is sitting in a nest of green grass and his head is visible
> beneath the eagle's head, surrounded by his long blowing dark hair.
> He holds a stick with feathers attached in either hand. His left
> foot is tucked under him, but the right dangles over the edge of the
> nest and his foot is a gigantic talon. This is one of the things I
> like about these cards, the merging of the animal and human
> elements, he may be a man wearing an eagle cloak, is he an eagle
> holding a man to him, or is he both or something different?
>
> One of my very very favorite cards, although there are so many great
> cards in this deck that it is hard to pick just one, is the Knave
> of Chalices. This Knave is a human woman (maybe) in a scarf and a
> shapeless brown garment and long braids. She carries a large woven
> basket on her back and she is being carried through the sky by blue
> birds holding her feet, her basket and her head with their tiny feet
> as they fly through the air. It is a very unusual and pleasing
> image. I love her intent expression as she gazes forward, and the
> dozens of birds in the sky. It looks like a migration, a journey, an
> exodus, everyone has somewhere important to go.
>
> This is a fun, and inspirational deck. It comes with a beautiful
> turquoise and gold satin bag and a tiny little white book written in
> 5 languages. It is one of the finest decks I have ever seen.

I liked the look of the deck on the page, but when it arrived, it was even better than I expected!

It's rare for a deck to grab me by the senses and just..... draw me in, but this deck did. The colors are intense and rich, but easy on the eyes. I find the images different, but this makes them easier for me to read with an intuitive approach.

I greatly enjoy the style of this deck and would recommend it to someone wanting to experiment with a different approach to Tarot.

Round decks can often be awkward to handle, but because this one is a bit larger, it is very comfortable. This is one of an all too rare unique deck. Imagery is inventive although does not seem to fit what the card usually depicts,in some cases,but the more you study it ,it brings fresh information. I am fascinated and recommend it!!

Received this as a gift and I couldn't be more pleased. Quality packaging, bag and cards. I love that each card, including the minor arcana, is a little piece of art. Although I couldn't be more pleased with the deck and look forward to using it, and therefore gave it 5 stars, I do want to point out what some people might consider negatives.

First there is inconsistency between the characters and the colorings - some characters are robust and fantasy of one genre, others slim and egyptian looking. Some cards are richly colored - others are pale and feel more like watercolor. I think some people might find this a drawback. Second the cards, while beautiful, are lacking in symbolism imagery which again, I think some readers might find to be a minus. Finally some card treatments are not traditional. Others are, and yet others I feel are a better illustration of the spirit of that card.

However if like me you are drawn to a round deck, and like a little bit of a fantasy and shamanistic treatment to your deck, I think you won't go wrong purchasing this. Great value.

A very nice deck, filled with fairies and fantasy creatures. Many cards are similar to tradition RWS, but there are quite a few different, 60/40 in my opinion. The majors are the most impressive. Definitely a collectible.

I simply love this deck, it's new & fresh, but also arcane and complicated. You`ll love it for personal guiding, although I wouldn't recommend it for traditional reading to others, for this characters do not respond to traditional tarot archetypes, it's almost like they refuse to answer petty trivial questions. It somehow reminds me of the Faeries Oracle by Brian Froud which I also own and love the same way. What I tried successfully with this deck is using it as a companion to my traditional one when I'm reading to others, it gives me different and new lines for interpretation that I have to choose very carefully whether to share it or not with my consultants. All in all a deck you must own!!

"Round Tarots were used to emphasize the concept of cyclicity that then evokes the concept of life. The cards, which are no longer limited to a geometry that establishes right side up or inverted figures, force the eye to focus on the centre of the figures, and therefore better understand the symbols and meanings to which they allude." - From the Circle of Life Tarot LWB

Egg and sphere, wheel and coin, circles embody the idea of containment and continuity. Through solar disks, halos and mandalas, the circle also symbolizes Divinity--the paradoxical essence of both everything and nothing. According to the L(ittle) W(hite) B(ook) of the Circle of Life Tarot, "the concave side of curves evokes feminine nature and reminds man of the nurturing protection of his mother's womb" while the convex part "evokes the concept of growth and power represented by the nature of the male."

While linked to the illusion of beginning and endings, the circular form also connects to fate and destiny--limitation and limitlessness--in mystical traditions. In his new book Transforming Fate into Destiny, author Robert Ohotto notes "that it's in honoring your Divinely designed circumference that you'll find your center, and through this that you can change the world."

It is in this spirit that the Lo Scarabeo team has created a new rounded deck, the Circle of Life Tarot. Some individuals enjoy the rare rounded deck because it takes reversals out of the reading equation, while others enjoy the shape from an aesthetic standpoint. Like other Lo Scarabeo decks, this one also features the card name in six languages.

Insectile creatures, toothy amphibians, bat-winged humanoids, hybrid animals and other strange beings populate the Circle of Life Tarot. Many of the whimsical images flow along the confines of a circular border, rendering an unusually fresh vantage point not found in most traditional rectangular decks.

The Circle of Life Tarot cards are approximately 4 ¼ inches wide with a golden reversible motif on the back. The Deluxe Edition comes with a lovely aquamarine satin pouch with a bright gold sun symbol on front. The interior is also gold satin, as are the tassels at the end of the black satin drawstrings. (The only thing separating the deck-only version from the Deluxe Edition is the sunlight satin bag.)

Many of the illustrations from the Circle of Life Tarot invite contemplation and stimulate speculation (who is the man in the 9 of Wands--and what's on the ribbony paper he's so closely inspecting? And why in the world would he have nine lit candles melting on the brim of his hat? The tiny woman in the 7 of Pentacles sitting among six colored eggs--what does she hope to catch with her beetle-baited fishing pole?), while others are just plain perplexing. What am I looking at? What could it mean?

Those who enjoy fanciful decks (e.g. fairies, elves and fantastical creatures) will likely have a predilection for the Circle of Life Tarot, as would collectors yearning for a circular deck. In my opinion, such an unusual deck begs for a full-length book rather than the fortune cookie phrases disguised as card "meanings" in the sparse LWB. I feel that Lo Scarabeo missed a great opportunity for adding a more universally appealing circular deck to the marketplace, unless they plan to produce more in the future.

(To see 13 card images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)