Customer Reviews

The Egyptian Tarot kit

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The translation of this book to the art in the deck is very well-done. Berti gives an intriguing and brief presentation and of the revolutionary times surrounding Emporer Napolean III. The attraction of the revelational thinking of "Paul Christian" is augmented with some interesting engravings and the illustrations of Sylvana Alasia did for the Egyptian Tarot deck.

Paul Christian's fictional storytelling of the 22 pathways to initiation has fascinated romantics ever since his 1863 astrological text and 1871 history of magic. Berti puts the stories in context, He points out the true magical allegories of the imagination with Paul Christian's summary of the 22 steps. The book's illustrations include a line drawing of the majors by Maurice Otto Wegnar next to each major trump card that Silvana Alasia drew for the Lo Scarabeo deck.

Tiberio Gonard describes the minors and some fascinating layouts, suggestions and some observations related to Paul Christian's methods.

The book as a whole is a friendly companion to the interested collector who is curious why Egyptian revival and romanticism seized popular imagination and influenced card designs. Sylvana Alasia's deck pays tribute to Egyptian designs in a pretty way.

I recommend the book and deck if you like the Marseilles ordering, (Justice is eight and Strength is eleven), pips with a small scenic element and find the Egyptian style a refreshing art theme. Of all my Egyptian decks, I find this a nice blend of learning and inspirational for storytelling. I also think the book gives a fun tribute to an interesting period of Western humanities and history.

This is a beautiful yet strange deck of cards for anyone who loves the Tarots. They are certainly not cards with which a novice should learn, but for anyone who already has a solid foundation of working with the cards of a more traditional deck, these provide an intriguing alternative with a decidely different spin. They lend themselves very easily to questions and readings of a more spiritual nature, thus they are less flexible in psychological or material readings. For either the collector or a reader who desires a deck on a more philosophical, spiritual plane, they are ideal. The artwork is professional & competent, if at times a bit unclear & not quite 100% in sync with the accompanying book. On the whole, a very good acquisition.

As a long-time tarot card reader, I've collected quite a few decks. However, there are none I like as well as this one. Among the best I own are DruidCraft--but at times it feels a bit too "lite"--I can almost see the bluebirds circling. At the extreme other end is the "Gothic" tarot deck--beautiful artwork, but alas--a bit too "dark" when used for reading. This Egyptian deck, however...just hits the spot. Not really for beginners, but they COULD try it--it comes with a little booklet and also the bigger, more detailed book. It's the spreads that aren't so simple--I even have had to take my time and really study them. However, any spread at all that you already know can be used for these cards, as is true with any deck, really. I have great success with even just a simple "Question/Answer/Karmic Lesson" spread. The Gods of Egypt seem to have a perfect balance, neither too dark or too light, but just right-- and the cards offer both the "positive" and "negative" aspects of each card--which for an intuitive reader works just great. Maybe it is the fact this deck uses the Old Gods, is why it seems to give me such uncannily accurate readings. I have far from mastered it yet, especially the spreads--or the cards themselves (but the more you use this deck, the more you remember--still, NOT probably a good deck for a beginner). However, if you are a bit experienced with tarot, and want a deck that, like the Goddess Ma'at holding the scales, seems to have an innate sense of balance--and that has a very powerful "feel" to it--this is the deck. I bought the cheapest set I could--but I'd have paid full-price if I had had no other choice....in any case, this is a good deck to have in your collection--also, it seems to "resonate well" with people I have done readings for...they also sense its power.

Personally I rarely use this deck as it lacks scenery in the minor and the major contains so much different symbols I myself cannot feel a strong connection with. This is an art deck for me.

When I use it for reading, maybe because of the different images, which reminded me with a exotic feeling I am not familiar with, I feel very strange indeed. The reading often gives a very exotic, distance feeling to me.

I like tarot deck with black borders. They give me a focused concentration on the pictures, and I often notice things I havnt notice before during readings. And the atmosphere will be more serious. Osho Zen and Russian Tarot of St Petersburg are all good. This is the main reason I bought this deck.

I guess I am not suitable to use this deck. I wish I could have bought the book. It would certainly help me to transfer to this totally different system. It would help a lot. This is not a bad tarot deck, I just cannot really connect to it.

Lo Scarabeo produces two types of tarot decks. The first is innovative and has enduring value because of the deck creators' in-depth knowledge of tarot. The second are the art decks conceived to capture as many niche segments of the tarot market as possible. Vampiric, Gothic, Greek, Etruscan, Erotic, Forest Gnomes, you get the idea...

This Egyptian deck belongs to the second category. There's no doubting its beauty. The art is tempera paint on papyrus and evokes the authentic look of ancient egyptian scrolls. And the monochrome back design is wonderful. Unfortunately the designer offers no refreshingly new insights into the Tarot archetypes. The pip cards are non-scenic but include random egyptian artefacts and animals thrown in the background. However, they are not arranged to depict the meaning of the pip, unlike a Thoth-styled deck, and they just look flat and cluttered. The same goes for the Trumps. Trump XV is quite laughable - the creature drawn to depict the Devil looks like a fat, bright green, winged crocodile that just stepped off a kid's cartoon! You will not see an animal like that on the walls of Egypt's pyramid tombs.

The astrological glyphs given to several of the Trumps fly in the face of the widely-accepted attributions assigned in the great esoteric decks. Lovers-Taurus, Justice-Cancer, Hermit-Leo, Wheel-Virgo, Sun-Pisces? It's a mess. Also, the Knights and Knaves are unimaginatively drawn and indistinct. Each group shares same pose, the only difference being the depicted symbol of their elemental suit. I see this as a contrived short-cut taken during the deck's creation.

Personally I found it to be an unresponsive divinatory tool. This deck's value resides in its art-style. On that grounds, it is a justifiable purchase for any tarotist seeking to expand his collection of art decks. In its favour the paperstock is good, shuffles well and the accompanying book is worth the read.