Golden Tarot Deck [Box set] [Cards]

Kat Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

Comprised of collage imagery from the European masters paintings, these Tarot cards pay tribute to artwork of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance celebrating the exploration of tarot and its artistic heritage.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Golden Tarot has been collaged completely from artwork of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.

From a time of violence, pestilence and oppression came poignant images of gentle beauty and human frailty.

They speak to me of a truth that is timeless, and hope that flowers even in the darkest conditions. I hope that they also speak to you.

- Kat Black, artist/author of Golden Tarot.

About the Author

Kat Black is an author, artist and webmaster. She lives in Australia.

Product Details

• Cards: 198 pages
• Publisher: United States Games Systems; 1st edition (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572814349
• ISBN-13: 978-1572814349
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 3.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Tarot
  • #91 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult

More About the Author

Kat Black has been an artist and performer for over twenty years using a wide variety of media. She exhibited as a painter before moving into digital art forms. Her main art forms are currently video performance and digital collage. Her first commercial tarot deck, Golden Tarot, was released in 2004.

Kat was born and currently resides in Australia, although she has also lived in the US and the UK. She is married to Jasper Cook, who is also her partner in live video performance as VJzoo.

As a collagist, Kat's style is to integrate the original elements as seamlessly as possible to make the works look whole. With Toucshtone, only those familiar with the original art are likely to realize that the card designs are composites.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Deck With Gilded Edging, April 8, 2004

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Radio Host" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Golden Tarot Deck (Cards)

"Golden Tarot is a compilatioin of collages from artwork of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Poignant images of gentle beauty and human frailty came from a time of violence, pestilence, and oppression. These images speak to me of a truth that is timeless, and hope that flowers even in the darkest conditions. It is my hope that they speak to you as well." -- Kat Black, creator of The Golden Tarot.

I have never been drawn to traditional Tarot decks, especially those fashioned after the Rider-Waite. Rather, I tend to go for the funky, the symbolic, and the high tech. One of the reasons for my preference is because modern life seems so far removed from the period in which traditional Tarot was created.

So I wasn't sure what to expect from Kat Black's Golden Tarot. I knew nothing about the deck, other than people were giving it high praise. When I opened the sturdy box with the lid that comes off the top, I was intrigued that therein was a deck with gilded edges. Remmeber your Grandmother's Bible? The one who's pages shined so brightly when closed? This luxurious deck has that same gilt edging. The cards follows traditional Tarot, with 78 cards total. The Minor Arcana is fully illlustrated like the Majors. The images are printed on heavy cardboard with a matte golden border. The back is a tapestry of subdued shades of camel and rust. You can't tell from the backs if a card is upright or reversed.

The most unsual aspect of Golden Tarot is that deck creator Kat Black has digitally collaged images from various lesser-known paintings from a period she calls International Gothic. This period of time, 1200-1500 A.D., evolved into the Reniassance. She deliberately avoided using art by well-known artists such as da Vinci and Michelangelo, and most of the paintings used for the deck are hanging in European churches. (A sight that most of us will never see!)

The collaged images are so seamless, that I didn't know I was looking at a digitally collaged deck until I read the 200 page bound booklet included in the package. I even showed my artist husband, and he had no idea, either! The images on the cards are truly breathtaking. I feel like I'm looking at a masterpiece with each and every one. I'm sure that Ms. Black intends this deck to actually be read not just admired as an art deck, but they're so gorgeous I'm reluctant to read with them! (So don't expect information on how they read...I'm too busy drooling over the images!)

The high-quality booklet not only contains the standard meanings for the images (upright and reversed), but also Appendices that list every part that was digitally collaged and the painting that it came from. The Hermit is one of the cards that I look at first when checking out a new deck, and its rendering in this deck resonated deeply with me: it's a picture of a gray-bearded St. Francis of Assisi standing in a darkened forest. A deer is at his side, he's holding a latern that gives off little light, and a gray cat is chasing a quail. The man's body and deer, the latern, the forest, the head, quail, and cat all come from different sources. As I mentioned, you cannot tell that this picture is collaged! An amazing technological feat indeed.

Kat Black mentions that this version of the Golden Tarot took 1,500 hours to produce. This deck was originally web-only, but fans of her work urged her to create an actual deck. Tarot enthusiasts and deck collectors alike will be much richer for having Black's breath-taking creation in hand.

(To see 10 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)

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easier than Rider Waite!, March 14, 2004

By 

Gita Ladd (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Golden Tarot Deck (Cards)

This deck is so very beautiful, the box is sturdy, the booklet is a nice size and I really like the interpretations, fresh and yet very intuitive. The card stock is firm, but soon becomes easy to handle, the gold gilt edges are truly luxurious. I must say that I was pretty surprised at how reasonable the price is on this deck. I cannot imagine how this was possible, as this deck and book set seem to be of such high quality. U.S. Games System has really outdone themselves in the production of this lovely deck.

If you want to see the cards and try a free reading with them visit the artists website; goldentarot.com

The artwork on the cards is really gorgeous, I for one did not immediately realize that it is collaged, as each cards imagery is so well integrated. Now a confession, I buy new decks all the time ever searching for that perfect deck which I can actually figure out how to read with. Always there are a few cards which turn me off and send me back to my trusty Rider Waite. This deck is the deck I have been looking for - finally a deck that incorporates the best of RW interpretive imagery, and actually improves on it! If you are comfortable with RW - you will actually find this deck even easier to read with! I never have had such an easy time coming up with interesting insights and more in depth perceptions. Excellent Deck - Highly Reccomended!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning interpretation!, March 25, 2007

By 

Richard K. Kostoff "karmarich" (columbus, oh) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Golden Tarot Deck (Cards)

I was slow on getting around to this deck from 2003. In this sea of Tarot decks, it is difficult to choose. It seems this is the Golden Age of the Tarot! This deck presents the fascinating world of the late middle ages in painting. I could imagine the work involved gathering these images.

They are wonderful and believable. In other words, they look as if they came from this time period. The glow from the gilded edges is superb and I would recommend these cards for beginners, collectors and art history fans!!!