Customer Reviews

The Hermetic Tarot

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The re-printing of this beautiful Tarot deck is utter rubbish. The amazingly intricate drawings of Godfrey Dowson have been blurred and pixilated to an embarrassing degree. Also, the cards themselves were cut irregularly, so no two cards were even uniformly shaped. Seriously, I could go down to Kinkos and make better replications of these cards! In this day and age of technology there is no excuse for blurry pixilation and irregularly cut cards. If you think that you are getting the inspiring original printing of these cards, you will be sadly mistaken.

I've contacted U.S. Games Systems and they have ignored me. I tried to warn customers on their site but they didn't post my review. If I were to speculate, I would think that they are trying to retain the inflated value of the original printing by releasing a disgustingly low quality representation in their latest re-printing at the expense of you, the customer. Buyer beware.

Update: I have posted two pictures which capture the quality issues I mention; one of the poorly clipped corner and one of flagrant pixelation. Please note that this pixelation is not due to my scanner but is an exact replica of the shoddy quality. In the original printing, these lines were razor sharp and clean. They are now a blurry mess. If someone could post a similar picture of VIII, Fortitude, I would be grateful, just to make sure I didn't get a shoddy deck.

Many years ago, I was given a reading with this deck. I was frightened and amazed by what I saw. Sheer Magic in its purest form. This is THE occult tarot deck. More so than the Crowley-Thoth. I thought someday I would like a copy of this precious artifact. I guess I waited too long as it is now out of print. What a shame when the folks at U.S. Games have multiple renditions of the Rider-Waite deck for sale, among others that do not hold any interest to me.

Maybe it is because of the black and white presentation. It could simply be too scary for many! It is no less dark than others on the current market. I really wish someone else would pick up rights to this masterwork and get it back in publication. Or better yet, how about U.S. Games doing so. They are great at what they do. Except holding back this classic and others.

I finally purchased my copy of this deck from the publisher and love it. The LWB presents nothing new here. The deck itself is not ideal for beginners, 12 and older would do best. Astrologically, this system soars! It is also fun to see these images up close. Its possibly the most detailed tarot ever created.

This deck reminds me of Crowley's. Its black and white drawings are crammed with so much symbolism, it can be overwealming at first. But it all becomes very clear with experience. I use this deck for meditative purposes. The little booklet is a bit sparse on interpretive meanings, check out Wang's book on the Golden Dawn deck.

"The tarot is a mirror of reality. Its construction, based on the four elements, the celestial phenomena, the Holy Qabalah, and a very evolved psychology, can lead its devotees to the inner recesses of psychic and intuitive awareness. The tarot itself can be used as the basis of occult study, as it may be said to possess all aspects of the inner wisdom tradition." - From the Little White Book

Complex and stark, the black-and-white images are jam-packed with alchemical, astrological and Qabalistic symbols easily recognized by those familiar with those and other esoteric systems. Revealing many of the workings of the Secret Order of the Golden Dawn, this deck draws heavily upon the work of Mathers, Crowley, Case, Levi and others.

The Hermetic Tarot comes with a 70-page LWB, which is thicker than most, which details astrological attributions for the cards and the numerological correlations of the Minor Arcana with the Tree of Life. The LWB also has a handy chart of elemental and astrological glyphs, as well as an illustration of the Tree of Life. However, Hebrew letters rather than actual card names depict the paths on the Tree.

Upright and reversed meanings are provided, as well detailed explanations for many of the symbolic components of the cards. The various angels connected with the Minors are given, as are the thirty-six decans of the Zodiac. The astrological placements for the Minors appear in the image proper.

Cards measure approximately 4 ¾ x 2 ¾ inches and although card backings appear fully reversible at first blush, they are not. The elemental symbols for the Courts are placed in the top corners of the cards (e.g. Knight of Cups shows the glyph for Fire then Water for "Fire of Water"), and follow the ordering of Knight, Queen, King and Princess.

For the Majors, the corresponding Hebrew letter and card number are on the top corners, while the elemental/astrological symbols are within the actual image. The titles of all the cards are on the bottom (e.g. Lord of Material Success for the 6 of Pentacles, the Magus of the Voice of Light for The Hermit, Spirit of the Primal Fire for The Last Judgment and so on).

The Hermetic Tarot is fascinating to look at, although the crowded nature of the symbols can be a bit overwhelming. In fact, when I gazed upon a group of these cards, I began to get a headache!

Inexplicably, a few of the cards appear smudged and pixely, in contrast to the cleaner lines of the rest of the cards. Also unusual is the pronounced uneven trim on the bottom of the Court Cards, which gives them a slight lip (you can see this a bit on the lower-left hand corner of the Queen of Cups image).

If you're looking to enhance your magical practice or further your knowledge of Golden Dawn esotericism and Qabalistic associations, this would make a fine deck for your studies. The intricacies of the Hermetic Tarot almost serve as a meditative scrying mirror--and if you enjoy the art of M.C. Escher, you may very well feel an affinity for this deck.

I feel that the symbol-laden cards would lend themselves well to small spreads and contemplation. However, it's definitely not a beginner's deck for those wanting to learn the Tarot. In my estimation, the Hermetic Tarot would likely appeal to those who prefer decks like Thoth or the Liber-T, more so than those who are ardent devotees of Rider-Waite-Smith imagery or decks with animated minors.

(To see 12 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)

This is an excellent deck for many reasons. I would rate it with five stars, had there not been four cards which clearly were not printed correctly. As others have observed, U.S. Games Systems won't be winning any prizes for Quality Assurance...my deck also has an odd "cut" which leaves an unexpected small "ridge" atop the cards. I suppose this can be carefully sanded and smoothed, but I've been working with the deck "as is".

I would think some damage had occurred to the master plates for the deck which caused the glaring imperfections appearing on some of the printed cards, except for the fact that there are those people who've written reviews stating that the decks they received showed none of the anomalies I and many others have observed.

This is, without question, one of the most beautiful and intricately illustrated decks I've ever encountered. What's more, it is an excellent tool for learning Hermetics and moreover expresses the planetary and zodiacal associations with particular cards and in many cases provides the Hebrew numbers and name translations. The cards reference Kabbalistic elements and in some cases, geomantic patterns. There is a great deal to be gleaned from this deck, as it is not "simplified" and thoroughly challenges the novice to become well-versed in Hermetics. The other great resource I've found, which requires much more active work and participation, is Franz Bardon's masterpiece "Initiation in Hermetics".

I've come to think of this deck as a form of sophisticated Flash Cards, wherein one must sit and learn to recognize all the information being expressed in each card. I do in fact recommend that one reads the small manual accompanying the deck only *after* they've studied each of the cards and questioned what it is they are seeing. Mastery of Hermetics entails many actions: one must learn self-reliance and pay attention to the details.

I've long believed the expression "the devil is in the details" is one to be taken seriously. Although I do not believe in The Devil, at all...it is just that we are apt to run into problems and frustration when we overlook even some tiny detail and do not have all the facts. Regarding this deck, a mystery one is seeking to unravel may remain a mystery if any part of the card is not acknowledged and understood by the viewer. Mastery of Hermetics also requires mastery of patience and solitary time put to good use. This deck is an excellent tool for practicing meditation and becoming better at looking inward while making accurate connections to outer energies.

Thus, it is a stone bummer that in my deck, the "Fortitude", "Seven of Swords", "Princess of Cups" and "Two of Pentacles" are filled with artifacts and/or blank spots, are printed sufficiently off-center that the right-hand side of a card has a portion of the image cropped. These are the ones which stand out as truly sloppy printing. Much of the rest of the deck lacks real clarity, which is especially noted in the slightly "fuzzy" look of the Hebrew characters. I study the cards, regardless. I didn't and won't return the deck, as it seems likely I'll get a replacement as bad or worse than the one I've got. Even though the deck is not expensive, this does not mean it deserves slipshod reproduction. Quite the opposite is true when such intricacy of line drawings and so much information resides within the image(s) on each card.

I'm considering it might be worth scanning in the cards, doing a bit of cleanup and changing contrast and brightness for each of the cards that is "off" in some way and reprinting an improved copy of the deck for myself. Although I believe I can see every detail, even on the four really badly reproduced cards, it may be that some things are being obscured and I'm missing something important that is not appropriately visible.

My deck has the legend (c) 1979, 2006 US Games Systems, Inc printed along the lower right edge. Does this mean the entire 2006 print run shows errors? As for any complaint about the Master Plates "being old" or "needing replacement", this seems implausible. It appears to me that each card was captured in a digital photograph and, because someone did not understand graphics file formats, either chose to export and print JPEG images (well, duh) or exported bitmaps and then resized the bitmap to fit the card surface, which is, politely stated, a no-no.

I'll get around to uploading digital images A.S.A.P. At his point I think no one will argue that U.S. Games Systems has screwed up royally and ought not have shipped this "run" out for public consumption. If this had been defective lettuce, children's toys or the majority of Toyotas, the decks would have been recalled and every purchaser issued and apology and a free replacement deck with cards that look as Godfrey Dowson intended.

When I recieved the entire deck and looked through all the illustrations, I felt them to be lacking in comparison to the examples provided online. Maybe I don't know very much about the artist, but I felt the overall art, while I'm sure it was meaningful, to have an immature look to it. I hate to say this, but kind of like the Led Zeppelin Icarus drawing. The drawing style is crude in an unskillful, unintentional way.

Say what you want of my critique, but I know that in the art of Tarot you should have a meaningful bond with your cards (and I have plenty of decks myself that share this bond with me) but I never felt it with these.

I was really excited when I found this deck on-line. I had the original printing from the 80's and had given it to a friend never to be seen again. The images are fantastic and filled with symbolism. However, this edition was so poorly executed I actually gave the cards away after I received them. The printing was so off on the images it almost looked like the images were out of focus some cards were worse than others but the pixelation was too much for me...Then again the price of the cards was not high. So if you had the original and get this one I feel you may be unsatisfied. If you never had them and want a copy go for it for the price. I'm going to try and find a used copy on line they are not cheap for the original.

I must completely agree with the reviewer who commented on the quality of the scans of this deck. In interest of full disclosure, am I not the world's biggest fan of this deck but that being said, US Games has done a terrible disservice to these keys. Although the image quality varies from card to card, the pixelation and fuzzy scans are just inexcusable as they greatly diminish from the art work of the cards themselves. If you really want this deck I would strongly suggest buying an older printing. It's a shame that a deck that has so much to offer would be subject to such poor production values.

This is an excellent deck for those who wish to study the literature and symbolism of the tarot. In interpretation, it falls between the Waite deck and the Thoth deck. So it is a good choice for people who want to move up from the Waite, but do not care for the Crowley deck's card substitutions (no "Lust" or "Debauch" cards) or creepy emanations.

These cards are loaded with symbolism, including zodiac and planet signs on the minors. The court cards are marked with elemental signs on the margins. One of these is incorrect, however you can easily correct it with a fine black sharpie pen. If you add your own information or symbols with a black sharpie, the change will blend right in, due to the freehand style of these cards. I suppose you could color them, but I am not yet that ambitious.

The LWB contains a tree of life path diagram. However this is the "Outer Order" diagram given by the Golden Dawn to Neophytes, and therefore has the paths running in the wrong direction. The Inner Order will provide the correct attributions on request.

This is a serious, heavy duty tarot deck. Cards are thick and heavily coated. They are stiff and slippery when new, but gradually become easier to handle.

This deck was out of print for a few years, so there are quite a few "gray market" decks out there. The reviewers who complained about quality probably had gotten one of those. Both the legitimate and the gray market cards come in the same box pattern with U.S. Game System Copyrights for 1979 and 2006. The gray market cards have a thin line around the border of the card which may have gaps due to poor reproduction. The legitimate cards with the 2006 copyright do not have this border line.

The legitimate cards are of the very highest quality in reproduction and cutting. So if you get a deck that is not perfect, send it back for a replacement.

About 35% of the cards are sub-par from the originals. I have both new and old decks. The first edition has sharp clean lines on the art, the new edition looks as if the didn't have access to the original art and scanned first edition cards as the master copy. Some of the art is much darker loosing the detail of the pictures.They also changed the size of the card to make it a bit bigger, unfortunately this causes the back of the cards to loose the balanced look of the geometric shapes because they are stretched length wise. This deck will work but its not an equal to the original.