Customer Reviews

Kalevala Tarot

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In the book accompanying the Tarot deck, Aaltonen makes many mistakes who undermine his own understanding of the Kalevala and the credibility of his work. 1)On page 159 he mistakingly writes that in the Kalevala, Lemminkäinen achieves the three tasks that Louhi set for him, including killing the Swan of Tuonela. In fact, he doesn't kill the Swan, but gets killed himself just before. Lemminkäinen's death is an important scene in the Kalevala and one wonders how Aaltonen could forget it altogether. 2)On page 75, he pretends that the name Ainikki was given to two different characters in the Kalevala, eg, the sisters of Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen. In truth, Ilmarinen sister is not Ainikki, but Annikki, a wholly different person (associated sometimes with with Tapio's daughter in other Finnish folk songs, while Ainikki was associated sometimes with Kyllikki and the character which became Aino). 3)On page 99, he states that Marjatta's Son was brought before Ukko. That's a mistake since he was rather brought before Virokannas, sometimes called ukko Virokannas (meaning : old Virokannas, while Ukko with a capital U designates the god Ukko). 4)On page 153 and on his Three of Stakes, he describes Väinämöinen and Joukahainen fighting for the courtship of Aino. In the Kalevala, they are not fighting for her at all; she is Joukahainen's sister whom Joukahainen promises to Väinämöinen ultimately to save his own life. 5)On pages 14 and 16, Aaltonen lists a bunch of people which he says to be of Kaleva clan, and among them, he lists Louhi, the mistres of Pohja! (clearly not Kaleva). That'S for the Kalevala. Now, about the Tarot, his book contains a series of kabbalistic diagrams of the sephiroth and the links between them grouped together and associated with several cards, suits or characters. Most of these diagrams are, in substance, copies from Crowley's Book of Thot (or any other book who copied from it) and Aaltonen doesn't give any explanation or reference. What's more, the kabbalistic associations that he makes with the Tarot cards are incoherent with the associations he makes betwen the Kalevala and the Tarot cards (already poorly fit). His choice of court cards is dull, introducing a lot of characters unknown to the Kalevala! Some of the card designs just try to reproduce the Smith-Waite cards with funny substitutions, such as antlers instead of a crown, bears instead of horses and so on. I also found that the cards' interpretations often overlap each other, because the symbolism is too dense. The catchy sentences printed in the booklet in order to summarize the meaning of each card, sometimes have little to do with the book.

As a tarot deck, this one is attractive. The accompanying book has brief descriptions of the various characters from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, and their histories. Unfortunately, the fit between the characters and the meanings given for the cards is often very forced -- a disappointment to me as a Kalevala lover. I guess I'll stick to keeping the Kalevala and tarot separate.

It's no good to be an "expert" if you don't have anything good to say, especially in this case: here is a genuine work of art, inspired and joyous! Let your imagination guide you, and fill in your own details... a book is a book, not a straight-jacket. Read it, if you wish to, but then pick up the cards! No reviewer seems to have been listening to the spirit of this work, but rather just enjoying speaking their opinions. But why not listen to the cards...

The cards are magical, and they speak volumes.

The artwork was okay. Some upfront nudity. It did have a homemade feel and the cups suit should have stayed cups as opposed to dishes since there isn't a dish one among that suits illustrations. It is hard for me to connect to the imagery since it is about a people who lived in another time and place and the history of them seems so minor but for something differant and 'homemade' or 'handpainted' this deck will do nicely and itsn't your run of the mill standard deck.

The Kalevala tarot is based on Finnish poems compiled by Elias Lonnrot in the 19th century. Kalvervo Aaltonen's Kalevala tarot manages to incorporate many, if not most, of the central figures and stories in the Kalevala, in a way that connects to tarot symbolism as well. After being disappointed in the card assignments of several mythology-based tarot decks, I find the assignments in this deck rewardingly appropriate. For example, the adventurous Lemminkainen as the Fool. Ilmarinen, the smith, as the Magician (titled in some earlier decks "the Cobbler"). Vainamoinen, the shaman, as the High Priest. Most all of the Majors align well, though there could be arguments put forth for alternates, such as Akka, the goddess of fertility, as the Empress. But this is true of any "myth deck".

In regards to inaccuracies, the Judgment card (pg. 99), depicts Ukko, the sky god, judging Marjatta's son. Apparently, Vainamoinen orders the killing of the boy, but then Ukko, at the boy's pleading, not only judges favorably, but crowns him king of Karelia. This echoes the traditional tarot interpretation of mercy. On his Three of Stakes (pg. 153), although Aaltonen describes it as a competition, the actual story in the Kalevala is one of cooperation on Joukahainen's part in offering his sister Aino for marriage. So a minor error actually reinforces the traditional tarot meaning if one ignores the stated text and looks at the story itself. Pages 10-16 contain standard tarot diagrams with the Kalevala "people" names substituted for traditional tarot titles. The author does not use the word "clan" or "tribe", rather "Kalevala people" at the top of each diagram. It's most likely he's referring to the book of Kalevala as a whole, which include Louhi, the matriarch of the rival Pohjola tribe. I don't blame the author a bit for not providing an explanation of the meaning of these diagrams. That's a book in itself, already written by Crowley, Case, etc.

This deck is based on the Smith-Waite tarot deck, so can be readily used by anyone with some tarot background. Unlike some mythology-based tarot decks that use generic scenes for the Minors, Aaltonen takes the more elaborate approach of assigning stories from the Kalevala to each Minor. The meanings don't always provide an exact match to the standard Smith-Waite meanings, but provide a more in-depth look at the Kalevala. The court cards are more artistic than story-based. Kullervo as the Prince of Swords is perfect. The artwork by Taina Pailos should be enough for many to want this deck.

In the companion book, Aaltonen makes several interpretation errors which undermine the validity of his joint work with Taina Pailos. For instance, he mixes characters Ainikki and Annikki, which are clearly different personalities coming from different sources of oral tradition. He also misinterprets Lemminkäinen as having slain the swan of Tuonela (p.159), while the Kalevala recounts that he was killed before he could do it. Ukko is mistaken for Virokannas (p.99), and the fight between Väinämöinen is interpreted as courtship for Aino (p.153). Some cards are drawn according to these "false" interpretations. Furthermore, some of the cards meanings are far-fetched. A lot of the Smith-Waite symbolism is held on to, with some weird modifications (antlers replacing a crown..). Aaltonen really tried to cover the Kalevala but I would have come up with characters/scenes for most of the cards. I especially disagree with the Court cards and the treatment of the Kullervo cycle. Some characters who are introduced are simply non-existent in the Kalevala and Finnish oral poetry altogether. The interpretation of the cards, described in the book, is very dense. The symbolism is heavy, involving colors, notions of modern psychology, self-help material, shamanism (animals..), and sometimes end up being inconsistent (as demonstrated by the pine and birch). I found that the cards' interpretations often overlap each other, because the symbolism is too dense, especially if you also try to take in account the Crowleyan kabbalstic diagrams of pages 10-16 (with no text!). The catchy sentences printed in the booklet in order to summarize the meaning of each card, sometimes have little to do with the book. It seems as if he has thrown in a lot stuff (mainly copied or transmitted from Crowley) very quickly without checking the correspondences at all, in order to add substance to his book. You can read my full-length review at home.primus.ca/~matti

I like the graphics, and especially liked the enclosed explanation of how the images relate to the Kalevala.

I have read many tarot collections, and I have enjoyed them. But this satisfies all my longings of a tarot deck. The main basis of my enjoyment of this deck is that you do not have to know anything about the Kalevala in order to enjoy the cards. Kalervo Aaltonen has produced a wonderfully well thought out masterpiece that should be remembered along side the greats. It encompasses true imagination with real life. It has touched me in a way that I can not describe. It brings out the tales in me, and I feel like one of the Kalevala people, so much of the deck works for real life personal events to so many different people that it is uncanny. And you begin to wonder if there is some truth in the tales. I recommend this book, to all adults. Including sceptics of tarot cards as the knowledge that I have obtained about the Kalevala is applaudable. I congratulate Kalervo for such a heart - rendering masterpiece.