Customer Reviews

Olympus Tarot

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

 

 

I have had great pleasure looking at the Olympus
Tarot. Golden-brown borders frame each scene in the sunny colors of Greek terracotta vases. The titles delicately notes the number and name of the card (The Fool, Ten of Batons, etc.)
on top. The bottom titles name the character in French, Spanish, German and Italian. Each scene is
illustrated with smooth pen and watercolor washes of an excellent graphic novel or an expensive
magazine. The backs are deep blue with a white etched

illustration on the top and reversed on the
bottom. Fourteen pages of the LWB are blue print on white.
The assignment of the majors are creative. Other decks with Greco-Roman themes have books. (Pythagorean Tarot by John Ops: A Renaissance Tarot by Brian Williams; Mythic Tarot by Juliet
Sharman Burke and Liz Green and the Tarot Mitilogical
by Amerigo Folchi.) Olympus does not.
The major assignments of the Olympus tarot is as
follows:
0. Fool - Pan
1. Magician - Zeus
2. High Priestess - Hera
3. Empress - Aphrodite
4. Emperor - Ares
5. Heirophant - Chronos
6. Lovers - Eros
7. Chariot - Hermes
8. Justice - Athena
9. Hermit - Posidon
10. Wheel - Moires (Fates)
11. Strength - Hephaestus (Vulcan)
12. The Hanged Man - Dionysus
13. Death - Hades and Persphone
14. Temperance - Demeter
15. Devil - Hecate
16. Tower - Hestia
17. Stars - Hebe
18. Moon - Artemis
19. Sun - Apollo
20. Judgement - Phobos, Delmos and Harmonia (from Ares
and Artemis)
21. The World - Uranus (Starry sky)
You do need the LWB to explain the majors. The LWB has names, a brief paragraph and suggested keywords. Zeus for the
magician is described well, but other assignments need fleshing out for someone like myself. Lo Scarabeo said the books by Robert Graves was the resource for this tarot.
This tarot is ideal for starting research and creative thought. Also a comparative tarot for any of the other above Greco-Roman decks. You may find that your favorite tarot also includes some Greco-Roman themes.
The minors are also very different in assignment, similar to the Avalon Tarot. Chalices or Cups are places, suggestive of spirit and soul, the aspect of water. Pentacles are objects, possessions, earth. Wands are Creatures, instinct, animalistic aspects, passions and strengths and fire. Swords are Heroes, with logic, intelligence, human mind, air.
For collectors of mythic themes, here's a lovely deck to add in your collection of Greco-Roman themes.
For those who are beginners or Rider-Waite-Smith fans of tarot, I would recommend reading reviews. Lo Scarabeo offers
the Universal Tarot by R. DeAngelis and Tarots of the
Renaissance (Rebirth) by Giorgio Trevisan that has a
beautiful European feel and scenic majors and minors
that work with RWS assignments. If you are into
learning about Greco-Roman themes, my suggestions in
the third paragraph also might assist your desire and
enjoyments.
Happy readings.

A GREAT GREEK & ROMAN MYTHOLOGY TAROT CARD DECK however some of the cards they have messed up the mythological stories of.

For example. the five of pentacles, according to the min-booklet i got, says the three women are nymphs. and they really aren't nymphs. they are gorgons (medusa's sisters) that perseus stole the eye-ball of in exchange for information for finding the north nymphs which had those three treasures that you will see on the card, and the north nymphs gave to perseus.

And another card that i definately know the creators of this deck messed up on is the seven of pentacles. according to the mini-booklet it is athena's shield. and that apollo was the one who "stoned" the army with medusa's head when it was by fact perseus.

But Only these two cards, to my knowledge, they have messed up on.

But on the upside. THIS TAROT DECK HAS BEAUTIFUL IMAGERY UPON THE CARDS AND EACH CARD IS EITHER A GOD/GODDESS OR A PLACE OR HEROIC/ROMANTIC STORY....FOR EXAMPLE ORPHEUS!

IF YOU ARE A LOVER OF GREEK/ROMAN MYTHOLOGY THIS IS BY FAR, AND DEFINATELY THE TAROT DECK FOR YOU.

I ALSO RECCOMMEND THAT YOU PICK UP A BOOK OF GREEK/ROMAN MYTHOLOGY SO YOU CAN READ THE STORIES THAT ARE WITH EACH CARD MORE IN DEPTH.

Yes, there are tons of little mythology quirks about this deck, but Greek Mythology isn't always consistent anyway. My one big obstacle to using this deck is the use of Hecate as The Devil. While I understand that her Cthonic aspects suit her for the role, I'm still very uncomfortable with using a very misunderstood goddess on such a very misunderstood card. It doesn't exactly lend itself to use by people who aren't thoroughly knowledgeable about the Tarot and about this specific goddess. That being said, it's still a fantastic deck for people interested in the Greek Pantheon. I don't use it to read, but my collection wouldn't be complete without it and I still often use the cards in Tarot spells.

I collect tarot cards and have been waiting for a good Roman/Greek themed tarot with art I liked. I used to own the Mythic Tarot set, but the cards were so thin and hard to shuffle. The artwork to me was lacking and many of the Gods and myths were omitted.

This deck is different though. It is very complete with most of the Major Arcana devoted to the 12 Gods of Olympus and the Minors dealing from the birth of the word with the Egg symbolism, to the achievement of the heroes in myths, to the downfall of cities like Troy, to creatures such as Sirens and Nymphs...it is so complete. The art style of the tarot appeals to me as well, though my only complaint on this is that some women like the Delphi oracle look very modern. Of course, the Sphinx is drawn with the same technique and I adore it. :) She is such a cool card.

I do agree if you wish to start your tarot studies learning a strict, traditional magick-based symbollism, this deck might not be right for your. The Waite tarot should be for that, but this deck can be read by a beginner as entertainment. The spread in the LWB (little white book, well in this case, the Little White Folding Piece of Paper, LWFPP) is great to use and works with the Greek system of using Gods as archtypes, not only for worship, but to use to see those parts of divinity in themselves. I had great success with my first reading of this deck and assume more good readings will come.

As far as the problems people have with some of the cards, I can see why Poseidon was used as the Hermit. The Hermit, in the sense, he is alone amongst the creatures of the ocean, underwater. The image of Hestia holding a tower conveys the idea of what that card means to this deck and it does vary from the typical meaning of The Tower, but then again Hestia could always drop The Tower. Dionysus makes a lot of sense as the Hanged Man, since vines and grapes grow on the structure on most tart deck images. The ones I liked the best was an almost charming Death card with Persephone and Hades in the underworld enjoying themselves and The Devil card with Hecate's many faces on it. It reminds me of the card in the Ramses Tarot which has the beetle on the head of a person instead of a human head. It is striking to think of Hecate with three animal heads and not a female face. The card is wonderful.

To me, a book isn't needed for this deck. The LWFPP tells you what you need to know. I like the simple writing of it and though the deck does contain a couple small mistakes like the Medusa shield another reviewer bought up, I think that is probably more an error of the author of the LWFPP and not the artist, since two people made this deck.

I like the way the suit of the cards is noted at the top. Each of the minors has a little sword, wand, cup, coin, etc, to show you easily what suit you are dealing with.

I really have nothing bad to say about this deck. Good for collectors. Could be read easily by those beginning but not wanting to jump head first into traditional Waite tarot and it could also be enjoyed by those who love Greek mythology because the artwork is really good.

The Olympus Tarot is a beautiful deck with lovely and unique art and a Greek mythology base. It is excellent for those, like myself, who collect tarot cards and have an interest in Greek mythology. However, if you are looking for a first deck, this is certainly not it. The definitions in the little booklet that came with it are woefully unspecific. With some practice, they have potential for the reader to add details to meanings such as this, for the Five of Wands/Creatures:

Echidna. A woman's bust and a serpent's body. Mystery.

I suggest if you want to use these cards seriously, you do your own research on the mythological entities used for the cards and in traditional tarot card meanings. I personally only have them for show.

I love this deck and use it in my professional readings. I took the deck to kinko's and had them cut off the edges so that there is no trace of the suites. Using them as an oracle deck instead of a tarot deck has sharpened their message. Using the depiction of the mythos that is displayed in the artwork works far better than if you use the traditional meaning of the 8 of wands.

I have gotten many, many compliments on the deck from clients and from other professionals. Even a few gasps.

Anyone who resonates to the Greek beliefs, traditions, and Gods should pick this up right away.

The art is amazing and the mythology is really good, the only problem for me was this new connection between myth and tarot, it's for sure a different point of view, for example, The Tower card is represented by the Goddess Vesta, a warm and protective deity.. it's only one side of the card but it didn't match with the full meaning. I love Greek mithology and this deck is for sure a good one for those interested on a different approach of the meanings and the cards.