Customer Reviews

Tarot of the Master

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

 

 

I highly recommend this Tarot as a reader and collector. It is beautiful and of historical significance. One of the earliest to adopt symbolic pictorial images on the Minor Arcana, this deck naturally carries a rather roccoco, 'old Italian' feel. The decorated Minor Arcana are not actually full scenes as in the Rider-Smith-Waite but they have a charming imagery all their own. The symbolism is not always explicit however and may perhaps be easier for reading for those Tarotists with some experience. But if you are new to Tarot and are drawn towards these older decks, don't hesitate, get it. The key words presented along the edges are not a detraction and can be useful if you choose to interpret with them. To use this deck is a joy, but you must be willing to step outside the 'Smith-Waite box' of interpretations a little bit and simply open up to the subtle imagery & symbolism.

The colors are soft but luminous and the illustrations are well composed and classical. I especially like the image of Diana on XVIII LVNA, and her brother Apollo playing a viola on XIX SOLE. There is other unique imagery as in the Regina Di Coppe (Queen of Cups) as a crowned hausfrau raising her cup while she roasts cornish hens in a kitchen; or the Queen of Swords (here as Regina Di Spada) holding a sword in her right hand and a sack in her left which obviously carries the severed head of a headless figure in the background scene of many tents (a battlefield ?).

I admit I am not totally pleased with the back design of the cards (a softly shaded green print of Le Bateleur) and would wish the publisher to give the card backs a more classical feel, and a pattern which would not so easily indicate reverse positions before the card is turned. But this is really not so big an issue with me and would perhaps reduce my rating by only half a star. The card stock is great and shuffles with ease. All in all, another great, quality edition from Lo Scarabeo.

I am not sure what the previous reviewer was discussing as the picture of the Batleur, or Magician is on the back, and it is very obvious you can see which is which. But that's a minor quibble. The LWB (little white book) that comes with it is okay but does not truly discuss the symbology in the decks fully, it does give you a sample tarot layout to try which is called the Bridge and is just a nice 4 cards, so a beginner could start with this historical Tarot.

As for the colorization, it is incredible and if you are familiar with Marseilles thought you could get by very well and use standard Marseilles meanings. The cards on the side do have meanings in several languages English, French, Italian, German & Spanish that give you some hint of what and how they can be interpreted. I have found this helpful. An example is:
vi Amore Dolce Tavaglio where a blind cupid stands on the globe and aims wildly, underneath is a heart with an arrow.

The side says Amore, Love, Liebe, Amour, Amor.

I mention this as it is an interesting break with Marseille, which would show choice, and Lo Scarebeo's book does say that it was created with "artistic, aesethetic, and symbolic purposes" so there is some differences between it and Marseilles but it is not a Golden Dawn deck but the booklet does tell us that the artist was a master of design at the university there and magick did thrive in the area. All the more enjoyable.

So, if you enjoy working with the images more than the reasons, if you love to delve into the Tarot and want something where you could totally eschew guideposts and just go, this deck is for you. If you want to patch on Marseille meanings, you can but putting on Thothian ones may be a stretch. And yes it uses Marseille numbering so xi is Forza and not the Golden Dawn/Kabbalistic Justice and if you are a follower of that system, just ignore this deck. Otherwise from beginner to advanced reader, this deck is a surprising find....in the tarot tradition, here's a card to send you on your way, vii, il Carro, the Chariot, Glory.

This is an Italian deck that was engraved in the last years of the nineteenth century by Giovanni Vachetta. This puts it about twenty years before the familiar Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

The trumps are mostly based on Marseilles symbolism with some Classical touches; Cupid, Apollo, and Diana, for instance, are on the Lovers, the Sun, and the Moon. There doesn't seem to be any discernible esoteric theory behind the variations, though; there is no visible influence from Wirth, Levi, or the Golden Dawn here. All the cards are drawn in an attractive pre-Art Nouveau style.

The court cards are given personalities and settings; the King of Cups appears to be Bacchus; the Queen of Cups is in the kitchen cooking. The Queen of Swords seems to be Judith, wandering away from the camp with the severed head of Holofernes in a sack. Some may find some depictions rather annoying; the King of Coins, for instance, is a [typical]miser.

The pip cards are given various illustrations that may have been intended to convey divinatory meanings. The 9 of Clubs, for instance, depicts the clubs as pipes of an organ, with a Latin inscription "Dulce auditum" --- sweet to hear. Others may not be, though; the Coins march through the sequence of the Roman emperors, with the next one depicted on each coin; hard to see divinatory meanings for that. They are, however, decorative.

Unfortunately, the backs are not symmetrical on my copy. This makes the cards harder to use for reading; you can tell whether the coming card is upright or reversed. This is to me a flaw.

Wow! "Tarot of the Master" by Llewellyn is a masterpiece! I can not improve on all the other reviewers, as it has been reviewed so extensively and thoroughly. Let me just say that the Major Arcana is stunning, and I love the use of Diana as the Moon!
And Apollo as the Sun! The Minor Arcana are what is known as "Pip's" meaning that those cards do not have the fleshed out pictures you find in the Rider-Waite , and post- Rider-Waite decks. I did not know this when I ordered the deck, and usually thought I preferred having the images depicted for me. I am very pleasantly surprised at how much I love this deck, and the "pip' style. The Court Cards are also amazing. And I really like having the "jist" of each card printed up the side. Being in five languages, you have to look for your own, so if you do not like it, it is easy to ignore. I highly recommend this deck! A very ancient and magical feel.

Se hizo esta baraja a finales del siglo 19, un poco antes de que el celebre mazo de Waite que cambiara la historia del tarot. Los diseños del Tarot of the Master ofrecen una mezcla de lo fantástico con el mundo cotidiano. Por ejemplo la figura de la templanza carece de alas pero como muchos de los personajes viste una larga cinta que parece flotar alrededor de su cuerpo, brindando un aire sensual y surrealista de tipo neoplásico. Otro ejemplo es la carta de la papisa, la cual muestra cabezas angelicales con alas encima de la mujer en el trono para demostrar su naturaleza espiritual. Los cuatro palos normales también demuestran muchos detalles finos aunque no aparecen figuras humanas en la mayoria de ellas. Como ha comentado el autor Lee Bursten, el único problema potencial para algunos lectores de esta baraja es que el folleto que acompaña la baraja describe la figura del rey de oros como 'un judío grabando monedas.' Sin embargo la baraja en sí es una preciosa combinación de la tradición artística de la época con conceptos innovadores sobre las mismas cartas.

This deck dates back to the end of the 19th century, a short time before the celebrated Waite deck changed the history of Tarot. The designs of the Tarot of the Master offer a blend of fantasy with scenes of daily life. For example the Temperance card shows no wings, but like many of the individuals depicted wears a ribbon that seems to float around her body, displaying a sensual and surrealist Neoclassical tone. The Papess displays angelic winged heads above the enthroned woman to display her spiritual nature. The four traditional suits show a great deal of fine detail although lacking human figures for the most part. As author Lee Bursten has mentioned, the only problem for some who read with this deck is the image on the King of Coins, which the accompanying booklet describes as `a jew intent on coining money.' However, the deck itself is a beautiful combination of the artistic tradition of the time with innovative concepts pertaining to the cards themselves.

I am very Happy with this product and the delivery of this product very satisfied