Customer Reviews

Universal Tarot kit

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Picture an alternative universe where Arthur Waite declines to enlist the services, for very little cash, of the English artist, Pamela Colman Smith, but instead travels to Italy and finds an artist there to accomplish the big job of creating a tarot deck according to his Pictorial Key to the Tarot. The result would be something like the Universal Tarot by De Angelis. His deck is very similar to the famous Rider Waite-Smith deck though with some Italian influences in the costumage and landscape. Though most of the cards offer an interesting alternate view of familiar imagery, perhaps my favorite RWS Knight of Wands for instance, a few cards are somewhat comical. The 9 of Cups pictures a large, hirsute man in a gown (like Corporal Klinger in MASH). The Page of Cups is wearing puffy pink pantalones. The 7 of Coins man is attired in something akin to a miniskirt without any pants. Nevertheless, the Universal is a deck easily recommended to anyone looking for a deck closely based on the RWS. But why did they have to choose the identical title of its main competition, the Universal (Hanson-Roberts)?

This set is a great addition to any tarot collection. The format of this deck is for the most part a great replica of the RWS deck but does so without copying the cards exactly. The images are more vivid and comic book like since the ilustrator is a comic artist. intricate line work with beautiful colors add to the overall appeal of the deck. this deck is great to learn with if the buyer is new to tarot the companion book is very detailed and if bought without the companion book it still relates to basic tarot interpretation. The book "tarot bible" actually uses this deck in its card meanings section. wich is how i came to discover this deck. I must emphasize as the other reviwer has stated this is not the hanson-roberts universal deck. but the name is primarily addressng the fact that this is a 'universal' deck for reading, collecting or learning. It is worth buying.