Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Four-Deck Bargain, March 12, 2003
Here's a riddle for you. What Tarot deck is beautifully colored and saves you money by its very existence and by your purchase? If you said the Comparative Tarot deck, go directly to your purchase basket and include this deck.
Comparative Tarot is an in-depth method of studying and reading cards that was named and pioneered by Valerie Sim, who was involved in the design of this deck and also wrote the instruction booklet that accompanies it. Briefly, the Comparative Tarot method involves comparing the same card from several decks to determine nuances into the meaning of any given card or cards in a spread. As Sim melodically writes, while "each deck possesses its own unique voice," all good decks "simply sing a variation of the same song," and "add to the overall tune."
Thanks, however, to this new deck, there's no need to have a cacophony of sounds, i.e., more than one card lying on one position of a spread while we frantically thumb through more than one little white instruction book (LWB). Every card in the Comparative Tarot deck depicts beautifully colored images from four different decks: the Universal Tarot, The Tarot of the Sphinx, the Tarot of Origins, and the Tarot of Marseilles. The Universal and Marseilles decks may be slightly different from the decks you're used to by the same name, because these are the versions produced by Lo Scarabeo in Italy, although the deck is distributed by Llewellyn in the U.S.
The names of the cards and the explanations in the LWB are in five different languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German. For each card, the LWB presents five keyword statements (several single words or phrases), likely from the LWB of that respective deck. The first of the five gives the core meaning for the card, followed by a list of keywords for each of the four "sub-cards" shown.
I've heard from many people that they have a somewhat negative reaction to the Tarot of Origins, but I believe this deck will help you understand it more fully and replace negative reactions with enjoyment and insight.
I like this deck because I also think it will help you bring an understanding of symbolism from other decks into whatever decks you currently use, if you care to combine the symbolism from the cards in addition to the meanings given. If you haven't done this before, it may awaken you to the experience.
For instance, let's look at The Empress from the Comparative deck. While the meanings are relatively simple (I know from personal communication that Sim was limited in how many words she was allowed to use), the card's four pictures, or "sub-cards," are so rife with the expanding symbolism of the card that it clearly tell you that it is impossible to fully understand The Empress card when using only the one Empress card from any deck which you are presently using.
Sim gives the core meaning of The Empress as "creative love and nurturing." In the Lo Scarabeo Tarot of Marseilles deck, The Empress is dressed in a blue (color of the goddess) tunic over a red gown (of passion), and holds a shield with a yellow eagle on it (the higher intellect behind her fecund creativity). Sim says she represents "fertility; receptiveness; pregnancy"-a not unusual understanding of this card. On the Universal card, she sits outdoors in nature, wearing a green robe of growth and fertility, representing "woman; mother."
The Empress from the Tarot of the Sphinx represents fertility and renewal. She wears a transparent white gown and holds the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth and the right order). So we enhance our understanding of The Empress as one who is in touch with higher spiritual truth and creativity. She wears the crown of upper and lower Egypt symbolizing unity, and sits on a black throne (more about that in a moment).
Finally the Origins Empress shows the upper torso of a nude woman holding a typical neolithic statue with pendulous breasts and wide belly and hips. Sim defines this as The Mother; femininity incarnate, and motherhood. Anthropologically and psychologically this tiny statue links The Empress with the archetype of the Great Mother Goddess and, therefore, with the anima in Jungian concepts. Now back to the throne: One of the ancient symbolisms of the throne is that it represents the lap of The Great Mother.
So together, this four-in-one card speaks of The Empress as being linked to all cultural mythologies of the earth mother. She is the ultimate in material and physical feminine creativity. Clearly The Empress is not ethereal, but fruitful and earthy. She is "birthing" in all its aspects: interior, exterior, physically, emotionally, and psychically. Not only does she represent the archetypal concept of mothering, but also the way we mother others and ourselves (our internal mother). There is more we could do with this symbolism, but space does not permit.
Note: There are some nude images in this deck, as indicated above, but not overly so. Sim also suggests that the deck is not recommended for beginning readers, but rather for intermediate and advanced readers who want to approach the Tarot from a new perspective. Or, I suggest, for adventurous and precocious beginning readers?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Four Decks in One!, February 23, 2003
I began exploring the comparative method of reading tarot cards in the late 1980s and used the process both to read and to teach new students card meanings. The Comparative Tarot email list was formed in August 1999 and became an international online workshop for learning & using this method. Riccardo Minetti of Lo Scarabeo, an Italian publisher of tarot decks, approached me with his innovative idea of a "four-cards-in-one" deck and asked me to write the accompanying instruction booklet for this landmark pack which would enable readers to do comparative readings with just one deck of cards.When I use the deck in my personal readings, I find seeing dramatically different interpretations of each card's energies opens up a range of ideas and associations I might otherwise have missed. It is a way of tapping into the unique voice of four different decks simultaneously in order to arrive at a chorus of meaning richer and fuller than a one-deck solo. Briefly, there are several benefits of using this deck: * You can incorporate the extra nuances of meaning available with multiple decks while having to handle and shuffle just one deck. * You get four decks in one, -- saving space, money, time and effort. * You will own a great tool for associating broader meanings with traditional non-illustrated historic decks. With the Comparative Tarot Deck you see a classic example of such non-illustrated decks (the Tarot of Marseilles) partnered with three other illustrated decks (the Universal Tarot, the Tarot of the Sphinx and the Tarot of the Origins.) * Richer readings! With more images to work from, you have access to a range of ideas and interpretations you would otherwise overlook. * This is not an English-only deck. This deck has card titles and the complete instruction booklet included in five languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian and German. This project was an exciting one for me. It consolidated decades of my teaching methods into one unique pack of cards. The Comparative Tarot Deck is a great aid to reading on an entirely different level. I hope that many tarot readers and teachers will take advantage of this unique new tarot tool and find it as beneficial as I have.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Idea But....., April 16, 2008
The idea behind this is great. However, I wish I had realized how small the pictures on the deck were going to be...very hard for me to see. A larger deck, since this is mainly a study tool anyway, would really work so much better here. I also would love to see more comparative decks in the future using other interesting decks. For me the Marsailles and the Universal are both more traditional...one or the other of them would be sufficient for me, preferably the Universal.
The booklet that comes with it is even harder to read than the cards...too tiny for me.
Also the order of the keywords and meanings do not follow the same order that the decks/pictures are in on the cards which makes it very confusing! I don't know why they didn't take the time to do this because it would make such a difference. Trying to read all that small print and study the tiny pictures and then not to have them in order is annoying.
If the pictures and/or (at least) the booklet were larger this would definitely be amazing and worth so much more!
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