Elemental Tarot (Smith)

Creator(s): Caroline Smith, John Astorp
Date: 1988
Country: USA
Publisher: Dolphin Doubleday
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 0-385-24726-5   
Type: other
Reference:  Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. III, pp. 193, 194




Notes:
John Astrop is an astrologer and writer, and Caroline Smith is a painter and tarot reader. The Elemental Tarot fits a system of astrological combinations to the 78 cards of the Tarot. The card designs are vertically divided at the point of the golden section.

There are several symbols printed within the borders of each card. The suits are renamed. Earth refers to pentacles, air to swords, fire to wands, and water to cups. The corresponding elements are symbolized at the bottom by one of five geometric shapes. These five shapes are actually the Tattwa symbols. The Trumps are noted by an egg shape which corresponds to Spirit, the suit of Fire by a red triangle, Air by a blue circle, Water by a silver moon, and Earth by a green square.

Each card is also assigned a pair of planets which is meant to give additional meanings. This system of correspondences does not use the twelve zodiacal signs, but instead uses the ten planets, the midheaven, the ascendant, and Moon's node. The total pair combinations possible equal seventy-eight.

The Major Arcana are titled at the top, and have a descriptive keyword at the bottom. Some retain their traditional titles, such as The Sun, The Star and The Fool, others have been renamed, the Magician, for example,  is called the Trickster, it is the Pope instead of High Priest, and Aeon instead of the World. Within the side margins are lines from a Gnostic poem titled The Thunder, Perfect Mind. This text was one of several documents comprising the Nag Hammadi discovery in 1945.

Each Minor Arcana card is titled with an elemental based keyword and includes the name of a god or goddess from a variety of cultures at the bottom. The symbols found in the lower left margin of the Minor Arcana are Egyptian  hieroglyphs.

The court cards are Father, Mother, Son and Daughter and correspond to the traditional King, Queen, Knight and Page.

This is the first edition from 1988, which has sturdy slipcase packaging which houses a boxed set of cards and a hardbound book.The later edition by St.Martin'sPress in 1999 is of inferior quality.

Zodiac Tarot

Creator(s): Lee Bursten, Luca Raimondo
Date: 2007
Country: Italy
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-0738712383  
Type: other
Reference: aeclectic 

Notes:
The astrological attributions have been placed within a modern day concept set in a 1940s era world, rather than that of mythology or medieval times. In the Major Arcana, each card is assigned a sign or one of the planets. The seven traditional planets on the Major Arcana are represented by people in a family: grandparents, parents, son, daughter, and infant.

The zodiac signs are represented by scenes that bear an analogy to the astrological meaning of the signs. The Quadruplicates of the Signs are shown by the time of day seen on the card (Cardinal cards are daytime, Fixed cards are night, and Mutable cards take place at either sunrise or sunset).

Unlike the Golden Dawn, this deck uses the modern planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (which was not even discovered when the Golden Dawn invented its system). The cards that the Golden Dawn assigned to the Elements are assigned to the three modern planets and show scenes associated with the major societal changes that these planets represent.

The Minor Arcana is divided into decants (each sign is divided into three decants of ten degrees each). Each Decan is assigned a planetary ruler, so each card carries a planet and a sign. The pip cards use the images from the Major Arcana to depict various permutations of people and scenes (planets and signs) as outlined by the Golden Dawn.

Also unlike the Golden Dawn, this deck relies solely on the astrological attributions to delineate the cards, whereas the Golden Dawn used a combination of astrology, the Kabbalah, and Picatrix for most of its interpretations.

The Major Arcana have traditional titles, with the following exceptions: the Hierophant becomes the Priest and the Wheel of Fortune becomes the Wheel. Strength is in position VIII, and Justice in position XI. The four suits are Torches (Wands), Waves (Cups), Clouds (Swords) and Stones (Pentacles). The Court Cards are Princess, Prince, Queen and King.