Sharman - Caselli Tarot

Creator(s): Juliet Sharman-Burke, Giovanni Caselli
Date: 2002
Country: USA
Publisher: Connections
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-1-85906-171-8

Type: RWS
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. IV, pp. 259, 260 

Notes:
Juliet Sharman-Burke is a practicing analytic psychotherapist and teacher for Tarot and Astrology, Giovanni Caselli is a professional illustrator.

This deck was initially available only as a part of the "Beginner's Guide to Tarot"  book and card set published in 2001 by St. Martin's Press. Since 2002 it was also available as a deck only by Connections.

The Major Arcana are unnumbered, so there is no fixed place for Strength or Justice; the LWB rearranges several other major arcana. The suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles, with courts of Page, Knight, Queen and King.

Each suit has its own  colour scheme related to elements and the elemental attributions Pentacles - Earth, Swords - Air, Wands - Fire, Cups - Water. The reversible backs are red with a silver border and tiny copyright attributions at both ends of the card.

The Sharman - Caselli deck is basically RWS, but nearly all of Waite's occult imagery is replaced it with easier to understand symbols. e.g. Waite's  Alchemical Wheel of fortune with it's sphynxes, serpents and Hermanubises is replaced by the more traditional Fortuna and her Wheel. The Ten of Pentacles looks like Father Christmas with his red cap, throne-type seat, and a child on his knee.

Crystal Tarot

Creator(s): Elisabetta Trevisian

Date: 2001
Country: Italy
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-0738700588   
Type: Mixed
Reference: aeclectic

Notes:

This is the 78 card edition of a tarot, which was first published as a 22-card art deck, the Tarocchi di Vetro. The minors in the 78-card edition are a re-working of card designs originally by Eudes Picards.The Crystal Tarot is influenced by both the Rider-Waite and Thoth Tarot decks.

Wands are Fire and Coins are Earth, but Cups are Air and Swords are Water.The art is tempera paints on glass. The use of patterns within patterns gives depth to the traditional pictures of the Tarot.

Tarot of Reflections

Creator(s): Francesco Ciampi,
Date: 2005
Country: Italy
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-0738707914   
Type: RWS
Reference: aeclectic

Notes:
Nearly every image of the deck has a reflection, though not always it is a precise mirror reflection of the image. They evoke the idea of reflecting something: not people or objects, obviously, but allegories of all kinds of situations of human life.

The major arcana in the Tarot of Reflections are traditionally titled, and order Justice at VIII and Strength and XI. The suits are the normal Wands, Chalices, Pentacles and Swords. The minors are not exact in scene but are similar in concept to the Rider-Waite.

Since the artist, Francesco Ciampi, is a cartoonist, some images of this Tarot deck slightly remind those from a comic book.

Zerner - Farber Tarot

Creator(s): Amy Zerner, Monte Farber 
Date: 1997
Country: USA 
Publisher: US Games
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 1-57281-073-4
Type: RWS
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. IV, pp. 605, 606


 
 
Notes:
The Zerner-Farber Tarot is a reworking of The Enchanted Tarot. While The Enchanted Tarot edition sets the artwork on a white background within a colour coded border, The card titles of the Zerner-Farber edition are set on a colour coded stripe at the bottom of the card - Purple for the Majors, green for Pentacles, blue for Swords, orange for Wands and pink for Hearts (which replace Cups).

The art is collage combining textile, embroidery, paper and found objects. The backs of the cards are purple with a  reversible monogram of the artist's and author's initials.

Im Haus der gefiederten Schlange

Creator(s): Frederik Hetmann, Tilman Michalski

Date: 1990
Country: Germany
Publisher: Goldmann
Number of Cards: 22
ISBN: 3-442-30355-9   
Type: RWS
Reference: amazon

Notes:
Theses cards were printed for a book cover Im Haus der Gefiederten Schlange  by Frederick Hetman, published in 1990.

The book is a collection of stories, at least some of which seem to be inspired by historical figures. For example the Temperance card shows the French writer Stendhal, whose real name was Henri Beyle and there is a story about Henri Beyle in the book.

TCF Collaborative Deck 2012

Creator(s): Collaboration
Date: 2012
Country: United Kingdom
Publisher: Tarot Collectors Forum
Number of Cards: 22+1
ISBN:   
Type: Mixed
Reference: Tarot Collectors Forum

 

Notes:

The TCF deck is not meant for sale, there is one deck for each participant, one deck for the forums host Adam McLean and one for the "Museo dei Tarocchi".

The deck has an extra "Happy Squirrel Card"

I did The Chariot and Justice.

 

Kenzo Psy-Chic Tarot

Creator(s): Michael Willis
Date: 2012
Country: France
Publisher: Kenzo
Number of Cards: 22
ISBN:     
Type: Marseilles
Reference:  artist's page

Notes:
Michael Willis a London-based designer and illustrator created this limited edition majors only deck. The cards were made purposely to be featured in live Tarot readings in Paris at Kenzos pop up store.

Each card shows tarot symbols on one side and the KENZO collection logo on the back.

LWB contains directions on how to play and explanations of each card in English and French.

Tarot Arista

Creator(s): J.M. Simon
Date: 1964, 1999
Country: France
Publisher: Grimaud
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:  
Type: Marseilles
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. I, pp. 230-231







Notes:

This deck contains the drawings of the Tarot of Marseilles, reproduced in smaller black-and-white line images, as well as comments, in direct and reversed reading, the astrological signs and the days of the week. 

The comments with the headline "Dans la vie" give a more general meaning of the card and the comments with the headline "Dans l'immediat” refer to an immediate influence on the questioner.

The title in French appears at the top of each card. The number appears in Roman numerals, top on the left, and Arab numeral in top on the right. Titles and numbers and symbols appear all around the border of the cards.

The order of the cards is traditional Marseille-style; Justice is 8 and Strength 11.  The Fool is numbered 22 and placed at the end of the Major Arcana instead of the beginning.

Along with the Arista Tarot deck there is a small instruction booklet, again in French only. It doesn't say much on the meanings of the cards, nor does it explain why some cards have non-standard titles,  but it describes several possible  layouts.

The cardbacks of my edition are a simple pattern like playing-cards have (the first edition had a fleur-de-lis pattern in gray on a beige background ).

The four suits of the minor arcana are "Batons", "Coupes" (Cups), "Epees" (Swords) and "Deniers" (Coins). The major arcana follow the Marseilles pattern, albeit unusual alternatives for some of the card names, including: "Les Deux Routes Entre Le Vice et La Vertu" (the Two Choices Between Good and Evil) for VI. The Lovers; and "Le Sphynx" (the Sphynx) for X. The Wheel of Fortune. The Star is called L'Etoile des Mages and the Tower is called La Tour Foudroyee. The suits have their borders coloured Baton - purple, Coupe - orange, Denier - blue and Epee - Torquoise. Majors are in various colours.

The deck was first published in 1964 ( my edition with red box was published in 1999).

I pondered quite a while on where the name “Arista” hails from. In German and Spanish “Arista” is the biological term for the hair- or bristle-like appendage on many grasses, wild rye and emmer. The English term would be “awn”, the French word for it is “areste”. Maybe this tarot is named “Arista”, because it is spiked with keywords and symbols like the grasses with awns. On the other hand it could just as well be that Mr. Simon was a fan of the Arista, a French automobile which disappeared from the market in 1963, around the time this tarot was born...

8-bit Tarot

Creator(s): Indigo Kelleigh
Date:  2009
Country: USA
Publisher: self-published
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:     
Type: RWS
Reference: artist's website

Notes:
Small  Waite-Smith based deck, with cards looking as if they had been designed for a video game. The images were rendered at a resolution of 88x152 pixels, using the same 256 colors that were the standard system palette on the Macintosh.

The cards come in a brown lidded cardboard box decorated with blocky 8-bit illustrations. They are business-card sized (2"x3.5") with rounded corners and UV-coating. There was a numbered edition of 100 as deck in progress and another unnumbered edition of 900 as complete deck with a different back design, mine is one of those.

Arcus Arcanum Tarot

Creator(s): Hansrudi Wäscher, Günter Hager
Date: 1986
Country: Switzerland
Publisher: AGM
Number of Cards: 22
ISBN:  
Type: RWS
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. III, pp. 564, 569  

Notes:
For the Arcus Arcanum Tarot, esotericist Hager enlisted renowned comic book artist Hansrudi Wascher to create a friendly, bright Waite-Smith derivative which consciously removes all occult symbol from the images, favoring story elements to convey meaning. Its comic book artwork is reminiscent of the Prince Valiant series.

There are Northern mythology references on various cards and the cards have a more masculine appeal than usual tarot decks.

Card Titles and LWB is German only.

A Tarot Titkai

Creator(s): Katalin Szegedi, Zsofia Lazar
Date: 1991, 2010
Country: Hungary
Publisher: Roder-Ocker
Number of Cards: 22
ISBN:  978-963-08-0401-1 
Type: RWS
Reference: artist's website

Notes:
This deck was originally created  in 1991 by the Hungarian illustrator Katalin Szegedi and came with an  accompanying book by Maria Szabo. Thus it was known as "Szabo/Szegedi Tarot". In 2010 it has been reprinted under the name "A Tarot Titkai"(which translates: Secrets of the Tarot). It came now with a little booklet, Hungarian only,  written by Zsofia Lazar

The new version has a better cardstock, a different back and brighter colors. Some cards, e.g. Justice  and Wheel of Fortune,  have a newly added artist's signature. Also some details are different, such as stars in the sky on the new version of The High Priestess.

Russian Tarot

Creator(s): Boris Monosov, A.N. Golod
Date: 2011
Country: Russia
Publisher: Vektor
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-5968419248 
Type: Marseilles
Reference:

Notes:
Boris Monosov is an author who wrote some books on tarot and magical arts. Each card has a signature A.N. 

According to Adam McLean the Russian Tarot by Boris Monosov has been designed in 1994 but not been printed that time. This edition  was issued by the Russian publisher Vektor in 2011.

It came in a box with a Russian-only booklet.

Arto Tarot

Creator(s): Jane Estelle Trombley
Date: 2008
Country: United Kingdom
Publisher: Adam McLean
Number of Cards: 22
ISBN: 
Type: RWS
Reference: artist's page

Notes:
The artist started working on the Minor Arcana but does not intend to complete the deck. Some Minors can be seen here .

The art is watercolour, the cards are brightly and harmoniously coloured, and bring new imagery to the standard tarot scenes.

The Arto Tarot is the 17th limited edition, majors-only deck from Adam McLean. It came in a lidded box and is signed and numbered by the artist. I have copy #24 of 100.

Lisa Chow's Oracle Tarot Deck

Creator(s): Lisa Chow
Date: 2012
Country: USA
Publisher: self-published
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 
Type: other
Reference: artist's page

Notes:
Lisa Chow is a self-taught artist. She says that one of her inspirations was Edward Gorey's The Fantod Pack. Her artwork was the subject of the exhibition "Oracle" at Space Montrose in Houston, Texas in April 2012.

The deck has illustrated Majors and Minors and is black and white with a few brown and gold tones, the backs are non reversible.

It came packaged in a sturdy cardboard box that  has been hand stamped and is tied shut with twine.

Tarot of the Absurd

Creator(s): Jessica Shanahan
Date: 2012
Country: USA
Publisher: self-published
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:     
Type: RWS
Reference: artist's page

Notes:
The Tarot of the Absurd is a black and white interpretation of the occult tarot, drawn with vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator.  It is a limited edition of 600, mine was number 19. The cards come in a ribbon-tied sleeve. With each deck came a different signed card. Mine was the ace of coins.

The cards are borderless. The card back is a simple, reversible, black on white design. The suits are blades, coins, cups and sticks. The majors have traditional names except The Magician which became Alchemist. The Tarot of the Absurd came with two moon cards, which the artist explains so:

"When illustrating the Moon I thought, What is the most deceptive thing? My conclusion was that the most deceptive thing is a creator who brings something into this world and endows it with the faith that it will be loved and cared for and protected fully— then from within the realm of confidence of its creation, the creator becomes destroyer. I illustrated this as a mad mother consuming her own child: the ultimate deception. It is a disturbing image. ....

Upon becoming a mother myself, I find this image more and more disturbing and have found it necessary to deceive myself anew. Thus, I drew a second Moon. The second Moon contains not only the illusion that my creation will have the ability to wander into the wilds unarmed and sleep with the wolves, unharmed, but that I myself will be the perfect mother, able to produce such a miracle. This comforting illusion occurs when we refuse to take off the veil of deception and witness reality..... 

Which Moon you choose is up to you. I leave them both in the deck."

Pearls of Wisdom - Second Edition

Creator(s): Roxi Sim, Caeli Fullbrite
Date: 2007, 2008
Country: USA
Publisher: 7^th House
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-1-933320-65-6   
Type: RWS
Reference: artist's page





 
Notes:
The first edition (2007) had white borders, the second edition (2008)  has dark borders and an expanded companion book.

The symbolism of the Pearls of Wisdom includes elements of the Triple Goddess, the language of flowers, Runes and colour. The colours are inspired by the artist's time in the caribbean. It is an optimistic deck on which the author notes:

"Born out of great sorrow, the loss of my 9 year old son, my mother and my health, the Pearls Deck was my art therapy. The paintings became my path back to wellness, out the dark dungeon of depression and ill health.  I painted what I needed to see and it is my hope that the images in this deck, along with the optimistic pearls of wisdom, will bring a measure of healing to all those who use it."
 .
The deck follows traditional structure, with  suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, and the Court Cards entitled Page, Knight, Queen and King. The Major Arcana have traditional titles, with Strength as VIII and Justice as XI.

The reversible backs of the cards show pearls, rainbows, flaming heads of the Candles and a spiral, their intended symbolic meaning is explained in the companion book.

Sacred Rose Tarot

Creator(s): Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman
Date: 1982 
Country: USA
Publisher: US Games
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-0-88079-012-1   
Type: RWS
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. III, pp. 629, 632-633

Notes:
The Sacred Rose Tarot was originally published 1980 as a limited edition of 1000 signed and numbered majors-only deck and later expanded to a full 78 cards.

The artist drew inspiration for this deck from Byzantine icons and medieval stained glass windows. Most cards show a prominent figure facing forward in a lush, natural setting.

The backs have a white border, followed by a dark border. The center of the card shows five roses.  The center, purple rose is the Cosmic Rose, suggesting time and space. The Red Rose stands for sacrifice, the White Rose represents purity, the Blue Rose represents the impossible, and the Gold Rose represents absolute achievement.

The background on the cards is color coded: purple for Swords, Red for Wands, blue/white for Cups and orange/brown for Pentacles. The Red Rose is associated with the suit of Wands, the White Rose with the suit of Cups, the Blue Rose with the suit of Swords, and the Gold Rose with the suit of Pentacles. The number, in Roman numerals, and the card title for the Major Arcana and the number or title, along with the suit name for the Minor Arcana, appear at the bottom of the card . 

Cosmic Tarot

Creator(s): Norbert Lösche
Date: 1986, 1998
Country: Switzerland
Publisher: AGM
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-3-905219-40-1 
Type: RWS
Reference: aeclectic








Notes: 
The Cosmic Tarot was first published by FX Schmid, a bavarian company. Unfortunately this company was sold in the 1990s. The deck continues to be published by AGMüller but is also distributed by US Games. My edition was published 1998 by AGMüller and was printed in Belgium.

There are several familiar faces in the deck as some of the figures are based on Hollywood movie stars (e.g.Sean Connery as King of Wands).

The four suits are titled Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Justice is at number 8 and Strength is at number 11. The Court cards are titled King, Queen, Prince and Princess. Wands are associated with fire and Swords with air. The titles are traditional RWS and shown at the bottom of each card. While early editions of this deck published by FX Schmidt had hand written titles, the more recent editions have a standardised type font.

The deck comes with a LWB and no companion book, but  there are three books published about this deck, which may be purchased separately; One authored by Jean Huets, another one written by Laura Clarson and a third book by Lösche himself, which is only available in German and Spanish.

The art is pen and ink, with pastel colors dominating.

The - non-reversible- backs  show a star field containing a pentagram  with a white rose at the center. At the top point is a golden sun rising and a black sun is found at the bottom of the card.