A Review of Renaissance Tarot

Renaissance Tarot

by Brian Williams

Published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Review by Christiana Gaudet

How did I miss Brian William’s Renaissance Tarot when it first came out in 1987?

It really doesn’t matter, because it’s back!

That’s right. US Games has republished this amazing deck, along with the full-size guide book, also by Brian Williams.

Brian Williams combined his love for classical and renaissance art and his love for tarot in this project that took more than ten years to complete. Williams is known for a number of interesting tarot projects, including Ship of Fools Tarot and PoMo Tarot. His death in 2003 robbed the tarot world of one of its greatest minds.

Renaissance Tarot is a deck like no other. At first glance it looks like an historical tarot deck, similar to a Marseilles deck. The art is of renaissance style, and quite detailed with interesting and symbolic nuances. The deck comes with a little white book, also by Williams.

If you want to work with this deck I would strongly advise you to buy the big yellow book entitled” A Renaissance Tarot”. This tarot is a complex work above and beyond a standard tarot deck. The large-size format 197-page book gives a great deal of information about each card, as well as the art, history, mythology and philosophy of the renaissance on which this deck is based.

The deck is structured fairly traditionally, The Wheel of fortune is called Chance and Judgment is called The Angel. Strength is card 11 and Justice is 8.

The intricate cardbacks are not reversible, though reversed meanings are given in the little white book.

The deck includes a presentation card and a title card.  The presentation card is beautifully illustrated.

The Pip cards have unobtrusive keywords written on ribbons in the corners. The top right hand side is in English. The keywords differ from the Crowley pip keywords, and are very different from standard Waite keywords.

The Minor Arcana suits are Coins, Cups, Staves and Swords. Although the focus of each pip card is the icons, there are some small illustrations on the cards that will help with memory and interpretation.

The associations for the suits go way beyond simple elemental associations. Williams discusses the symbolism of each icon as a way of summing up the flavor of each suit.

The book also includes some heady tarot spreads and a wealth of illustrations. It is easy to believe that ten years was spent researching and creating this deck.

The art is really stunning, especially for a Marseilles-like deck. The colors are muted. The images are drawn with very fine lines that allow for a lot of detail.

Don’t expect to make an easy leap from a Waite deck to Renaissance Tarot. Crowley and Marseilles readers may have an easier time embracing this deck. Tarot beginners who are willing to work with the book will find an intensely rich divinatory tool. Tarotist of all levels of experience will enjoy opening up a new exciting tarot world for themselves with Renaissance Tarot.

There are numerous tarot decks available that work on a system that is somewhat different than the old faithful traditions we know and love. What separates Renaissance Tarot is its scholarly nature. This isn’t a system that someone made up or channeled from some unseen spiritual entity.

Renaissance Tarot is based on history, mythology, philosophy and art that was contemporary to tarot’s actual birth. There is something about that fact that makes Renaissance Tarot special and important.

It took Brian Williams ten years of his all-too-short life to create this tarot. Don’t worry if it takes you a while to master it.

Renaissance Tarot is a worthy legacy, and an important contribution to the body of tarot art, knowledge and understanding. Three cheers for US Games’ decision to allow this deck its own renaissance!

Christiana Gaudet Reviews Renaissance Tarot

Video of Christiana Gaudet Reviews Renaissance Tarot

A Review of The Sirian Starseed Tarot

Sirian Starseed Tarot
By Patricia Cori and Alysa Bartha
Published by North Atlantic Books
Review by Christiana Gaudet

There are a number of reasons I might not have loved the new Sirian Starseed Tarot by Patricia Cori and Alysa Bartha, published by North Atlantic Books.

The Sirian Starseed Tarot is a "channeled deck," and clearly born of and marketed to the community of people whom many would describe as "waiting for the spaceship to land."

It is a photography deck. I don't always connect with photography decks.

Many of the card and suit names have been changed. I'm a bit of a traditionalist, so that doesn't always resonate with me.

The list could go on, but you get my point.

Now here's the punch line. I absolutely love The Sirian Starseed Tarot.

Patricia Cori, well-known voice of the Sirian High Council and designer of The Sirian Starseed Tarot, agreed to spend some time with me over Skype from her home in Italy.

Patricia has been visited by the sixth-dimensional beings from the Sirian star system since she was young. She is a world renowned author and teacher. She leads trips to sacred sites around the world. And, she is amazingly down-to-earth, compassionate and intelligent.

In our conversation I discovered that Patricia Cori has been a tarot reader for many years. Unlike many recent deck creators, tarot is not a band-wagon on which she is jumping to find a new audience. Tarot is a life-long passion for Patricia, and that passion is evident in The Sirian Starseed Tarot.

Sirian Starseed Tarot is oversized. Patricia knows this makes it a little harder to handle, but she wanted us to be able to really enter each card and experience it in meditation, as well as in divination.

Patricia worked side-by-side with the artist, Alysa Bartha, to create the deck, but she also worked with the Sirian High Council. She channeled information from them, related it to Alysa, and together they birthed the deck.

Patricia described to me times that unintentional images simply appeared in the cards; images that were appropriate and meaningful.

The cards themselves include photos from sacred sites around the world. As I said earlier, I usually don't like photography decks, but in this deck the photos work so well that all my brain registers is beautiful spiritual art.

The coloring is vibrant, with a lot of starlight in the purple-hued night skies.

To really understand this deck one must understand the concept of "Starseed." Starseed are souls who have been planted here on Earth by those who exist in higher dimensions and other star systems. Starseed have been placed here to serve Earth in our process of spiritual evolution. To me, the concept seems similar to that of the bodhisattva in Buddhism.

Those who are Starseed may not have an inherent knowledge of being Starseed. They may be psychic and spiritual. As Patricia says, they may feel not quite at home on Earth, and may have an inner longing to return to their home in the stars. They may remember past lives in Atlantis, the Mayalands or Egypt.

Many of the Major Arcana cards are renamed, as are the Minor Arcana suits. The renaming reflects the Starseed theme of the deck. The Fool is "Starseed," and the Magician is "Indigo", for instance.

The changes also reflect Patricia's desire that the deck be less hierarchical and less patriarchal. The Empress is "Abundance" and the Emperor is "Reason," describing the female/male energy without the gender references.

As a product of medieval Italy, tarot is admittedly sexist and classist. Many decks have been created over the years to reflect more inclusive values. I happily count the Sirian Starseed Tarot as one of those more balanced decks.

The Minor Arcana suit names are Crystals, Chalices, Orbs and Flames. The only one I didn't immediately resonate with was Orbs for the Air suit. I asked Patricia about this, and was completely satisfied with her answer.

First, Patricia said, she wanted to get away from the aggressive masculine concept of Air and Fire. So, instead of Swords and Wands she called them Orbs and Flames. The Air element is about thought and communication; Patricia used Orbs since that is a way Spirit communicates with us, especially in photography. And, Patricia specifically receives her messages from the Sirian High Council in orb-like "thought bubbles."

Patricia Cori is a Rider-Waite-Smith tarot reader, and her deck reflects Waite tradition quite nicely. The card backs are not reversible as they bear the triangular symbol of the Sirian High Council. Reversed meanings are not given in the accompanying booklet, but I am sure the reader could chose to honor reversals if desired.

The booklet itself is well-written, but does not fully explain each card in the detail I would have appreciated. Patricia told me she is considering writing a full-sized book for the deck. I think this would be a very worth-while project.

One of the things I like about the images of Starseed Tarot is that they are evocative without ever being gruesome. Even the most timid client would not find any words or images frightening.

That Patricia Cori understands tarot as an archetypal journey and a tool of tarot and meditation, as well as a tool of divination, gives the deck and booklet a lot of depth. Some of the images are deceptively simple, but if you spend some time with each image you will find the images evoke meaning and feeling quite easily.

The Sirian Starseed Tarot is not a deck to be taken lightly. It is more visually understandable than Tarot of Transformation, and more traditional in its images than the Doreen Virtue Angel Tarot. For me, its vibe is somewhat similar to both those decks.

The Sirian Starseed Tarot will be a good fit for a great number of readers, both beginner and advanced. I particularly recommend it to those who want a more spiritual deck and to those who want a more inclusive deck. Of course, I recommend the Sirian Starseed Tarot to those who look to the stars in the night sky and long to return home, and to those who hear a calling to bring the message of the star people to the planet Earth.

For more information on Patricia Cori and the Sirian Starseed Tarot, visit Patricia's Website.

Dreaming Way Tarot Review

Review by Christiana Gaudet

Deck by Rome Choi and Kwon Shina

Published by U.S. Games

Dreaming Way Tarot is a new tarot deck from US Games. Dreaming Way closely follows the Rider Waite Smith traditions to the point that most people who are comfortable with the RWS will have no problem immediately reading with Dreaming Way.

Dreaming Way Tarot is a youthful deck. I think it will be very popular with younger readers especially. The art is very good. The faces of the characters are delicate and detailed. Many of the images are breathtaking and evocative. I particularly like the Aces, and the Judgment card.

The scenic backgrounds seem random. Some are beautiful color-washed tones. Others, for no apparent reason, are textured. Some have a repeating pattern that looks like old-fashioned wallpaper.

The costuming of the characters is curious. Many wear huge, elongated shoes. Some wear oversized top hats. The High Priestess is a young girl in a black top hat and white knee socks. It is images such as this which make me think this is a deck for someone much younger than me. In my tarot world, the High Priestess does not wear knee socks.

There are some striking contrasts in the art. Many of the costumes are colored in black-and-white checks. The Cups are of varying sizes and shapes, and they are decorated in large black-and-white polka dots.

Page of Cups

There are some images that just make me shake my head. Most notably, the Page of Cups is a sweet young girl in a dress, holding a black and white cup. Fish are swimming through the air. The image is lovely, except that the poor Page has a teapot tied to her head.

What makes matters worse is that the LWB is skimpy, and does not give the reasons behind the crazy images. If I could explain to a client the symbolism of the teapot hat I would feel better about it.

Another problem I have is the facial expressions of some of the characters. In some cards that are traditionally happy, the characters look sullen and morose. I am not sure how well my clients will react to a Ten of Cups where Mom looks like she is coming home from a funeral.

All griping aside, there is something really special about this deck. After looking through the cards a few times I decided that Dreaming Way was just not a deck for me. I put it to the side of my reading table to sit rejected until I had a chance to review it.

Then I had a couple of telephone readings to do. I began each reading using my current professional deck, my trusty Hanson-Roberts. Early on in both readings, I felt the Dreaming Way call to me. "Use me! Use me!" it seemed to say. And so I did.

Here's what I discovered. The stark black and white graphics against the watery pastel washes evoke a lot of intuition. As a full-time tarot professional I could read with any deck and do a good job. But I must admit Dreaming Way made my job easy.

I know that newborn infants react to black-and-white graphics. Maybe the inner child does too. Maybe the interesting and eye-catching images work to open the third eye. We know that the third eye is linked to psychic ability, eyesight and imagination. For me, this is why every tarot deck is so powerful. As the eyes view the tarot cards the images stimulate the imagination, the intuition and the psychic ability.

It may be that these odd Dreaming Way images have some special ability to stimulate psychic awareness.

I am still more comfortable using these images for phone readings, where the clients can't see the cards. Over time, I may come up with my own explanations for the odd symbolism. Then I will be excited to take Dreaming Way Tarot on the road with me.

Addendum: For some other thoughts on this deck, after it's designer, Rome Choi, explained some of the symbolism to me. visit here.

A Review of Angel Tarot Cards

Angel Tarot Cards
Doreen Virtue, Radleigh Valentine, Steve A. Roberts
Published by Hay House
Review by Christiana Gaudet

After a few months of fussing and fuming about the disingenuous promotions Hay House has used for the new Doreen Virtue Angel Tarot Cards, I am finally holding the deck in my hands. No, I didn’t break down and make the purchase. If you are wondering why, see my blog post on the topic. 

However, I do believe the Doreen Virtue Angel Tarot is a legitimate contribution to the tarot corpus, and I am glad a friend lent me her copy so I could give it a legitimate review.

Angel Tarot Cards (yes, that is the official title) looks like a typical Doreen Virtue oracle. It is oversized, printed on very sturdy stock and packaged in a lovely box with a small but substantial booklet. Because of their size and sturdiness, the cards are a bit hard to handle, but lovely to behold.

The deck is a standard 78-card tarot deck in many respects. The artwork is gorgeous, but there are few visual clues in each picture about what the card might actually mean. Never fear, there are interpretations written on each card. There is no need to actually intuit or study anything. This is a boon for new tarot readers or for those who want to use the deck as a simple, easy oracle. 

I like many of the written interpretations on the cards and in the booklet. Virtue and I agree that every tarot card can have an uplifting meaning. The punctuation on some of the interpretations summons my inner grammar police. The interpretations are a mishmash of full sentences and key words, but each thought is punctuated with a full stop. Apparently, angels find no need for complete sentences or proper punctuation. We can’t really blame the deck designers for this; many other oracle creators are guilty of the same lazy crime against the English language.

The Major Arcana cards are each illustrated with an archangel. The cards bear the traditional number at the top. Each Major Arcana has a name, although many of the names have been changed from the traditional Major Arcana designations. Under the Major Arcana name is the name of the angel, then the illustration. The written interpretations are at the bottom.

In this deck, Justice is card eight, and Strength is card eleven.  The Fool has been renamed as “The Dreamer.” Major Arcana five (Hierophant) is called “Unity,” twelve (Hanged Man) is called “Awakening,” thirteen (Death) is “Release,” fourteen (Temperance) is “Balance,” fifteen (Devil) is “Ego”, sixteen (Tower) is “Life Experience” and twenty (Judgment) is “Renewal.” The rest retain their traditional names.

I am comfortable with changing the traditional names of Major Arcana cards. In the five hundred year history of tarot some have already been changed. The Hierophant was once the Pope, for instance. I like Lisa Hunt’s replacement of “Chains” for the Devil, and Eileen Connolly’s “Transition” for Death.

I think Virtue’s “Release” for Death is brilliant. I also like “Ego” for the Devil. I think “Life Experience” for the Tower is shallow, and “Unity” for the Hierophant is simply wishful thinking.

The assignment of an archangel for each Major Arcana is very interesting, and will be helpful to those who work with archangels, or want to learn more about them. Following in the footsteps of Kris Waldherr and some other modern tarot designers, this is a great example of what I like to call “archetypal assignment tarot.” The question is, how well do the archangel choices reflect the standard Major Arcana archetypes?

The “Unity” card (Hierophant), is represented by Archangel Sandalphon. Sandalphon is one of the few archangels who was once a mortal man. This makes sense for the “Pope” archetype of Major Arcana five. The Pope is a mortal man who is also God, or God’s representative on Earth. Sandalphon’s responsibilities include prayers, personal ascension and Earth. To me, this seems like a very good fit.

The High Priestess is represented by Archangel Haniel. Haniel is feminine, and associated with grace, intuitive development, and finding our divine essence. Again, this seems a perfect fit.

After studying the archangels and the Major Arcana cards with which they are assigned, I feel the designers of this deck really did their homework. One problem with archetypal assignment decks is the assignments sometimes feel forced. In Angel Tarot Cards, the assignments make sense, and feel natural.

My only real complaint with the Major Arcana in this deck is the loss of the “Fool’s Journey.” I would be fine with the “Dreamer’s Journey.” But here, there is no journey at all. Instead, there are simply twenty-two archangels, each with a beautiful picture, a strong archetypal association and a powerful message. For many, this will be enough.

For me, the concept of card zero (Fool or Dreamer) as the star of the show and the representation of each of us on our journey through life is critical to developing a full archetypal and allegorical understanding of tarot.

The Minor Arcana of Angel Tarot Cards uses the elements instead of the icons. This is not an unusual switch in modern tarot. The Earth cards have green borders and are illustrated with faeries. The Water cards have dark blue borders and are illustrated with mermaids. The Fire cards have dark red borders and are illustrated with dragons. The Air cards have light blue borders and are illustrated with unicorns.

The Court of the Minor Arcana is quite traditional, with ranks of Page, Knight, Queen and King. The interpretations include the possibility of the cards representing people, energies or predictions.

I have a problem with mixing archangels with unicorns, mermaids, dragons and faeries, especially since Virtue has made a living of presenting the angels as actual beings rather than mythological beings. Does this mean she thinks unicorns and mermaids are actual beings as well? Many people do, but for me this demotes the archangels to mere mythical beasts.

Clearly, Angel Tarot Cards would not be my first choice for a personal or professional tarot deck. However, the artwork and deck quality are stunning. The deck honors tarot tradition in many ways, and will be a great tool for folks who want to learn tarot, or who want to learn about the archangels. It is evident that a great deal of work went into producing this deck. That work has resulting in a strong tarot deck that many people will cherish and enjoy. Angel Tarot Cards is a valuable offering to the tarot community, and may serve to bring new tarot enthusiasts into our community.