Ciro Marchetti

Reviewing this is really to review its two components: the Tarot deck itself and its companion book, Gateway to the Divine Tarot (not sold separately, so if you have one you're likely to have both). Now in reviewing the deck, my lack of experience in evaluating art is going to get in the way. Basically, I think the deck is gorgeous, and that's about as sophisticated as I'm going to be able to get. The deck is clearly from the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, but this is no RWS clone. Marchetti has taken 78 familiar themes and put his own spin on them. Some images are similar to their RWS inspirations, such as the Ten of Wands, while others, like the Three of Swords, convey the traditional idea through a completely new image (which I would attempt to describe for you, except that that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words comes to mind. I'd never do it justice).

While Gateway to the Divine Tarot certainly wasn't a bad book, I didn't find it to be on the same level as the Tarot deck. It's not clear from the box, but the book is a joint effort of Marchetti and four contributors: Ruth Ann Amberstone, Wald Amberstone, James Ricklef, and Leisa ReFalo. The book opens with Marchetti's story of an ancient civilization destroyed in a cataclysm and its present-day influence. The bulk of the book is then devoted to discussing the cards. For each card, Marchetti gives a brief description and often explains the symbolism he included. The Amberstones and Ricklef then add commentary and ReFalo concludes by adding keywords, traditional symbolism, and advice. Finally, ReFalo has written a beginner's guide to reading the cards, including a number of spreads. I just didn't get into the introductory story very well, and while I was interested in learning more about Marchetti's take on the cards, the card descriptions felt a bit choppy. I get the impression the contributors worked separately and their words were later compiled by an editor. While a beginners' section was needed, this one was so short that I'm not sure how much help it would be for beginners. They might wish to find another book or two to help them with the basics of reading the cards, but hang on to this one for the author/artist's explanations. But chances are, you were buying this set for those lovely cards more than for the book, right? I certainly was, so four-and-a-half stars for the deck and just a smidgen off for the book.… (mehr)