Reading Tarot

The Visconti-Sforza Tarot

The Visconti-Sforza tarot deck is the oldest surviving deck of tarot cards in the world. Most scholars agree that it dates from the mid-to-late fifteenth century and was commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, the duke of Milan. The courtly game of Tarocchi was very popular during that time in Italy, having most likely been introduced to Europe during the Moorish invasion of Spain several centuries earlier. During the Medieval period, Tarocchi was played as a game of trumps, in which each player attempted to win hands by beating the other cards in a given suit. Most historians believe that tarot was not widely used as a divination tool until it was popularized in Britain and America at the close of the nineteenth century.

Only 67 cards from the original deck survive today, and these are housed in the Yale University Library. Artist Luigi Scapini was commissioned to recreate the missing cards in the deck, based on the imagery contained in the surviving cards. This deck is available for purchase through U.S. Games Inc.

Golden Tarot

Not to be confused with the golden Dawn tarot deck, the Golden Tarot is based on medieval and particularly renaissance works of art. Original paintings and imagery are combined in the form of a collage, giving the cards an abstract and yet classical appearance. Even the decorative border of the cards is taken from a 1435 painting by Swiss artist Conrad Witz. Because of the popularity of religious iconography during the period of art used, many Christian images such as the Madonna and other saints populate the cards. Australian artist Kat Black used scenes and characters depicted in lesser-known paintings from the early renaissance to create each card. Unlike other medieval tarot decks, however, the Golden Tarot closely follows the symbolic system of the Rider-Waite deck. As a result, the Golden Tarot is more suitable for beginners who may already be familiar with the symbolic imagery used in Rider-Waite.

Scapini Tarot

Another deck by Luigi Scapini, the Scapini tarot uses medieval imagery but was created entirely from the imagination of the artist. As a result, Scapini’s symbolism does not correspond to more modern, traditional card systems like the Rider-Waite. There is a logical consistency to his symbolic system, however, and this is explained in a companion book that can be purchased alongside the deck of cards. The clothing, backgrounds, and characters depicted in these ornate paintings are all taken from medieval or renaissance period artwork. In fact many cards, such as the Magician pictured at left, are directly inspired by the earlier Visconti-Sforza images. The Scapini deck is less ornate and features more vibrant colors than the historical reprint, however. The shape of the Scapini tarot cards is also different from modern decks; each one is long and narrow in keeping with the style of actual medieval tarot cards.

I have decided to buy a bunch of different tarot decks and offer review of them for readers of this blog. The Black Tarot is a deck that caught my eye because of its incredibly creative imagery and dark visual style. I found the cards online, since they are fairly rare and can be hard to locate in local shops. Fantasy imagery abounds, with depictions of hunky men with swords and semi-naked women posing next to impressive ruins. The artist has clearly gone for a dark gothic theme with these cards, and he warns readers in the included instruction booklet that one should not use these cards “if you only want to know about good things.” But if you want to know about naked women, this is definitely the deck for you!

The black Tarot springs from the imagination of fantasy artist Luis Royo, an illustrator from Spain whose work has appeared in comic books like Heavy Metal magazine. Admittedly, this is not the kind of art style that I usually go for, but his exaggerated designs work surprisingly well in the context of a tarot deck. The meanings that he assigns to each card are a little bit off-base, and I think that the artist had only a passing interest in serious tarot reading and history when he made these drawings.

The Black Tarot deck comes in a box with 78 fully illustrated cards featuring German, French, English and Spanish names. The size of each card is 2 3/8 X 4 ¼ inches. The edges of each card are rounded and the deck has a very nice feel to it when handled.

This deck can certainly be used for readings, but may not be ideal for beginners, since some of the definitions and images differ widely from established tarot meanings. Also, the numbered minor arcana cards provide symbols only and are not fully illustrated like the major arcana cards. If you grew up with or appreciate comic books, fantasy novels, or Dungeons and Dragons, the Black Tarot is definitely a deck that you need in your collection.

Buy This Deck Online Now

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For those of you who like a more modern look to your tarot cards, as well as for those who work in technology, we’ve found the perfect deck for you. The Silicon Valley Tarot replaces all of the major and minor arcana from the traditional 78-card deck with fabulous hand-drawn (but undoubtedly computer-assisted) artwork. This deck is published by Steve Jackson Games and has been out for a while, but I just came across it recently and simply had to share it with all of you.

New cards in the major arcana include “The Firewall” and “The Flame War”. The hacker (featured below) and picture of exploding server is particularly amusing. The minor arcana suits of Swords, Pentacles, Wands and Cups are replaced by some new technology-influenced suits: Networks, Cubicles, Disks and Hosts! To get an idea of what the deck is like, check out some sample images below:

The hand of Venture Capital emerges from the clouds and bestows its blessings. Money falls like rain, refreshing the denizens of the under-funded startup. Are there invisible threads attached? Who can tell. Aid, assistance, nourishment, help. In the reversed position: meddling, micro-management, unwelcome partnership, aversion to risk, cowardice.

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My name is Zora Divine, and this is my first blog. I started this site to share my love and knowledge of Tarot with other online seekers. I hope that this site will become a useful resource for those looking for information about reading tarot cards, the different tarot layouts (spreads) and the history of this rewarding practice.

I am going to begin my blogging journey by going through the meaning of each individual card in the deck. These will be organized in a list of meanings as I write each description. Hopefully within a few months I will be able to cover the significance of each of the 78 cards in detail.

My partner and I are also working on developing some advanced tarot software, which will allow users to do their own readings and learning from home in a fun and interactive way. Check back often to find out about the progress of this program. We hope to have it ready by June of 2009.
Thank you for visiting. I welcome any and all feedback in the comments section.

Peace and love,

Zora