I am an enormous fan of Alexander Daniloff’s work and I am thrilled to see that he has created a new tarot deck to mark 10 years since his first tarot, brought out in 2012. This new tarot is called the Orient Tarot and from the few cards posted online so far, it is gorgeous.
Today’s card release into the wild of social networks are these two beauties :
Aren’t these guys glorious? On the left we have the Knight of Swords and on the right we have the Knight of Cups. I am loving the colour choices for the suits as well as having astrological symbolism on their shields – Gemini for the Knight of Swords and Pisces for the Knight of Cups.
The art styling is of the entire Orient and I am loving the Mughal-style of these warriors and their beautifully rendered horses with the sweeping landscapes behind them.
Although the deck is completed, there is still some way to go before this self-published beauty is for sale. I’m hoping that I won’t have to wait too much longer! I’ll have a price for you just as soon as Alexander has one!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
It may have taken two Kickstarter campaigns, but The Stolen Child Tarot has now been printed, boxed and delivered to the lucky backers!
What a lovely deck it is!
This is a 78-card, fully-illustrated deck, beautifully presented in a flip top box with a magnetic lid. There are two other additional cards – one called Topsy Turvey, which I think you could use as a significator card. And there is also a very cute Title Card.
Topsy Turvey Card
The deck is 8cm wide by 12 cm tall – bigger in both dimensions than the RWS. The card stock doesn’t feel the thickest, but I don’t think that this will be a problem unless you are quite physical with your decks! The cards have a sort of light linen or matt finish which is rather nice.
The card back, at first glance looks entirely suitable for reversals, but both faces are different, so maybe not entirely suitable for reversals (if you like your reversed cards to look identical to the upright cards when face down).
As far as the deck structure is concerned, we have traditionally named Majors with Justice at 8 and Strength at 11 (Majors have Arabic numerals, not Roman). Major 13 is unnamed.
The theme of the deck is inspired by W B Yeats poem of the same name – The Stolen Child – and it has very attractive child/nature/fae artwork from Knighton, who is an illustrator to trade.
The suits are not traditionally-named, but are straightforward to associate with the usual suits. In place of Wands we have Flames, for Cups we have Brine, Swords becomes Zephyrs and Pentacles becomes Oak.
The imagery is not obviously linked to the RWS, unless you look closely and spend some time with each card – The 9 of Zephyrs for instance – you CAN see a link to the RWS – the feathers from the bird of prey are falling around the hare, terrifying it.
I eagerly await the accompanying book pdf which will be available this month, hopefully. The pdf for the Majors, however, can be downloaded from Monica’s website.
I’m especially interested in the Court Cards, of course, and have made a little video using Adobe Spark to let you see them.
The suit ranks are Page, Knight, Queen and King. There are feathers and birds in the Zephyr cards, Shells in the Brine cards, Acorns in the Oak cards and Flames in the Flames cards (not always immediately obvious though).
There’s a lot going on in these cards and the book will help us unpack Monica’s vision, so I hope to add more detail on these cards when that’s available later this month.
I love the artwork for this deck – it is colourful and beautifully rendered. Desperate to get moving with this one and look forward to that book!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
My acquisitive quest for tarot decks is on an enforced go-slow at the moment and as a result, I am diving back in to some old decks that have fallen off my tarot rota.
Today I wanted to chat about the Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini.
The deck was originally published in 1970 (Morgan Press) and the version that I have is a later version from US Games.
I loved the brand Biba in the 70s (still do!) and everything about The Palladini Tarot deck reminds me of that same stylised Art Deco feel with a 70s twist. It’s a full 78-card RWS-style deck with Strength as VIII and Justice at XI.
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
First up, I hold my hands up, I’m biased towards this deck – I work with Mark and administer The Wildwood Tarot’s website. I am an admin on their facebook page and an admin on the Wildwood Tarot study page AND I work for Will Worthington, the deck’s artist. I’ve tried to keep this review as factual as possible and will only fully focus on the section of the book that involves court cards – but just letting you know, ahead of what you read.
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
So, I’ve been watching the development of this Tarot deck and it’s really shaping up to be gorgeous!
I have already posted images of the Queens that Noa has created and today I thought I’d share her Pages with you.
Meet the Page of Pentacles – this young person (could be male or female and that suits me just fine) is standing in lush countryside with a tree-motif Pentacle floating above the Page’s eft hand. Trees branch across the Page’s tunic and headress. It’s a gorgeous image!
The Page of Swords is opulently dressed with huge snowy wings at her back and in her head-dress. Look at how the sword has cut the air, leaving traces behind. And the ghostly cloud bluebird. I’m not sure whether her eyes are closed, showing white lids or whether her eyes are blind. If her eyes are blind, it shows that the Sword Page is not swayed by what her eyes tell her.
Standing in mountainous dry terrain is the boy wizard himself! Or at least a version of him as envisaged by Noa. The Page’s Wand cuts a fiery path through the air and little flame butterflies dance around it.
And to the absolutely delightful Page of Cups. She stands with her Cup in her left hand on the shoreline and watches a watery fish jumping out of its depths. She doesn’t look startled – when you are the Page of Cups, these flights of imagination are to be expected.
All the Pages, bar the Page of Pentacles, has some kind of creature associated with it – bluebird, butterfly, fish. Perhaps the Page of Pentacles needs no such familiar – he IS the natural world.
Here is a link to Noa’s website to see the rest of the cards as they develop and she also has a Patreon account.
I am very much looking forward to the deck’s completion!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
A while back I noticed a kickstarter project for a set of playing cards being created in the UK by Ian Cumpstey. The intricate styling is very much based on the beautiful cards of the Islamic Mamluks.
As one might expect from Islamic art, there are no figurative representations in the Mamluk cards, only geometric shapes and abstracted floral/leaf images. This has been translated into Cumpstey’s beautiful little deck – take a look, you won’t be disappointed.
It’s a standard playing card deck – Ace through ten with three court cards – Jack, Queen and King. There are additional cards – a publisher’s card with Ian Cumpstey’s details, a title card called ‘Viceroys’ and two identically decorated cards that equate to a contemporary deck’s two jokers.
Here are the details:
52 poker-sized (2.5″ x 3.5″) playing cards
Double-ended back design
300 gsm card stock with linen finish
Custom tuck box
Printed by Cartamundi UK
The playing card tuck box is decorated on both sides with a blue-toned abstract floral similar to that on the ‘jokers’.
‘Joker’ image on left and card back geometric pattern on right
The Courts follow the same basic pattern as the Mamluk cards with inscriptions in a blue band at the top of the card and the card title in a blue band at the bottom of the card. However, the suits are those of European playing cards, not the original Mamluk Cups, Swords, Polo Sticks and Coins.
The inscriptions for the courts on the original Mamluk cards are very charming and, in some cases, quite divinatory in nature. For example (this is a translation) : “With the sword of happiness I shall redeem a beloved who will afterwards take my life”.
Yikes.
You don’t want that coming up in a reading too often, right?
So the aphorisms on Ian’s cards are different.
SPADES
Jack: Joy appears as I strike with the sword of fortune
Queen: I am blossoming like the flowers in a dewy garden.
King: Rejoice and be glad, your dreams will be fulfilled.
DIAMONDS
Jack: Rejoice for your good fortune will continue.
Queen: I sparkle in your hand like jewels in a crown.
King: Within my ornaments great wealth is found.
CLUBS
Jack: My patterns are the work of an artist’s hand.
Queen: Neither gold nor rare crystal compares with me.
King: May your luck last for another thousand years.
HEARTS
Jack: I offer a cup filled with never-ending gladness.
Queen: Be joyful and glad in heart for all I bring to you.
King: Now is the time for roses to bloom, red as rubies.
If you are looking for a really pretty set of playing cards that respectfully nod back through time to an ancestor of our Tarot deck, then this is the deck for you. At only £10.00 a pop (plus P&P), it’s well worth it. Check out Ian’s website here.
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
