Bill and I have held onto this deck for a whole week, going over it with a fine tooth comb.  I am satisfied to say that it has passed the closest scrutiny we could manage, with flying colors.  Most Egyptian themed decks are riddled with inconsistencies, such as the wrong blades, costumes, scenery, hieroglyphics, etc.  Clive Barrett has really done his homework, producing a tarot deck that is among the best I have ever seen.  The artwork is superb.  The cards are richly detailed down to the borders, which feature hieroglyphs from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

This deck is available only as a deck and book set, which I usually dislike, not the least of which being that it sets the cost out of reach for a lot of people.  And this set is expensive.  Now I know why.  It's worth every penny.  The book that comes with the set is a small treasury of information, without which the deck could still be used, but so much would be missed.

The cards themselves are highly intuitive, and the beginner who learns with this deck is unlikely to ever outgrow it.  This is the kind of tarot deck which one discovers something new about every day.  As an experienced reader, I still feel I could find new discoveries within these cards for years to come.

The suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Disks.  The Court cards are King, Queen, Prince and Princess.  Otherwise there are no real changes to the traditional framework of the deck.  Every possible bit of symbology has been corrected to flow in unison with the rest of the Egyptian theme.  The cards are wider and stiffer than standard decks but I feel this could break in given enough work.

There is a substantial amount of tasteful nudity in this deck, but it is done because that is consistent with the way of life in Egypt in the period shown in the deck, rather than flaunting skin.  It should only be offensive to the really conservative crowd.

I strongly recommend this deck for anyone who wants an intuitive deck, who follows Egyptology, who practices ceremonial magick (which is based upon Egyptian magickal rites) or who just plain wants a superb deck.

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also see
Clive Barrett's Mythographica

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also by Clive Barrett:
The Norse Tarot

Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace