Tarot Arista
 
Well, for starters, this deck doesn't appear to have been done by anybody!  I've looked and looked and can't find the name of a single person credited with the design of this deck.  It's published by France Cartes/Grimaud, which will make availability limited, but not impossible.  Another requirement to fully use this deck is a certain amount of competency with the French language, at least in reading it.  Even the little white booklet is completely in French.
 
This deck is basically a *much* nicer version (in my humblest of opinions!) of the Starter Tarot.  Done in a much classier scheme, the images of the cards are rendered in a black-and-white sketch version in the center of the cards.  On the top quarter of the card, French text explanations for the meaning of the card are printed, and on the bottom quarter, the reversed meanings are printed upside down.  In each case, the meanings are given in two forms; "Dans la vie" and "Dans l'immediat."  I thought I could read French enough to translate them, but I suddenly don't feel so certain!  I am gathering that they refer to an immediate application of the meaning of the card, and one for a longer term, time applied to life in general.
 
The cards themselves are done in various lovely pastel colors.  Each card is done in *one* color with black print against it, so saying the images are "black-and-white" is actually not entirely true, as they are black against whatever color the card is.  There is a white edge on the cards, and then there is a border on all four sides.  Titles and numbers and symbols appear all around the border of the cards.  At the top, in the center, in all caps, is the traditional title of the card in French.  The number of the card is in each corner at the top, flanking the title on both sides.  In the right hand margin, there is a French keyword for the card's meaning.  In the bottom border, the Sun sign and astrological information appears, flanked by the symbols for them.  And finally, in the left hand margin, is a French multi-word title which adds yet another dimension to the meanings of the cards.
 
The color scheme itself is a little confusing.  In the Major Arcana, the colors just rotate randomly.  Gold, blue, peach, green, purple, lemon, orange, pink, olive, brown..... no apparent reason for why each card is the color it is.  Titling of the cards (I'm referring to the traditional titles at the top of the cards now) seems to follow the Marseille standard... of course, they're in French, but the typical names occur, with a couple of exceptions:  The Lovers, which would normally be Les Amoureaux, is replaced by Les Deux Routes, which is French for the Two Choices.  Basically this is a metaphor for the meaning of the cards.  The Wheel of Fortune card is replaced, title-wise, with Le Sphynx (the Sphinx) which, as near as I can guess, is just based on the fact that in most Marseille style decks, the figure on top of the wheel is a sphinx.  The Star is called L'Etoile des Mages (the star of the mages) and the Tower is called La Tour Foudroyee, which I think means something about the Tower of Man's Folly or something to that effect.  Ordering is traditional Marseille-style; Justice is 8 and Strength 11.  The Fool is numbered 22 and placed at the end of the Major Arcana instead of the beginning.
 
In the Minor Arcana, the color scheme levels out somewhat, as each suit has its own color and all cards within the suit are the same color.  Batons or Wands are purple,  Cups are peach, Epees or Swords are a tealish-blue, and Deniers or Coins are a darker blue.  Again, I can't find any explanation for why the colors used were selected.  Aces are actually titled and numbered One instead of Ace.  Court titles are Roi (King), Reine (Queen), Cavalier (Knight) and Valet (Page).
 
What is really interesting is that the little white booklet, while all in French, seems to trust that enough time and words have been spent explaining the meanings of the cards, between all the titles and keywords and short meanings right on the cards.  The booklet instead focuses all its words on how to actually read with the cards, several layouts are taught, and none of them is the Celtic Cross.  Of course none of this is any help if you don't read French!
 
The cards themselves are slightly smaller than standard and shuffle and handle easily.  The edges are buffed to a smooth finish and they feel good in the hand, somehow *cooler* than usual.  The back design is a repeated fleur-de-lis pattern in gray on a beige background; the edges of the cards look like they are slightly striped because you can see the edges of the pattern at them.
 
Overall, *if* you can read French, I recommend this deck as a nice little starter deck to learn with.  It uses strictly Marseille-style imagery, so it hasn't got a heavily pictured type of symbolism.  The pictures are actually better on this than on any other version of Marseille I have seen; I'm really surprised no one thought to render these images in black-and-white earlier!  Collectors will like to have it as well, especially those who collect European decks.  If you have any trouble finding a copy of this deck, email Wicce for assistance.
 
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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
Tarot Arista, no artist named, 1994
published by France Cartes, France