Similar to the Dark Sirens Tarot in its sci-fi fantasy erotic theme, this deck differs in that it contains the full 78 cards of a traditional tarot deck.  Luis Royo is a master artist from Spain who has done many covers for sci-fi fantasy novels, and his work has appeared in Heavy Metal magazine many times as well, so it may be familiar to a lot of people.  Published by Fournier in Spain, its only import market here is through comic book vendors.  It has gained a reputation for being rare, hard-to-find, and even out-of-print for this reason, and I consistently see it on eBay (www.ebay.com) going at quite high prices.  However, it can be gotten very reasonably if you know where to look.... or whom to ask.

The deck is nicely erotic without being tasteless, and I found the fantasy images to be less degrading than one might expect based on other types of erotic artwork out there.  True, most all the images are of women, but the fantasy artwork market is primarily a men's one at this time.  My only true beef with this deck is that the card size is too small to do justice to the images contained on them.  I'd have liked to see these cards done in a large format so that the image details could be more clearly made out.  I believe, though it's not confirmed yet, that at least some of this work has been previously published, which would explain why it doesn't always match up with the more traditional meanings of the cards the images grace.

The Major Arcana in this deck follow Marseille-type ordering, Justice being 8 and Strength being 11.  The titles are traditional.  Each card has a black border completely surrounding the image area, with the title in Spanish and English in the uppermost righthand corner, in French and German in the lower left corner, and the Roman numerals in the upper left and lower right corners.  This makes for a small image area.

The Minor Arcana are done rather in the style of Marseille decks also, showing pips rather than scenes.  Interestingly, in each suit, the Ace is illustrated with a scene, from which a small detail is repeated as the icons in the pips.  This is the first time I have seen this technique used.  It renders each suit rather artistically even while minimizing detail.  Suits are the usual Pentacles, Swords, Wands and Chalices.  Courts are King, Queen, Knight and Knave.

The cards themselves are slightly smaller than standard size and shuffle and handle easily.  The edges are rounded nicely and buffed to a smooth finish.  The coating is very nice, slightly slippery, but making the deck very useable.  The back design is rather plain, black stripes on grey leading to a black circle with a skull design in the center.  It is not truly reversible.

Overall this deck will appeal mainly to collectors and erotica fans, but those who like dark imagery may find it extremely interesting to use, and I do know at least one person who uses this deck for readings and finds it quite intuitive.  It definitely merits a second glance.  It's not easy to find, but worth the effort if you like what you see here.  Royo has also published several books of artwork wherein many of these images can be seen in larger detail.  For more information on buying a copy of this deck, or on buying any of Royo's art collection books, email Wicce.

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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

The Black Tarot by Luis Royo
published by Naipes Heraclio Fournier, S.A.