I tend to like the erotic tarot decks so whenever I hear of a new one coming out (or one I've not seen before) I have to get a copy.  The Tarots of Casanova is one such tarot deck.  I saw it in the LoScarabeo catalog when it was still a deck "in-the-works" and it was announced as "coming soon."  Just based on the artwork style from the few samples I had seen, I knew I wanted this deck.

The artwork in this deck is exquisite, depicting life in Venice Italy during the time of Casanova, who was a real-life person (something I didn't really remember - I always thought he was just a character from literature or something, guess I was confusing him with Don Juan).  Giacomo Casanova lived from 1725 to 1798 and aside from living a now-famous romantic life, was also a mason and occultist/esotericist who must have had a terribly fascinating life.

It is important to note that the nature of these cards is not primarily an erotic deck, because the deck is not simply about sex, or even about the sexual exploits of the man Casanova, but about the life and times of a man whose passion in life was love, not just love of a woman, or love of sex, but a love for life itself.  Giacomo Casanova loved women, yes, but he loved Venice, he loved life, food, wine, and everything that stimulated the senses.  Many people have criticized this deck because it is not a showcase of sexual imagery, but I think they are missing the point, which is that the lust for life is a passion in and of itself.  The act of sex is secondary to the passion that surrounds it.

The Major Arcana in this deck feature standard titles and order according to the European form, which uses the Marseilles as its model.  This means that Justice is 8 and Strength is 11.  The titles themselves are presented in five languages, Italian, Spanish, English, French and German.  The Italian title appears at the top of the white border surrounding the image.  The other four appear in the bottom corners, with the Roman numeral for the card in the center of the bottom.  Only 8 of the 22 Major Arcana cards actually feature sexual imagery; all of the Major cards show scenes from the life of Casanova and would seem to depict actual events taken from Casanova's own memoirs.  In fact you can even witness Casanova writing said memoirs in the World card.

When we come to the Minor Arcana, the suits are the traditional Chalices, Wands, Swords and Pentacles.  Again you have all the titles given in five languages, and Arabic numerals this time are at the bottom.  The court titles are still King, Queen, and Knight, with a Knave instead of a Page.  Almost all of the court figures in this deck are masked.  The masks seem to be a theme which runs throughout the deck and I can't help but wonder if they were used that much in real life, or if they are representational of the mystery of the moment.  In several plays of Shakespeare he refers to masquerades, parties and dances where everyone is masked, and perhaps this was a normal event in historical society.

I love the Aces in this deck -- each Ace shows a scenic view of a beautiful canal in Venice, which seems to be the "starting place" for the events which occur during the numbered cards of that suit.  In fact, the description of the Ace of Cups says it best:  "Each canal is crossed by a bridge, every heart has a road which leads to it."  These canals are shown so that one can get a feeling for the events which follow.  There are various exploits of Casanova shown throughout the numbered cards, but also other people are shown as well, friends and contemporaries of Casanova about whom he wrote in his memoirs.

The cards themselves are fairly standard in size and are printed on good cardstock with a semigloss coating for protection.  The edges are smoothed and the corners rounded nicely, which makes them easy to shuffle and handle.  The back design is a monochromatic blue with a picture of the mask shown reversed on each end, so you cannot tell from the back of the card whether the card is reversed or upright.  The little white booklet which comes with the deck is extremely basic in nature but seems to strive to explain as much of the historical significance as possible for each card.  I would think this deck would benefit from having a real book written to go with it, but I am not sure how many people would buy it for divinatory purposes.

Ironically, while its main market will probably always be erotic deck collectors, and tarot collectors in general, I believe that with the proper knowledge of the life of Casanova and the significance behind each card, this deck could actually be used for divination.  Particularly in terms of self-readings, since I don't know many clients for whom I would feel secure enough to bring this deck out for a public reading.  However, there *are* occasions when a sexually explicit deck might bring out the nature of some problems around which other situations might be revolving.  This is not a deck for a beginner unless they are serious about either collecting or about learning to study the cards in depth.  There's a lot more here than meets the eye, so don't dismiss the cards without further investigation.

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Review Copyright 2001 by Gina M. Pace

Tarots of Casanova by Luca Raimondo, 2000
published by LoScarabeo, Torino, Italy