The Tarots of the Imagination is an art deck from LoScarabeo which literally took my breath away when I looked at it for the first time.  It is not necessarily going to appeal to everyone but those who are interested in quality art will have to admit this is one amazing work.  Everything about the presentation of the deck, from the outer packaging to the cards themselves, is of the highest quality.

The cards are packaged in one of those sleeved foldover things like the Marvel Tarot and the Tarocchi dei Celti.  An outer sleeve covers the inner folded slipcover which holds the cards.  As an art deck, this offering has 22 Major Arcana cards, no minors.  The cards themselves are much larger than standard to give the art an adequate palette for viewing and appreciation of detail.  Even the card stock is unbelievably good, being printed on a ribbed kind of stock which looks like a herringbone pattern when you hold it to the light.  A matte finish covers the cards.  Square cut edges are used instead of the rounded ones.

The images used have a surrealistic, dreamlike quality to them.  I have seen other decks which claimed to be "dreamlike" but this is the first one that truly accomplishes such a look.  Figures are often dressed in strange looking clothing and behaving absurdly, yet within the realm of tarot symbolism.  The Fool is riding a hobbyhorse and thumbing his nose..... at what, the reader? the world? it is up to you to decide what the significance is.  Objects float in the sky that normally don't belong there.  Muted colors are used in the deck, which makes for an even more attractive look.  Titles appear in the upper left hand border of the cards.  The card numbers are in the right in Arabic numerals.  Justice is 8 and Strength 11.

The images presented in some of the cards may require a sense of humor and possibly a strong stomach in at least one case.  L'Appeso (The Hanged Man) shows a man hanging upside down from the nose of a much larger man.  The hanging figure is not human but a man made out of -- you guessed it.  Personally this is my favorite card in the deck.  Some people find it distasteful.  If you can get past your unease, you may find, as I do, that the metaphor might be unorthodox, but it works.  Other cards show graphic nudity but always in an artistic sense.

Since the cards are so large, they bear careful handling, but with an art deck you would want to treat it respectfully anyway.  I would recommend this deck heartily for anyone who collects.  Art deck afficionados might find the overall dreamlike look very appealing.  Since the included booklet is all in Italian and addresses tarot and artist histories rather than divinatory meanings or explanations of card symbolism, this deck is not for the beginner unless that beginner is also a collector.  Certainly I don't want to tell anyone not to get it!

This deck is not distributed in the United States, but is available commercially internationally.  Right now this deck is only available as a 22-card art deck, however LoScarabeo will be producing the deck as a 78-card full working deck in the next year or so, therefore making the art versions more valuable.  If you like what you see now, you might like the expanded full deck even more.  If you would like to order a copy, please email Wicce.

Click here for pictures

or here to return

Please use your browser's back button to return from pictures

Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

Tarocchi dell'Immaginario by Ferenc Pinter, 1991
published by LoScarabeo, Torino

for more information on ordering this deck, email Wicce here.