This deck purports to bridge the spiritual roots between the three great religions of the world: Islam, Judaism and Christianity.  However, upon looking through the deck my third time, I must conclude that what I see more of is a cross between Islam, Hungarian Catholic, Egyptian and Hindi.  The deck has a sumptuous look to it reminiscent of a Thousand and One Arabian Nights.  The art style is consistent with Persian mosaic and painting style.

There are Hebrew letters on the cards, but that's about all I can see of any Hebrew influence.  The pictures are very busy-looking and it is hard to see everything in them, so you have to look through the deck several times to get everything.

The Major Arcana keep to the traditional titles for the most part, although with the cards being titled in four languages it isn't easy to tell.  I can read the French, German, Hungarian and English.  Looked in the little booklet for it but no clue was forthcoming.  Prize to the first person who emails me with the answer.

Speaking of the little booklet, this is one of the fattest little books I have ever seen with a deck.  In fact, it was so fat the deck and booklet together did not fit into the box.  It appears as though the box was made to hold a much smaller booklet and then at the last minute they decided to increase the booklet and didn't make the box larger.  Once I took them out it was impossible to return the cards to the box without leaving the booklet out.

There are several spreads discussed in the booklet, one even involves quoting biblical passages to the querent while laying out the cards.  The cards themselves are standard sized and shuffle easily.  They have a coating which makes them slightly slippery to handle.  Traditional suits of Coins, Cups, Wands and Swords are used, and courts are King, Queen, Knight and Page.

This is a very interesting deck for someone who is looking for an old-world, yet Christian approach to the cards.  Despite the Persian and Egyptian influences, I think it is the Christian part which leaves the most impression.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace