I have been looking forward to getting this tarot for the Collection for a long time, ever since seeing it on Brian's webpage.  The art style is strong, but attractive, and the medium used is linoleum block.  I don't know a lot about this artistic medium but I do know it is a very difficult one to work with.  As I understand it, the carving must be done in reverse, in other words, like a negative film.

The deck is all done in black and white, as befits a block print, keeping the contrast alive.  The Major Arcana have all the traditional titles, and traditional suits of Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles are used as well.  The court cards are similarly traditional, however the female cards are prioritized ahead of the male instead of being subordinate.  So you have Queen, King, Princess and Prince.

The deck itself is huge!  Actually, the card size is very large, but the card stock is thin, so handling is not difficult as they cards flex well while shuffling.  This deck comes as a small deck-and-book set only, retailing at $16.95 as opposed to the usual $25+ price for sets.  The book that comes with the deck is a nice chunky affair with plenty of detail and description and illustrations from each card to accompany the accounts.

I was saddened to learn that Michael Goepferd did not live to see his deck reach publication.  His work is really fabulous and I would like to think he would be proud to see it enjoyed today.

I highly recommend this deck to anyone.  Period.  It's really nifty and the explanations are very well done so anyone should be able to use them, equally well.

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also see The Light and Shadow Tarot
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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace