The New Orleans VooDoo Tarot a guest review by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince   The New Orleans Voodoo Tarot is a new deck to me, alternately fascinating and confusing, enlightening and disappointing. I like the spiritual emphasis of it, like that each card is specifically associated with a spirit's energy. I very much appreciate the down-to-earth acceptance of the two worlds (Visible and Invisible) and the reverence for those who have gone before.   I don't like the suits chosen for the minors, which are 4 nations or Voodoo traditions. It doesn't work well for me when -- because of this --both Oya (a goddess mostly associated with lightning) and Yemaya (a goddess mostly associated with the deep ocean) are represented in the Earth suit. Not to say I don't like those cards. But it *bugs* me that they don't make the elemental sense I want them to make. The author appears to want to enlarge my consciouness by using opposing associations. I applaud the effort, but sometimes it just doesn't work.   Some of the majors I think are brilliant. A quite new vision that truly opens my understanding. I like Dance as the Chariot. The focus of the will has become so complete that "there is a point at which the dancer leaves and only the dance remains." I like Possession as Strength. Here the human has become the lion, and it is the spirit who is riding and taming *us*. The Zombi makes a good Hanged Man, as does the Magic Mirror a Moon. Death is Les Morts, "the Dead, both named and forgotten." It's the real thing here, not sugar-coated. And having survived a few Mardi Gras myself, I really like Courir Le MardiGras (Run the Mardi Gras, or the Wild Ride) for the Devil.   Ti Bon Ange (little good angel) and Gros Bon Ange (great good angel) are interesting for Temperance and the Sun. "As the Sun shines on both good and bad, so this love is unconditional; it wraps and holds all things. Equally beneficient is this love; it gives its all to each without thought of time or place, right or wrong. As such it is not dependent upon personal traits. The Gros Bon Ange carries the grace of the spirit. The Ti Bon Ange holds within itself the ability to choose to employ this grace."   I think I'd prefer seeing Marie Laveau as the Empress rather than the High Priestess. She was a great Voodoo queen, a public figure who ruled her world.  And the Empress, Ayizan, the "patron of ritual purity... clearness of mission and focus of devotion..." might make a good High Priestess!   I am glad to have the deck. I've learned by it and felt blessed by it. But I'm not sure how much I'll actually read with it.   Review Copyright 1998 by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince; used with permission http://www.northcoast.com/~ellen/