Publication Facts and Rating (0 to 5 stars) "At-a-Glance"

Publisher: Self Published (France)
Publication Year: 1982
Number of cards: 78
Quality of artwork -- 3 stars
Usefulness for meditation/pathworking -- 1 1/2 stars
Readability (Divination) -- 1 1/2 stars
Symbology -- 2 1/2 stars
Value to Collectors -- 5 stars

General Commentary
Eric Provoost's Minotarot is long out of print, having been published nearly twenty years ago by the designer himself in a limited edition of 2,000 copies. The deck is so unusual in its design that U.S. Games founder Stuart Kaplan devoted an entire two-page spread to it in his Encyclopedia of Tarot vol. III.

As its name would suggest, the theme of this deck is the Greek myth of Theseus, the labyrinth, and the Minotaur. Its symbolism may perhaps be multilayered, as figuring out exactly how this deck is put together is somewhat akin to attempting to navigate a maze. The Minotarot is a traditional 78-card deck, but the minor suits use the standard playing card suits of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. The major arcana titles are mostly equivalent to the Rider-Waite norm, and there are four court cards for each suit. But the imagery on any one of the given court cards does not necessarily include a person to equate with the title. For example, the V (Valet? Page? The card titles and abbreviations are in French) of Spades (equivalent to Rods?) simply depicts a hill with a temple, the night sky with a constellation that appears to be Draco, and the sea in the foreground with two frolicking fish or dolphins. The title at the bottom of the card reads "La Mer," which I believe translates to mean "The Sea." In the accompanying booklet, the card is said to represent Crete (the home of the labyrinth). Other clues suggest that this card depicts what Theseus observes from his ship as he first approaches the island.

Furthermore, the "proper" order of the unshuffled cards is not necessarily the usual grouping by arcana and suit. There is an additional number in the upper right-hand corner of each card that indicates that cards position in the telling of the Minotaur myth. If spades equate to rods, hearts to cups, clubs to swords, and diamonds to pentacles, then the first five cards in Provoost's sequence are the Valet/Page (?) of Rods, Ten of Rods, Three of Swords, Two of Swords, and Five of Cups.

An interesting feature of this deck is that the artwork on the cards is bled almost to the very edges, so that when set side-by-side in Provoost's numerical order, they form a single, panoramic image that tells the continuous story. I have tried to illustrate how this works in the scans I've provided; in each set of three cards, the links to each card's neighbor(s) should be apparent. The artwork itself is primarily black-and-white, with some brown tones in the major arcana cards and on the symbols used to represent hearts and diamonds. The backs of the cards use this same brown tone, with the traditional "aerial view" symbol of the labyrinth superimposed in white.

As for the deck's esoteric and divinatory symbology -- it is there, but the attempt to blend Provoost's own mythological figures with traditional tarot images gives many of the cards a rather odd feel. For example, the Fool card (improperly translated as "The Mast," presumably because of the words' similarity to the proper French title of "Le Mat") shows the Minotaur "leaving the labyrinth," according to the booklet and the card's position in Provoost's sequence (#35). The Minotaur is shown with the traditional fool's bundle-on-a-stick over his shoulder, and a dog nipping at his leg. While the analogy is sound -- that of the fool leaving his protected environment and entering a larger world for the first time -- the juxtaposition of the Minotaur and the Greek architectural backgrounds with the sudden appearance of the bundle and dog "props" seems sort of disruptive to Provoost's attempt to tell his story. The story itself, as Provoost has constructed it, makes its symbolic point -- the addition of Rider-Waite type icons may underscore the idea, but may not really be needed.

In summary, the deck is very interesting from the standpoint of its theme, rendering (as an image diorama), and definite collectibility. As a pathworking or reading deck, it seems much less useful, although persons who feel a strong connection to Greek legend and particularly the labyrinth myth may enjoy experimenting with it a bit. On the other hand, the rarity of this deck might be enough to discourage most folks from handling it extensively, in order to avoid damage that would decrease its value. If you are collector, don't pass up any opportunity to obtain this deck at a reasonable price!

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Guest review copyright 2000 by Jeannette Roth
Used with permission