Wicce's Tarot Collection

Royal Tarot
artist unknown

This full 78-card tarot pack is published in Taiwan by Kuo Kao Paper Products Company. There are some interesting similarities to other decks I have seen, as well as some differences as well. The art has a comfortable, comic-book feel to it with bright colors and simple designs. There are six blank cards provided with the deck.

The images, most especially in the Major Arcana, reminded me strongly of the Barnes and Noble Tarot Deck and Book Set. The deck is modeled after the Marseille classic style, with numbered pips in the suits. The cards themselves are printed on fairly cheap stock, and the box packaging is cheap also, with nothing fancy on it. However, the cards are still quite interesting.

What I found the most interesting of all was the Little White Booklet. Being only a small sheet printed on both sides and folded in three, the booklet hardly even mentions divinatory meanings, but provides instructions for playing the "game" of tarot. The introductory paragraph is the best part of all. I shall quote it below.

"There are many kinds of card games in the world, such as Bridge, Poker, Canasta, and Tarot. You will know the ways from your friends and family. However, Tarot may not be as popular....." The whole approach here being that Tarot is just one game among many. The booklet goes on to explain that tarot cards may be used for fortunetelling, but says to find other references to learn this since information is readily available. I would credit the author of this paragraph here, except none is named.

The Major Arcana uses all traditional titles and ordering according to the Marseille model. Justice is 8 and Strength is 11. Some of the titles and numbers (which are Roman numerals) seem to have typos in them; for example, the Devil is printed out as DEVJL instead of DEVIL. On the Temperance card, instead of XIV, the Roman numeral is printed as XIY. And on the Sun, instead of XIX, the Roman numeral is seen to be XIL.

The Minor Arcana bears the classic suits of Swords, Cups, Pentacles and Wands, and, common to Marseille-style decks, the Pentacles in the cards are drawn like elaborate gold coins, and the Wands are drawn as heavy wooden clubs. The court cards are King, Queen, Knight and Page, and are identical images in each suit, the only variation being the holding of the various suit item itself. I found this distracting. Numbered cards are just pips, or in other words, arrangements of the number of items in the suit.

For the user of the traditional Marseille deck, this deck of cards would make a suitable, and interesting, substitute. Try it for something different. Nice colors are used and, like I said previously, there is that comfortable, comic-book feeling to it, which may appeal to many. It would be an acceptable beginner's deck, if a book were purchased to study from. Certainly one could not count on learning to read tarot from the booklet enclosed with the deck. This deck will make an interesting addition to any collection, as well.

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