Disclaimer: In the interests of academic integrity and full disclosure,
it should be noted that this reviewer has the very great honor of being a student  of the author of this deck and book, Lon Milo Duquette.

About thirty years ago songwriter John Sebastian asked, "Do you believe
in magic?" Lon Milo DuQuette's answer is most certainly, "Yes!"

"The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick" is a unique addition to the universe of
Tarot  decks.  These cards bring together a wealth of information from
Qabalah-based  magickal systems including the Enochian magick of Dr. John Dee and Goetia.   The cards further contain information from Astrology, the I Ching and even Hindu  meditation symbols.

At first glance this may see like sensory overload, but to the student
of ceremonial  magick this information is of immediate utility. For example, even a seemingly simple Tarot spread can determine which of the Enochian Angles or Goetic Spirits to invoke for a ritual and which days are sacred to that spirit.

For the Tarotist who wants to use or learn more about the
correspondences of the Tarot to other forms of divination this deck is a must.  For example, the Astrological information on the cards can be used by a reader to select the proper significator for a querent based on their sign(s).

The Major Arcana basically follow the symbology with which most
Tarotists are familiar.  This is not surprising since we tend to be most familiar with the Rider-Waite-Smith symbols and both Arthur Waite and Pamela Coleman Smith were members of Ceremonial Magick Orders.  The names of some of the Trumps follows more in the tradition of Crowley's Thoth deck, but they are readily recognized.

The Major Arcana in this deck have more Egyptian symbolism than most
decks, which is something that this reviewer enjoys.  One can even find subtle
Egyptian symbols in Trump VIII, Justice.  The discovery of this symbolism is left as an exercise for the reader.

The Court Cards follow the naming convention of Princess, Prince, Queen
and Knight rather than the more usual Page, Knight, Queen, King.  DuQuette's model is a better fit to the theme of the deck and to the correspondences of the court cards to the four elements.

If one combines the four court cards and the Aces, there emerges the
most incredible pattern of the Enochian Tables that can not help but fascinate
the student of Ceremonial Magick.  The symbol-within-symbol recursion that
emerges is in and of itself magickal.

The Pip Cards tend to be just that, pips.  The story-telling images of
the RWS deck, are for the most part, missing.  However they have been
replaced with the same wealth of Hermetic esoterica as the Trumps and Courts. Enochian pyramids, Zodiacal decants, Goetic spirit and genii sigils, Enochian Angels and planetary rulerships abound to their mutual enhancement.
 

This reviewer's two favorite pip cards in this deck are the two of cups
which depicts two ice cream sundaes, and the seven of cups' martini glasses
complete with olives.

The cards are colorful and bright and appear to have been rendered in
colored pencil.  The art work, while not as masterful as the Aquarian or New
Palladini is better than many decks and has a certain charm of its own.

The companion book is very well written and clear.  This reviewer can
easily hear Lon teaching when reading the book.  Both the deck and the book are
available separately or packaged together in a slipcase set along with a Celtic
Cross spread sheet poster.  The deck is packaged in its own card stock box, containing a typical "Little White Book."

This reviewer would certainly recommend this deck to any intermediate to
advanced Tarotist or to any student of ceremonial magick from neophyte grade on.  However to the beginning Tarot student without a background in ceremonial magick, this deck might not be the best with which to start.

The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick Deck, US Games Systems
ISBN 0-88079-728-2
The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick Book, Weiser
ISBN 0-87728-764-3
The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick Book and Deck Boxed Set,
US Games Systems
ISBN 1-57281-038-6

guest review copyright 1999 by Linda Gail Walters, used with permission
check out Linda's Website here