I have been hearing about this for a while so I finally had to take a look at it and review it.  This tarot comes as a deck-and-book set which is one of the reasons I didn't get around to it sooner.  However, I am glad I did.

The book that comes with the set is a 400-page tome that could easily be sold alone as well as with this set (hint, hint!) and the cards are really quite nice as well.  The art style of the deck is comfortable and well-executed.  There are a lot of things I found outstanding about this deck which I wish to point out.

One of the best features about the cards is a simple one.  Each suit in the deck is outlined with a different colored border which corresponds to the elemental correspondence assigned to that suit.  Many of the numbered cards are highly unorthodox in their depictions of the meaning, yet the meanings are strikingly on target.

The Major Arcana, outlined in a grayish color, are titled traditionally and while they are quite original also, they are closer to the standard interpretations than the Minor Arcana, which is in my opinion the strength of this deck.  Traditional suits of Cups, Disks, Wands and Swords are used.

The titles of the cards are printed in various colors at the bottom of the scene on each card and since there is no offset block it is often difficult to read the title since it blends in with the scenery on the card.  Also, the packaging of the set somewhat irked me, the flip-top box was a very nice idea but the deck is divided into two halves and set into a cardboard tray at the bottom of the box, and it is impossible to pull the deck out of the tray.  You have to lift the tray up and around the deck and then pick up the cards off the bottom of the box.

However, these are minor points when compared to how really amazing this tarot is overall.  Ms. Genetti put ten years' worth of effort into creating this tarot, and it is evident from the quality of the work involved that it was worth the ten years.

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also see the Wheel of Change Tarot by Alexandra Genetti

Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace