Tarot of the Spirit World
by: Lo
Scarabeo
ISBN 0-7387-0962-X
Price $19.95
I think I have finally hit on what bothers me about the
vast majority of the cards produced by Lo Scarabeo, of which Llewellyn
markets a good many. It's petty and it's small, but in reviewing
this deck, it really jumped out at me. The artwork is absolutely
lovely. It seems to have a great bit of thought and originality
behind it. The picture tells a story, but I need more. I want
to know what moved the artist to include this particular picture in
the representation of this particular card. Each and every
card wants to tell a story, but more explanation is needed. It's not
about an unwillingness on my part to do the work and come up with the
story myself. Tarot cards, by their very design, are intended to
unlock works in your brain and your spirit that just come spilling forth.
In the case of this deck, I can feel the immense depth of the story.
The story is trying to force the door open so that its wisdom and lore can
be felt and understood... but there's no key. This deck, like so
many others with the Lo Scarabeo name on it, needs a full book of info.
The deck comes with the requisite small book of basic
info and the sentence or so that is provided for each card is VERY unique
and intriguing. For The Fool, the little sound bite is "Genius is
often the ability to dare, directing attention where reason has refused to
look." Is that not just wonderful? It makes me want so much
more! Unfortunately, of the 63 pages of the requisite small book,
only 14 are actually usable because the rest are the first 14 pages
reprinted in varying languages.
If Lo Scarabeo spent as much energy into developing the
information on each card, tilting their hand even a little bit more in
regard to the delightful artwork and its affiliation to the classic
interpretations, this deck would scream stories and likely be one of my
favorites. I can appreciate the thought of "always leave'em wanting
more," but c'mon, people, throw me a bone. As it is currently
marketed, this is an exercise in Tarotus Interruptus.
2
pentacles out of 5
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