Gilded Tarot Deck

by Ciro Marchetti and Gilded Tarot Companion Book

by Barbara Moore

A review by - Crystal Wind, CTR, CPTR, CTC

Borders 1/4 inch black with gold frames and colored gemstones at top that match the suits. Backs are reversible and have a rayed sun in the center with lattice and a gold border frame. The artwork is hand drawn digitally, sharp as a photo and blends into vibrant colors and fantasy shapes. It's hard to tell if some of the details are photographs or drawings. This draws you into the cards as if you are dreaming. There are no esoteric symbols so that your imagination and intuition are not limited or interrupted.

The suits are color coded with gemstones at the top of the cards--Wands are red, Pentacles are green, Swords are blue, and Cups are gold. At first I thought that these were off the suits were switched, and should be like the symbolic colors of Cups being blue and Swords being yellow. This is not an oversight, but the author's intention. Ciro wanted blue to be the swords reflection of the blue of the background in the gemstone and the gold of the cups reflection on the water to be gold in the gemstone. Swords are still air and cups are still water.

The Aces are illustrated and the minors relate closely to Rider Waite Smith (RWS). The Ace of Cups is a cup on water with an eye over it with three beams of light emanating, and the phases of the moon overhead. Marchetti added small animals to many of the minors as if to draw our attention to the action or as just observers.

All of the majors have a planet in them. The Fool is juggling the zodiac glyphs. The Hierophant stands with staff in front of a stained glass window, but there are no keys or penitents, as Marchetti deliberately omitted esoteric symbolism. In keeping with RWS symbolism, the Lovers shows Mars and Venus in a sensual embrace, with him looking at her and she at the heavens. The Devil isn't a goat but a handsome man with a horned helmet that comes down over his eyes so that he can't see consequences of his actions. The Sun tracks the orbits of the planets and there are no persons pictured. Judgment is a bit ethereal with a woman's face in a winged helmet with people faintly in the background being drawn upward.

The deck comes with two extra cards that have spreads that include the Celtic Cross and 5 Card Daily. The packaging is a decorative box that holds cards and book, and it comes with a black organza bag to hold the cards! Thank you, Llewellyn! Barbara Moore's Gilded Tarot Companion book shares tarot basics, the Fool's Journey and plenty of exercises. She discusses the cards images and meanings and gives a Celtic Cross and 5 Card Daily spread, in a basic and thorough manner. The illustrations are black and white images from the cards.

The Gilded Tarot deck is suitable for readers of all levels of experience. The beauty of these cards is entrancing, and illustrations are enticing to the intuition. Barbara Moore's book and the two extra cards with spreads, along with the decorative box and bag make this a special edition set worth collecting. This is one deck that alludes to but isn't a RWS clone. Buy it and you will want to read with it again and again.

Back to Index

[ Home][ Reviews][ Articles][ Short Courses][ Newsletter ]