Table of Contents

Tarot Reflections

September 15, 2004

Tracy began her own Tarot journey while recovering from her first son's birth on New Year's Eve, 1996. She tried to study on her own for nearly a year, picking up what she could from books and websites, but she had a lot of trouble piecing everything together. Through membership in  the American Tarot Association, she met the contacts and gained the expertise needed to gain her certification as a Certified Tarot Master.

Tracy is honored to serve as Manager for both the Free Reading Network and the Free Tarot Network. She also volunteers as Treasurer of the ATA and webmaster of the Comparative Tarot site.

It all started with a single image.

I was skimming through Llewellyn’s New Worlds of Mind and Spirit, killing time before dinner, and there she was. She was sitting bolt upright in bed like she had just woken from a nightmare, with these huge golden swords hovering over her, flickering in the firelight. Were they really there, or was she just imagining them? Does that owl perched on her windowsill have the wisdom to tell the difference? I’d never seen her before but I knew without even counting the blades that she was the Nine of Swords. Where did she come from? And how could I bring her home? No name or release date for the deck was given, just that one unlabelled image. She was a teaser, a “sneak preview from an upcoming deck” - and she worked.

I tend to be impulsive when it comes to new decks. A card in a magazine or on a website somewhere catches my attention, and suddenly I just have to have it! With three little boys and a fairly small income, that obsession can build for quite a while before the cards are actually in my hands. Reality rarely lives up to the fantasy deck I’ve built in my head. That first card turns out to be the only one I like, and it’s not long before it starts gathering dust along with all my other “must-have” decks.

Happily, the Gilded Tarot is one of those rare gems where the long-awaited reality is far better than I could have ever imagined. Every card is still as enchanting as that first glimpse, with details so rich they reveal something new every time.

Ciro Marchetti works in the virtual paints of the 21st century, turning bits and bytes into vibrant colors and gritty textures unheard-of in previous generations. There is a depth and richness here that blurs the line between fantasy and reality and draws you into his world. The trees have distinct leaves, the grasses individual blades. The black borders draw me in, bringing the cards to life. The Magician's green eyes lock with mine - even when he's reversed - as he conjures his tools between us. The Hermit stands alone on a narrow path of rock, his lantern reflecting back on his face and robes. He is utterly alone, his backdrop a softly glowing nebula I would have sworn was seen through the Hubble telescope. While some of the hands and faces do appear to be from photographs, they’re worked so seamlessly into the whole that it's almost impossible to tell where reality ends and fantasy begins.

The fully reversible backs are just as detailed as the fronts, with a jeweled sunburst gleaming above a blue shield held in place with golden vines. The cold steel chain mail in the background provides a sharp contrast to the warmer metals, the shadows adding depth between them. Fantastic machines are a common theme in Ciro Marchetti’s artwork, mechanical devices from the past - springs, gears & levers - creating magic far beyond today’s technology. This is echoed in his unique design for the Wands, a smooth cylinder of wood wrapped in golden vines, with screw threads at either end and a torc (3/4 circle) at the top. We all bring our own experiences into our readings, and this deck really brought that home to me. I once learned to carve designs in leather using a swivel knife, a tool with a curved finger rest at the top and a variety of blades that can be screwed on and off, making these a creative symbol for me.

Like the Wands, the Gilded Tarot’s images are at once new and familiar. The Wheel of Fortune turns as a massive cosmic clock, its hours marked by the zodiac. The Hierophant stands before a glowing stained glass window, his temple a solar system. The Fool dances on a floating golden rod, juggling the signs of the zodiac, a hoop tangled around both the rod and his ankle. His predicament is particularly noticeable on the cover of Barbara Moore’s book, The Gilded Tarot Companion. “He's still vulnerable to being overconfident,” Mr. Marchetti writes, “and ending up possibly tripping up. The Escher like twists on perspective were intended to visually exaggerate his potential entanglement ... and subsequent fall.” While some decks with such exquisite Majors fall short in the Minors, these smaller secrets are just as richly detailed as their greater siblings. I can almost hear the Page of Swords’ snobbery, at an age where he thinks he knows everything. A young father, hat in hand, begs the Five of Pentacles’ blessings on his family’s behalf.

In his Artist’s Notes, Mr. Marchetti cites the Rider-Waite-Smith deck as his muse. The Courts follow that format (Page, Knight, Queen & King), and Key VIII is Strength and XI is Justice. Only Key XII has been renamed, from the Hanged Man to the Hanging Man. While changes to card names in some decks make little sense, this one feels right to me. Being hanged comes from outside, something someone else has done to us; hanging is something we do of our own free will. His Pentacles are unique, pentagonal shields of gold and green rather than simple coins or the familiar star-in-circle design. The cards’ gold-trimmed borders bear stones colored to match their suits. Red Wands and green Pentacles are expected, but the Cups here are a golden orange and Swords a bright blue. I wondered what led him to this departure, and was told this was probably the one question he’s most often asked about the Gilded Tarot.

“In many cases I didn't want to risk straying too far from the accepted norms, so I simply towed the line of tarot tradition, but from the onset the blue for cups just didn't feel right to me. Prior to deciding on colours, I had in fact already defined the core images of each suit. Therefore I had a very golden coloured goblet for the cup which worked well against a warm coloured sky, and a colder metallic sword equally at place against a cool clouded sky. Both items, shiny metal and water don't necessarily in themselves have a colour but merely take on that of objects they reflect. So using blue for water is either naive symbolism, much as a child would paint it, or in terms of tarot traditions probably the result of pragmatic choice by the artist of the day, based on the economics of limited printing colours with which to work. Especially when the earlier decks would have been printed with solid flat colours as opposed to the more sophisticated lithographic and four colour print process that came later, which use the optical illusion of screens of overlapping inks to create the illusion of tone and multiple colours. I didn't have that same limitation, so I didn't feel the need to follow suit (excuse the pun). Hence the water became golden, along with the cup and sky it reflected. Likewise the metal of the swords, reflecting the clouds and sky became blue. With this decision taken for the aces, the colour for the suites was established.”

Barbara Moore’s Gilded Tarot Companion not only discusses the cards as depicted in this particular deck, but makes a great first book for any beginning reader. She covers the basic structure of the deck, follows the Fool’s journey, debunks some of the myths about tarot, and discusses how to ask the best questions. Suggestions for choosing significators and working with reversed cards are also included, along with exercises at every step of the way. The bulk of the text is devoted to the cards themselves, tying the images into each card’s meaning in ways difficult to forget. Rather than give specific upright and reversed definitions, each card ends with some of its possible extremes, giving a full range of options. The Companion ends with some basic three-card spreads, a thoroughly explained Celtic Cross, and a five-card Daily Spread designed to give in-depth answers without being overwhelming.

Llewellyn has also made a lot of improvements in packaging over the last few years. Cards are normally printed with one deck spread out on a single sheet, so to fit 78 cards it actually has room for 80. Some decks use these for alternate cards, spare blanks, or simply to advertise other decks. Gilded uses these to include spread "cheat sheets" for the Daily Spread and Celtic Cross, an idea I’d like to see more often. The book-style outer box includes an inner box to keep the deck in, with spaces to write the deck’s name and to decorate it with symbols and/or pictures. One idea might be to photocopy the deck back or a favorite card to more easily identify it. The real bonus for me is the black organdy bag included in this package. I prefer bags for storing my own decks, some I’ve gotten as gifts and others I’ve crocheted or knitted myself. The sheer fabric keeps the whole deck together without hiding it, letting the Gilded Tarot’s vibrant colors shine through.

Whether you’ve been reading for years or have never touched a card, the Gilded Tarot set would make a wonderful addition to anyone’s collection.

Nine of Swords, The Moon, Ace of Wands and Page of Pentacles from The Gilded Tarot Set by Ciro Marchetti and Barbara Moore. Published by Llewellyn Worldwide.

Visit Ciro Marchetti’s website, http://www.ciromarchetti.com, for a closer look at this deck and his upcoming project Tarot of Dreams.

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