Terrestrial Tarot [Paperback]

The "scenes" on this deck are composites of body parts from various creatures. They are joined together to create a creature-like form, lighted, colored and presented on a black background. They have an eerie, alien quality to them.

Some look like the little critters you see on NGC shows about the unseen world, and if you are into insects and the macabre of the natural world, like myself, you be fascinated by the use of light and color, in an wild and almost alien way.

Another one like is newly published Tarot of the Secret Forest.

This deck is about 8 years old and admittedly Tarot art has matured a lot since them. But the big caveat is that the the deck has changed the traditional names of most of the Majors:

* Consort = Empress

* Ruler = Emperor

* Priest = Hierophant

* Synergy = Lovers

* Warrior = Chariot

* Sage = Hermit

* Wheel of Life = Wheel of Fortune

* Inversion = Hanged Man

* Balance = Temperance

* Unknown = Devil

* Creation = Tower

* Rebirth = Judgment

* Unity = World

Strength is 8 and Justice is 11 that's the greatest nod to the Rider Waite world. The Minors have one word interpretations assigned. The Court Cards are King, Queen Knight and Page and the suits are Swords (yellow) , Wands (red), Cups(Blue) and Coins (green) which is nice if you like visualise clues to the suit.

There are 4 additional cards called "phase cards", which represent the elements but there is little information on how integrate them in the deck. You either just use them as is, like I do as wild cards signifying the seasons (i.e. for timing) or just ignore them. I really wished that they had told me more about this.

I scanned some pix up to help you. One of the coolest is the 6 of cups with the frogs shown. One the grandfather frog and in front of it a little tadpole like creature for the idea of memories and nostalgia. I liked it.

This deck quickly made it's way into my heart.

As the other reviewer stated, it's imagery is composed by combining different elements from different kinds of animals and plants. The combinations are stylized so as to make them seamless in their organic unity, and are rendered in vibrant, seemingly luminescent colors over a black background. The effect is like looking at backlit creatures under a microscope.

But as innovative and unconventional this approach is, the deck still maintains true tarot ideas and concepts, even though these concepts are titled with different names (eg, the "Empress" becomes the "Consort", etc...)

While there is variation in the names of some of the cards, they really do speak to true tarot definitions and qualities... albeit by highlighting other aspects of those qualities than those which are provided in the usual names for the cards.

So, the "Hanged Man" card goes by the more gender neutral name "Inversion," or the "Universe" becomes "Unity. " The Ace of Wands becomes "Rising Power," and the 6 of Swords is called "Clearness." Although each of these names is non-traditonal, they are completely consistent with the more generally accepted tarot meanings.

And i just love the art. I love that it is earthy is its biological references, yet so beautifully ethereal in its aesthetic. This rare deck is a true gem in any tarot collection, and I just adore my copies of it!