Without a doubt, The Fey Tarot is a fairy themed tarot. However, Riccardo Minetti's concept and Mara Aghem's artwork tarot evokes a more universal manga-influenced variety of fairies. This departure from traditional celtic fairies is refreshing, and makes this deck stand apart from other fairy themed tarots.
The artwork is particularly interesting. Aghem drawing are cartoonish and slightly manga-like, seemingly penciled in pastels colors. Her imagery is charming, joyous, and elegant, fitting for this fairy themed tarot.
The cards are labeled in five languages. English label stands alone at the top right of the cards while Italian, French, German and Spanish are arranged in two columns at the bottom.
The Major Arcana are numbered with roman numerals, starting at 0 with The Fool, which are written at the top left corner of each card. A yellow line is used as a border. A few have been renamed: The High Priestess is The Seer, The Hierophant is The Wisest, Wheel of Fortune is the Wheel, and The Star is The Stars. Also, the artwork in these is quite loosen from the traditional imagery although it somewhat follows the Rider's tradition. For example, The Hanged Man portraits a winged fairy diving upside down, and The Lovers shows two elementals, a sitting male from earth and a floating upside down female from air, looking at each other.
The Minor Arcanas are numbered at the top left corner also. On these cards, green, blue, red, and purple lines are used as border for the suits of wands, chalices, swords, and pentacles. The artwork in these follow the same style as for the Major Arcana. The imagery usually includes a single figure from the suit such as a tree (wands), a chalice, a sword or a pentacle.
Of the Court Cards, the four knights are the most interesting because of their rides. The Knight of Wands rides a multi-colored bird. The Knight of Chalices rides a giant lobster. The Knight of Swords rides a white dragon. The Knight of Pentacles rides a rabbit.
The book that comes with this set is really good, too. Almost every page of this book contain a small sketch from Aghem!
The book is divided into the following sections:
How to use this book
Introduction (to this deck)
Introduction to the Tarot
And finally... divination
Major Arcana
Minor Arcana
Court Cards
Divinatory Spreads
The first four sections are particularly informative about the deck and Tarot. How to use this book briefly describes the intent of the book as a manual for The Fey Tarot. Introduction explains how this tarot came to be discussing the ideas behind The Fey Tarot, describing in details the creative process and including small sketches in every page. Introduction to the Tarot gives a brief but comprehensive introduction to the history surrounding the Tarot. And finally... divination explains The Fey Tarot as a tool for divination.
Each Major Arcana is described within two pages. Each description starts with an introduction, The Sentence. Then it continues revealing insightful information about the image, a simple meaning, an advanced meaning and symbols used. Finally, it concludes with Reflections.
The information for the Minor Arcana is more limited and brief. Only one page is spent for each, giving information about the image, a simple meaning, an advanced meaning, and the symbols used.
The information for each Court Card is as short as for the Minor Arcana differing only in context. It starts describing the personality of the card, which in turn, replaces the description of the symbols used. A simple meaning, and an advanced meaning is also included.
The final section, Divinatory Spreads, shows how to layout the cards for divinatory purposes. There are four layouts presented here: a three cards layout named Dream, Joy, Magic, a two cards layout named The Fey Child, a full deck spread named The Cross of the Four Kingdoms, and a six cards layout named The Six Stars.
I recommend this kit for collectors looking for nontraditional fairy themed tarot. This set comes with a fitting box and a full size book.
Other decks by Minetti:
The Fey Tarot
Manga Tarot
Manga Mini Tarot
