Customer Reviews

Art Nouveau Tarot: 78-Card Deck

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was drawn to the deck mainly for its beauty and adding it to my collection of beautiful decks. I didn't really expect to read with this deck. However, when I read the LWB, I was intrigued by the four love stories of the four suits and I liked the idea of fitting a story in each suit. I decided to give it a try for reading.

After several reading sessions with myself and my friends, I was BLOWN AWAY by the uncanny accuracy of this deck. The right cards always showed up in the right places like it was MAGICKAL. I thought it was only an art deck in the first place but the actual reading experiences with it proved me wrong. There's something very special about it. It has also put my Rider Waite to shame when it comes to consistent accuracy in reading.

I understand why some people think it is a difficult deck to read, since the deck doesn't follow the traditional symbolism. But I truly think this deck is in a different league, and in some sense even more successful in bringing out the card meanings effectively than the usual Rider clones, or the Rider itself. It doesn't rely on symbology, but the story-driven system is really intelligent and stirring.

I highly recommend this deck to both tarot readers and connoiseurs.

Although I have now been reading the Tarot for over ten years I almost never started! Like many who were put off by the Rider-Waite deck's colors and cartoonish 'flatness' I thought Tarot was not for me. That is until I got this deck. The rich colors and flowing movements in the pictures made it very easy for me to understand the scenarios and emotions conveyed by each card. The readings have always been very accurate with this deck as well. The only reason that I have not given it 5 stars is that it lacks an in-depth accompaniment book (probably because the imagery does not relate to other schools that would lend to a deeper understanding of the Tarot). Still, for the beginner, and even the expert, this deck is a delight :)

The deck is well done and the colors are very vivid. Some of the pictures seemed contrived, the faces mostly. Also the characters were wearing western (cowboy) boots which it made them a little less renasance like. The devil and death cards are pretty dark and scary compaired to the rest of the deck and seem a little out of place in the pack. Other than that the deck is good

I ran across pictures of this deck online, at www.aeclectictarot.net, and thought, "How lovely!" A week or so later, I remembered seeing it in some store quite a while ago and thinking, "How vapid." I was right on both counts; as other reviewers have noted, this deck is quite pretty. Also as they've noted, it's a little shallow in terms of symbology. Basically what you get are a lot of pretty watercolors of women, draped or partially draped in flowing dresses and other pieces of cloth, and not a lot of story. If you just look at the pictures, it's almost impossible to tell most of them apart.

I would not at all recommend this deck to an inexperienced reader. You pretty much have to know the cards well enough to read them without significant visual cues to stir your intuitions. I've been reading for ten years, so I'm fine with it, and I get some very insightful, enjoyable stuff out of it, but I'd never use it as a teaching deck.

A couple aspects of the art bother me. The placement of the women on the page is often very odd; many of them appear to be floating in space, seated on an invisible couch or leaning on invisible supports. Probably what happened was, the artist had models pose and chose not to draw whatever sticks of furniture they were posing on, but it makes for some disconcerting compositions. Additionally, the kings are all extremely Neptune-looking (which is fine with me) and all paired with a very young girl on the card in a position of powerlessness. It's unbalanced within the deck, because the queens certainly aren't ordering young pageboys around or bending them backwards over their laps. Additionally, I don't feel like the emotion there applies to all the kings, so it's just plain inaccurate.

Other cards are striking--Strength, for example, takes a very bold approach, with a man both riding and overpowering a male centaur. It's both elegant and very violent, and distinctive as can be. The woman on the five of Pentacles is seated, looking down introspectively at a daffodil she holds with a remarkable expression of hurt and disappointment; the impression is not one of starvation so much as rejection. It works, particularly in the romantic mood set by the entire deck.

I rate this deck so low only because I think that for the vast majority of Tarot students, it's going to be virtually inaccessible. If you want a beautiful deck with some more or less unorthodox interpretations, I'd recommend Hertz's Fantastical Tarot; if you're interested in historically-driven decks, the Scapini Medieval Tarot simply can't be beat. It's gorgeous, terrifically complex, and still a little quirky. If you're an adept enough reader that you can see cards in your head without even laying them out, though, and you'd like a deck with images that are sheer pleasure to look at, the flowing, elegant pastel work in the Art Nouveau Tarot will suit you well.

this is my second deck and I have been reading tarot for more than ten years now.each card is beautifully designed especially the major arcana.It is perfect for love and relationship readings,as well as the others.
don't forget to read the instructions booklet that comes with the pack since it is very helpful to understand the story of each card.

This was the very first tarot deck i owned and i have been reading tarot for over 6 years now.This is my favorite deck. It is traditional in its format - major and minor arcana. The Art work is beautiful but i also find them accurate in doing readings. They have a good mix of looking into the future and looking inside yourself.
Although it does not come with a book extensive book on the meanings of the cards, the little book it does come with has basic meaning to every card, but also a story that coresponds with the picture on the cards- to spark intuitiveness and not only rely on the book.
I own a rider-waite deck and several other non traditional decks like Osho-Zen and Faerie Oracle but this deck out of my large collection is by far the best.I reccomend it for anyone beginner or advanced.

This was the very first tarot deck i owned and i have been reading tarot for over 6 years now.This is my favorite deck. It is traditional in its format - major and minor arcana. The Art work is beautiful but i also find them accurate in doing readings. They have a good mix of looking into the future and looking inside yourself.
Although it does not come with a book extensive book on the meanings of the cards, the little book it does come with has basic meaning to every card, but also a story that coresponds with the picture on the cards- to spark intuitiveness and not only rely on the book.
I own a rider-waite deck and several other non traditional decks like Osho-Zen and Faerie Oracle but this deck out of my large collection is by far the best.I reccomend it for anyone beginner or advanced.

Some people are moved by "mysticism" in tarot cards. As for myself, I feel that when you're more in tune with the beauty around you, you're more in tune with yourself and others. In that sense, this is a far superior deck than most of the traditional ones. Each card holds extra meaning for me because of the feelings that they invoke when I look at them. If you're relatively inexperienced or not "connected" to others, by all means, use one of the blander, more traditional decks. If you're moved by colors and images, this is easily one of the best decks you can find.

True, these cards might lack in the symbolism department, but if you are an intuitive reader, who needs to be reminded of a cards meaning by symbol prompts? The artwork is Beautiful and for more visual/ intuitive readers these cards will work just fine! I did three readings the first day I owned the deck and they were RIGHT-ON! If you are a fan of artwork, this is one of the more attractive decks to come along in a while!

This deck was the first that I bought and I found it very useful. It's colorful and the illustrations really help a beginning tarot reader. It is a very sexual deck...but I found just as much cleavage (and the Star is a naked woman) as I did sexualized men.