Review by Lalia Wilson
This unique deck, published by Lo Scarabeo, and created by Massimiliano Filadoro and Lunaea Weatherstone, with illustrations by Davide Corse was published in 2017. It is in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition with 78 cards but images on both the front and back sides of each card, thus “156” cards. The Major Arcana is 22 cards, with two images for each; similarly the Minor Arcana is 56 cards with two images (front and back of card) for each. All 156 images are illustrated in a rich and meaningful style by the renowned tarot artist Davide Corsi.
The suits are the standard Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles. The court cards are the Knave (Page), Knight, Queen, and King.
Major Titles: Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World. The Fool is 0; Strength is 8; Justice is 11. The borderless cards measure approximately 2 ½ inches by 4 ¾ inches or about 6.60cm x 12.00cm. The cards have numbers and symbols on them, no names which avoids the language problem but leaves the novice having to figure out which is which. One hint, all the Knights, both sides, have horses on them.
These cards are lovely with evocative meanings, which I will show a few shortly. The cards are easy to shuffle. However I find this deck nearly impossible to use in a reading because you cannot pick random cards—you always know the identity of each card because the image is on both sides. I have pulled cards by closing my eyes. I suspect you could hold them behind your back and risk dropping them. Anyway, I would not use these cards for client readings.
However, they are ideal cards to use for study or meditation. The images may evoke new meanings for each card for you. Related to that, I urge you to reach for your own meaning if you are experienced with the tarot instead of using the meaning offered in the accompanying book. The 160 page book, authored by Lunaea Weatherstone, measures 5” X 8” and is published on a heavy satin-finished stock. Each of the 156 images is presented in full color. The images are great. Some novices will need to consult the book to identify some cards—especially a couple that are quite different from most decks, such as the 6 of Cups. However, I recommend that you not rely on the printed interpretations until you have examined the card and used your own experience to generate an interpretation.
Here are my favorite cards from the deck: I love this 4 of Cups, showing a wistful sense of loss as you can imagine your love sailing away.
This 9 of Pentacles shows the most positive image for that card that I have seen. The waiting woman seems to be happy, productive, and expecting good things to come her way.
This 8 of Cups emphasizes the spiritual meaning of this card, with the Sun/Moon eclipse image, and the darkness and mystery depicted so that you hardly see the figure about to leave.
The 2 of Wands card, with our hero watching the sun rise on his expectations gets to the meaning of this card more strongly than other images I’ve seen.
All in all, this deck is beautiful. The images are beautiful and strike deeply into the underlying meanings of the cards. This is a perfect deck for meditation and study. I would use another deck if I were doing readings, as the image on each side would not work for me.