Tag: Lo Scarabeo

Silvana Alasia’s Oracle of the Egyptian Gods

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, oracle deck9 Comments

Oracle of the Egyptian Gods by Silvana Alasia features portraits of Egyptian deities painted in tempera on papyrus in the ancient Egyptian drying method.

It was the art style really captivated me, and then as I explored the deck further, it turns out to be of the most well-done Kemetic-themed decks I’ve seen in a while.

This is a deck of 36 cards, each bringing messages of wisdom, warnings of danger, advice, and protection. Each card features a god or goddess from the Egyptian pantheon.

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Masonic Tarot by Patricio Diaz Silva

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot, tarot symbolism2 Comments

The Masonic Tarot came out in October 2022, created and illustrated by Chilean artist and academic Patricio Diaz Silva, and it is in the top 10% of the most well-done tarot decks in recent years. The illustrations for the Major Arcana are exquisite, as are the court cards.

Do note, however, that this deck has elected to go with non-narrative illustrations for the pips, which works for the Masonic Tarot given its ceremonial leaning purposes.

The deck is designed as a “gateway into the secret mysteries of the soul” integrating the sacred symbolism of Freemasonry. The premise melds together the arcana of the tarot with models from Masonic rites, with heavy emphasis on alchemy.

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The Magickal Botanical Oracle: Plants from the Witch’s Garden

On By benebellIn deck review, oracle deck10 Comments

This is a look-through of one of the most talked about oracle decks of late 2022, and that’s The Magickal Botanical Oracle: Plants from the Witch’s Garden by Christopher Penczak and illustrated by Maxine Miller.

The aesthetic is reminiscent of a Victorian botanical illustrations. It’s a witchier, grimoire art-esque version of A Curious Herbal  (1737) a la Elizabeth Blackwell. This is the plant kingdom as seen through the eyes of the witch– as alive, animate, and willing to commune with us.

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Dame Fortune’s Wheel Tarot by Paul Huson

On By benebellIn deck review6 Comments

Dame Fortune’s Wheel Tarot published by Lo Scarabeo was created under the instruction of Paul Huson, author of one of my favorite books, Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage. The artwork is curated and edited by Pietro Alligo.

It comes in a simple tuck box and the card back is reversible. The back’s geometric design here also reminds me of Islamic Golden Age architecture, which fits the deck’s aesthetic.

There is an extra 79th card for the Significator, with what looks to me like a very familiar illustration, one I’ve seen from one of those old medieval medical astrology texts. I don’t know what the art medium is here, but it looks like ink and art markers. I don’t know if it’s the printing, but sometimes the colors can get a bit muddy, like in the robes and seat on The Emperor card pictured above.

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Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights Walk-Through

On By benebellIn deck review, tarot11 Comments

The Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights was published back in 2005 by Lo Scarabeo, with the artwork collection edited by Pietro Alligo. It’s art deck featuring the works of the late 19th and early 20th century French painter Léon Georges Jean-Baptiste Carré, living around the time Waite and Crowley.

Carré moved to Abd-el-Tif, Algeria and concentrated his body of work on Orientalist subjects. (Orientalism is the European and Western study and commentary on Middle Eastern culture.)

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The Mystical Tarot by Giuliano Costa

On By benebellIn deck review8 Comments

I am absolutely charmed and captivated by the Mystical Tarot, a deck by Giuliana Costa and published by Lo Scarabeo in 2017. The artwork is going to be reminiscent of the art style in the classic Sola Busca Tarot, timeless, painstakingly detailed for maximum sign and symbolism intuitive work, and just all around an incredible deck to work with. It lends itself perfectly to a professional tarot reader’s go-to “workhorse deck,” and essentially reads like a Rider-Waite-Smith.

The artwork is magnificent to behold. At the bottom of the Majors, as you can see in the photograph above, are glyph references for the astrological correspondences. The world that these characters in the cards inhabit is both familiar as our world but…also not. It seems to be an other-world as well. The above glimpse of Key IX starts to give a hint as to what I’m talking about (look up in the sky), but as we progress along, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

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The Golden Botticelli Tarot by Lo Scarabeo

On By benebellIn deck review4 Comments

There is a tarot deck that has become a prop in my front sitting room. I leave it out on an end table and most of the time, a guest will reach for it and flip through the cards. I always know when that has happened, even if I am in a different room, because immediately thereafter I hear the squeal. “Oh my god! What is this deck? It’s gorgeous!” Then there’s a range of follow-up commentary, from those recognizing the art of Sandro Botticelli, to those who are either “Now this is the most fascinating deck of playing cards I’ve ever seen” to “So is this like a tarot deck, like the psychic fortune-telling cards you use?”

That deck is the Golden Botticelli Tarot designed by A. A. Atanassov and published by Lo Scarabeo. I love the reversible card backs and the ornate design that, to me, captures the Florentine Renaissance.

The cards are a mosaic of imagery from Botticelli paintings piecemealed together digitally. And it’s done with such seamless mastery that you almost can’t tell.

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Triple Goddess Tarot by Jaymi Elford and Franco Rivolli

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot, tarot community, tarot symbolism4 Comments

If you haven’t watched the episode of ArwenTalks where Arwen Lynch interviews author and deck creator Jaymi Elford about the Triple Goddess Tarot, then do so right now. It’s a fantastic interview and Jaymi gives you incredible insights into her deck creation process. I count Jaymi as one of the tarot community folks I’m closest to, so I’ll disclose the potential bias upfront. I adore her, so it’s going to be a bit hard for me to not by extension naturally adore everything she does. However, I’ll try my best to remain neutral and objective. I’ll even throw in some criticism. Promise.

The deck is produced by Lo Scarabeo with art by Franco Rivolli, an Italian illustrator who produces some of the world’s best pagan-inspired art. So the Elford-Rivolli team is going to be a powerhouse. The color palette was well thought out, as you can see above, and I love how Triple Goddess uses the structure of tarot to tell the story of the Triple Goddess, an archetypal motif found across many cultures, East and West, and not just in specific strands of pagan faiths.

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The Infinity Tarot: Deck Review

On By benebellIn deck review, tarot4 Comments

Infinity Tarot - Box and Cards

One of my favorite tarot bloggers, Ethony, did a great review on this deck. Like Ethony, I thought I might find this deck kitschy, but I didn’t. Even after the initial awe for the pretty shape wore off, I still liked this deck and found it a substantive one to work with.

Infinity Tarot - 03 Card Backs

The Infinity Tarot is named for its lemniscate cutout shape and I confess that the unique shape of the deck is what drew me to it at first. The card backs are reversible and I found the deck quite easy to work with both upright and in reverse.

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Review of the Night Sun Tarot

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot10 Comments

Night Sun Tarot 01 Cover Carda

Fabio Listrani’s Night Sun Tarot is one of those decks I couldn’t wait to get my little hands on. I would consider this an esoteric tarot deck. On the Majors, you have the astrological, elemental, and Hebrew letter correspondences in the card corners. In the Minors, you have the elementals and decanates. I usually have to hand-write these onto my working decks, but here on the Night Sun, the work is done for you, and done beautifully.

Night Sun Tarot 02 Set

There is a strong Modern Age comic book art style to the Night Sun Tarot, with digitally rendered illustrations. Fabio Listrani, the brainchild behind this exquisite deck, is an Italian artist and graphic designer whose work tends toward the science fiction/fantasy genres of art. He seamlessly blends Eastern and Western esoteric symbolism and cultural references, and updates esoteric tarot for the 21st century with this very original, insightful, and groundbreaking new deck.

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