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Tarocchi di Besançon Miller 1780
When we think of the Tarot de Marseille (TdM), France usually comes to mind. But the game of tarot was played throughout Europe, with locally printed decks that had their own unique touches. Giordano...
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Trzes’ Mamluk Deck: The Granddaddy of European Playing Cards
In 1931, Leo Mayer discovered a nearly complete deck of medieval playing cards in the Topkapi Museum of Istanbul, giving the world solid proof that European playing cards originated in the Islamic...
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I Tarocchi Marco Benedetti: An Homage to the Visconti-Sforza Deck
I came across this deck on The Gamecrafter while looking for something else and was immediately taken by the graceful, clean lines and minimalist design. The deck designer, Marco Benedetti, is not an...
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Oswald Wirth Facsimile Decks by Marco Benedetti
For the first and last time on this blog I’m reviewing a deck by a DFO (Dead French Occultist). I usually run out of the room when someone starts in about Kabbalistic associations with tarot (it’s a...
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The Jean Dodali Tarot Recreated by Sullivan Hismans
The Dodal/Dodali Tarot, one of the earliest and most historically important Tarot de Marseille (TdM) decks, has been beautifully recreated by Sullivan Hismans at Tarot Sheet Revival, after two years of...
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The Deck and Book of the Deification of Sixteen Heroes
The legendary “da Tortona” deck, grandfather of all tarocchi/tarot decks, is now accessible thanks to a small but incredibly rich book by Ross G. Caldwell and Marco Ponzi; and a recreated deck by...
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I Tarocchi Rosenwald by Marco Benedetti
There’s something compelling about the Rosenwald deck. It’s enough like the Tarot de Marseille to feel comfortable; yet its quirky details give it a slightly exotic tone. For a transcendent experience,...
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The Triadic Tarot
A square Tarot de Marseille with cards that can be turned in any direction! Pips arranged in triads according to a system described by the French occultist Papus. This radically unique deck will spark...
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Spread and Reading with I Tarocchi Lando
I discovered this spread in a booklet by Giulia Orsini included in the Lando Tarocchi produced by Giordano Berti. It works best for providing an overview of a situation and for advice on how to get the...
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Sicilian Tarot Exhibit Catalog: Il Mondo in Mano
This beautifully illustrated catalog is a rare opportunity to see cards that have been hidden for centuries, until this exhibit on display from September 2019 to January 2020 at the Castello Ursino,...
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Nicolas Rolichon Tarot Recreated by Marco Benedetti
This phantom of the tarot world is possibly the earliest Tarot de Marseille we know of. The only traces of the Rolichon tarot’s existence are a brief listing in an 1851 French auction catalog, and...
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The Budapest Tarot Second Edition by Sullivan Hismans
Introduction One of the most exciting events in my twenty years of collecting historic decks occurred in 2017 when Sullivan Hismans (Tarot Sheet Revival.com) introduced the Budapest Tarot. He...
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Jodorowsky Card Selection Technique
I’ve been watching Alejandro Jodorowski read cards on Youtube. He has a unique method of picking the cards for his three-card line. I’ve described it below and demonstrate with two readings. You’ll...
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Tarocchi Corband Produced by Giordano Berti
Some of the most beautiful Tarot decks I’ve ever seen emerged from nineteenth-century Piedmont. Giordano Berti has been producing limited editions of these precious but forgotten decks for several...
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Tarocco Bolognese Al Mondo
The Al Mondo Tarocchino is one of very few Bolognese-style decks to survive from earlier centuries with all cards intact. This deck comes to us from a narrow slice of time—after 1725 when Bolognese...
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Bordi Rivoltinati: The Rosenwald Tarocchi with Folded Borders by Marco Benedetti
Here’s a deck that not only looks like the fifteenth century, but feels like the fifteenth century: I Tarocchi Rosenwald restored by Marco Benedetti, with hand-folded paper borders (Bordi...
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The Adam C. de Hautot Tarot Restored by Sullivan Hismans
The Adam C. de Hautot Tarot is another beautiful and historically important deck from the workshop of Sullivan Hismans. This deck is the earliest representative of the Rouen-Brussels pattern, an...
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Tarocchi Francesi (The Anonymous Tarot de Paris) Restored by Il Museo dei...
One of the oldest complete French decks that still exists, the very quirky Tarot de Paris was printed in Paris about 1650. Only one example has survived—a complete deck in the Bibliothèque Nationale...
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The Fifteenth-Century Charles VI Deck Recreated by Marco Benedetti
In fifteenth-century Italy, wealthy aristocrats indulged themselves with luxurious, hand painted, gold-embossed Trionfi decks. The decks came in two distinct families: those commissioned by the...
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Tarot Marco Benedetti: Visconti Homage Deck
Twenty-five years ago, Marco Benedetti painted a heavenly homage to the Visconti-Sforza deck in tempera on gold leaf. A few years ago, he offered his deck to the public on Gamecrafter, and as a custom...
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