About this item
- The Ancestral Path Tarot combines traditional Native American, feudal Japanese, Arthurian English and Egyptian
- symbols and images into a beautiful set of 78 tarot cards. Each suit of the minor arcana is matched with a particular
- culture or tradition.
Specifications
|
Name
|
Ancestral Path Tarot
|
|
Creators
|
Julie Cuccia-Watts
|
|
Publisher
|
US Games 1996
|
|
Deck Type
|
Tarot Deck
|
|
Cards
|
78
|
|
Major Arcana
|
22
|
|
Minor Arcana
|
56
|
|
Deck Tradition
|
Mixed
|
|
Minor Arcana Style
|
Unique Scenes With Suit Symbols
|
|
Suits
|
Cups, Swords, Sacred Circles, Staves
|
|
Court Cards
|
Prince, Princess, Queen, King
|
|
The Fool
|
is 0
|
|
Strength
|
is 11
|
|
Justice
|
is 8
|
|
Card Size
|
3.15 x 4.13 in. = 8.00cm x 10.50cm
|
|
Card Language
|
English
|
|
Card Back
|
Non-reversible
|
|
Back Design
|
Aqua coloured with a white border, in the centre a globe with a scene on it.
|
|
Companion Material
|
A little white booklet comes with the deck. A companion book has also been available as a set, or separately. The deck is also available in editions with languages other than English.
|
Reviews
The first time I saw this set of cards I was blown away by the beautiful imagery and even though I have collected many different decks now I still consider this one to be my favourite for reading for myself and others. The picture scenes are loosely based on the Rider Waite deck but some of them are specific to the deck, however you will have no problems in knowing which cards represent which. The four suits are based on four ancient cultures recognised for their cultures. The cups being depicted by Arthurian England with characters from the time of King Arthur. The colours are beautiful and vibrant with glorious skies and sunsets in the background. The Wands depict scenes from Egyptian and African cultures. The Swords have (and I prefer these ones the best) absolutely stunning scenes based on ancient Japan whilst the pentacles or discs called 'sacred circles' in this pack depicts scenes from snow covered red indian lifestyles.
As a person who would like to see all cultures live harmoniously together whilst keeping their own identities and histories alive then I find this pack really speaks to me. All the cards are beautiful whilst some also hold suprises such as 'the fool' which actually depicts Tracey Hoover reading the tarot. This is the person that devised the tarot and wrote the book which accompanies Some of the other cards feature people close to the author as well.
The back of the card features a clever silhouette of a group of people worshipping the sun and the reverse is the same silhouette of people worshipping the moon. Although you can tell which way up the cards are I don't think it detracts. I personally always use upright cards with this pack although I use reversed cards in some others that I have.
Also, the size of the deck is only slightly larger than a standard pack of playing cards so as I have small hands I find it very easy to shuffle and handle this pack.
As with all the best tarot cards the picture on the card should not spell out everything at once and should have small but relevant details that are noticed only if relevant in a reading for example. I noticed only this week that in the eight of cups, one of the cups shows the reflection of a fire out of the picture which I had not noticed before. This I interpreted as leaving something warm and comfortable behind to look for something better.
I think this deck is suitable for the experienced tarot reader and the novice alike. Standard meanings can be applied to the cards which also have an excellent little white book in the pack which gives a lot more insight than normal and is as almost so good that you do not need the book which you can order to accompany the deck. I would say that the book does give a little more insight into the history of the cultures and why they are depicted on the cards in the way they are.
All in all a brilliant little deck and highly recommended.
| 
