About this item
- The Royo Dark Tarot is an expanded and updated version of Luis Royo's original lack Tarot. Now with larger cards,
- better quality images, and most importantly - fully illustrated minor arcana.
Specifications
Name
|
Royo Dark Tarot
|
Creators
|
Luis Royo
|
Publisher
|
Lo Scarabeo 2012
|
Deck Type
|
Tarot Deck
|
Cards
|
78
|
Major Arcana
|
22
|
Minor Arcana
|
56
|
Reviews
I'd been warned by different reviewers that decks
published by La Scarabeo tend to be quite fetishy and not so
symbolic for reading. Id seen images for Royo Dark online
and found the scan for The Magician card quite
compelling, and loved that the minor arcane seemed to be as
detailed as the major.
At first I was simply overwhelmed
and bewildered by the seemingly endless parade of nude
female figures. Reviewers had mentioned this aspect of
Royo Dark, but I'd scoffed. Nudity! Pah! I'm a pagan
and a liberal, whats a little nudity! I'd naively
assumed that Tarot nudity would have a certain sacred,
reverent quality, and since I liked the elegant depiction
of The Magician, I thought other cards would follow
suit.
It's not so much the volume of nudity in the
deck which is difficult to swallow. I could probably
get on board with an entirely nude deck, if done a
certain way. Unfortunately in this case I found a lot of
the nudity somehow very modern looking and rather
pornographic in terms of style, especially as other aspects of
the deck were quite mystical and ancient looking. I
feel like this deck should have been one thing or the
other, either an entirely nude deck with sultry
kittenishness being the main theme, or a sort of gothic,
apocalyptic, twisted dream.
It is not the fact of the nudity
itself which spoils the effect, nor really the way in
which it is depicted, but rather the contrast with the
other elements which seems to clash. Some of the cards,
and some details have been created with such a deep,
and inspired sensitivity, it made me want to cry for
the deck which could have been.
The few male figures
in the deck are mostly conspicuously clothed and seem
somehow more naked for it. Of the kings, only the King of
Swords is human, the other kings being apes, who are in
some sort of amorous act with a Queen or concubine.
In spite of these fairly formidable shortcomings it
is impossible to dismiss Royo Dark as a shamelessly
sexy fetish deck out of hand. Several cards stand out
as almost definitively stunning. I would go so far as
to say that The Magician, Judgement and the three of
wands have been depicted so well, and with such striking
subtlety as to possibly outshine any other depiction of
these cards I've seen. Others are disturbing but still
interesting with the Seven of Cups showing a bride with a
gorilla skull headdress in a softly lit snowy landscape.
The white bride has learned the language of death the
handbook provides helpfully.
The lesser numbered cards of
the sword suit are almost completely in black and
white, with certain highlights picked out in colour.
Gradually more and more colour is added higher up in the
suit. I found this detail quite charming. Several of the
cup cards depict figures carrying swords with no cups
in sight, although the booklet does make some attempt
to explain this. Each of the tens depict success of
some kind.
I usually regard any written material with
a new Tarot deck as anathema, and want no
interference with my intuition whatsoever, but I must say that
with this deck I found the book quite helpful, if a
little arcane. One or two sentences on each card is often
quite telling when the card may seem utterly opaque.
In terms of reading, the Royo Dark can be
surprisingly insightful if a bit menacing. I wouldn't easily
try it on someone getting a reading for the first
time, not only because of the nude imagery, but also
theres a slightly unsettling quality to the images which
is only noticeable with some practical experience.
While first impressions may lead one to think of Royo
Dark as simply an art deck, after using it a few times,
I'd have to say its much more, although I'm not sure
exactly what.
|