About this item
- The Fountain Tarot is a 79-card re-envisioning of tarot through the worlds of geometry, internet culture, art and
- spirituality. The creators aimed to capture the joys and sorrows of life and celebrate 'oneness' through Jonathan Saiz's
- original oil paintings.
Specifications
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Name
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The Fountain Tarot
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Creators
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Jonathan Saiz,
Jason Gruhl,
Andi Todaro
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Publisher
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Self Published 2015
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Deck Type
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Tarot Deck
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Cards
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79
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Major Arcana
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23
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Minor Arcana
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56
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Deck Tradition
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Mixed
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Minor Arcana Style
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Unique Scenes With Suit Symbols
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Suits
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Cups, Swords, Wands, Coins
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Card Size
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2.76 x 4.72 in. = 7.00cm x 12.00cm
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Card Language
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English
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Companion Material
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An 100+ page companion booklet by Jason Gruhl is packaged with the deck, including meanings, reversals, history and a guide to reading tarot.
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Extra Info
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There's an extra major arcana card placed at the end of the major series, titled The Fountain.
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Reviews
images to their essential cores, but often these end up
being no more than an oversimplification - The Fool as a
man walking, Temperance as a woman pouring liquid
between two cups, and so on. The Fountain Tarot follows
this trend, but manages to carry it out successfully.
The creators studied many different decks from
different periods before the artist, Jonathan Saiz, made the
full-size oil paintings which later became the cards in this
deck. The images have a depth that belies their
apparent simplicity through a color palette that manages to
be both intense and diaphanous at the same time. The
deck's atmosphere evokes the sense of mystery that Pamela
Colman Smith achieved in the original Rider-Waite deck
while avoiding New-Age kitsch.
Originally a Kickstarter
project, the deck is of top quality, with the unusual touch
of silvered edges, an unexpected change from the more
common gold edging, and is packed in a hard cardboard box
with a magnetic closure, designed by Andi Todaro. Ms.
Todaro also created the deck's very attractive back; as
the deck's website mentions, the backs of many decks
often seem like an afterthought. The back of the
Fountain Tarot is as well thought-out as the card images
themselves. The suits and court cards are standard; the only
significant difference is the presence of the "Fountain" card,
symbolized by the lemniscate, which signifies "waking from
the dream of separateness and identity," "oneness,"
and "the end of seeking." There's been a trend in
recent Tarot decks of including a 79th card, often a
humorous one; "the Fountain," however, is serious in
keeping with the tone of the rest of the deck, and would
be a valid part of a reading if it turned up.
The
deck includes a book of interpretations by Jason Gruhl,
however, it had to be small enough to fit into the box, so
it's more a starting point than a detailed explanation.
(There's more information at the creators' website.) Anyone familiar with the standard Rider-Waite
meanings shouldn't have trouble with this deck. Although
anyone looking for a profusely-detailed deck like the
Medieval Scapini would be advised to look elsewhere, the
Fountain Tarot is an attractive and engaging deck with
great potential.
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