About this item
- The Hermetic Tarot is black and white only, but is very highly detailed Tarot deck of 78 cards. It is an artistic recreation
- of a mysterious, esoteric Tarot deck by Mathers, a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Now reprinted and again
- available.
Specifications
Name
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Hermetic Tarot
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Creators
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Godfrey Dowson
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Publisher
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US Games 1990
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Publisher
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US Games 2006
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Deck Type
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Tarot Deck
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Cards
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78
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Major Arcana
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22
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Minor Arcana
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56
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Deck Tradition
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Golden Dawn
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Minor Arcana Style
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Unique Scenes With Suit Symbols
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Cups, Swords, Wands, Pentacles
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Court Cards
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The Fool
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is 0
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Strength
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is 8
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Justice
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is 11
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Card Size
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2.75 x 4.75 in. = 6.99cm x 12.06cm
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Card Language
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English
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Card Back
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Unknown
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Reviews
masterpiece. The tone of the deck and Dowson’s artwork invokes
the full spectrum of powers within the tarot
practitioner for spiritual divinatory work. As a Golden Dawn
study deck, the card images are fundamentally focused on
alchemical and astrological references, with the deck
outfitted for theurgy. It can be integrated into personal
rituals, meditations, and ceremonies and in fact is
probably far better suited for such work than, say, the
Marseille, Rider-Waite-Smith, or even the Thoth
decks.
Godfrey Dowson draws heavily from elemental dignities,
Western astrology as interpreted by the Golden Dawn, and
the Qabalah. Corresponding alchemical symbols for the
four elements and astrological symbols are embedded
into each card to denote the attributions. In the Major
Arcana, the Key’s corresponding Hebrew letter appears on
the top left corner. In the court cards, the
alchemical symbol corresponding with the classical element
that the card itself represents appears on the top left
and the symbol for the element corresponding with the
suit appears on the top right. The Knight of Swords,
for example, represents Fire (for the Knight) on Air
(for the suit of Swords). For practitioners who adopt
interpretive methods reliant on elemental dignities, that is a
godsend. The backs of the cards are illustrated with the
Hermetic Rose and hexagrams. As they are non-reversible, it
may not be an ideal deck for reading with reversals.
That being said, the little white booklet that
accompanies the Hermetic Tarot provides the meanings of the
cards in the “ill-dignified” position, as reversals are
called in the booklet, which suggests that the deck is
nevertheless intended for reading with reversals.
The anatomy
of the Hermetic Tarot is the same as the
Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) and there is substantial crossover of
subscribed card meanings to render the Hermetic Tarot
user-friendly for anyone familiar with the RWS. A title is
assigned to each card in the Hermetic deck and the essences
of the cards as denoted by the titles are almost
transferrable onto the RWS.
Moreover, some imagery in the
Hermetic Tarot are reminiscent of the Thoth, such as Key
12, The Hanged Man, Four of Cups, or Ten of Wands,
among others. Practitioners who use the Thoth will be
right at home with the Hermetic Tarot. Overall, the
Hermetic Tarot combines the many practical symbolic
elements of the RWS and the haute esoteric nature of the
Thoth for the creation of one incredible deck that every
serious tarot practitioner will want in his or her
arsenal.
While I found the deck dysfunctional when reading
mundane inquiries about the prospects of a romantic
relationship or whether a promotion will be given at work, the
Hermetic Tarot can be consulted when a seeker needs to
channel or tap into greater universal life forces for
personal empowerment. Thus, if the love inquiry is more
focused on what greater forces are at play in a seeker’s
love life, the Hermetic Tarot can answer that better
than the standard decks. Rather than ask whether a
promotion will be given at work, if the seeker asks about
the greater forces influencing her career and
professional development, the Hermetic Tarot will prove to be
profoundly empowering.
Inevitably there will be comparisons
between The Hermetic Tarot and the Golden Dawn Tarot by
Israel Regardie & Robert Wang (1977) or the Initiatory
Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Giordano Berti & Patrizio
Evangelisti (2008). For me there is no comparison. Dowson's
Hermetic Tarot prevails over all as the preeminent
instructive tarot deck on the Golden Dawn interpretive system.
The detailing, the angelic references, the 10
sephirots of the Tree of Life, the astrological,
numerological, and elemental symbolism challenge me to advance my
own scholastic studies of tarot and related
metaphysical sciences. It is a must-have for any tarot
practitioner subscribing to the Golden Dawn system.
All that
said, the Hermetic Tarot is better used for spiritual
reflection and meditation than everyday tarot readings to the
public. It is an introspective deck, one that aids
indispensably in harnessing your personal power or tapping into
the universal unconscious, but I cannot imagine how
exhausting it would be on the mental faculties to do a tarot
reading party with the Hermetic.
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