About this item
- The Dark Fairytale Tarot is an exploration of the darker side of the world of the fae. It takes elements of both the Rider
- -Waite and Thoth foundations and blends them with lifelike medieval fantasy imagery.
Specifications
Name
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Dark Fairytale Tarot
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Creators
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Raffaele De Angelis
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Publisher
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Lo Scarabeo 2012
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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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Card Language
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None
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Card Back
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Reversible
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Back Design
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Ornate Celtic design with a red gem in the centre.
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Reviews
childhood “Fairytale”. This deck is meant to be a deep
exploration of the world of the Fey. The “fairies” of popular
culture (think Tinkerbell), are nothing like the Faeries
in Witchcraft and Paganism. They’re not all glitter
and light; they have their “dark” or shadow sides like
people. Do not be put off by the title; though perhaps it
should read “Dark Faery Tale” Tarot. Do not mistake the
deck for the sole image upon the box; the image is
taken from The World card, the lightest and brightest in
the deck. I assure you, much to my pleasure, there is
no pastel pink gracing these cards!
This is the
first deck I have seen that truly deserves the
exclamation of being "hauntingly beautiful"! Overall the deck
is coloured deep and dark, making minimal use of
primary colours. Light is brought into the deck using
natural light sources such as sunlight, moonlight, or by
introducing an energetic glow. Despite being part CGI and
having the "faces of people", this deck has a certain
reality to it. Detailed attention is paid to proportions;
highlights, transitions, and blending are used realistically.
Nothing sticks out like a sore thumb, unless it is
*supposed* to.
The artwork has a very
Medieval/Renaissance/Gothic vibe to it. The backdrops are done either in
scenes of Nature or using old architecture. These
buildings are beautiful and breathtaking; reminiscent of
cathedrals and churches. They are from a different time,
elaborately decorated and intensely detailed. Graveyards are
also featured, again, not with tombstones or layouts
from this present era. The scenes from Nature are
mostly of ancient woods with towering trees. There are
some fields, rocky landscapes, and water locales. A few
cards (ie. XVII - The Star & XXI - The World) depict a
rather celestial scene.
Throughout the deck there are
certain images and symbols that repeat, regardless of suit
or number. Within the deck, reappearing ravens/crows
and human skulls make their way through the deck.
There are reaching hands, often bound by chains,
emerging from the ground. The Sun, The Moon, and eclipses,
seem to play a special role. Different types of wings
grace the cards; none are too like the popular "fariy"
wings. -Some are feathered, like those of Angels, some
are tattooed upon the characters' backs, and others
are wisps; not fully formed. The artwork is a merger
of both the organic world and realms of fantasy. The
characters of the cards are dressed in Medieval/Renaissance
clothing and sometimes in what I would call "glam Goth"
fashion. Even a few vampiresque creatures make their way
into the deck! -There are not many, for those of you
put off by that statement.
The card backs are "meh";
neither striking nor horrible. They are completely
reversible, which is a plus for me, but others could care
less. The image itself is very ambiguous; it could be a
decorative panel in architecture or a tomb, or the top to a
coffin or jewelry box. -Let your imagination wander! The
colours are steel blue and tarnished silver; warmed-up by
a red/orange brilliance-cut stone. Upon further
inspection, it is a rather nice balance of masculine and
feminine. The cold colours are offset by the warm-toned
jeweled center. The equal-armed cross supporting the jewel
offsets my initial "religious" vibe; turning it more
Earth-centered. I love the scroll and fleur-de-lis type decor; and
the flower-like corners aren't too... flowery. It has
certainly grown on me, and I think someday I may be rather
fond of it. The image fades into black, which make a
nice transition into the black borders.
The card faces
are also appropriately bordered with black, and do not
contain the multi-lingual titles Lo Scarabeo favours.
While a lot of people really like this aspect for what
it is, there is actually a reason for it! -There are
no "words" upon the card faces, making multi-language
titles unnecessary. Each card is decorated with a colour
matching it to its suit, with a thin outline of the artwork
(separating it from the border) and some decorative
embellishment that I can only describe as a perfect blend of
points and curves. This embellishment is not over-bearing
or exceedingly simple and simply "frames" the image
of the card. The font used on the cards is a
"script-meets-goth" that plays off of the "points and curves" in the
embellishments.
The Majors are indicated by their Roman Numeral
located at the top and bottom center of the card. The
colour of this Arcana is done in a cream/cool beige. In
the LWB, the Majors are all given the Titles of the
RWS Tradition, though Strength is XI and Justice is
VIII.
The Minors are the standard Cups, Pentacles, Wands and
Swords (ordered this way in the deck and LWB). The Number
of the card is indicated at the top center with an
Arabic Numeral, and the suit by the traditional tool icon
located at the bottom center. The Courts are given the
titles and order of Knave (all are females), Knight (all
are horse-riding males), Queen (all seated females),
and King (all seated males). The Pips are numbered 1
(Ace) - 10 and contain scenic imagery, complete with
appropriate number of icons. There are specific icons to
represent the Courts, placed at the top center of the card.
The Knaves have a mohawk helmet icon; a traditional
battle helmet with a decorative topper. The Knights have
a bust of a horse for their icon. The Queens have an
icon of a delicate 5-pointed crown with I assume to be
a jeweled-center. The Kings also have a 5-pointed
crown for their icon, but with stronger features and
points than the Queens'.
The embellishments on the
borders of the suit of Cups are coloured in a burnt
orange/ochre red, and its icon is that of a chalice. The Ace
depicts a large grail with a blood-like content.
Throughout the suit, the Cups are silver and are frequently
decorated with an equal-armed cross. One of my favourite
cards in the suit is the Queen, who lounges in a chair
seemingly floating on the surface of a pond. Around her,
glowing red/orange/yellow fan-tail goldfish swim around
her in the air; leaving a red-glowing trail behind. I
have to say that the King reminds me of the young Henry
in the HBO show The Tudors.
The suit of Pentacles
border embellishments are done in a deep goldenrod colour
and has the icon of a Pentacle at the bottom of the
cards. The Ace depicts a hand holding a mostly
transparent Pentacle; if you look closely, you can see the
woman whose hand it belongs to faded into the
background. The Pentacles are all golden; some plain and
simple, some decorated with the Tree of Life, and others
with Runes/Letters. My favourite cards of the suit are
the 2 and 4 of Pentacles. The 2 of Pentacles has the
best (in my own opinion) depiction of the standard RWS
"juggler" I've seen: A woman stands with her eyes closed;
red hair flailing up in wind; balancing the two golden
glowing Pentacles, swirling with energy, complete with
leminiscante; hands reach out from the rocky landscape; an
ancient and ornate building looms in the background, with
clouds and fog both nearby. The 4 of Pentacles is a new
twist on the RWS; a man of power and creativity is taken
aback, his back is arched, his face to the sky; two
golden glowing Pentacles are at each of his feet, one
levitates above his head; the fourth is seemingly on fire
and begins to merge with his chest.
In the suit of
Wands, the border embellishments are done in an olive
green and has the icon of a pointed Wand with orb
attached at the bottom of each card. The Ace shows two
hands reaching to grasp a seemingly levitating Wand out
of a graveyard. At first glace, the Wand is rather
ugly; upon closer inspection it is intricately carved at
the base in spirals. The top supports what looks like
a stone; my guess would be opal or moonstone. There
is a reflection within, but what it is of is hard to
tell. The way the Wand is twisted and warped reminded me
at first of a bone, upon further inspection it almost
resembles a cobra. The Wands throughout the suit are not
identical to one and other, but are similar; the base/shaft
of the Wand is always wooden. Most are decorated with
silver at the tops; those that are either have a glowing
blue orb, or owls topping their green or orange orb.
The 4, Knight, and King are the only cards to have all
wooden Wands.
The embellishments on the borders of the
suit of Swords are all done in a grey-blue and the icon
at the bottom is that of a simple Sword (blade
pointing left, handle right). The Ace depicts a woman
balancing a red handled and glowing red bladed Sword; its
point is downward and at the center of a silver crown.
Blue fire seems to dance around the crown. most Swords
depicted within the suit are simple in structure, made of
steel/coloured silver. The Ace (1), 3, and Knight share a glowing
red, almost lightsaber-like blade; 2, 7, and Page have
glowing orange runes upon their blades; and the 9 of
Swords is done with black handled, sliver bladed
daggers.
The provided LWB (written by Lillie) comes in multiple
languages, leaving only 13 pages for the English version.
Lillie gives a bit of background on the deck, and
provides a spread in the intro. The Majors are listed
first, with a keyword next to the title, and a couple
sentences about the meanings. Before each suit goes into
detail, she provides a snippet about each suit. The
number/Court of the card is listed followed by a brief
definition. The LWB is by no means all encompassing, but
provides more than some on the market today. I rather like
it, for instead of providing upright/reversed or
light/shadow meanings, she provides the situation in a rather
ambiguous way. If you look closely, you can find the
positive/negative meanings; but her style encourages you to look at
the meanings as a whole. In about three sentences she
gives you the idea of the card and provides a message
and a warning.
Overall the deck is quite RWS-based,
taking some elements from Thoth. Not loving the RWS to
pieces and finding much sense in the Thoth tradition, I
find that this deck really blends the two together
well. This deck is darker than your average, but not
violent/gory/grotesque. I find it to be rather blunt and ambiguous as a
whole. It has quickly become one of my favourites!
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