New Palladini Tarot Deck Review

palastar.jpg (17183 bytes) The New Palladini Tarot Review by Michele Jackson

If you would like to purchase the New Palladini Tarot Deck, click here.

This deck is by the artist who drew the Aquarian Tarot deck, which despite its age is still selling briskly. The New Palladini is similar in style to the Aquarian, you can recognize the style of the faces and the artist’s penchant for a large centralized figure in most scenes, though not to the extent we saw in the Aquarian. It was drawn using, pencils, ink and magic markers. Palladini has included much more detail in this deck and has reduced his reliance on pastel shades in favor of bolder colors. There has also been an effort made to include some other cultures in this deck. The Fool for example, is bearded and wears a turban, giving him a somewhat Arab look, The Chariot driver is wearing an Egyptian headdress and has the long thin beard often seen in Egyptian art and Strength portrays a woman who appears to be from India; she has the mark of her caste on her forehead. While Palladini stamped his own style on the deck, it is for the most part, a Waite-Smith clone and readers familiar with the Waite-Smith or the Aquarian should have no trouble reading this deck. Some slight changes were made to the symbolism. The Wheel of Fortune no longer has the familiar four elemental symbols in each corner, rather the elements are depicted in the center of the wheel. The Angel of Temperance is shown in profile, and you only see the upper half of the body, so you can’t determine if the one foot is in the water. The Woman in The Star is submerged in the water to her hips, vice kneeling beside it, and she has two cups - one submerged and one above the water. There are no dogs in The Moon and no people in The Sun, or Judgment. These are minor changes though and should only be a problem for those who prefer traditional symbolism on their decks. The suits are the traditional Swords, Rods, Cups and Pentacles and the Court Cards are King, Queen, Knight and Page. Again, Palladini does not stray too far from Waite-Smith in the scenes on his Minor Arcana. He seemed to run out of steam on the 6 and 7 of cups however, the 6 shows 6 cups filled with flowers (no people) and the 7 shows 7 cups “Filled with images of fantasy” - again, no people. These two cards look more like they belong in a deck with unillustrated minors. On the other hand, some of the cards have unique touches. The King and Queen of Pentacles for example, are silhouettes filled in with a star filled night sky. Many of the cards have delightfully different details, which make the deck a pleasure to peruse at length. The booklet that accompanies the deck is fairly decent, with a description of the symbolism used on each card and short upright and reversed interpretations for each card. The booklet appears to be written by the artist and gives his views on Tarot vice the standard U.S. Games instructions. Overall this deck is very nice. It would work well as a first Tarot deck or make an nice alternative to the standard Waite-Smith or Aquarian.

See more cards from the New Palladini Tarot Deck

If you would like to purchase the New Palladini Tarot Deck, click here.

The New Palladini Tarot; ISBN: 0-88079-189-6; U.S. Games Systems