It is with a very heavy heart that I feel compelled to give this deck just 2 stars. It's not because I hate it, in fact, I absolutely love it. The problem is that this is not a Tarot deck, even though it is. I know, I know, it's very confusing. It will all become clear when I explain exactly where this gorgeous deck goes terribly and infuriatingly wrong.
First, let's get the basics out of the way:
The Tarot Favole (art by Spanish illustrator Victoria Francés ), scans of the cards now available for viewing in my Tarot Gallery, comes in a standard cardboard box containing 78 cards and a small booklet listing very basic card meanings in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. As seems to be the norm with decks published by Fournier, the cardstock is rather flimsy and bends very easily. Daily rough shuffling might not be the best idea for this deck if you want to keep it in good condition for longer than a week.
The cards themselves, again a constant with Fournier decks, are small and narrow in size. I was very disappointed by this fact when I received The Labyrinth Tarot by Luis Royo as was evident in my review, but, surprisingly, this doesn't bother me at all with this deck. The small size seems to fit well for some reason and does nothing to diminish or detract from the artist's obvious talent. The captions on the cards are in Spanish at the top and English at the bottom. The card backs are decorated with a discreet leafy motif in shades of dark gray.
The atmosphere of the deck is dark and Gothic, with interesting colorful splashes of the Carnival of Venice here and there.
Now, for the reasons why this deck is so appallingly disappointing for the Tarot enthusiast in me:
First and foremost, the artist herself did not set out to create a Tarot deck. It was created from her extensive collection of drawings and illustrations, purely as a means to showcase her art. It's merchandising, pure and simple. This, in and of itself, would not have been such a bad thing if any thought at all had been given to making sure that actual Tarot symbology was respected. Looking through the deck, it's pretty obvious that whoever put it together has extremely basic notions on the subject. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Major Arcana cards representing the Magician and the High Priestess. I look at these two cards and I just want to scream "No! This is all wrong! You've switched them around!!"
I dare anyone to take a look at those two cards and tell me I'm wrong.
Another pair of cards that should be switched around in my opinion, although my reaction to them was not nearly as strong as with the other two, are Justice and Judgment. All that fire and burning at the stake just does not belong in the Judgment card, but rather more in a perverted vision of Justice, while the angel with the dark raven wings definitely belongs in the Judgment card .
The rest of the Major Arcana retain a very faint similarity to the traditional imagery one expects in a Tarot deck. The Fool I must say is one of my absolute favorite Fools ever; The Lovers and The Moon are lovely; The Empress and Emperor are in character, at least from a Gothic point of view; The Chariot and Temperance are a little perplexing; The Devil, deliciously seductive. The Tower, Star, Sun and World all very disappointing, but still very beautiful cards.
Everything so far is more or less acceptable, as long as you're not a purist. If it weren't for the vile switcheroo performed by The Magician and The High Priestess, I would be mostly okay with these Majors, albeit a little bored.
The fun part, however, comes with the Minor Arcana. It's divided into 4 suits, the Court cards are very nice for the most part and it has unillustrated pips. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, except that these are not your usual suits. Here we have Crosses, Butterflies, Flowers and Masks.
"Oh, interesting", I thought. "I wonder what the little white booklet has to say about these."
Well, the LWB doesn't have a thing to say about them. Nothing. Zilch. Nada! It lists the meanings for the traditional suits of Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. It is utterly and completely useless with this deck. Another reason for my giving this deck just two stars.
Of course that only made it more fun and challenging for me, though. I decided to attribute my own associations to each suit. Crosses became the Earth suit; the Masks suit instantly made me think of Wands, so that was my Fire suit; the suit of Flowers (actually black roses) is the darkest one and the thorns brought tiny little Swords to mind, so I attributed the element of Air to it and finally, to the Butterflies, a pink, lovely and romantic suit, I attributed the element of Water.
The fun part is that everyone is free to make any associations they want in regards to the suits. They are all neutral enough, yet contain enough subtle symbolism to speak differently to each reader. I think this is one of the few good things about this "Tarot" deck. It's an amazing tool for intuitive readers like me. The few readings I've done with it, have worked surprisingly well. Once I gave the different suits my own associations, I really connected with the deck quite strongly.
I really, really adore this deck in spite of, or maybe even because of all its faults. The artwork is gorgeous, the atmosphere is enthralling and, even though it only pretends to be a real Tarot deck, it's actually very good at it. That's why it kills me to have to give it only 2 stars, but I feel that as a Tarot reviewer I can't possibly give any more to a deck that is only just a sham. No matter how much I personally love it.
