Review by wolfen045
This is my favorite tarot deck (of the ones I
own - now that I am part of Aeclectic I've seen tons of
decks I'd love to own!!)
I love the art work. In the Major Arcana, the figures
on the cards are very abstract. I find this gives my
imagination a lot to work with. My favorite cards are
strength where the woman opening the lion's mouth is also a
pillar. (The soft peach tones make it less geometrical
than it sounds.) Another of my favorites is the
Star, where the woman is smaller than is usual and the
signs (and orbits) of the seven classical planets are shown
behind her.
I cannot pretend to be an expert on Masonry
and its symbols, but the LWB (which is printed in
French and German as well as in English) gives enough
details as to intrige me, without leaving me feel
overwhelmed. As Bouchard points out, Tarot and Free
Masonry came into exsistance at the same time and
in, roughly, the same part of the world. The Cultural forces
of the time, caused both to develop a similar
symbolic "Alphabet." Bouchard also says the tarot
does not deal with symbolism, it is a symbolic Alphabet in
and of itself, so I find that the extra Masonic
symbols give the cards an extra layer or richness for my/
the imagination to work with.
I really find this deck
very beautiful. A great many of the cards are
gilded, which I think gives the deck a real rich (pun intended)
feel. I also like the fact that the small cards are
pips, rather than being illustrated. With a knowledge of
the Golden Dawn's esoteric titles for each card, and
the added masonic symbol added to some of them, I find
I have no problem using this deck for a reading. In
fact, I find it to be very accurate for my personal
readings. (I have never used it to read for another person.)
The only drawback I find to this deck is that the
cards are fairly large and somewhat awkward to shuffle.
I think any one with a love of beautiful decks and a
vivid imagination, would really enjoy the Masonic Tarot.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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