Review by Demonesse
My review is about the Mythic Tarot, which I
picked up at a sale on a whim. It was presented nicely in
a deep purple box with its name in gold letters, and
came with a hardcover interpretation book and a black
cloth with the celtic cross spread.
The cards themselves are made of rather thin material, and bend easily. The name of the card is depicted on each card, but
not its astrological equivalent or number (for the
Major Arcana). Overall, the drawings are rather
archetypal in terms of Tarot cards, and the figures are often
stiff and "uncomfortable" looking, but the colouring is
vivid and the drawing very detailed (you can see each
blade of grass in the background.)
In my opinion,
the Mythic Tarot is unique in that the Minor Arcana
portray Greek Myths - one for each
suit - as they progress. (For example, the Suit of Wands
portrays Jason and the Argonauts.) However, I find
that because of this story-weaving angle, sometimes the
depictions on the pip cards do not match their actual
meanings as it has to follow the progression of the myth.
The Court Cards are mostly nondescript, with a nice
touch here or there, but I find them mostly similar.
As for the Major Arcana, some of the cards really
stood out for their beauty, including the Star (Pandora
opening the Box), the Tower, the Empress and Temperance.
But some also struck me as badly drawn, for example
the Hierophant (all out of proportion), the Magician
and Judgement (the little mummies at the bottom look
like Gingerbread Men in toilet paper)!
The
interpretation book in particular was a great disappointment.
Although well presented, much of the text about each card
contained mumbojumbo about the myth and intertwined it with
the card's actual meaning. For example, instead of
referring to the figure in the Justice card as Justice, the
author refers to it as Athene. Therefore, it is sometimes
confusing as to whether she is describing the true qualities
of the card itself or is merely drawing her own
interpretations of the similarities between the qualities of the
mythical figure depicted and the qualities of the actual
card.
I feel this is a weakness because the myth
itself is not actually representative of the card, and
also because it made divination difficult if one wanted
to have a deeper understanding of the cards instead
of reading just the little paragraph at the bottom,
which was often repetitive, merely summarized and is
sometimes even different from those found in other books.
The explanation of the Celtic Cross at the end was all
right, and I appreciated the two sample readings, but in
its place I would have loved more types of spreads.
I
feel the Mythic Tarot is not for serious students of the Tarot, and
more for those curious to have a look at a different
interpretation of the Tarot. To be fair, it IS entitled "A New
Approach To The Tarot Cards". :)
*Note: One of my cards
was missing and in its place I had two Aces of Swords
instead!
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