Alchemical Wedding Tarot
Also known as Tarot di Purgatorio
The Alchemical Wedding Tarot is a somewhat dark deck with an otherworldly, dream-like quality. The sepia-toned art was created from collage organised on computer, featuring strong imagery of people appearing in masks and semi-animal forms. The 22-card limited edition is now sold out.
Review by Dan Pelletier
A big sized card, almost 13cm by a tad over 9cm. Nice big cards.
Twenty-two Majors numbered in the English/American tradition (Strength is VIII).
Sepia. Nice gentle sepia. No jarring blaring computer enhanced colors stabbing at the retinas.
And dark. No – no, not colorwise, although the sepia can be seen as dark; but I mean dark. Disturbing.
I ramble aimlessly though them…
Masks.
Photo collage.
Some people won’t like this…penises both flaccid and turgid. Breasts, along with snakes, skeletons, and masks. Eyes abound. Babies pouring forth freely from a squatting Empress – in a mask.
Eyes.
Masks.
A falcon headed human figure, perhaps Horus rides a Strombus shell, pulled by two sea turtles to illustrate the Chariot.
The Hierophant appears to remind us of the modern god consumerism, surrounded by electronic toys; the Wheel is a tractor tire with a clock-face inside, multiple hands display multiple data-points, the figure at the bottom truly crushed and the one surmounting truly beautiful. Eyes abound, and in the background an Ouroboros reminds us….
XIV is Art is a winged nude male in mask, bending a flaming bar – framed by eyes. More eyes.
We cannot see the faces of the lovers, and we notice the serpents that surround them are not cold-blooded snakes – these are each crowned with a glans.
Judgement is a posterior view of a winged skeleton standing before a field. A tornado rises in the background.
Nude children grace The Sun and The World.
I won’t talk about Death. Truly and wonderfully disturbing.
This is a deliciously dark deck. It is not for everyone.
However I know I will use it…
It is a surprising, shocking, and brave approach – I applaud it whole-heartedly.
Complete Deck Details
Creators: David AronsonPublisher: Adam McLean 2006
Deck Type: Tarot Deck
Cards: 22
Minor Arcana Style: None
Card Back: Unknown
This deck is rare or out of print and isn't easy to find. Search for it on eBay or Amazon.com, or browse our most popular Tarot decks.
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Category: Black and White Tarot Decks, Collage Tarot Decks