Russian Tarot of St Petersburg
The cards of the Russian Tarot of St Petersburg have large black borders and the images are small and dark, as they are a series of miniature paintings of Russian people and fairy tales. Despite being a Russian deck, all text is in English.
Russian Tarot of St Petersburg Review by Cricket
This deck is unusual in a few ways. First, it was started by Yury Shakov - he finished number of the cards, along with the preliminary sketches for the rest - but the remainder were finished by an unknown Russian artist at his death. There really isn't much difference in their styles, the continuity of the deck is amazing. Each card is rendered in sharp detail. This includes a border in gold on the face, mirrored on the back. Both the major and minor arcana are done in full detail, and this in one of the first decks I have personally run into printed on a black background. It puts a whole new cast on the deck, gives it a new feel, has a different effect on the spirit.
Lastly, even though this deck was not geared toward beginners (or those rediscovering the art) it is truly easy to read. Because of the detail mentioned before, those that do more instinctual reading instead of using the 'given' or 'proper' meaning of the cards are given a clear advantage. For example, while doing the first reading using this deck, the sun in the four of clubs seemed to pop out at me. Normally this wouldn't have been something to notice, but it was pivotal to the reading.
The little white booklet is also a nice help. The meaning and reversed meaning are easy to find, and it has the basic ten card spread included.
This is a truly
spiritual deck to me, and I'm glad I bought it. It didn't
'feel' quite right in the store, but as soon as I took it
home and got it out of the box, it clicked with me.
Meanings of certain cards were coming to me just flipping
through the deck. This is going to be the one I can't put
down. (The only complaint I might have is that the back
of the deck is not reversible, so you can see which
cards are reversed.) I would not really recommend this
deck for beginners, since the images and feelings truly
rush out to meet a person and might overwhelm them, but
I am impressed with it.
Complete Details of Russian Tarot of St Petersburg
Creators: Yuri Shakov, Cynthia GilesPublisher: US Games 1992
Deck Type: Tarot Deck
Cards: 78
Major Arcana: 22
Minor Arcana: 56
Deck Tradition: Rider-Waite-Smith
Minor Arcana Style: RWS-Based Scenes
Suits: Cups, Coins, Swords, Clubs
Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King
Strength is 8
Justice is 11
Card Size: 2.76 x 4.72 in. = 7.00cm x 12.00cm
Card Language: English
Card Back: Non-reversible
Back Design: Black with suit images.
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Theme: Russian