Lo Scarabeo's Tarot decks have been acclaimed all over the world for originality and quality. With the best Italian and international artists, each Lo Scarabeo deck is an exceptional artistic value.
Commited to developing innovative new decks while preserving the rich tradition of Tarot, Lo Scarabeo continues to be a favorite among collectors and readers.
Llewellyn is the exclusive distributor of Lo Scarabeo products in North America.
Summary: A wonderful deck of 52 cards that have both images and
meanings on the card. That makes this deck perfect for beginners
looking to enhance both their intuition (expanding on the obvious
meanings) and for pros seeking an alternative to their regular
decks. Not a RWS standard Tarot, but easy to carry and lots of
fun.
Review:
Don't pass on the Sibilla Oracle Cards because it's not a standard
Tarot. If you do you're going to be missing out on a great
combination. This deck of cards is smaller in size than most Tarot
decks. It's less thick because it has only 52 cards, like a pack of
playing cards, and the dimensions of each card are those of a card
for playing bridge. That makes this deck much easier to carry
around than any deck other than the postage stamp size decks that
some may consider too small for practical use.
Like a deck of playing card, this oracle is divided into four
suits, diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades, each with ten pip cards
and three court cards. If you're bored, you could play solitaire
with this deck.
There are two major differences between this deck and regular
playing cards. First, every card has a pictorial image. The style
appears to be 18th century line drawings overpainted with very
intense watercolors so that the lines show through. These are not
the pale pastel watercolors children use. These colors feature deep
earth tones of green, brown, orange, and surprisingly bright and
rich red. The backgrounds are washes of pale yellow. There are no
blues to be found. The upper left corner gives an image of the
matching standard playing card.
The second difference is that each card has a name or title which
can be used for divination. What appears to be the original is in
French while there are translations around the edge into other
languages. English is in the lower left.
So the ace of hearts is the "Sweet Card," the 3 of diamonds is "The
Consultant," the 7 of clubs indicates "Some Money," and the 10 of
spades indicates "Infantilism." The included Little White Booklet
(LWB) says, "To use the Sibilla Oracle Cards one must concetrate on
two basic aspects: the image and the written comment," so don't
limit yourself to one or the other. The image on the 10 of spades
shows a child crying, supporting herself on a chair. At her feet
appears to be (perhaps her own?) a dead dog. Thus, the meaning is
clearly sorrow and tears, but it is also the tears of a child. This
child doesn't understand that all living things, sooner or later,
must die. She doesn't know why her beloved dog is gone. So the
meaning goes beyond the written "infantilism," perhaps meaning the
tears and sorrow caused by a na�ve lack of understanding of the
world. It's both beautiful and sad in its simplicity and
purity.
As you can see, it is easy to come up with meanings for the cards
just from the brief descriptions and images on the cards. That
means the LWB doesn't have to focus on this aspect. Instead, it
gives some really great information necessary for reading any type
of divinatory deck. For example you're told that there are only
three things needed to use the cards: Knowledge of the images and
meanings, Intuition ("the ability to perceive what is not obvious
and to follow one's instinct and the unconscious"), and the Ability
to Relate with whomever is asking the question.
The LWB includes one reading, and it's great. It uses 8 cards. You
lay out four in a square pattern, and then the client lays out four
on top of them. The piles of two cards represent money and
business, health or chance encounters, work and profession, or
love. The cards put out by the client represent the present while
the ones you put out represent the future. There is a special
situation where, if both cards in a pile are of the same particular
suit, you draw an additional card for more information.
This is really a great spread, and it can easily be converted to
working with just the Minor Arcana of a Tarot deck (often these
cards are overlooked). The ideas of this reading alone are worth
getting this deck.
However, the real benefit of this deck is for new people wondering
if they'd make good Tarot readers. The images on the cards are very
clear. The original French is also clear in meaning. What this deck
does is allow a new reader to focus on using their intuition to
expand on the image and meaning of the card. The drawings seem like
they came out of a child's story book from a century or more ago,
immediately bringing out your inner storyteller. With the image and
meaning right on the card you don't have to focus on memorizing
multiple meanings of 78 cards.
In short, this is the ideal deck for beginners. It's a perfect
training deck. It's fun to use, too, and great for "cooperative
readings" (where the client and reader work together to interpret
the cards). It makes a great alternative to the Tarot, is unique,
antique looking, and easy to carry. Highly recommended for those
who are beginners and for pros looking for an alternative to their
regular repertoire.
Deck Attributes
Name of deck: Sibilla Oracle Cards
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
ISBN: 9780738713052
Creator's name: Antonio Lupatelli
Brief biography of creator: A popular artist of illustrations
children's books and cartoons in the 1960s and 1970s, he started
creating Tarot decks in the 1980s.
Name of accompanying booklet: Sibilla Oracle Cards
Number of pages of booklet: 32 (7 in English)
Available in a boxed kit?: No
Reading Uses: General Readings; Learning how to use divination
cards.
Artistic Style: French 18th century folk art
Tarot, Divination Deck, Other: Divination deck.
Does it follow Rider-Waite-Smith Standard?: No
If Divination Deck, what is the structure? Like a deck of playing
cards with four traditional suits and three court cards per suit.
Each card has an illustration and a title giving the meaning of the
card.
Why was deck created?: A traditional deck used for divination and
card games.
Book suggestions for Tarot beginners and this deck: Tarot for
Beginners by P. Scott Hollander; Tarot Kit for Beginners by Janet
Berres
Alternative decks you might like: Every Day Oracle; Marseille
Oracle Cards; Dream Cards
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