The Tarot Room – Georgianna

Here we are again at The Tarot Garden, with another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here is Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Sun …

And once again we return to The Tarot Garden and another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here is Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Hermit …

We’re back at The Tarot Garden and another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here is Niki de Saint Phalle‘s most fabulous version of Strength …

We’re back at The Tarot Garden and another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here is Niki de Saint Phalle‘s fantastic Devil …

And we return to The Tarot Garden and another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here is Niki de Saint Phalle‘s beautiful Star …

Here’s another picture from my Travelling Tarot Friend.

Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Empress within the Empress at The Tarot Garden in Tuscany …

Another Moon … this one from Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden (courtesy of my travelling Tarot friend) …

Back to The Tarot Garden and another picture from my travelling Tarot friend!

Here’s Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Fool … I love it!

As promised, here’s the first picture from my travelling Tarot friend’s visit to Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden in Italy.

Number Six in the Tarot is usually called The Lovers. Niki called it The Choice …

Today’s pull from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection is brand new to me. It was a gift from a friend who just got back from Italy and a visit to Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden. As you may have guessed, it’s the Niki de Saint Phalle Tarot.

Seven Points About This Deck

1. Majors Only Deck – The Niki de Saint Phalle Tarot has only 22 cards, the Major Arcana from 0 to 21. But that’s for good reason … see the next point
2. Tarot Garden – Each card is based on the Major Arcana figures created by artist Niki de Saint Phalle for her magical Tarot Garden, otherwise known as Il Giardino Dei Tarocchi. It’s a real place with giant sculptures of all the Major Arcana. The garden is located about an hour outside of Rome.
3. Card Stock – The actual cards are beautiful to touch and to shuffle. They’re shiny, bright, and not too big, but big enough to show off the gorgeous artwork.
4. Artwork – Speaking of artwork – the images are bright, bold, and colourful renditions of the sculptures from the Tarot Garden on a white background … and did I mention they were embossed? Or at least parts of the images are, and all of the titles. It appropriately adds a little sculptural texture to the deck.
5. Titles – Some of the titles break from RWS tradition … #6 is called The Choice instead of the more common Lovers. And The Tower is called The Tower of Babel, thus putting more focus on communication then some other Towers might .
6. Emperor – The Emperor is a castle, a foundation rather than a man.
7. Instruction Booklet – And last but not least, the Little White Book includes notes from Niki herself.

Overall, I love this deck. Its clear, fun, and wise. I know it’s no substitute for actually visiting The Tarot Garden itself, but it’s as close as I can get while sitting in The Tarot Room in Toronto.

…And don’t be surprised if I post some pictures of The Tarot Garden soon, courtesy of my travelling Tarot friend.