The next pull from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection is the Tarot of the New Vision, created by Pietro Allego with artwork by Raul Cestaro and Gianluca Cestaro. My copies (I’ve got two – one standard, one mini) were published by Lo Scarabeo in 2003.
5 Points About This Deck
- New Vision: If you jumped into the standard Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck and looked around at what you don’t see pictured in the regular cards … what’s off camera so to speak, that’s the ‘new vision’ of the Tarot of the New Vision. It shows us what might be behind the scenes, a 180 degree spin on what’s familiar.
- Artwork: As might be expected, given the new vision, the artwork of the Tarot of the New Vision is very RWSesque, though perhaps a little more moody, slightly darker, with a bit of a sombre feel.
- Readability: If you’re familiar with the RWS deck, you’ll have no trouble at all with the Tarot of the New Vision. It incorporates all of the traditional meanings from RWS, but just adds a few new elements – people, situations, and symbols. Each new piece adds a new perspective for your readings.
- Twins: This next point is not really about the deck, so much as it is about the deck making. The Tarot of the New Vision is sort of like a non-identical twin of the RWS Tarot … and it was drawn/painted by twins!! Raul and Gianluca Cestaro are not only brothers, but twin brothers!! It’s silly, I know, but I just love that.
- Plays Well With Others: Specifically, I mean the Tarot of the New Vision is a fabulous companion to the RWS Tarot when doing readings. Mixing both decks together, and pulling from the new merged deck is really fun. (NB. Since the two decks have different backs, if you try this at home, you’ll have to close your eyes while pulling your cards).
If you’re a fan of the RWS Tarot, the Tarot of the New Vision might seem a little disconcerting at first (or at least it was for me) … but with just a little play, I came to really like it. Maybe you will too.