A profound quest for enlightenment drives us to grow, overcome challenges, and reach our full potential. Combining artistic beauty, symbolic depth, and intuitive vigor, the Tarot Illuminati warms the soul and frees the mind. This evocative tool of self-discovery--rich with ornate, vividly beautiful illustrations--will illuminate your path to higher purpose and true fulfillment.
As a Total Tarot deck, there's no unboxing, but you can see the flickthrough video on tiktok. I also did a test spread using the deck.
Total Tarot is a bimonthly magazine designed to help teach anyone how to read tarot. With every two issues, readers get a complete tarot deck from Lo Scarabeo, one of the major Tarot companies on the market. The art of these decks is true to the originals, but they have frames where the originals don't and the LWB is not included, instead there is some information in the magazine about the history of the deck and the specific meanings attached to cards. This is a great collection if you want to try a lot of styles of deck at very reasonable prices - I'm learning a lot about my preferences!
Introduction
First things first; the Illuminati in the title does not refer to the shadowy cabal who may or may not be running the world as we speak. It has the same roots as that word; it comes from a Latin word meaning 'enlightened', referring both to the knowledge you can gain from tarot, and to the bright colors and light filled images in this deck. So don't worry, if you choose to use this deck you are not helping the secret lizard men and their plan to subjugate the world!
As a Total Tarot deck I can't talk about the box or the LWB, so let's jump straight into the
Cards
This is a beautifully ornate deck, full of detail and color and life. The back features this, reversible image:
There is so much going on in these cards, it's hard to know where to begin! The Minor suits don't have a color theme like some decks, but each seems to be (loosely) based on a real world culture; Swords are British, especially in the Court cards; Pentacles are Asian; Wands are Arabic, and Cups are East European. The Majors are a mix. It's also worth noting that instead of the Magician, we have the Alchemist, and instead of Pages and Knights we have Princesses and Princes, respectively.
The cards, as always with a TT deck, shuffle and handle nicely, but I believe the quality of these is not quite the same as the originals.
The cards are so full of symbolism and tiny details; I've noticed the Venus symbol on the Empress' shield and salamander by the King of Wands but there's definitely more here that I've missed, and I look forward to discovering it.
My experience
I keep coming back to the color and detail, but it's definitely going to be the first thing you notice; it's almost overwhelming at first, until you get your eye in. I'm usually a dive-right-in reader, but this time I took the time to have a flick through and look at each card before I got started, and I think that really helped; it got me used to the images and the design before I started interpreting. The cards follow the RWS school, so a beginner could use them; equally, there's enough here to keep an experienced reader busy for quite a while!
Of my two Querants, one found the images busy but appreciated that they are pretty, while finding the readings helpful and accurate; the other enjoyed the vibrancy and richness of the images.
Here are some sample images; this is one of those decks where I could have included every card, but I've been ruthless. Remember the complete flickthrough is linked above if you'd like to see more.
Conclusion
I found this an interesting and thought provoking deck. Some of the images chosen put a slightly new spin on the meanings - is the Six of Wands battle weary? Is the Nine of Pentacles a bit snobby? It's fascinating to see new aspects of cards in different decks, and it's why I keep acquiring new ones! This is a great deck for beginners or experienced readers. I think that in large spreads, the busyness of the cards could become overwhelming, but I've used it up to six cards and been fine. One for the wish list!
Tarot Illuminati is available now wherever you buy your tarot cards.
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