Extispex: Tarot and Tarot Readings

I’m a collage artist, and I enjoy collage art and especially collage tarot decks. Arnell Ando originally created the Transformational Tarot for her own personal use, then later released it as a limited, self-published edition. By popular demand, it returned, this time released in a slick, affordable package by U.S. Games.

When I say slick, I mean literally so. The cards are thickly laminated (possibly to make up for inferior card stock) and are difficult to shuffle. They are stiff and warp easily.

The illustrations in this new edition seem muted, even blurred in some cases. Nonetheless, the Transformational Tarot is still one of the most attractive collaged tarot decks available.

Ando seems fond of pre-Raphaelite art, and such images dominate the deck, but are punctuated by images that range from the ancient to the modern, from far Eastern to Western. It’s a deck full of delightful surprises, containing an evocative depth while retaining a certain whimsicality. Ando’s joy in the creation of this tarot seems evident throughout the deck.

Among my favorite cards are the Fool (renamed The Dreamer), which pictures a holy child wandering through a dense forest, shadowed by a human-headed bird, and the Ace of Swords, which shows my patron deity Mercury against the backdrop of a tumultuous sky. There’s the spidery weaver of the Eight of Coins, the tiny mourner over spilled milk in the Five of Cups, and the claustrophobic Four of Coins, which shows a woman ‘entrapped’ by her many possessions.

Though created as a personal tarot, there’s plenty in this deck from which any reader might derive meaning and interpretation. The Little White Book was - for a change - written by the artist herself, and give more insight into the cards than most LWBs. How refreshing!

Collectors who missed out on the original edition might want to add this one to their shelves, and - though perhaps not suitable for beginners - more experienced readers will find a wealth of inspiration in this unusual deck.