Ancient Italian Tarot Unboxing

In this unboxing, we will look at Ancient Italian Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. The collection of images was edited by Pietro Alligo for Lo Scarabeo. This Tarot deck is a reproduction with an inscription that reads: Cartiera Italiana, 1880 Serravalle Sesia. This could be read as: Italian Paper Factory in the municipality of Serravalle Sesia from the region of Piedmont in 1880.

Ancient Italian Tarot is what you would expect from a deck that’s style comes from late 19th century. The major arcana is fully illustrated to depict the archetypal ideas of each card. The court cards are also illustrated to resemble people of royalty using the Knave, Knight, Queen, and King structure. The minor arcana is done in a playing card style. The pip cards use the suit symbol in elaborate geometric patterns.

What you may notice is that all of these features are consistent with the Tarot de Marseilles design, another great deck of previous centuries. You can learn more about how to print a variation on the Tarot de Marseilles here.

It may take time to get used to this deck, especially if you have been used to the Waite-Smith style of images. In the end, you will find this deck familiar due to the commonality of the major arcana in both the Waite-Smith and Tarot de Marseilles designs.

For myself, I like to pair this deck with the Tarot Etteilla, a French Tarot deck. You can learn more about that deck here. The illustrative design for both decks is similar and creates consistency with the imagery. Tarot Etteilla has a different structure for its major arcana and helps create depth when used with Ancient Italian Tarot.

The old style of these decks is a nice way to break away from the structured designs of contemporary tarot decks. While the imagery is useful, old-style decks force the user into their imagination. In the case of the Ancient Italian Tarot, you are only given what is necessary, the rest is up to you. Enjoy Ancient Italian Tarot.

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Ancient Italian Tarot