The Gothic Tarot

I've been wanting this deck for awhile, and it just arrived! The artwork is perfect - dark, spooky, just as you would expect for a 'gothic' tarot. The card stock is good, thick - it is more 'cardboardy' rather than the quality you'd find in, say, a Blue Angel deck, but it is still good - not flimsy. Contrary to what other reviewers have said, the arrangement of the cards is indeed correct. The 8 for Justice and 11 for Strength is the original tarot sequence, which you'll see in the Visconti, Marseilles, as well as Thoth tarot decks. The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck and Golden Dawn tarot (by Robert Wang) have these switched. So it is simply a matter of which system you prefer. The little white book (LWB) is short and succinct - there is the Celtic Cross spread as well as one by the author. There is also a companion book that you can purchase separately, "The Gothic Tarot Compendium" which goes into much more detail (I have this on order). The only suggestion for improvement I could think of is to create a large version of these cards - there are so many little details in the artwork that are hard to see in a smaller (or average) sized tarot card. Otherwise, I'm happy with my purchase and am looking forward to using this deck in my readings.

I want to say right off that I am not one who gravitates to dark cards, but I was looking online and saw the Joseph Vargo Gothic Tarot. I have always enjoyed Nox Arcana’s music, so I did some research and found that it was indeed the same Joseph Vargo. I downloaded the app and was so impressed that I bought this deck. The deck is three and a quarter by five and (almost) a half. This is a different size from most cards but totally comfortable in the hands and even a little empowering. I wish more cards came in this size. Vargo’s style is sleek. All the characters are lean and strong and darkly ethereal. They make you want to be a part of that world. But they are also very accurate. Another reviewer commented that some of this art had been done before in an art book, if you read the companion compendium you see that in many cases he altered the original art to fit the tarot. I love this because it tels me Vargo sees his own work as living and not carved in stone. I have found these cards to be as accurate for me as my ‘regular’ cards and I find that very intriguing. Obviously, much forethought and work had gone into the production of these cards. Personal preferences on another edition – The Hanging Man could be a human surrounded by red eyes, as that card is very important in readings and a viewer should be connected to that card if it is read to them. The Fool could also be a human as it is the beginning of a mortal journey through enlightenment. A mortal man or woman followed by a wolf with bats (messengers) above while walking through a cemetery, one of the most frightening and inviting things to a human mortal But those are personal things. This is a good, solid deck that is not only darkly beautiful, but accurate. The little white deck is informative, but I suggest you get the compendium from Monolith Graphics to help you truly understand this deck. If you are not afraid to expand your horizons, this is a beautiful deck.

I bought this deck in 2011 and it still looks great! The quality of the cardstock is very good and I have not experienced any chipping of the cards. The deck is slightly larger than a standard tarot deck allowing you to see the wonderful artwork better! Someone mentioned that Strength and Justice are reversed. The reason that Strength might be changed in place with Justice is Strength is traditionally the eleventh card and Justice the eighth, as with The Tarot de Marseille, but the influential Rider-Waite-Smith deck switched the position of these two cards in order to make them a better fit with the astrological correspondences worked out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under which the eighth card is associated with Leo and the eleventh with Libra. So these types of changes do not make a deck unprofessional or unreadable. Also changed in this deck is The Hierophant to The High Priest. Changing the names of the major arcana is not unusual in tarot. For example Transition instead of Death, The Unexpected for The Tower, The Explorer instead of The Fool, or The Magician as The Alchemist. In fact many tarot experts who create decks have made these changes and others such as changing the minor arcana from wands to rods, or candles, or batons and cups changed to crystals or chalices. I have even seen the court cards changed, instead of Pages you have Princesses or instead of Knights you have Princes. I do believe it is important to be aware of the traditional meanings of the Tarot cards as they are based on time honoured ideas and archetypes that provide a broad basis for interpretation, but I also believe you should not limit yourself by subscribing to those ideas only.

It's my business to catch the overtones of the soul... the ghosts of beings highly organized enough to have looked on Hell and known the meaning of what they saw. --Richard Upton Pickman, in H.P. Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model" If there is a modern artistic successor to Richard Pickman, surely it must be Joseph Vargo. Vargo draws like H.P Lovecraft writes -- his work does more than illustrate or describe; it creates feelings of melancholy and dread that give his works emotional impact, drawing the observer deep into the world of the dark and sinister. In his images of graveyards you can almost smell the cool, damp, moldy air as it gently blows by. That WAS just the wind, right? -- or was it something less tangible, something that should have been left deep within the mind, but somehow escaped to pass by almost unnoticed in the night. Many of his creatures are hideous, yet also convey a sense of sympathetic humanity: one just has to ask, what's it like to be a gargoyle? The Gothic Tarot is a collection of Vargo's artwork cleverly arranged in the form of a Tarot deck. In some ways, this is a traditional Tarot deck -- the arrangement roughly follows the Golden Dawn lineage, though some interesting adaptations and interpretations prevent this deck from being considered an RWS "clone." On the other hand, the images are not the usual, standard Rider-Waite or Marseilles graphics re-cast in some particular theme. The images stand on their own, and are art works in their own right, whose meaning is enhanced by presenting them in the Tarot framework. This concept of using the Tarot as a medium for presenting the images, as opposed to the usual process of creating images that follow the expected Tarot format, is one of the features of this deck that places it well outside -- and imaginatively beyond -- the usual flurry of clones. The deck follows the traditional Marseilles arrangement of Major Arcana, suits and court cards. Most of the artwork is in Vargo's usual tones of bluish grey set against black borders and backgrounds, suggesting ancient stonework and forgotten graveyards lit by the moon on a dark night. There are notable exceptions, particularly among the Major Arcana: the Fool is Vargo's "Realm of Shadows," showing a ghostly figure in a stone archway with an eerie green luminescence, to which a large wolf was added for the Tarot version. The Emperor is Count Dracula himself, with details added in blood red. Red dominates Death and Temperance (adapted from Vargo's "Sorceress"), while greens return in the Devil. The Minor Arcana are, for the most part, moonlit style art to which the appropriate number of wands, cups, swords, or pentacles have been added. The backs are black with Vargo's "Realm Icon" in red; the backs are not reversible, though why that should matter is beyond me, since most readers read the fronts and not the backs. The small booklet that accompanies the deck gives some short interpretations for the cards, and suggested layouts for reading them. This is only minimally useful, mostly for those who read only occasionally, or have only a passing interest in the Tarot. A more useful book has recently appeared: "The Gothic Tarot Compendium," written by Joseph Vargo and Joseph Iorillo, is a far more comprehensive guide to the cards and their interpretation. Each card is illustrated in black and white, along with a divinatory meaning, description of the card, and more extensive notes on the background and interpretation of the artwork. The trouble with this kind of thing is that the interpretations found in any book or booklet are those of one individual, arising out of that individual's background and understanding, which may be very different from yours. Further, reading Tarot cards according to keywords or one-liners amounts to the same thing as reading fortune cookies, and misses the whole point of the Oracle. A Tarot card does not "mean" what any book or expert -- or even its author -- says it means. It "means" what it draws forth from your own imagination, and skill in reading the cards does not mean learning any system or set of meanings, but rather learning how to immerse your own consciousness in the imagery of the card. The Tarot is not about your "personality" or your own situations; it is about Poe's "vast formless things that shift the scenery to and fro" -- the invisible, impersonal forces of spirit and nature that shape the events of past, present and future. The wind is not about you, the movement of the sun and stars is not about you, but those things can affect you, and how you interact with then can affect the past, present and future. That is what the Tarot is about: understanding those forces, how they affect you, and how your own consciousness interacts with them. This is particularly true of the Gothic Tarot -- its imagery is unusually rich in feeling tones and imaginative depth, and how its images affect you cannot be determined a priori. Take, for example, The Chariot. In most decks, I find this card somewhat ambiguous and shallow. But in the Gothic Tarot, it is very different. The image is that of a dark carriage with a ghostly, top-hatted driver, drawn by two fiery red-eyed horses, through a fog-shrouded woodland of bare-branched trees. The Compendium tells us that, "The Chariot teaches us to take the reins and steer your life in the direction you truly wish to pursue." Bah. When I first saw this card, I immediately thought of Count Dracula's carriage, carrying poor Renfield to his fate. Like, he truly wished to pursue THAT? No, fate is, as Idries Shah quotes an Islamic teaching, "An endless succession of intertwined events, each influencing the other." The Chariot is a card of forces in motion, and not entirely under your own control. You may, however, have some control over how those forces affect you, and in turn how your actions can affect those forces. I discuss these matters because, more than any other deck, the images of the Gothic Tarot have an imaginative richness that puts it in a class by itself. Of course, you have to like the images and the theme for it to work in this way. You also need to spend a great deal more time with this deck -- it doesn't wear its meanings on its sleeves. If dark imagery appeals to you, then you may find the Gothic Tarot to be the best deck you have ever used.

+3 stars: the artwork is solid. if you like the theme there are truly no cards i dislike, which is unique. -1 star: the illustrations are often not representative of card meanings. this isnt a big deal for experienced readers, but newbies will find it difficult. they are often repetitive though. in ways that are not theme-related/explained by meaning. -1 star: some of the cards (just a few) have minor printing damage, as was mentioned before i purchased my deck. its not a big deal but is unprofessional. +3 stars: the booklet is obviously written by an experienced tarot card reader. they also include reversals, which i dont use, but the cards are designed to make using reversals easier.

This was my second deck, and it has become my favorite. I don't judge the cards on if they match a set description or not, so the minor changes don't bother me a whit. The artwork is beautiful, though it may seem repetitive, I'd rather not burn my corneas trying to look at a million puzzle pieces that don't look like they belong to each other. Many decks I have seen have let me down visually, for some reason if I'm looking in distaste at the cards I cannot seem to bond as well with them. So this was perfect, shining artwork, a unified and powerful deck. Shuffling is a bit difficult due to size! But unless you are trying to shuffle them like a deck of playing cards they are very sturdy, and retain a very nice gleam, with an awesome red symbol on the back. I find the deck works just fine for self readings and for reading others. The only deck as favored as this in my little collection is the Fantastical Creatures Tarot. In short, this is my go-to for readings, and it has a nice spot in plain view so I can smile at it in the morning.

I haven’t used the cards yet but my review is based on quality. They are made of a thick paper. Almost like thin cardboard but not quite. They have a Matte to semigloss type finish and should absolutely be used with a tarot cloth. I have a feeling that the lack of glossy finish or coating can cause the pictures to fade more quickly if you don’t use the cloth. The artwork is amazing. I’ve always loved his work and I went back and forth about buying this deck but something about his artwork has always resonated with me and this deck made me feel the same way. I will be purchasing the book that goes with cards very soon as well. The cards were not damaged or worn. The size or nice and comfortable in my hand. My only thing is I wish they had a glossier finish but that is more personal preference than anything. If you enjoy this type of artwork then I think these would be a great addition to your collection.

Tgis deck is so beautiful, this is my second copy that I keep as a backup because this deck is in my top five. There is an element of dark, enchanted mystery in the images of these images that make this deck so intriguing. It's so good it makes me want to stick with me not want to get another deck. The aces, 2's and 3's are a little pipes but that's ok. This along with Tarot of the Vampires are the best vampire decks around in my opinion. My only complaint is that I wish the tuck box that it comes in was more durable. They start warping and denting very quickly.