Review: The Gilded Tarot

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​A look inside one of my favorite and earliest tarot decks. Check out the review by clicking READ MORE

The Gilded Tarot is a 78 card deck that is heavily influenced by the Rider Waite deck.  It was published in 2004 by acclaimed tarot artist Ciro Marchetti. His work is some of the most easily recognized and purchased decks. 
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This deck is full of lush and vibrant colors. Ciro's artwork really shines here, and each card is a masterpiece in it's own right. As with most (if not all) of his work's you can see his brilliance in the field of digital art creation. Ciro’s art is a sophisticated blend of digital paintings drawn by hand on a graphics tablet, and some pasted elements (mostly faces). As such they have a look that you can easily recognize as being digitally created.

There are a couple different ways that you can come to purchase this deck - it is available as the deck and full 168 page book, bringing the cards to life. It is also available in the Easy Tarot learning set, where beginners can work on learning the tarot with beautiful cards. Links for both will be at the bottom of the post.

I purchased the deck and 168 page book and was delighted with them. The box they come in has some empty space, but everything arrived all in one piece, no dents or dings! They even give you a little organza bag to carry your cards in. Colors are pretty vibrant, and the card stock is not super shiny like some decks I have worked with. The backs of the cards have a really lovely sunburst medallion design.

I used these cards A LOT and I have to say they held up pretty well so far. For this time around I have had this copy for around 8 years now, and they are still very readable, although well loved! The cards themselves are sturdy but not stiff, making them pretty easy to shuffle. I say pretty easy, because if you are like me and have little hands these may feel a bit big for you.  My biggest frustration with them, and it isn't a huge issue for a seasoned tarot reader but may be for newbies, is that in the Major Arcana the main figure is isolated against a background of stars, darkness, whatever. This can result in some of the depth of these cards being stripped away.

All in all, this is a really nice set for beginners.
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Purchase Gilded Tarot

Purchase Easy Tarot Set