R E V I E W
PUBLISHER’S PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: “Roll up, roll up! Come see the greatest tarot circus on earth! This unique deck showcases the excitement and illusion to be found under the big top along with all the behind-the-scenes intrigue that fuels the show. The suits are cleverly comprised of clockwork machines, balancing blades, water acrobatics, and blazing fire dancers; and since the cards follow the Rider-Waite-Smith structure and symbology, you can begin reading with them today. With its sumptuous art and captivating characters, this deck is the perfect choice for tarotists who are drawn to the magic and mystery of the Ringmaster's domain.”
With an intro like the description provided by the publisher (above), this deck and book set certainly has a lot to live up to! Fortunately Robertson and Tufts do that and more with skill comparable to that of the performers under their “Big Top.”
I love books, so for me, the best place to start exploring this deck is by paging through the approximately 206-page guidebook, titled Under the Big Top. Preceding the discussion/description of each card in the deck, we have small sections such as “Welcome to the Show!”, “The Playbill,” and “Setting the Stage: How to Do a Reading with Your New Cards.” All of this material is clear and succinctly written, useful for beginners and more experienced readers alike.
ACT ONE MAJORS / The Greatest Show on Earth: As expected, the pages in this section cover the Major Arcana cards. I love that for each card, Leeza Robertson provides a paragraph titled “Ally” followed by a paragraph titled “Challenger,” basically covering the idea of upright and reversed interpretations.
INTERMISSION / Court Cards: Here we receive information about Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings in general, plus a discussion of each Page, Knight, Queen, and King using the same format as the Majors (“Ally” and “Challenger”).
ACTS
The suits are then broken down into “Acts.” I absolutely love the subtitle provided for each suit:
ACT THREE / Wands: It’s All Fire and Smoke
ACT FOUR / Cups: Dive Deep and Play
ACT FIVE / Pentacles: Reality Revealed
For the ENCORE, we are given wonderful spreads with circus-related titles such as “Seeking the Spotlight,” “Stage Fright,” “The Seven Day Show!”, and “Being Part of a Troupe.”
THE CARDS:
The cards themselves are standard Tarot stock, sturdy enough without being thick and unwieldy. The titles on the Major Arcana cards include the card number as well as the traditional name. (I was pleased to see that the author didn’t try to get cute by giving the Majors names like “Ringmaster” or “Lion Tamer.”) In fact, there are no “lion tamers” in the deck because animals are not part of the Cirque du Tarot, yet another selling point in my opinion.
Swords cards are illustrated in shades of dark blue, indigo, and purple (clearly linked with the element Air). Wands are orange and red (clearly linked with the element Fire). Cups are illustrated in turquoise and pink/fuchsia. Pentacles cards feature golds and browns. Card backs offer a gorgeous representation of the suit symbols.
Professional designer and illustrator Josh Tufts imbues each card with his own style, while honoring traditional themes, symbols, and imagery.
NEXT STEP: I plan to do a deck interview soon with this deck and probably a reading or two. Stay tuned!
I'll be interested to see how well they read. Look forward to your deck interview and to any reading you do.
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