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The Astrology Center of America, 207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014 Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272 |
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Measurements: 3.3 x 5.1 inches, or 84 x 130 mm. Large.
Back of card: Chiseled sheet of gray stone. In the center, two crossed swords covered by a shield. Directly above, a chalice, all in color (photo). Not for inversion, though the book gives inverted meanings.
Book included: Yes, 322 pages, 5.95 x 9 inches, or 15.2 x 22.8 cm. B&W illustrations are the same size as the cards.
Publisher: Llewellyn. Cards printed in Belgium, book & box printed in the US.
Comments: A nice, photographically based deck. Suits are Wands, Swords, Cups & Disks. Court cards are King, Queen, Knight, Page. Major arcana are as follows: Green Man, High Priest, High Priestess, Lady, Lord, Druid, Lovers, Chariot, Warrior, Shaman, Wheel, Web, Sacrifice, Death, Underworld, Tower, Initiation, Star, Moon, Sun, Rebirth, and World Tree. You will notice this is not standard.
Major Arcana card no. 1 is the High Priest, and though he's shown with a book with a pentagram on it, he's clearly no magician. The magician is Major arcana card number 5: The Druid, who has all the typical magical implements. You'll see both of them illustrated above.
The Seven of Wands (shown above) is the Cerne Abbas giant, the largest hill figure in Britian. It is located half a mile north of the town of Cerne Abbas, in Dorset. The book gives a good description of the site (used often for fertility rites, for obvious reasons), but the definition of the card is a typical 7 of Wands definition, eg, competition. Maybe the winner of the competition gets the girl & the two of them live "fertilely" ever after?
Many megalithic sites in England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland turn up as backgrounds in the minor arcana. To the book's credit, these are usually identified, though their significance, independent of the cards, are not always.
For mysterious reasons, two major arcana cards were duplicated: No. 3, The Lady (above), and No. 9, The Shaman. On the backs of both were identical plugs for this deck. We counted the remaining cards: None were missing.
So it's 1999. At the moment there is a glut of Celtic tarot, Celtic music, Celtic books, Celtic whatever. I'm too close to know if this is significant, but as even good things go in cycles, now is the time to dig into Celtic lore. It won't be here forever. Save the King James Bible, nothing ever is.
The Astrology Center of America
207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272
| Tarot Home | Tarot Decks | Tarot Books | Astrology Home | E-Mail: |
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