Kabbalistic Visions: The Marini-Scapini Tarot

Absolutely beautiful art work with the Hebrew letters. The book is quite explanatory concerning the tree of life and the various paths that connect with each card.

The art is beautiful, the cards are hard to read. Too much emphasis on Hebrew letters (except if you are interested in learning about them).

This is certainly an intriguing, visually compelling deck and book by a talented team of author and artist. Author Marco Marini brings an emphasis on the symbolism of the Kabbalah, which illustrator Luigi Scapini faithfully translates into intriguing scenes, arresting color combinations and all whipped up with a toss of vibrant Hebrew letters thrown into each of the 78 cards.The text is solid and complete at 255 pages, decent font size for readability, devoting nearly 60 pages to some discussion of tarot history and a helpful outlining of the basic Kabbalah Tree of Life organization. In the book, each card graphic is reproduced in black and white with three pages for explanation, discussion and interpretations. The artistic renderings of each card is refreshing; as 1) there is not a slavish reproduction of, for example, the literal number of suit objects in a card representing that particular number, and 2) the artistic interpretations are unique, yet given the background interpretation, make sensible connection to the inherent meaning of the card.Some examples…The Eight of Swords could show a bound figure surrounded by 8 swords, but in this deck it shows a watchmaker (Saturn, or Father Time), bent over a table filled with watches and gears. The author connects this to Sphere 8 on the Tree of Life, or “Hod”, which is the realm of mind. And perhaps the standard meaning of worry or anxiety for the 8 of swords is similar in this deck, noting the obsessing of the little view, or taking mental faculties to a dysfunctional extreme.And for an example from the major arcana—while the Fool here shows a traditional figure of a jester—we can look at The Empress, which does not show a solitary and seated female figure but rather a number of artistic metaphors for creation, such as a pearl, two fish, an eagle, and other symbols of image and Kabbalistic symbol to point to creating in nature—not only in this earthly realm but throughout the universe.So if the reader has already achieved a solid understanding of tarot, and better yet, a further comprehension of the Kabbalah and hopefully the Hebrew alphabet, then Kabbalistic Visions will provide a fun and challenging interplay of art and divination in which to explore. I am but a neophyte in understanding the Kabbalah. I printed a large page of the Hebrew letters to better identify those symbols as they appear on the various cards. And as many card images are creatively at variance from the Rider Waite, it will take me some time to explore the visual and spiritual metaphors in Kabbalistic Visions.All is well presented, in this boxed set with text, large cards and even a small poster of the Tree of Life. It does take some examination with a magnifying glass to better determine some visual elements or Hebrew letters in the graphics of the cards. Which led me to an interesting experience; many of the cards, when viewed through a magnifying lens, have visual elements that appear to be higher up. It is similar to having 3-D glasses or the depth affect in the Magic Eye posters from the 1990s.I should mention that the text is clearly not written by a native English speaker, so when reading philosophical discussion of arcane matters, the effect could be a little distracting. The card backs have a colorful montage of the seven palaces of the heavenly sphere. The knaves are represented as Princesses and no meanings are offered for reversals. Four spreads are suggested, with interpretive keys, in the back of the text. If you don’t mind a bit of a learning curve for the Kabbalah tie in, and if you have an open mind for creative artistic representation of the major and minor arcanas, then Kabbalistic Visions Tarot might just provide an exciting new tool for readings to better understand yourself or to serve others.

Merging traditional tarot symbolism with the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah, this deck provides images and insight which open spiritual pathways in the human subconscious and provide an intellectual framework for analyzing them. Thus is the work of the Kabbalist. Thus is the wisdom of the tarot.This 78-card deck bears captivating images which incorporate a broad range of esoteric symbolism in deceptively whimsical illustrations. The 256-page companion book contains in-depth overviews of tarot cards, the Hebrew alphabet, and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life glyph.Detailed interpretations of each card give novices a head start. The dynamic and emotive images make it a perfect deck for practicing advanced intuitive skills or for meditation.(TarotWise.com received a free copy of this deck.)

Grosse déception, j'ai reçu le jeu neuf, emballé et pourtant plein de cartes étaient abimées, gondolent, des erreurs d'imprimerie? on en sait pas trop mais au vu du prix, je suis pas satisfaite. Fort dommage car les images sont superbes et inspirantes