Tarot Botticelli

Mind, Body & Soul Ezine Card Deck Review: The Golden Botticelli Tarot is published by Lo Scarabeo with images by the Italian Early Renaissance Florentine painter, Alessandro Filipepi known as Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) with tarot artwork by A A Atanassov.

It is a most fabulous deck with 78 gold embossed and decorated card images that will delight all who see them. Included in the pack is a little white booklet in English and other European languages. There is a 7 card suggested spread titled The Star of Solomon with a sample reading. The lwb contains a few words on both upright and reversed meanings. The backs do not reveal whether the cards fall upright or reversed.

This is an opulent and glamorous tarot deck, one of Lo Scarabeo's specialities. When handling these cards, I feel a sense of reverence they carry power within their production. If this is your only deck, you will need no others! 

I call this card 'no reins'! It would be rather unstable if the horses were moving, but here, they are stationary, so the charioteer is using the height to gain advantage of being able to see the theatre of war. Though he is protected from harm, he can also not use his sword. The leather armoured and helmetted (visor up to show his bearded face) charioteer holds aloft his sword. His red cloak streams behind him in the wind.  Two white Arabian horses, decorated with green halters are standing ready to pull his chariot ahead at his command. This is a card that speaks of taking action and moving forwards with full control and mastery. The standing position is usually within the chariot, but here he is standing at the height of the horses' heads. Sometimes, the chariot was used for hunting, but here, it is quite clearly, being used to threaten, and to attack during war. Review by Wendy Stokes https://wendystokes.co.uk