Mind Body & Soul Ezine Card Deck Review: The Byzantine Tarot by John Matthews with artwork by Cilla Conway. Boxed set of 78 cards (3” x 5”) plus guidebook. Published by REDFeather. £33.99
"Wisdom from an ancient empire!"
"O Imperial City, City fortified, City of the great King... Queen of the queen of cities, Song of Songs, Splendour of Splendours." Niketas Choniates, 13th Century.
The founding of Byzantium was 657BC and this deck has an extraordinary ability to give us a 'spirit of place' and transport us in a reading. The instruction book provides the history and myths of Byzantium through new titles of Major Arcana cards, such as Holy Fool, Magus, Sophia, Patriarch, Diabolos and Kosmos. For each Major card, the book provides an explanation of the symbolism in 50 words, the 'Tradition' text is 300 words and a divinatory text of 200 words. For the Monors and Court Cards, the information is the same - symbolism, 'tradition' and in a reading, but will less text, approx, 30, 100 and 100 words respectively. For every card there are 5 keywords for upright readings, and 5 keywords for reversed readings.
