The H. P. Lovecraft Tarot

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic art and new look at archtypes.
Review: I found reading with this deck to be quite enlightening on a different level than expected. I expected the artwork to be fantastic, and it is. I expected it to complement and enhance my enjoyment of H.P. Lovecraft's Mythos, and it does. The pleasant surprise is that buried within the orignal, almost completely non-derivative genius of Lovecraft's world are the tarot archtypes. Cudo's to Eric C. Friedman whose accompanying book really brings this to light. Not only are the archtypes there, but they exist stripped of their usual cultural and period trappings. For me, it was as though I'd really seen them for themselves for the first time (and I've been doing readings for five years). Mr. Friedman's text flows from discussing the mystery of the collective concious (Major 9: The Great Race of Yith) to Sacred Marriage on the molecular level (Major 6: Lavinia) and greatly broadened my view of ways in which the archtypes could be applied. I also found the minors to be interesting and have had no trouble understanding their meaning in readings, even though they digress considerably from the traditional interpretations. They are numbered 1-14 with no court cards, the energies of the court cards being more than adaquately represented by the suit of Man.
In his forward, Mr. Friedman states that he trusts the cards will operate as a functional tarot. I think he is being overly modest and has added an important and welcome dimension to tarot study.

Rating:
Summary: Wowzers.
Review: I just got these in the mail today and I'm amazed at how well the cards capture the tone of Lovecraft's work. The box holding the cards has a picture of Lovecraft's face staring right at you, emotionlessly (as we'd expect from the genius himself) with Cthulhu's tentacles coming from below. But there really isn't much to say, as there's not much you can say about Tarot cards. Yes, these are pretty spendy, but they're getting harder and harder to find. The art on each card is done in a very creepy, old looking way- only done in light/dark browns and white. Anyone who's read a story by Lovecraft is sure to recognize something in these. There's also of course, a booklet explaining each card and how they're used/read, and it includes quotes from the stories that the cards are based upon.

This would make a perfect gift for any fan of the man's work, or anyone deeply into horror and insanity. Get these with a book like 'The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories' as a holiday gift for someone special (or yourself).