Deck Review: Dark Fairytale Tarot

Raffaele De Angelis, Dark Fairytale Tarot. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2021. ISBN: 978-07387-3501-6. (link to Llewellyn, the U.S. distributor).

 

Genre: Tarot decks

Subgenre: faery, dark theme decks

Format: 78-card deck with little white book

Source: I own this one

 

Two of Swords

This is the Tarot deck I used for the first time during October 2021. The deck comes with a little white book written in five languages-- English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German-- which is standard for Lo Scarabeo decks. 

This deck has a dark faery theme. These are not the happy sanitized fairies tales we may get today. From the little white book: 

"In their original versions, fairy tales were filled with darkness and despair, and every joy was weighed against an equal and opposite horror" (3). 

The little white book has about 11 pages of content. You get a small text describing the land of Faery, the basis of the deck. You get a 6-card spread, "The Road to Faery." In addition you get short meanings for the cards, about one to three sentences at most. The Major Arcana cards get a keyword, then the meaning. Minor Arcana cards just get a short meaning. Meanings are based on the Faery theme. While you can use the deck without the little white book, I'd still read it just to see how the interpretations relate to the deck's dark theme. 

Wheel of Fortune-X

The cards have a beautifully dark art that takes the reader into Faery land. Art is expressive and dark. It makes good use of shadows, but also makes good use of colors, which often serve to enhance certain details in the cards. Card depictions can be very moving at times, very good for reflection and meditation. I do enjoy looking at the images and reflecting. The decks has hints and elements of Rider Waite Smith (RWS) system, but this is not a "clone" deck. It has just a bit for RWS readers to recognize, but it also has its own imagery. I'd say it offers enough for intuitive readers, and it can be a good deck for shadow work. It is a deck I enjoy using during the dark time of the year. Sure you can use it any time of the year, but for me this is a deck for fall and maybe winter seasons. 

Cards measure about 4 3/4 inches by 2 1/2 inches. The Major Arcana cards are simply identified by Roman numerals. In this deck Justice is VIII and Strength is XI. The cards have a black edge with a nice color edge line art. The color edges are coded. Major Arcana cards have the light gold color. Minor Arcana color edges are: 

• Pentacles: light orange.
• Cups: red.
• Wands: dark gold/green.
• Swords: blue.

Card back art is reversible. Minor Arcana cards are identified by Arabic numerals and suit symbol. Court cards are identified by court symbol and suit symbol. 

Overall, this is a very nice deck with dark and evocative art. I enjoyed exploring it and using it, and it is a deck I will continue to use. For folks who like and use dark decks this is a good choice. I'd say this is not a deck for beginners. It is one I really like and recommend.

 5 out of 5 stars.  

Note: Photos are mine from my personal copy of the deck.