Deck Review: Tarot de los Magos

Corrine Kenner (author) and John J. Blumen (illustrator), translated from English by Antonio Gomez, Tarot de los Magos. Málaga, España: Editorial Sirio, 2011. (Link to Editorial Sirio, the Spanish publisher). ISBN: 9788478088676.

 

Genre: Tarot, cartomancy

Subgenre: magic, wizards, fantasy

Format: Kit set with trade paperback book and 78-card deck

Source: I own this one. 

 

La Justicia-XI (Justice-XI)

This deck kit is a Spanish edition of Wizards Tarot by Corrine Kenner and illustrated by John J. Blumen. That deck was published by Llewellyn originally, but they then let it go out of print. By serendipity I found the Spanish edition was still available at retail price. Given I can read Spanish just fine I went ahead and got it. I first used this deck in February 2022.

 

The kit comes in a basic cardboard box with the full book and the deck; the deck is packed in its own tuck box inside the larger box with the book. The book is arranged as follows: 

 

•  Introduction. This section introduces Academia  Mandrágora (Mandrake Academy), an old magic and occult school. It also mentions faculty, students, and staff, and a bit on coursework and academic calendar. This is the basic concept of the deck. 
• Major Arcana. Each entry has a black and white photo of a card, card description, list and explanation of key symbols, practical magic (a small spell or ritual you can do), and a card spread for the Arcana. Some card entries have additional material such as a chart, list, etc. 
• Minor Arcana. Each card entry has magical power (a short description), black and white photo of the card, magic amulet (the card's focus), and key symbols. 
• Royal Families. These are the court cards. Entries include black and white card photo and a text description with discussion of meaning and symbols. 
• Bibliography.
• A short note about the author and the illustrator. 

 

Dos de Copas (Two of Cups)

The book develops the theme and concept well. The author creates a very detailed setting; the world building is well done and interesting. It's a concept readers want to explore. I certainly was drawn to it. The book contains a lot of good information, especially in the Major Arcana cards where you get a good amount of extras for study and exploration. As I read the book, I found you get a lot of value. It is informative, well written, and accessible. It is keyed to the deck, but it still has plenty of material you can apply to other decks and Tarot in general. If you are reading it in Spanish, the translation by Antonio Gomez is faithful to the original and captures the essence of it well. They did a good job with the translation. 

 

The deck includes 78 cards. There are some small name changes in the Major Arcana. For example La Iniciada-0 (The Initiate-0) is The Fool-0, and La Transfiguración-XIII (Transfiguration-XIII) is Death-XIII. Still, the changes are not confusing and do reflect the cards' meaning and concept. The Minor Arcana and court cards maintain their traditional names. Card images fall within Rider Waite Smite (RWS) system, so if you read RWS the deck can be for you. The imagery is details and colorful with plenty of symbols which offers material for the intuitive reader too. 

 

The artist captures the magic school setting very well. Figures are expressive, and the art is detailed. The colors are lively. The Minor Arcana is organized by four schools and their elemental guardians: wands (salamanders, fire), cups (nymphs, water), swords (sylphs, air), and pentacles (gnomes, earth). The Minor Arcana images do fall within RWS as well. 

 

The cards measure about 4 3/4 inches by 2 1/2 inches. The cardstock is on the thin side, and it feels flexible. It's easy to shuffle for folks who do riffle shuffling. The cards have borders; the borders are the same pattern as the card back. I am sure the borderless obsessives may want to trim the deck. Personally I think the border gives the art a bit of quality like an illuminated manuscript. That can go rather well with the school element. 

 

Reina de Bastos (Queen of Wands)

To be honest, I think this deck does a better job with the magic school concept than the more recent Wizards Tarot by Moore and Janssens (link to my review).  That deck is fine, and I am happy to have it and use it. However, this deck develops the concept of Mandrake Academy well. The deck and book here make Mandrake Academy an immersive experience. You feel that the characters are people you can get to know, and the teachers are ones you can learn from. The world building is detailed, well thought, and planned. 

This is a deck I am glad to have in my collection. It's an easy to use deck, and you get plenty of material for further study. Overall, this is a good set, and if you can find it (at a reasonable price), I do recommend it.  

 

 

 

 

 

5 out of 5 stars. 

The kit qualifies for the following 2022 Reading Challenge: 

 

 Note: card photos are mine from my copy of the deck.