Deck Review: Tarot de la Santa Muerte

Tristan (deck designer) and Roberto Castro (artist), Tarot de la Santa Muerte. Mexico, D.F.: Berbera Editores, 2014. (Link to publisher).

 

Genre: Tarot deck

Subgenre: Santa Muerte, Mexican, Latin American, Spanish language

Format: 80-card deck with small guidebook

Source: I own this one

 

La Justicia-8 (Justice-VIII)

This is a Mexican Tarot deck from Berbera Editores. You get an 80-card deck and the small guidebook. The deck features two additional variants of El Mundo-XXI (The World-XXI) card, which are El Otro Mundo-XXI (The Other World) and Más Alla-XXI (Great Beyond) You can leave them in the deck for use or remove them. I left them in the deck when I was using the deck. I first used this deck in November 2022. The book and deck are in Spanish. The book and deck come in a tuck box, but it is a very nicely decorated tuck box.

The small guidebook is simple, but it is very informative. It is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction. Publisher statement on how the deck was created to meet the desire of Santa Muerte devotees for a Tarot deck inspired by her. They also state the deck strives to adapt or reflect the Mexican people's reality and Latin American reality in broader terms. 
• La Santa Muerte. A short overview of who is Santa Muerte and a historical overview.
• El Tarot. A brief historical overview of Tarot history, structure, and ways to interpret the cards. 
• Tarot de la Santa Muerte. A short description of the deck, how it is numbered, and its images. 
• Card Meanings. This includes Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards. Every card entry includes series of key phrases and words for upright and reversed meanings. 
• How to read the cards. Short and concise instructions for reading the cards. 
• The guide ends with a prayer to Santa Muerte. 

The small book is only 64 pages long, but it is informative. If you can read Spanish, I would encourage folks to read it. The author makes a good effort to present the deck in the context of Mexican culture and the cult of Santa Muerte. Sure, you could read the deck without the book, but I would urge folks to read it if they can. I do wish some of the meanings were expanded to better explore some of the imagery. However, the books covers the basics. It does the job. 

Cinco de Bastos (Five of Wands).

As I mentioned, the deck has 80 cards. It has the standard 78 cards plus two additional World cards that add a bit more spiritual element. Not in this deck Justice is VIII and Strength is XI. The only card with a name change in the Major Arcana is El Altar-VII (The Chariot-VII; it is still a mobile/moveable altar in the image). 

The Minor Arcana suits are standard: bastos (wands), oros (coins/pentacles), espadas (swords), and copas (cups). In the Minor Arcana, the cards Ace to Ten feature a couple of keywords in Spanish. The cards are identified by Arabic numeral and suit symbol. The court cards feature suit symbol and card name. 

The Major Arcana cards are identified by Arabic number, card name, and astrological symbol. Unfortunately, the guidebook does not speak on those astrological symbols in the cards; reader would need to research that topic on their own. 

The art is colorful and lively. This may be Santa Muerte's deck, but I would not see it as a dark deck. Santa Muerte is prominent in many of the cards but not all. Some of the scenes in the cards are slices of daily life. The colors are bright. Images are expressive, pretty clear, so intuitive readers get enough to read the cards. Some images lean to Rider Waite Smith (RWS), but this is not really an RWS clone. 

I found the deck easy to use and read. The images evoke daily life, which makes this deck a good choice for daily use year round. Latino devotees may appreciate the imagery reflective of their culture and reality. However, anyone with a sincere heart can read these cards. 

The cards have a glossy coating. The cards can feel flexible; they feel like some plastic playing cards. They can stick a bit when shuffled. The cards have borders. Major Arcana cards have a black border. Minor Arcana cards have a color border for each suit. With care, the cards can last. 

I really enjoyed using this deck, and it is one I would recommend if you can get it. I liked the colorful and appealing images. I liked how easy it reads. I liked that it is versatile; you can do light work, shadow work, and other works with it. This is one I am happy to have in my collection, and I think one devotees may appreciate. This is a deck that strives to be respectful of Santa Muerte, and it does it well. 

4 out of 5 stars.