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Keymaster Tarot: 78 Karten mit Anleitung
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 16, 2025
3 stars
short review for busy readers:
Marseille tarot. Excellent psychological concept and booklet/meanings for deck. Interesting eclectic art style. Unfortunately low on diversity. Problematic manufacture with the actual cards. German deck, but with a British and French edition available. In summary: a mixed bag. Leans positive, but with a few irritating drawbacks.
in detail:
The Keymaster Tarot, a collaborative work from a German Tarot specialist and an Italian artist, does a lot right in the actual tarot department, especially in the concept, but a lot wrong on the actual manufacturing end. This is perhaps the fault of the card company or the original Swedish manufacturers, and not the creators.
Like any Marseille deck, only the Major Arcana and court cards have images. The pip cards of the Minor Arcana are styled like normal playing cards with a handsome, semi-medieval look to them.
With the Major Arcana, the booklet does not give simple, pre-fab meanings as one might expect, but poses "key questions" to the reader to assist them thinking through the question as it applies to their situation. This psychological approach will work well for readers asking pondering or spiritual questions, but will be rather ill-suited for anything mundane or practical.
Below is a list of pros and cons of the deck and booklet:
Cards
+ fantastic backs on the cards and a very neat, darkly medieval looking box with a sturdy magnet clasp.
+ the images on the cards mix ancient world motifs with art deco shapes and bold, primary colour backgrounds. Metallic golden geometric lines laid over the images give the deck an esoteric alchemist feel. Highly eclectic and interesting!
+ the cards are on the slender side, so good for small hands
- little diversity. While some of the images *might* be meant to depict Arabic or SE Asian individuals, the skin tone is a uniform yellowish ivory. No Africans, Indians nor indigenous individuals are depicted, which is odd for such a new deck (2021).
- the cards are incredibly slick. The entire deck can easily go flying right off the table, especially if you do a "drop" style reading. Best for readers who fan the cards out and select. No difficulties shuffling.
- the card stock is paper thin and can be easily bent or dog eared by accident.
- a sharp, ammonia-like stink from whatever super slick material the cards are coated with. Needs to aired out when new (although might not help much). Manufacturing problem.
Booklet
+ some excellent "short and snappy" insights into the Major Arcana which feel very correct. Such as The Star = Being and Becoming. The Tower = shock therapy. The Hermit = The Journey is the Goal.
+ the practical pip cards are well described without gloom and doom or judgemental phrasing.
+ easily understandable and varied meanings for the court cards. No boring personality characteristic meanings.
+ a hand full of simple spreads are listed in the back
- no reversed meanings given
short review for busy readers:
Marseille tarot. Excellent psychological concept and booklet/meanings for deck. Interesting eclectic art style. Unfortunately low on diversity. Problematic manufacture with the actual cards. German deck, but with a British and French edition available. In summary: a mixed bag. Leans positive, but with a few irritating drawbacks.
in detail:
The Keymaster Tarot, a collaborative work from a German Tarot specialist and an Italian artist, does a lot right in the actual tarot department, especially in the concept, but a lot wrong on the actual manufacturing end. This is perhaps the fault of the card company or the original Swedish manufacturers, and not the creators.
Like any Marseille deck, only the Major Arcana and court cards have images. The pip cards of the Minor Arcana are styled like normal playing cards with a handsome, semi-medieval look to them.
With the Major Arcana, the booklet does not give simple, pre-fab meanings as one might expect, but poses "key questions" to the reader to assist them thinking through the question as it applies to their situation. This psychological approach will work well for readers asking pondering or spiritual questions, but will be rather ill-suited for anything mundane or practical.
Below is a list of pros and cons of the deck and booklet:
Cards
+ fantastic backs on the cards and a very neat, darkly medieval looking box with a sturdy magnet clasp.
+ the images on the cards mix ancient world motifs with art deco shapes and bold, primary colour backgrounds. Metallic golden geometric lines laid over the images give the deck an esoteric alchemist feel. Highly eclectic and interesting!
+ the cards are on the slender side, so good for small hands
- little diversity. While some of the images *might* be meant to depict Arabic or SE Asian individuals, the skin tone is a uniform yellowish ivory. No Africans, Indians nor indigenous individuals are depicted, which is odd for such a new deck (2021).
- the cards are incredibly slick. The entire deck can easily go flying right off the table, especially if you do a "drop" style reading. Best for readers who fan the cards out and select. No difficulties shuffling.
- the card stock is paper thin and can be easily bent or dog eared by accident.
- a sharp, ammonia-like stink from whatever super slick material the cards are coated with. Needs to aired out when new (although might not help much). Manufacturing problem.
Booklet
+ some excellent "short and snappy" insights into the Major Arcana which feel very correct. Such as The Star = Being and Becoming. The Tower = shock therapy. The Hermit = The Journey is the Goal.
+ the practical pip cards are well described without gloom and doom or judgemental phrasing.
+ easily understandable and varied meanings for the court cards. No boring personality characteristic meanings.
+ a hand full of simple spreads are listed in the back
- no reversed meanings given
Displaying 1 of 1 review