Tarot of the Sephiroth

Rating:
Summary: Great meditative tool
Review: Because the minor arcana are not very rich in symbolism, I am not sure how affective a divinatory tool this would be. However, as someone studying the Qabalah, the major arcana cards are excellent meditative tools for pathworking. Great deck.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Deck for Ceremonial Magicians and others
Review: I am a bit of a traditionalist, very picky about my tarot decks, and do not like all the silly "novelty" decks that seem to come out every year.
My favourite decks are the Rider-Waite deck for sheer clarity, tradition, and class; but as a student of Ceremonial Magick, the Thoth Deck is my favorite for its art as well as for knowledgable Kabbalistic symbolism.
Too often, though, I find the energies of the Thoth deck are not conducive to effective meditation and pathworking for me. It can simply be too much for me.
I have been researching decks for years, and listed this one as a contender a few years back. Well, I finally bought the deck, half afraid that I'd be disappointed. Lo and behold - I wasn't disappointed.
The Tarot of the Sephiroth strikes me as a very workable and serious deck somewhere between the Rider-Waite and Thoth decks. Clear illustrations that are still dynamic and energetic though without being overpowering. The art isn't the best I've ever seen, but it is far from the worst and definitely better than most. The deck isn't froo-froo and could teach the practising Kabbalist alot about the relationship between the Tarot and the Tree.

Rating:
Summary: Tarot of the Sephiroth
Review: This is a wonderful deck. I've had it only 3 or 4 days, but I can already tell this is a new favorite. The pictures are very detailed and informative. They are also very well done, and the colors are bright and vivid.

If you are looking for a new deck to add to your collection, or if you are new to the Tarot, this is an excellent deck. Great images -- informed correspondences. Again, well done!!!

Rating:
Summary: beautiful deck
Review: This is my first tarot deck; I chose it in part for the strikingly beautiful artwork and in part because I am somewhat familiar with Kabalah (or Qabalah, as most new age/Pagan sources seem to spell it). Disks replaces Pentacles, Princess replacing Page, and Prince replacing Knight.

The Major Arcana are richly detailed, retaining much of the original symbolism of the Rider-Waite decks. Also, each Major Arcana card is drawn taking place over the appropriate path between Sephiroth, along with the appropriate Hebrew letter and astrological sign. The included book indicates that all 78 cards can be arranged in a Tree of Life, but I didn't get the feeling that would work or be very attractive to the eye if it were done as I've messed around with the deck.

Details on the Minor Arcana are somewhat sparse; usually a simple figure constructed with the number of the suit symbol, and the appropriate astrological sign somewhere. The circular border color is appropriate to the Sephiroth within Briah (as should be expected). Almost all of the Rider-Waite details are abandoned in the Minor Arcana, which will either suit you or not depending on whether you choose the Qabalistic interpretations or the traditional Tarotic interpretations.

The court cards can be arranged in such a way as to construct the lower four sephiroth, all the Princesses combining for Malkuth, for example. Otherwise, some people may be offended by the propensity of the artist to display breasts hanging out of clothes wherever possible (mainly Princesses and Major Arcana, the Queens given a sort of additional respect in additional clothing). At first I found it somewhat awkward, but it was easy to get used to.

I am finding that although it is a beautiful deck to work with and the cards are well-constructed and rich in their own sort of symbolism, it is rather difficult to learn from them. I'll be purchasing the Light and Contrast deck soon, which seems to deviate less from the accepted standard of interpretation (Rider-Waite symbolism). I think that most people these days have a strong reaction against the Rider-Waite deck as ugly and encouraging a strong negative reaction in people, but the symbolism does seem to be valid and standardized for the most part.