Javier Navarro‘s Tarot de El Dios de los Tres (Tarot of the God of Three) first got here out in 2021 and I’ve had my eye on it since. The illustration work and Navarro’s artwork fashion is amongst my prime favorites on the planet of tarot–vibrant, dynamic, and compelling.
Navarro is an Andalusian born artist and illustrator who blends sacred imagery from world religions and pop iconography to design a universe that’s energetic, joyful, and liberating.
This isn’t a deck evaluate, only a walk-through, as I’ve not completed readings with these playing cards. For me personally, it is a collector’s deck. It’s a deck I’ve acquired for the paintings, to get to carry a gallery of gorgeous illustrations in my arms.
The deck artwork is a fusion of Greco-Roman Hellenistic iconography, Japanese woodblock printing inspirations, rendered in an modern fashion that’s distinct and fascinating. Oh, and oops forgot the nudity warning. There’s nudity and/or suggestive depictions, although I discovered it fairly tastefully completed.
Tarot de El Dios de los Tres is marketed as an RWS-based deck, although the compositions within the Minor Arcana fits appear extra decorative and ornamental than pushed by RWS symbolism. That truly works out within the deck’s favor, although. I actually love each certainly one of Navarro’s illustrations right here and wouldn’t have needed to see it pressured into an RWS template.
Whereas making my means by way of every murals, I heard music within the fashion of Igor Stravinsky taking part in in my internal ear. And on that be aware, there’s one thing to this deck taken as an entire that’s vibrating someplace between a frequency of 554.37 and 659.25 Hz. That’s C sharp 5 (C#5) and E (E5) on the keyboard.
Like Stravinsky, there’s a folks fashion that’s a pop artwork play on the neoclassical interval, with an upbeat rhythm a la Ceremony of Spring. It’s complicated. It makes use of a number of compositional types. It’s fascinating on each depend.
I completely love, love the weather of Sanātana Dharma (Hindu) and Shinto traditions. I’m not all the time a fan of animal heads on human our bodies in modern illustrations however I’m unequivocally and wholeheartedly a fan of it right here!
The yaoguai 妖怪 rather than the demon determine within the Wheel of Fortune card plus the unicorn rather than… perhaps the sphinx? Plus the pink Anubis-like determine altogether performs off the classical Wheel of Fortune symbolism. To not point out the hermit crab cameo on The Hermit card.
I believe that’s Thoth on the Knave of Pentacles, uncertain about the principle determine within the Queen of Pentacles although the companion figures look like Bast, and the King of Pentacles jogs my memory of the Masks of Tutankhamun.
Right here’s a close-up of the Knave of Pentacles and take a look at that moth on the Ten of Pentacles. The ability with which these illustrations are rendered is phenomenal.
You’ll be able to’t deny that Navarro is a badass illustrator. Each certainly one of these playing cards is a starburst of iconography that we really feel intuitively related to by way of that collective unconscious, transcending tradition.
You do see color-coding within the Minor fits, i.e., a bubblegum pink background for the Pentacles, blue for Cups, purple for Swords, and crimson for Wands.
Loving the legendary connection between water (go well with of Cups) and Pegasus right here within the Knight of Cups. Earlier the Knight of Wands confirmed a horse’s skeleton, the horse in flames; the Knight of Pentacles was a unicorn in excessive gallop; and the Knight of Swords featured a really good-looking, elegant bluish horse.
That kitsune-masked maybe-Vishnu maybe-Kali on a blue lotus carrying a Thai makuta headdress guarded by twin panthers with Star card vibes for the Queen of Swords is the whole lot!
I had actually hoped the little white e book that got here with the deck would have some deck-specific perception into Navarro’s work or the artist himself, however sadly it’s a generic LWB with canned card meanings, nothing in any respect associated to the cardboard illustrations themselves. It even unironically contains pithy directions to the Celtic Cross unfold.
Humorous new add to the usual LWB I haven’t seen earlier than: “It’s advisable to work with two Tarot decks: one for meditation functions, which must be used solely by its proprietor to keep away from extraneous vibrations, and the opposite for fortune telling.” Oh what enjoyable recommendation! =)
In case I didn’t point out it earlier, there are additionally sturdy influences from South American myths and traditions, similar to Aztec animal symbolism.
The above photograph additionally exhibits the cardboard again design, which is non-reversible. That power-invoking tiger head provides off the impression of a carnival deck. You stroll previous a carousel, music and lights casting an environment of enjoyable, the odor of deep-fried honest meals within the air, and also you enter a multi-colored tent to be greeted by a fortune-teller who followers out this deck throughout a studying desk.
The Tarot de El Dios de los Tres is a thrill of a deck. It’s multicultural. It’s a symphony for the senses, complicated with a simple command of precision. And the paintings on each card is solely extraordinary.
When it comes to manufacturing worth, it is available in a tuck field with cardstock that was pretty customary within the 90s and early 2000s, however is on the skinny facet by at the moment’s manufacturing requirements. I want the writer had invested extra advertising and marketing and PR assets into Navarro’s deck to amp up the hype. I didn’t see it featured a lot throughout tarot social media and that’s a disgrace, as a result of with a bit extra publicity, this might have been a massively common deck.
FTC Disclosure: In accordance with Title 16 of the U.S. Code of Federal Laws Half 255, “Guides Regarding Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Promoting,” I obtained the deck from the writer for potential evaluate. Every part I’ve mentioned right here is honest and precisely displays my opinion of the deck.
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