Master Tarot Deck

by
~*~Velvet Angel ~*~

Master Tarot

~*~ This deck is suitable for any question you wish to ask of the Tarot -- the recommended questions for Master Tarot include advice questions as well as questions to gain a better understanding or insight of a particular situation or circumstance. Spiritual questions, of course, are also very welcomed by this deck . . . but you can also receive helpful responses to the mundane questions of life as well.

Designed by Mario Montano, Artwork by Amerigo Folchi

This is a deck with a Christian focus. The Master Tarot is based on the life and works of Jesus. However, the artist Mario Montano also emphasis that "This Jesus . . . is not the Jesus of any church, of any sect or religion . . . is is the Jesus felt inside a single heart . . . " Thus it seems that this deck was not created for any one particular faith or religion, but was designed to be adaptable to one's own personal beliefs.

With that said, it has been noted that non-Christians have perhaps enjoyed the use of this deck more so than Christian users. One might wonder why that would be the case, but the cards are designed in a 3-part format for ease of use, and the cards offer gentle suggestions -- rather than preaching to or condemning anyone. This may be why non-Christians can get just as much, if not more, from the cards than a Christian reader might. I am personally a Christian reader, and I see many scenes in the cards that fit the life of Jesus -- the Jesus that I know in the faith of Christ our Lord and Savior. I was drawn to these cards when I first saw them . . . they were advertised as "Passion of the Christ - Master Tarot" which of course intrigued me. It should be noted that "Passion of the Christ" is not a part of the name of this deck, but the seller from whom I purchased the cards obviously felt a connection with the cards and the movie that is entitled "Passion of the Christ."

The Master Tarot deck is not organized in the same way as most Tarot decks. The cards are divided into three sections: the Majors, the Minors, and the People cards.

The Major Cards are universal archetypes of human experience, based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. These cards have Roman numerals at the top.
The Minor Cards are based on 40 short sayings of Jesus. They offer specific insight, give advice, suggest attitudes, offer potential solutions, and provide answers. Each of these cards has an Arabic numeral at the top.
The People Cards portray sixteen men and women who represent the people in the life of Jesus, as well as revealing different parts of the Questioner. These cards have no numbers noted on them.

The art is pleasing and well done -- it seems just right for this kind of deck, with some card scenes being brighter than others depending on the particular theme. This is definitely a non-traditional Tarot deck . . . in fact, some hesitate to call this work a Tarot deck at all as it reads very differently than a more traditional deck of cards -- and the theme is what one might not expect to find in the world of Tarot. Yet I find that I like the deviation from tradition, because here you can't just lay out cards and judge them according to reading in a comparative manner to what we know as tradition in Tarot. You get a completely fresh perspective to judge the cards and the deck on it's own merit -- as it really should be.

I recommend this deck to either Christians or non-Christians, and for anyone who is looking for spiritual contemplation. You can certainly find some interesting and fitting insights for your well-thought out questions. I have also used this deck for the more mundane and everyday questions of life -- such as family, relationships, and money concerns, and I found a different -- but insightful -- spin on the responses I received. So I do find this deck very useful, especially for questions that are not asking for a specific outcome or what might come to be . . . but questions that ask for advice and a better understanding of a situation.

Because this deck strays significantly from traditional Tarot -- and especially because of the way in which it differs -- I could recommend this deck to anyone. However, a beginner to Tarot will likely want to work with traditional Tarot first and foremost in order to understand the concepts based on tradition. Expanding on that knowledge through new insights with a different kind of deck is a bonus.

To my knowledge, there is not a book to accompany this deck, at the time of this review, for the Master Tarot other than the LWB. But the Little White Book is indeed packed with information that will allow you to effectively use this deck of cards.

Number of Cards in Deck: 78 (22 Majors / 40 Minors / 16 People)

Size of Cards: 2-3/4" x 4-3/4"

Included with deck: Instruction booklet, 104 pages. (This is "big" little white book).

Majors:
Comet, Son of Man, Angel, Mother, Father, Temple, Prophet, Magdalen,
Temptation, Disciples, Miracle, Forgiving, Whip, Supper, Love One Another,
Kiss, Scream, Here and Now, Celebration, Spirit, Apocalypse, Galaxy

Suit Names: No separate suits.

Court Cards: 16 people cards
High Priest, Seer, Man of Power, Wife, Moralist, Housekeeper,
Chief Disciple, Lady of Alms, Beloved, Devotee, Twice Born,
Lady of Ointment, Barabbas, Lady of Sin, Neighbor, Lady of the Well

Back Design of Cards:

MASTER TAROT
This Deck is Available from Amazon.com: