Mysterious pyramids, ancient gods, amazing traditions, unique mummification technology, unusual recipes for preserving beauty – all this comes to mind when talking about Ancient Egypt. Today we will look at a deck that plunges us into the distant past and reveals the mysterious secrets of the ancients – this is the Egyptian Tarot.
History of the Egypt Tarot deck
In general, Egyptian Tarot cards are called a whole group of decks. This also includes the Tarot of the Sphinx, the Tarot of Nefertari, the Ancient Egyptian Tarot and many other excellent examples of cards built on the mythology of an ancient civilization.
But today there is only one deck on the agenda – the Egyptian Tarot of Sylvanas Alasia. For the first time these cards were published in 1996, the reissue took place in 2000, 2003, 2006,2010, 2015. Numerous reissues of the deck clearly speak of its popularity. And this is not surprising, because Ancient Egypt attracts a lot of people, but the dialogue with these cards may not take place without sufficient knowledge of ancient Egyptian history and mythology.
Key features of the Egypt Tarot deck
In the Arcana of this amazing deck, you can find echoes of a variety of systems: Marseille (the Minor Arcana), and Waite (the Major Arcana) and a purely Egyptian tradition (the book of Thoth) can be traced here.
The elements and suits of the Egyptian Tarot are traditional: Wands, Swords, Pentacles, Cups. The Minor Arcana are not plot based. There are no special key differences, except, of course, the main theme, from other decks.
Symbolism of the deck
The meaning of each card of the Egyptian Tarot is closely related to the mythology of the ancient civilization, so you are unlikely to be able to read the Arcana intuitively, especially given the lack of plots on the Minor Arcana.
With the Major Arcana, things are a little simpler: in the end, the Magician always remains the Magician, whether it be the wizard Merlin, the ancient Greek Hermes, or, as in our case, the Egyptian sorcerer. But still, to understand the nuances of many images, you must be familiar with the culture and traditions of this country.
The cards themselves, by the way, are very reminiscent of images on papyrus. It seems that the deck really fell into our hands, having made a long journey from the ancient lands. There are a lot of Egyptian symbols in all the illustrations – pictographic and magic signs, ancient symbols, attributes of gods, household items.
All this makes the deck quite difficult for beginners, but if you manage to figure out this huge layer of information, you will end up with an incredibly accurate, and at the same time surprisingly beautiful working tool.
Egypt tarot deck – full gallery
Major Arcana
Minor Arcana
Suit of Wands
Suit of Swords
Suit of Coins
Suit of Cups
