The divination decks from Fournier (Spain) are amazing examples of how fine art speaks to our subconscious. These decks are practical portfolios: The Labyrinth Tarot and I Ching Dead Moon represent the range of artist Luis Royo. The Favole Tarot is a dark gem of gothic art by Victoria Frances. We’ll start with the two Tarot Decks.
They are both standard 78-card decks, though a bit smaller than a standard tarot deck. This makes them great for those with smaller hands, or if you want a take-it-with-you deck you can pull out for spontaneous readings. In European fashion, the pip cards of the tarot suits are repetitions of the suits symbols, like in a playing card deck.
The Labyrinth Tarot by Luis Royo
Fans of internationally renowned illustrator Luis Royo, as well as tarot afficianados, will delight in the dreamy atmosphere, sensual figures, and superb workmanship of this finely-crafted, collectible tarot deck—-created by one of the most popular fantasy artists of our time. Sepia tone dominates the emotionally-charged major arcana, while the minors are divided by color according to their suits: wands, pentacles, cups, and spades. The spades are, of course, swords, just the name is changed.
The pips, or numbered cards of the minor arcana, do not have the full illustrations of the standard Rider-Waite Deck, so if you are new to Tarot, there isn’t an image story to go by. But those familiar with the Tarot will easily be able to read with them. The Court cards for each suite are full illustrations.
The Labyrinth Tarot’s powerful images, featuring Pagan and astrological symbols, were conceived solely for this eagerly-awaited project from Royo, whose award-winning work has adorned a wide range of merchandise and media, including comic books, games, and science fiction from major publishers. Here are four of the cards from the Labyrinth Tarot deck to give you a feel for it:
Larger versions of these images plus several more can be found in our online store details page: The Labyrinth Tarot. Just click on the button below the deck image to flip through the gallery of images.
The Favole Tarot by Victoria Francés
Victoria Francés (October 25, 1982) is the Spanish illustrator behind this dramatic deck. Influenced by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rice, H. P. Lovecraft, Luis Royo and Brom. A rising star in fantasy illustration, Francés has wowed Europe and is rapidly gaining fans in the U.S. The stunning Favole Tarot showcases this young illustrator’s signature Gothic Romantic style, with themes and characters inspired by Anne Rice, H. P. Lovecraft, and pre-Raphaelite paintings. Bask in the splendor of this dreamy, timeless world, haunted by beautiful vampires, dark fairies, and other mysterious creatures of the night.
The suits in the Favole Tarot diverge from the Rider-Waite tradition, you’ll find crosses, masks, roses, and butterflies. There is nothing in the generic little white book to indicate how the suits map to the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck, so at Eye of Horus, we’ve done our own interpretation:
- Butterlies = Air/East/Swords – Butterflies are definitely an air creature
- Crosses = Earth/North/Pentacles – You don’t get much more grounded than a cross
- Flowers = Water/West/Cups – Flowers speak directly to our emotions
- Masks = Fire/South/Wands – The handle is reminiscent of wands and Masks evoke Mardi Gras with enthusiasm, passion, party & play.
Like the Labyrinth Tarot, it follows the European tradition in the minors and has repetitive pip cards instead of full illustrations. Again, this throws off some inexperienced readers, so have a good reference like Tarot for Beginners at hand if you aren’t fluent in Tarot.
Gorgeously grim and lyrical, this unique deck will help you explore the dark crevaces of the psyche—and find beauty where its least expected. Here are four of the cards from this deck:
There are over a dozen larger card images in the Alternative Views gallery for The Favole Tarot in our online store. It was just too hard to whittle down which best represented this deck! Click here to for the detailed card views or to buy the Favole Tarot.
I Ching: Dead Moon Deck
You might wonder where the name for this deck comes from, if you aren’t familiar with Luis Royo’s work. His book, Dead Moon, is
“An epic story of the confrontation between two clans and their leaders, Moon and Mars, in an oriental and mystical atmosphere. A story in which opposites attract into a beautiful and fatal story. Luis Royo undertakes an immense, 128-page effort, in which he has combined canvas painting, large-scale painting, graphite and pencil. One of the most demanding creations in his professional life, making it also one his proudest. Undoubtedly a great treat for all his followers, who will be able to enjoy, for the first time, a creation in which the images and the text have been created within a self conclusive story.”
64 of these images are included in the I-Ching Dead Moon Deck. I-Ching is an ancient form of divination, thought to be more than 3,000 years old. In China, the I Ching had two distinct functions: First, as a compendium and classic of ancient cosmic principles; Second, the I-Ching was a divination text. Thus, the I-Ching can be used either as divination or as a wisdom-teaching tool.
The text of the I Ching is a set of oracular statements represented by 64 sets of six lines each called hexagrams Each hexagram is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines, each line is either Yang (an unbroken, or solid line – associated with male energy), or Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the center – associated with female energy). With six such lines stacked from bottom to top there are 26 or 64 possible combinations, and thus 64 hexagrams represented. see Wikipedia’s hexagram lookup table.
Traditionally, 50 Yarrow Sticks were thrown repeatedly to determine the final hexagram. This method was simplified into using 3 coins. With the I Ching Dead Moon Deck, you can pull just one card. Along with striking, Asian-influenced imagery, each of the sixty-four cards features an I Ching hexagram. Collectors of art and divination decks will be delighted to add this gem to their collection. Here are four sample cards:
Larger views of these and additional cards are in the Alternative Views gallery for the I Ching Dead Moon on our online store.