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Reviews: Tarot Decks
Tarot & Cartomancy
Deck & Book Reviews
by Bonnie Cehovet, TE
Tarot Master
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Ship of Fools Tarot
Author: Brian Williams
Artist: Brian Williams
Llewellyn Publications
2002
ISBN #0-7387-0161-0
The “Ship of Fools Tarot” is a complete 78 card Tarot deck, and comes with the companion book “Book of Fools” and two extra cards … one card carries the definitions for the ten positions of the Celtic Cross spread, and other card carries the definitions for a six card spread entitled The Exquisite Corpse. This concept for this deck is based on the words and woodcut illustrations from the German Renaissance literary classic “Das Narrenschiff”, or the Ship of Fools, by Sebastian Brant.
The box that the deck comes in is light brown in color, with dark brown lettering. The picture on the front of the box is literally that of a ship filled with fools …one of which is either falling out of the boat or deliberately diving off. The box is lightweight, and opens from the top.
The 205 page companion book, “Book of Fools”, is also light brown in color, with darker brown lettering. The picture on the front of the book is that of the Fool. The back cover gives the background on the deck, with a series fo five cards from the deck placed along the bottom of the page. Williams presents his companion book not only as a key to understanding each card, but also as a guide to comparing its images with the established symbolism of the “Marseilles” and “Rider-Waite-Smith” decks.
The cards themselves are of good quality, glossy cardstock. The background color for both the front and back of the cards is ivory, with the imagery in black. The backs of the cards show a 1⁄4” inset double lined border, with two images each of wands, cups, swords, and coins, each set facing each other so that the backs are reversible. The same border shows on the faces, with pen and ink style artwork used to mimic the original woodcuts.
Traditional formatting has been used, with the suits entitled Staves, Cups, Swords, and Coins, and the Court Cards entitled Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The card numbers, titles, and suits are printed in script along the bottom of each card. The Major Arcana has been retitled as follows:
O The Vagabond (The Fool)
1The Montebank (The Magician)
2 The Papess (The High Priestess)
3 The Empress
4 The Emperor
5 The Pope (The Hierophant)
6 Love (The Lovers)
7 The Cart (The Chariot)
8 Justice
9 The Hermit
10 The Wheel of Fortune
11 Strength
12 The Hanged Man
13 Death
14 Temperance
15 The Devil
16 The Tower
17 The Stars
18 The Moon
19 The Sun
20 Judgment
21 The World
I am a great admirer of Brian Williams … of his books, and his artwork. (Previous projects include the “Renaissance Tarot”, the “PoMo (Postmodern) Tarot”, and the Minchiate Tarot.) The following quote, from the back cover of the companion book “Book of Fools”, says it all:
“I believe it is possible to embrace the Tarot as both image and idea; as individual artistic expression and universal symbol; as historical artifact and mysterious phenomenon; as exoteric game and esoteric instrument. – Brian Williams”
In his introduction, Williams indicates that for the Major Arcana, he attempted to be as faithful as possible to both the “Narrenschiff” illustrations, as well as the early Tarot iconography, while influences for the Minor Arcana came from a combination fo the “Narrenschiff” illustrations and Pamela Coleman-Smith’s imagery in the “Waite-Smith Tarot”.
The presentation of the cards (which appear with scans form the “Narrenschiff” illustrations, the “Rider-Waite Tarot” and the “Tarot de Marseille”) begins with a description of the card, followed by a comparison with the “Narrenschiff” source image (where there was one), followed by a comparison with the imagery from the “Rider-Waite Tarot” and the “Tarot de Marseille”. Upright divinatory meanings are given.
At the end of the book Williams encourages the reader to read the cards in a fashion that makes sense to them. One spread is presented … the traditional Celtic Cross Spread.
I found this to be such an amazing deck … some of the imagery is very close to traditional (such as the Empress, Justice, and the Papess ), while some, which had no “Narrenschiff” equivelant, are inspired by the imagery of the “Rider Waite” and “Tarot de Marseille” (such as Temperance, the Eight of Coins, and the Five and Nine of Swords). Throughout the deck we see the imagery of the Fool in his Jester’s cap.
Amongst the cards that I found most interesting was the Montebach (the Magician), which shows a figure Williams refers to as a “wise fool” on one side of a table, with a figure refered to as a “pompous nobleman” on the other side. In the Papess we see a female figure, leaning on a cushion, in a wooden pulpit within a crowded, vaulted church.
The Emperor shows a male figure wearing the high, conical crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Facing him … and mocking him … is the Fool in his Jester’s cap. The Hanged Man is seen hanging from the limb of a tree (showing the full tree), with a cord attaching his ankle to the tree, and his hands free. The figure of the Hanged Man is the Fool in his Jester’s cap. He has a bird’s nest in one hand (he was reaching into the tree to grab the nest when he fell), with birds flying low beneath him.
Death fascinates me, as it shows a skeleton, carrying a coffin over his shoulder, walking along side of the Fool (in his Jester’s cap). The Fool looks none too happy, either! The World is another card that gives me pause, as it shows the Fool, in his Jester’s cap, bent over, with his hands on his knees, burdened with the weight of a circle, which encloses a landscape of mountains, waters, and houses.
The Six of Swords certainly portrays imagery quite different from the traditional card, in that the Fool is seen struggling with the rigging of his small boat, which is taking on water! The Three of Staves (Wands) shows the Fool standing in the middle of an empty street, playing the bagpipes. A lute and a harp lay at his feet.
The Nine of Staves (Wands) shows the Fool with one Stave in his hands, thrust forward, with eight more standing upright in the ground. The kicker here is that each Stave is topped with an image of the head of the Fool!
The Queen of Cups shows the Queen, seated at a table with the Fool, who has one hand covering his face. She is offering him a glass of something to drink. The Six of Coins is an incredibly interesting card, showing the Fool with a large scale, balancing coins, in his right hand, and a single coin held in his left hand. His focus is on the single coin.
This is not a beginners deck, but it is a good deck for someone interested in art, or history, who already has a solid background in the Tarot. It is a good deck for collectors, and would work well for journey-type work, or for visualizations.
© January 2008
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Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Educator, Reiki Master/Teacher
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Bonnie Cehovet is a Tarot Educator, a professional Tarot reader with over ten years experience, a Reiki Master/Teacher and a writer. Bonnie holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa campus, and is certified as a Tarot Educator with the American Board For Tarot Certification.
She has served in various capacities with the American Tarot Association, to include Secretary on the ATA Board. She is co-founder of the World Tarot Network, and Vice President (as well as Director of Certification) for the American Board For Tarot Certification.
Her articles and reviews currently appear in the World Tarot Network newsletter (www.worldtarot.com),
The Meta Arts Magazine (www.themetaarts.com),
the Aeclectic Tarot site (www.aeclectic.
net/tarot),
and on her own site,
www.tarot.
thecrystalgate.com.
For the past three years she has edited her own monthly Tarot newsletter - Gateway to Tarot. She also has articles appearing in the 2004 and 2005 "Llewellyn Tarot Reader".
www.americanboard
fortarot certification.org
www.tarot.
thecrystalgate. com |
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