Back in the 1970s, when I first became involved with the tarot, I remember being very disappointed with the cards available at that time. The Waite deck, in its time a ground-breaking and innovative project, had, in my opinion, all the zest and brilliance of Arthur Edward Waite's writing style -- as Regardie put it, "turgid, pompous and pretentious." To me, utterly useless. Then along came the Sacred Rose. For the first time, here was imagery that was bright, clear in meaning, reflective and yet also very much alive. I never really took the tarot seriously until I encountered this deck, and even now, with many other fine and innovative decks having appeared on the scene, this is still the deck I consider the best. The images are reminiscent of stained glass, but really evoke an entirely different feeling than other decks.. Rather than telling you what the cards mean, it seems as though the images draw their meaning out from the inside. In addition, there is none of the formal stodginess of traditional decks; you can almost smell the woods and flowers that illuminate the borders, and feel the forces the cards represent, something like looking toward the stars on a cold, clear night. If this all sounds a bit romantic, it is because the images are themselves romantic, and that kind of interaction is what succesful use of the tarot is all about. this is a good deck for beginners as well as experienced readers, and is capable of producing readings from the mundane to the deepest of spiritual encounters. Highly recommended; don't leave your astral home without it.
