Description

Universal gold tarot

Original title: Golden Universal Tarot

The Universal Gold Tarot is a reprint of Roberto de Angelis’ Universal Tarot, a redesigned and more dynamic version of the Rider-Waite. This edition has selected symbols and images decorated with gold foil on its 78 cards.

I remember revising the original Universal Tarot when it was released a decade ago. It was a new interpretation of Rider-Waite’s imagery, nicely redesigned by Roberto de Angelis in a more dynamic and less theatrical style and designed to reflect more contemporary thinking.

The universal gold tarot took those same images of Roberto and improved them. Gone are white borders with distracting multilingual titles, and in their place are black borders with decorative gold scrolls and simple numbering.

What used to be naturally colored skies in the background are now structured in metallic gold, in radial patterns highlighted in small dots. Other elements of each card are also highlighted in gold: the cups in the Two of Cups, the pentacles in the Seven of Pentacles, the moon at the foot of the Priestess and the cross around her neck. The metallic highlights have been given a deliberately flawed look in places, with intentional scratches and the odd piece missing, so the cards have an aged look rather than brand new.

The 64-page booklet is printed in English, Italian , Spanish, French and German and contains a brief chronological history of the Tarot, an introduction to the concept of the Universal Tarot, a sample of nine cards and keyword meanings for all 78 cards.

I rather like this new version of the Universal Tarot. It brings a fresh take on the familiar Rider-Waite and gold adds charm and shine. It is a very readable, new and improved tarot deck.