A Vision Realized: A Review of Oracle of Visions

Ciro Marchetti’s “Oracle of Visions” has been in my personal vision since before his completion of the original project.

I have been a Ciro Marchetti fan since Gilded Tarot was first released. I met Ciro first when he graciously invited me to his home to interview him about his then-forthcoming “Legacy of the Divine Tarot.”

I invited Ciro to speak to my Tarot Meetup in West Palm Beach. At the time, we were a group of rabid tarotists who wanted to hear about his work as a tarot artist. Ciro complied, but was most excited to share some images from his new project, an oracle deck.

At the time, I had no interest in non-tarot oracles. I like the structure of tarot, its history, its correspondences, its archetypes. A tarot deck feels to me like a complete guide to human existence. Most oracle decks feel like an incomplete and random subset of possibilities. Most tarot images make sense to me. Many oracles seem contrived. Why is this angel the symbol of hope, or that unicorn the symbol of power? For me, the operation of an oracular device is random, the design of it should be anything but.

I was prepared to politely admire Ciro’s oracle images, and then turn the discussion back to my favorite topic; tarot. What happened surprised me.

Ciro’s oracle images spoke to me. I mean, they really spoke to me. They made me feel things more deeply than I would have imagined. There was one image in particular that gave me a visceral response. I began to anticipate “Oracle of Visions” as a new and unique device, rather than just another deck of pretty pictures

As Ciro worked on the accompanying book for his oracle, he invited Mary Ellen Collins, Garnet Schaeffer and me to the lovely home he shares with his talented wife, Maria, to play with his prototype deck and help him organize his thoughts for his book.

I know Mary Ellen and Garnet were just as thrilled as I to be some of the first people on the planet to work with the “Oracle of Visions.”

Ciro Marchetti first released “Oracle of Visions” as a self-published collector’s deck. I am happy to have a copy of that edition. I was curious to see how the newly published U.S. Games edition of “Oracle of Visions” would compare with the premium self-published edition.

I’m happy to report that the US. Games version of “Oracle of Visions” is delicious. It’s a smaller package than the collector’s edition.  The deck and book come in a lovely, premium-quality box with a lift-off cover.  The 140-page booklet fits snuggly in the box. The 52-card oracle is essentially the same as the first edition, except that the card edges aren’t gold.

To those folks who have already purchases the collector’s edition, here is my advice.  Pack your collector’s edition away for safe-keeping. Get a copy of the U.S. Games edition and let yourself play with these fabulous images, without having to worry about keeping them in pristine condition. The fact is, “Oracle of Visions” contains some of the most evocative images you will ever have the pleasure to explore.

“Oracle of Visions” separates itself from most original oracles in a number of ways. First, of course, it contains the inimitable artwork of Ciro Marchetti. Second, there is nothing preachy, religious or dogmatic about “Oracle of Visions”. 

In the design and production of three tarot decks, Ciro Marchetti learned a great deal about tarot tradition and the structure of tarot. He also learned that we tarotists can sometimes cling to our own understanding of a card, unwilling to stretch to see someone else’s vision.

“Oracle of Visions” is a remedy to that, just as it will be a remedy to any situation where we allow ourselves to be limited by dogma, expectation and self-imposed barriers. “Oracle of Visions” is aptly named in that one of its major functions is to allow each seeker to find their own vision within the intricate images.

The cards are large, with a black and gold border. Each card is numbered at the top, and has a stylized “OV” for “Oracle of Visions” at the bottom. These are the only writing on the cards. Each image is symbolically and graphically rich, with many opportunities for interpretation and introspection.

The book offers key phrases, descriptions and possible interpretations for each card, along with a quotation that seems to match the energy of the card. I like the scope of the quotation sources; they include everything from Charles Darwin to Cat Stevens.

The book includes some ideas of ways to work with the “Oracle of Visions”, as well as some of Marchetti’s thoughts about his journey to create this oracle.

In the card interpretations themselves, as well as the ways we can use the cards, Marchetti’s goal for us is that we be flexible, intuitive, open and exploratory There is no history, there are no traditions, and there are no sacred mysteries in the “Oracle of Visions,” except the ones we find for ourselves.

As I look through my new “Oracle of Visions”, I come to the card that first spoke to me. It’s card 24. The Key phrases for this card are “Letting Go” and “Offering a Way Out.” When I look at this card now, it is as if I were looking at a younger picture of myself, taken during a difficult time.  I have grown, healed and changed since this card first spoke to me. I think some of that healing came from my connection with this image.

Now, I am still grateful for this image, but it no longer pulls at me. I look through the deck again, to find a card that speaks to me today – a card that can help me heal and grow today. I know that random draws with “Oracle of Visions” can be very insightful, but today I want to choose a card visually, rather than at random.

The image that pulls at me today is card 3.  The key phrases are “Dreams,” “Meditation” and “Spiritual Escape.” As I read further, I see that the rich imagery in the card – the frog, the fish, the bird, and many other symbols, are not there on a whim. Each is a symbol of dreams. Marchetti draws on a variety of cultures to include symbols, archetypes and sacred images. I am sure these images impact us on a metaphysical level, as well as simply visually.

“Oracle of Visions” will be a great addition to any collection. It separates itself from many oracles in that this deck could be a gift for anyone who appreciates art – regardless of spiritual or metaphysical inclination.

The uses for “Oracle of Visions” are limited only by your imagination. When chosen either randomly or cognitively, these cards can provide spiritual guidance in divination and introspection. They work equally well as creative prompts. I can imagine using them in meditation as well.

Now that “Oracle of Visions” is available through U.S. Games I will be very excited to see the ways intuitive, spiritual and creative people find to weave this tool into their practices.

Check out my video review to see this wonderful deck in action!

Christiana Gaudet Reviews Oracle of Visions

Video of Christiana Gaudet Reviews Oracle of Visions

Love for the Tarot Artists

_{Photos: (top) Christiana with Lisa Hunt, (below) Christiana with Ciro Marchetti}

I’m a creative person. I can’t play an instrument well or draw a straight line at all. But I am creative. It’s just that all the ways I am creative rely on someone else’s creativity first. I love to dance, but I need music. I am a secondary creative person.

There is no other area in my life where this is truer than with tarot. Sometime I feel that I can really make a tarot deck sing – I know I can make it talk. With a tarot deck I can summon spirits, create healing, give business advice and help you find love. With a tarot deck I can create stories and games. I can write books and help you discover truth about yourself.

This is why I am so grateful for the tarot artists who create beautiful decks that inspire my creativity. Without them, my creative, spiritual and business life would be much less than what it is. I can’t imagine what it is to conceive and execute seventy-eight pictures to create a tarot deck – and many of the great artists of our time have created more than one tarot deck!

Of course the first ladies of tarot art are Pamela Colman Smith and Lady Frieda Harris. They set the standard for much of what modern tarot art has become. In the past forty years many wonderful artists have joined them in working with that standard and in creating new standards.

Sometimes I am surprised by new tarot decks. The art is so radically different from what I have come to expect. To me some of these decks don’t even feel like tarot. But for every deck there are plenty of readers who are able to feel the art and hear Spirit whispering through the images.

The diversity in tarot decks reflects our diversity as a community. Tarot is unique in that there is a set structure and specific archetypes. The way that structure is expressed and the way those archetypes are represented can vary a great deal. The talents and imaginings of the artists allow tarot readers to use and expand our own creative and spiritual gifts.

A tarot deck is more than a bunch of pictures. It’s a spiritual tool. Tarot images help us to tap into our intuition and our natural psychic abilities. Tarot images each carry an energy with which we can do magick.

No tarot reader will love every deck. Most of us won’t even love every card in a deck we treasure. Tarot is so personal we can sometimes become ultra-picky about each image. It's important to remember that the artists in our community render each card from their perspective of the archetype. Sometimes it will match our own perspective perfectly, sometimes it won't. But can you imagine our tarot world without the rich selection of tarot decks we enjoy today?

Let’s all show some love for our tarot artists, past, present and future. Without you our lives would be much less colorful, much less creative and much less fun.

Mixed Virtue

I have always been a fan of Doreen Virtue.  I had the pleasure of exchanging readings with her live on broadcast radio when I was the morning show co-host and “Resident Psychic” of Q105 in New London, CT.  She was charming and genuine, and her reading for me was relevant.

While I am not usually a fan of oracle decks other than tarot, I do really like Virtue’s “Ascended Masters Oracle Cards.”  Their message is universal.

I gave “Healing with the Angels Oracle Cards” to my mother.  I own a copy myself.  I used the “Healing with the Angels” deck with my assisted living class.  The senior citizens loved the images, and found the process of divination with this deck insightful and meaningful.

Doreen Virtue’s many oracle decks are always beautiful and well-made.  I appreciate the quality of her products, and of her message.

I have always had a bit of a problem with the concept of angels as gentle spiritual helpers.  Biblically, angels are fearsome beings.  I also have a problem with presenting creatures such as unicorns, fairies and dragons as spiritual helpers rather than mythical beasts.  I am comfortable with them as symbols more than as actual ethereal beings.

Doreen Virtue is neither the first nor the only teacher to suggest that these beings are actual spiritual entities.  D.J. Conway successfully presented dragon magick.  Faerie Wicca has become a respected Wiccan tradition.  I have softened on my stance against these concepts over the years.  The fact that beings such as angels and dragons appear in the mythology of a variety of cultures is compelling.

Now Doreen Virtue has published a tarot deck.  I haven’t seen it yet.  It’s called “Angel Tarot Cards.”  According to my research, Virtue has changed many of the Major Arcana names.  The Tower is “Life Experience.”  The Devil is “Ego.”  Overall, seven of the Major Arcana names are changed.

Virtue has associated each of the Major Arcana with an archangel.  The four suits are denoted according to their element, rather than an icon.  Each of the four suits is color-coded, and pictures a particular mythical creature.  The Fire suit is dragons, while the Water suit is mermaids.  The Earth suit is fairies and the Air suit is unicorns.  I would have switched those two, but that’s just me.

Among modern tarot, none of these departures from tradition is particularly original, but neither are they disturbing.  Associating specific angels with the Majors is simple archetypal assignment.  Tarot artists like Lisa Hunt, Kris Walderr and Julie Cuccia-Watts have been doing that for years.  This is also true for using mythical creatures and special colors for the suits. 

Softening the presentation of certain Major Arcana cards is also nothing new.  Many tarot artists choose to rename some of the cards.  Eileen Connolly did it quite successfully with the Connelly Tarot.  Lisa Hunt and Ciro Marchetti have also each created beautiful, usable decks with renamed cards.  To rename so many of the 22 Majors is a bit odd, but not terrible.

I am quite sure that this new Angels Tarot Deck is as lovely as Virtue’s other decks.  I might like to own it, and can think of some students and clients who would enjoy it.  But I do have a problem with it.  I have a serious, serious problem with it.

My problem is not with Doreen Virtue.  While I personally find her a bit fluffy and fanciful, I know many people appreciate her.  My problem is not that Doreen Virtue has created a tarot deck.  My problem is the way she is marketing the deck.

Virtue is calling this deck the “first deck of tarot cards that is 100 percent gentle, safe, and trustworthy”! 

Excuse me?  First, what is up with “gentle and safe”?  When did tarot suddenly become a laxative?

All kidding aside, it is heinous to market one’s product by casting aspersions on its predecessors. Politicians do that.  Healers shouldn’t.  To suggest that all tarot that has come before is “unsafe” is wrong on every level.  The only way a deck of cards could be “unsafe” is that it might give you a paper cut.

I have said this before and I will say it again.  I am tired of spiritual teachers maligning tarot out of laziness and ignorance.  Tarot words, images and symbols are only scary if we don’t take the time to learn what they mean.  Through that study, we grow, not only in our understanding of tarot but also in our understanding of ourselves and of the Universe. 

Virtue goes on to say that “All of the words in this deck, as well as the artwork by Steve A. Roberts, are positive and beautiful, while still retaining the magical effectiveness of traditional tarot”.

I know that some people really do prefer a deck without harsh images and words, while others see it as “watered down.”  I am OK either way, but Virtue is doing a huge disservice to many tarot artists by suggesting she is the first to do this.  Eileen Connelly has done it, Lisa Hunt has done it, and many others have done it.  Shame on you, Doreen Virtue, for making this false claim!  And shame on you, Hay House, for publishing it!

Doreen Virtue needs to realize that, in her position as a revered teacher, people will actually believe what she says.  She has a responsibility to be accurate.  I am truly disheartened by her lack of integrity in this matter.

I am in a quandary.  Do I buy this deck because I am sure it is beautiful and interesting?  Do I boycott it, because Doreen Virtue has clearly dissed tarot, and the tarot community?

With all the lovely decks from authors who operate with integrity that I have yet to add to my collection, I think I choose to boycott.

The truth is this.  With only a few notable exceptions, our community of tarot artists, authors, teachers and readers is honorable.  We support each other, we acknowledge each other’s efforts, and we build on each other’s contributions to the tarot corpus.

Which of us would dare say we were the first to do something, when we clearly were not?

Which of us would inaccurately malign a spiritual tradition that so many hold dear?

I suppose it is no surprise.  Doreen Virtue has made a career of reinventing spirituality to make it palatable and easy to digest.  Up until now, I have defended her.  Today, I have this to say.

The path to spiritual enlightenment and healing isn’t easy.  It’s not supposed to be.  Angels are fearsome for a reason.  If you aren’t willing to wrestle with the angels, and if you aren’t willing to study the traditions, you will never find enlightenment, and you will never heal.

But, you can certainly have fun looking at the pretty pictures.

An Evening with Ciro Marchetti, Tarot Authors and Artists Series

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On May 26, 2009 the Tarot Circle Meetup of the Palm Beaches was pleased to hold the second in our Tarot Authors and Artists series. This time our Tarot Author and Artist was South Florida’s own Ciro Marchetti.

I am always amazed at just what a talent hotbed South Florida is. Whether it’s food, sports, music, dance, art, or even, specifically, Tarot, South Florida has the best of the best.   And that’s what Ciro Marchetti is; the best of the best.

Ciro has recently published his third and final Tarot deck, the Legacy of the Divine Tarot. It was his goal that this be his best deck, and it is. That’s not to say that the first two, Gilded Tarot and Tarot of Dreams, were not delightful, or meaningful. But Legacy of the Divine is certainly a masterpiece. Rich in symbolism, it has real thought and creativity behind it, and pays homage to more traditional Tarot images in really respectful ways.

Ciro Marchetti considers himself neither a spiritual person, nor a Tarot reader. His entrance into the Tarot world came as an artistic challenge. Now that he is solidly entrenched here he is able to offer some witty and sardonic observations of our community.  Sometimes it takes fresh eyes, an objective opinion, or an outside view to get perspective. In his presentation to Tarot Circle, Ciro gave us a view of ourselves, as well as a view of the Tarot.

There are two stunning things about Legacy of the Divine Tarot, besides its amazing artwork. One is the myth that Ciro has created around it, and the other is its animated, interactive app for IPhone and IPad, now available from the ITunes Store.

While enjoying the informal and captivating presentation, I discovered that Ciro’s take on Tarot history is similar to my own. We both find it suspicious that the only evidence ever given in defense of the myth of Tarot’s Egyptian origins is psychic.  For instance, we know that the Tarot originated in Egypt because we channeled an entity that told us so. Or, we know that the Tarot originated in Egypt because, well, it just feels true.

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Ciro went on to say that not only did he find the Egyptian story improbable; he found European Tarot history dry and unsatisfying. I think that a lot of us feel that way. But while using Tarot in storytelling and telling stories about the Tarot are common themes in modern Tarot study, none of us have done as Ciro has done.

Ciro has created a myth describing an otherworldly culture; wise, spiritual, intellectual, and aware of its imminent demise. His Tarot is literally the legacy of this doomed culture. It tells the story of this culture’s rise and fall, and within it is preserved all of this culture’s esoteric wisdom.

Prior to its publication, the Legacy of the Divine Tarot starred in a promo video that let us all know just how amazing this deck was going to be. But that short video did something else as well. It brought the Tarot characters to life. 

When I teach Tarot Magick, I instruct my students to enter the card, and to become part of the action. Or to meditate on the card, and see how the characters move and interact with their surroundings. Giving the cards dimension and motion, and putting ourselves into the action, is an amazing tool of Tarot understanding. Creating video for the Tarot cards was a stroke of inspired genius that will help new generations of Tarot students understand and experience the cards even more deeply in this way.

Those in attendance were thrilled to be amongst the first humans to see the Legacy of the Divine Tarot app, which was released to the public just a few days after his visit with us.   In the app, each card comes alive with movement and music.   Each card has some key words listed for it, and some of Ciro’s thoughts for each card, although he does not call them “interpretations.” We, as readers, will interpret the cards. He, as artist, will only describe them. To me, that feels like both a respectful distinction and a beautiful Tarot partnership between artist and reader.

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A couple of years ago, Wald Amberstone of the Tarot School in NYC asked me how I felt about the possibility of computer Tarot readings replacing me in my job of Tarot reader. I felt then as I do now, that a computer can display the cards, and display some possible interpretations, but a computer can never “read” the cards.

While Ciro’s Tarot app certainly performs Tarot spreads, he made it very clear that he in no way intended the app to replace a living reader; only to be a tool for one. And what a tool it is! With this app, as we saw in the presentation, one can create a custom spread, perform the reading, make notes about the reading, save the reading, and even email it to a client or friend. And I had just decided NOT to get an IPhone. Hmmm . . . Perhaps this Tarot card reader sees an IPad in her future?

Always respectful of the Tarot, Tarot readers, and the Tarot community, Ciro talked a lot about “pushing the Tarot envelope.” One of our members, Adrienne Percival, compared him to the Dyson of vacuum fame. In her review of the evening she said, in part, “As I listened to you describe how you would challenge yourself on each project to create something innovative and new, I was oddly reminded of Dyson.  I stand in wonder at how he took such ordinary, everyday tools and has completely revolutionized them.  Likewise in a field of 200,000 decks of cards each fitting neatly into their box, along comes your movie or your CD and explodes beyond the comfortably expected box”. That’s well said, Adrienne.

While Legacy of the Divine Tarot is his last Tarot deck, it is not his last deck of divination. Ciro is now hard at work on his Oracle deck, whose working title is “Oracle of Visions.” He brought some large prints to show us, and let us know a little bit about its structure.

Everyone knows I don’t like oracle decks. For me, if it ain’t Tarot, it ain’t worth it. I must say, though, that this deck has caught my eye. One of the images really spoke to me in a way that was visceral.

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It’s a smart deck, too. For example, a card that depicts a sense of being stuck includes in its image a chess game at check-mate. Each image has those kinds of interesting details, indicative of Ciro’s many talents and interests.

Ciro and his gracious wife, Maria, arrived with enough goodies for us all to have a nice shopping experience. They are also pushing the Tarot envelope when it comes to the kind of merchandise they are producing. Amazing Tarot boxes and Tarot pouches are great, so are the altar clothes. But have you ever seen a Tarot purse?  The shoulder bags are as yummy as they are affordable. Check them out, along with Tarot decks, prints and other great stuff, at http://www.ciromarchetti.com. And, don’t forget your Legacy of the Divine Tarot app at the ITunes Store!

Tarot Circle Meetup of the Palm Beaches is grateful to Ciro and Maria Marchetti for sharing their time, stories, talent and ideas with us!

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