Lo Scarabeo Tarot of Druids

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

dolphinprincess	05 Dec 2003
The Tarot Garden has this tarot on the upcoming releases page... the picture of the cards is pretty small... Is there any site that has larger samples of this deck? Thanks :o)

firemaiden	05 Dec 2003
You can see larger samples of the 22 majors portion of the deck, which were completed by Lupatelli some years ago as an all majors art deck, and called "Celtic Tarot" -- not to be confused with the Gaudenzi deck of the same name! Lupatelli Celtic - Art deck (from www.wicce.com) Review from Tarot Pasages -Tarocchi dei Celti -- a few more scans at Trigono: Lupatelli - Tarocchi dei Celti (d'Arte) --even more scans at mystic eye:Tarocchi dei Celti - Lupatelli

dolphinprincess	05 Dec 2003
thanks so much firemaiden! i've been considering pre-ordering this deck, but needed to see more images... the pics were a great help... but as they didn't elicit that "oohh, i must have that" reaction, I think I'll wait a little longer before ordering..... :o)

firemaiden	05 Dec 2003
I'll tell you a little story... I have been wanting this Lupatelli Celtic deck, ever since I first saw the scans, and I had written Scarabeo a bunch of times asking when/if they would ever produce a 78 card version. Well, now they have, but it is a different artist who is doing the minors which will turn it into the 78 card Tarot of the Druids... It's not exactly the deck I was dreaming of, waaaaaanh. I don't like all that stone around. I guess Mr. Lupatelli was too busy to do the minors himself? Oh well...

mercenary30	05 Dec 2003
This is not the same as Druidcraft Tarot. What would be the difference between these? (besides the artist....)

dolphinprincess	05 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Well, now they have, but it is a different artist who is doing the minors which will turn it into the 78 card Tarot of the Druids... It's not exactly the deck I was dreaming of, waaaaaanh. I don't like all that stone around. I guess Mr. Lupatelli was too busy to do the minors himself? Oh well... This makes sense now.. as the (small) picture I saw on Tarot Garden looked a little different than the scans... I'm curious to see what a new artist does with it... But as I'm pretty picky with decks, I'd better wait to see... :o)

firemaiden	05 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by mercenary30 This is not the same as Druidcraft Tarot. What would be the difference between these? (besides the artist....) Er... Well, the difference would be that they are different decks... or.. what do you mean? (I've never heard of the Druidcraft Tarot)

mercenary30	05 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Er... Well, the difference would be that they are different decks... or.. what do you mean? (I've never heard of the Druidcraft Tarot) Well, both of them are a "Druid Tarot". I wonder if they are similar in symbolism? I was just hoping someone who had knowledge of both decks could compare/contrast. Druidcraft Tarot is not out yet. There is a thread out there right now talking about it. It seems that Tarot of Druids is not out yet either.

firemaiden	05 Dec 2003
hmmm, well, obviously I can't speak for the minor arcana, but as for the majors, since they were previously named "Celtic" I might venture a cynical guess that the druidism connection doesn't go much further than a convenient name alternative to "Celtic" --- although that would be unkind and pure speculation, so I won't venture such a guess...

felicityk	05 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Well, now they have, but it is a different artist who is doing the minors which will turn it into the 78 card Tarot of the Druids. Lo Scarabeo has done this on more than one occasion. It's also the case with the other Celtic Tarot by Gaudenzi. I wonder why they couldn't get the original artists to complete the work? Are they no longer with us? Felicity

Kiama	06 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden hmmm, well, obviously I can't speak for the minor arcana, but as for the majors, since they were previously named "Celtic" I might venture a cynical guess that the druidism connection doesn't go much further than a convenient name alternative to "Celtic" --- although that would be unkind and pure speculation, so I won't venture such a guess... I haven\t seen much of either deck, but from what I have seen I can guess this... The Druid Tarot by Lo Scarabeo I think focuses more on the myths and legends of the Celts (in this case, focusing on the Irish Tuatha de Danaan.) The Druidcraft Tarot seems to be linked with OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.) And it seems to be focusing more on the beliefs and practices within Druidry that have some basis in the very little we know about the Celts. It also contains more Druid philosophy in it than the Lo Scarabeo one, for what I can see. Personally, I think I'm going to prefer the Druidcraft Tarot. I didn't agree with very many of the Lo Scarabeo Major-changes. (The Morrigan as the Empress? If you read the Tain bo Cuailgne or any of the other Irish texts, the Morrigan is not the best choice for the Empress, and instead I would have chosen Brigh -Brighid- Goddess of childbirth, inspiration, and poetry. She's perfect for the Empress!) Kiama

mercenary30	06 Dec 2003
That helps. I think I am still leaning towards Druidcraft myself.

The Lo Scarabeo Tarot of Druids thread was originally posted on 05 Dec 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.