the spirit of flowers tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

snuffy	16 Jan 2004
i was cruising through tarot garden when i happened upon the spirit of flowers tarot. just wondering if anyone's used this deck before? any opinions on it (especially the artwork!)? http://www.tarotgarden.com/boutique/onlinecatalog.php?view_title=spirit+of+flowers i'm a sucker for lo scarabeo, and for some reason, i'm drawn to this deck; however, in the best interest of my wallet, i'm trying to do a bit of research instead of impulse purchasing :)

Aerten	20 Jan 2004
Ohhh, I have this on my list for decks I would like to own. But I'm trying to resist the urge as part of being cured of "tarot materialism". Isn't that deck pretty, though? If you end up buying it, be sure to post your opinion!

EarthAngel2911	20 Jan 2004
I have the Spirit of Flowers, so I'll give you my $.02, but remember... it's only one person's opinion! :) Like any LS deck, the card stock is superior; there's never any question there. The artwork is very delicate and lovely, and this deck would be good to use with children or people wary of tarot. That is... if you find that you can read with this deck. I don't have the deck with me right now (I'm at the office), but this is what I recall when I did my dailies with this deck a month or so ago. The majors are recognizable compared to traditional meanings, although I think they can be a bit limiting. Each card portrays a child fairy and a flower. ;) Now, I don't know my flowers, so I wouldn't be able to tell you about those correspondences. The minors are a different story. Still there are children fairies and flowers in each card, and each suit corresponds to a different color family of flowers. One suit has one color of flowers, the next suit will have another color for their flowers, and so on. The actual images in the cards, with or without the flower meaning, don't look like any RWS you might be used to, which would make this deck difficult to read with. If you're looking for a reading deck, you'll find this one has quite a learning curve, unless you're very adept in the language of flowers. But if you're looking for an art deck, or a deck that will really stretch your intuitive muscle for one-card draws, this could be the deck for you! For a detailed review, Diane Wilkes has one posted on Tarot Passages. Check out: www.tarotpassages.com/LSflower.htm Hope this has helped! Blessings, Karen

Ilithiya	08 Mar 2004
Just got mine in the mail today (thx, Tauni!), so I thought I'd add on to the thread with my observations... 1) Technical aspects: Good packaging, decent cardstock - not flimsy, but thinner than my US Games decks (this is my first Lo Scarabeo). The booklet is on good paper, but only has one staple. Looks like it'll hold up for a while with care. Has deck title card and "other decks available" card; no "blank/mystery" card. I'd give it a 9/10. 2) Art: Great, excellent, wonderful. Good style. The colors are richer pastels, neither overly bright nor washed out; looks like a nice pen & watercolor technique. The overall flavor is cute and friendly without being cheeseball. My personal taste: 10/10 3) Backs: Monochromatic green, fairy in rose border, reversible. Would have preferred a little less *green*, but it's a typical Lo Scarabeo back as far as I've seen. 8/10 4) Interpretations: Decent to fair. No reversed meanings; has a short flower language meaning and two or three lines of standard Tarot meanings. Some are Rider-Waite flavored, some aren't; there's a thread about this elsewhere in the forum. 8/10 http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14215&highlight=spirit+of+flowers 5) Correllations between the interpretations and the card art: Not that great. It does show Antonella Castelli's tendency to move further from the obvious tarot symbology and more into intuitive... at best. The darker aspected cards contain the same laughing, smiling fairies that the more positive cards do... and somehow the Devil - a grimacing boy fairy with snake - is somewhat jarring. 7/10 6) Accuracy between flowers and interpretations: Again, not so hot. Some are appropriate, some are a little odd, but none of them are in the "what the heck?!" class... 8/10 I'd rate this deck about a 9/10 overall. I haven't tried reading with it yet, so I won't rate it on readability but I would guess that it will read relatively well if you take some time. I think it's well suited for children, skittish clients, and just for fun. This is definitely a deck I'd buy and put away for my daughter, and plan on keeping it as my personal deck. Illy

The the spirit of flowers tarot thread was originally posted on 16 Jan 2004 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.