Is this legit? O_o

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Tsuzuki	07 May 2005
Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot (Romanian Edition)

similia	07 May 2005
I'm not sure what exactly your asking about. Is what specifically legit? The deck looks like the Romanian Version of the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot to me. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-dawn-magical/ http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=golden+dawn+magical

Jeannette	07 May 2005
Lori and I were never able to determine if this edition was authorized or not. The Romanian edition is clearly patterned after the Cicero deck, but there have been some interesting alterations applied (look at the "Hanged Man" card provided with the sample scans). When we bought it, we acquired only a few copies, and we agreed to the purchase "sight unseen." We were told (very excitedly) by the supplier that it was the only "original Romanian Tarot ever published!" Which, of course, is not exactly an accurate statement -- but we knew the info was suspect from the outset, as the supplier with whom we were working was not an expert on cartomantic decks. However, we had to know what it was, so we went ahead and made the purchase. (That was long ago, early in Tarot Garden's history; these days, I'd pretty much insist on seeing sample illustrations first!) Nonetheless, I don't regret the investment -- it really is an interesting compare-and-contrast piece to the Ciceros' deck... and a rather different choice to "bootleg" if indeed this particular edition was unauthorized. Edited to add: a copy of the Romanian cards was to be forwarded to the Ciceros by way of Frank Jensen. I don't recall receiving any news on their reaction to it. The deck came with a book -- in Romanian, so I am unable to read it, but it doesn't appear to be structured at all like the Ciceros' book. So it would seem doubtful that the book itself was a translation of the Ciceros' work. -- Jeannette The Tarot Garden

Jeannette	12 May 2005
Lori wrote to let me know that she was in Romania last year, and didn't see any tarots for sale at all, including the Golden Dawn variant mentioned in this thread. The only other Romanian deck we've managed to document is the Tarotul Visurilor, which can be seen in our database here: http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=Visurilor -- Jeannette Roth The Tarot Garden

Tsuzuki	18 May 2005
Thanks. Yeah, I would be very interested in hearing what the Ciceros have to say about it. My initial reaction was, "Bootleg!" There are numerous discrepancies. The Golden Dawn color scales are off, and I'm guessing that it only has one version of the Temperance card. If the Ciceros are responsible for this, they must not like Romania very much.

Necromancer	18 May 2005
i am not sure....that might take some research....

The Is this legit? O_o thread was originally posted on 07 May 2005 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.