2nd Edition - Circle of Life Tarot

Dee Ell

So apparently LoS is reprinting a new edition of the Circle of Life deck I've wanted for a very long time. But when I looked at the changes they made on their site I was dismayed to see that although they nixed the titles in multiple languages, they decided to add a dark blue border and these awkward chunks that project into the art for the card numbers

So rather than creating an invisible border when they took away all the words, they created a distracting dark frame that hems and juts into the images:

http://shop.loscarabeo.com/index.php?id_product=757&controller=product&id_lang=1

Curious if other people feel the same way about the upcoming new edition? The new backs are interesting... I still like the originals though.

Tarotwolf

It's funny but the first thing that popped into my head, when looking at the card image, was of two ouroboros biting each others tails. That would actually be very appropriate for a deck like this.

Aeric

I absolutely love the new changes. The border frame would be far more distracting if it were plain white. The cool indigo is soothing and conducive for meditation. I don't mind that it's no longer a perfect circle because many of the cards are scenes that don't utilize the roundness, so lopping off a pair of neat chunks is no big.

The new backs are just gorgeous. This to me is what Universal and Radiant Rider-Waite did to RWS. They gave it tone, depth, dimension. The flat, bland yellow now looks like a 3D rainbow tunnel that you can look down into.

I gave away my first COL, but I'll be keeping this one for sure!

Le Fanu

I honestly hadn't noticed this deck slipping OOP. I think I prefer my first edition.

I see dark borders and think *chipping*

Dee Ell

Le Fanu said:
I honestly hadn't noticed this deck slipping OOP. I think I prefer my first edition.

I see dark borders and think *chipping*

Yeah, I hadn't even thought of that.

And Aeric, I don't think plain white would have been necessary but some neutral color that would disappear. I just don't like how the number tabs are literally *right on top of* some of the images' heads like the Magician. It's way too cramped. I do love the new backs though.

Aeric

Ah well, it doesn't bother me.

One thing I definitely like about the tabs is that they give the clearest indication which way is up. With many of the figures symmetrical or curled in on themselves, it was really difficult with symmetrical numbered cards and especially the unnumbered court cards to find north. I kept spinning them every which way to find the sweet spot between the Dutch and English words. No more of that!

Aeric

I received the second edition COL today. I have bad news and good news.

The bad news is that my copy of the deck contained a duplicate 9 of Wands in place of 8 of Wands and needs replacing. If you’re interested in the deck, I’d suggest holding out just a little while in case people identify other defects in the first copies. I’ll have to be patient again!

And bad news for non-English readers: the other languages in the book (Italian, French, German, Spanish, Russian) visibly contain the original LWB text only, with short phrases, making the English version the largest and most complete. This makes it clear that the 2nd edition was created specially for the English market. My apologies to ESLers, perhaps a kind multilingual soul will translate the English.

For English, the good news is the deck has phenomenally improved!

1. The Box

The box is now a very sturdy two-piece container instead of the awfully tight tuck box from before, where the flap was scrunched almost immediately upon opening if you weren’t careful, and the cards wedged deeply inside. The new lid is sturdily fitted and needs a few good shakes to come loose, so your cards ain’t going’ anywhere!

2. The Cards

We’ve already covered the cards in detail above. Some people like the indigo borders and tabs, some don’t. I like them, and I’ve included samples of Ace, Major, Court, and Minor to show the different tabs (including my 9W defect). The coating is glossy and the the colours just a little more enhanced from before. The backs are simply gorgeous.

3. The Book

Yes, THE BOOK, NOT A LWB! The baffling first English LWB has been expanded by Bepi Vigna into 34 pages. The first contained only one enigmatic phrase for each card which often barely reconciled with the image on the card. But the new entry contains a description of the image followed by an interpretive paragraph that is close to RWS.

Attached is a sample of the 9W, what some people believed was one of the most difficult cards to reconcile with RWS and the image, the man with candles on his head.

The original LWB said only: “Strength and wisdom are gained by tempering our own will.” Huh?!

In all, once I get a replacement, I’ll be VERY happy with this, a tremendous improvement over the yellow first edition!

ana luisa

Aeric said:
I received the second edition COL today. I have bad news and good news.

The bad news is that my copy of the deck contained a duplicate 9 of Wands in place of 8 of Wands and needs replacing. If you’re interested in the deck, I’d suggest holding out just a little while in case people identify other defects in the first copies. I’ll have to be patient again!

And bad news for non-English readers: the other languages in the book (Italian, French, German, Spanish, Russian) visibly contain the original LWB text only, with short phrases, making the English version the largest and most complete. This makes it clear that the 2nd edition was created specially for the English market. My apologies to ESLers, perhaps a kind multilingual soul will translate the English.

For English, the good news is the deck has phenomenally improved!

1. The Box

The box is now a very sturdy two-piece container instead of the awfully tight tuck box from before, where the flap was scrunched almost immediately upon opening if you weren’t careful, and the cards wedged deeply inside. The new lid is sturdily fitted and needs a few good shakes to come loose, so your cards ain’t going’ anywhere!

2. The Cards

We’ve already covered the cards in detail above. Some people like the indigo borders and tabs, some don’t. I like them, and I’ve included samples of Ace, Major, Court, and Minor to show the different tabs (including my 9W defect). The coating is glossy and the the colours just a little more enhanced from before. The backs are simply gorgeous.

3. The Book

Yes, THE BOOK, NOT A LWB! The baffling first English LWB has been expanded by Bepi Vigna into 34 pages. The first contained only one enigmatic phrase for each card which often barely reconciled with the image on the card. But the new entry contains a description of the image followed by an interpretive paragraph that is close to RWS.

Attached is a sample of the 9W, what some people believed was one of the most difficult cards to reconcile with RWS and the image, the man with candles on his head.

The original LWB said only: “Strength and wisdom are gained by tempering our own will.” Huh?!

In all, once I get a replacement, I’ll be VERY happy with this, a tremendous improvement over the yellow first edition!

I'm sure Riccardo would love to read about this !

Dee Ell

Aeric - Mahalo for your thorough assessment and pics. When placed on a dark cloth like yours the borders disappear! I will have to keep this in mind since no one is responding to my trade thread looking for the 1st edition of this deck...

Will the publisher send you a replacement card?

Aeric

Yeah no worries I've got it covered. And I'm patient!

It occurred to me that perhaps the expanded section of the book is available for whatever first language your copy of the deck is in. i.e. If you buy "I Tarocchi del Cerchio della Vita," where English is a supporting language, the Italian section may have the expanded text and the English the original LWB. Maybe someone can tell us.

I forgot to mention that the Life Cycle spread from the LWB has been replaced with a "Monthly Theme" spread of 12 cards in a circle to map out a year, not unlike the classic Horoscope spread. I consider this a minor drawback since the Life Cycle spread, employing four rows of six cards, is much more challenging and dynamic.

The non-English sections keep the Life Cycle spread along with the original LWB text, so another reviewer can verify whether their version gets the Monthly spread too.

2nd Edition - Circle of Life Tarot

Dee Ell

Tarotwolf

Aeric

Le Fanu

Dee Ell

Aeric

Aeric

Attachments

ana luisa

Dee Ell

Aeric