Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Cerulean

I enjoy Caselli's illustrations in some other myth books. One thing I saw in a review of another Sharman-Burke deck, the Mythic Tarot, is the choice of which raised arm of the magician. It's directly opposite of the standard Rider Waite. The explanation offered in the Sharman Caselli tarot is fine---it's just a variation that might mean something significant to Rider-Waite-Smith-deck style fans. Astroamerica has reviews of the Mythic that has the commentary on which arm the Magician raises---so it might be of concern.
Another variation is that Justice/Strength follows the Marseilles order of Justice as eight and Strength as 11.
For Comparative Tarot, an online group, I noted that Sharman Caselli seems to draw from various decks depicted in Sharman-Burke's book Mastering the Tarot. I see influences from Miranda Gray's lighter scenic hues in the Arthurian Tarot, the softer pastels of Brian William A Renaissance Tarot and the simple, open feel of the Mythic.
The price and packaging is inexpensive as a travel kit tarot---if you have additional insights, I'm all ears.
 

Lee

Hi, Mari, welcome to Aeclectic Tarot! :)

I found your comments both here and in your Amazon reader's review to be very insightful.

By the way, I'm a little confused about the Justice/Strength thing. I'm probably missing something obvious, but why do you say that Justice is 8 and Strength 11? The cards themselves are unnumbered, and in the book she discusses the Majors in her own preferred order which is rather different and difficult to compare to the Marseilles order (for instance, Strength comes before the Hermit, suggesting that Strength is 8, but before Strength is Temperance, at which point it seems there really is no correlation that makes sense).

Welcome again!

-- Lee
 

Cerulean

Whoops...you are right, un-numbered.

I was looking at the order of appearance and also referring to her examples in Mastering the Tarot. I'm going to check my Sharman-Caselli Tarot book to check the order that they list the majors...I think what was also hanging me up is I did a card by card comparison last night with the Universal Tarots by DeAngelis as well.

The colors in DeAngelis are brighter and the lines more lively against high-contrast or mid-tone backgrounds. The Sharman-Caselli deck is much more subtle in details...except the suit of Wands cries out yellow and orange-red in Sharman Caselli. I changed my spreadcloth background because the yellow in the suit of Wands is quite dominant.

It turns out if I compare Sharman-Caselli to G. Trevisan's (excuse the spelling) Tarot of the Rebirth (Renaissance), I get a better match in color, softness and delicacy. If I ever get Trevisan's Tarot of the Romantic/Romance through Alidastore.com, I'm thinking the Sharman Caselli would also do a great match there.

Thanks for your note.

Mari H.
 

truthsayer

does the sharman-caselli tarot happen to go by any other name? i can't seem to find it in any reviews or sites that sell decks. i live so far from good tarot stores i'd like to see if i can get it from amazon.
 

Lee

The set it comes in is called "Beginner's Guide to Tarot" by Juliet Sharman-Burke.

-- Lee
 

Cocobird55

I like this deck a lot. I think it is a great deck for learning tarot.

One question -- it looks like the Fool is sunburned. His face and hands are definitely more red than anyone else's in the deck. Do you think he is sunburned on purpose, since getting sunburned is kind of a foolish thing to do?

Sue
 

Cerulean

It's a little confusing, because the deck comes packaged with a book, "Beginner's Guide to Tarot" by Sharman-Burke, and the whole package is called "Beginner's Guide to Tarot," so if you look at it, for example, at Amazon.com, you wouldn't know that there's a deck that comes with it.


I'm quoting from message one---hope this helps you. It's a pretty deck.

I'm enjoying comparing it with Trevisan's Tarot of the Renaissance and the book by Sharman-Burke called Mastering the Tarot.
 

truthsayer

i found it at amazon. it's not but like $14 there-of course, youve got to add in shipping and handling but that comes out to about what it would be at a bookstore. i may need it... :p
 

truthsayer

i just got this deck today and wanted to share my positive impressions of it. first, all the good things said about it are all true. if you want a pretty, gentle deck w/ noncomplex symbolism to start learning tarot then this is the one. i really like the book that comes w/ the deck. there are arrows pointing out symbols and explaining the meaning. i wish i had started on one like this. i do like recommending hanson roberts and universal waite to beginners but i think this one is going to be my first choice. it's obviously patterned after waite smith but ppl look happier. the art is very good. the deck is full of light and sunshine yet isn't devoid of negativity like the connolly deck.

i don't think i'll be giving up my hanson roberts anytime soon but i'll be using this one, too. this deck's strength over hanson-roberts decks is that this one is light but the ppl look like adults. they aren't made to look cutesy as some ppl have complained about HR decks. i like cutesy but there are adults i wouldn't be comfortable using that kind of deck w/. in that situation, the SBC is perfect.
 

Cocobird55

I like this set a lot. I've been involved with tarot for years, but only recently began trying to seriously learn it. This deck is great for learning. I've gotten some great readings from it. It isn't pushy, but there's a very strong "why don't you look at it this way" kind of feel that was very helpful.

The book is good, too. As someone else pointed out, the symbols are clear, and explained quite well.

All in all, while I have about 30 other decks (definitely a TA member), I use this one the most for reading and learning.

Sue