I've recently come across some great pictures of Nefertari's Tarot by Lo Scarabeo on Amazon (and I love them) but the deck seems a little pricey. All that gold foil I suppose! Does anyone have it and have any advice? Is it worth it or not?
This was the deck that got me back into Tarot after a considerable break. It's stunning. I dare say it's probably the best of the gold foil decks that LS has done. I have both the black back and the Papyrus-style back and prefer the black back (it's covered in wee Hours eyes).
It's sturdy and my initial fears about it being fragile have not be born out. It's very bling though and getting it out in sunlight can be magpie magnet, but that's the point.
As to its Egyptian-ness; I read Egyptology at Uni and this is a subtle but well executed endeavour. I especially like the way the suit of swords mimics lines from the Book of the Dead. The depiction of the Gods on the Majors are well done. The author/artist have used the accepted pantheon of Heliopolis (middle and late Kingdoms), which is the set of Gods most people associate with Ancient Egypt.
My only complaint is that LS didn't publish a proper guidebook to accompany the deck. The LWB is useless and I suspect a basic book about the Egyptian Gods, if not a copy of the Book of the Dead (or at least one of the commentaries on it) would help the novice get to grips with some of the more challenging iconography. Wikipedia is also handy for a synopsis of the whos and whats of the Egyptian pantheon. Be wary though, many of the authors on Wikipedia confuse Heliopolis, Memphis, Alexandrian and Luxorian pantheons.
But, it is still a very striking and well executed deck, even if one elects not to do any reading about the Gods.
It has consistently given me frank and useful readings. If I was stranded on a desert island, along with Thoth and Tabula Mundi I'd want this one with me too. I was lucky enough to score an uncut sheet of this beauty in the Kickstarter for Tarot Fundamentals. The huge A0 sheet, with all that gold looks stunning.
Do shop around as prices vary wildly. If you have a passing interest in Egyptian style decks it's hard to go past this one. It's authentic, accurate, and beautiful, and that's not something that can be said of most Egyptian themed decks. The vast majority of which make an Egyptologist cringe.
A word on card stock; the older black back is better (slightly thicker) than the current Papyrus-style back.