Victoria Regina Tarot

Written and Designed by Sarah Ovenall
Additional Text by Georg Patterson and Sarah Ovenall
Published by Llewellyn Publications

In the past few years, the tarot deck market has seen several art decks arrive, and not all of them are actually workable decks. The Victoria Regina Tarot, however, manages to be a beautiful deck, as well as a usable addition to your collection. Ovenall uses her unique voice as an artist, but still remains true to the spirit of each card in the archetypal deck. The deck itself uses black and white Victorian clip art with the theme of illustrating Victorian England, and using the history of that era as a setting for the cards, Majors and Minors. The artistry of the cards is wonderful in the hands of collage artist Ovenall, and the explanatory text is also quite solid and helpful.

Many deck designers attempt to be unusual and individual at the expense of the cards--the meanings become muddied or even just completely different, no longer really "tarot" in system at all. It would have been easy for the Victoria Regina Tarot to twist and shove the card meanings into the overall theme of Victorian England, but Ovenall didn't need to do that. She created her art and then found something appropriate in history to fit. The traditional suits have been replaced in the collages by pens for wands, guns for swords, Mason jars for cups, and clocks for coins. Each of these changes is an appropriate analog for the traditional suit; the substitution of clocks for coins is particularly brilliant, given that modern man's reliance upon an 8-5 workplace and having a life governed by the "tyranny of the clock" began in the Victorian period.

Many of the cards have very powerful and interesting (not to mention appropriate) images. The overall style is quite surreal, but lovely and powerful. For example, the Nine of Swords depicts a man sitting with his head in his hands. Nine pistols of various sizes surround him. Not only is this a beautifully appropriate image for the meaning of that card, but it's a very nice example of art itself. The Court cards depict historical characters, such as Oscar Wilde, Queen Victoria, Disreali, and George V.

The accompanying text for that card explains Ovenall's desire to tie this card in with the devastation following the Irish Potato Famine--a laudable and interesting goal. The images Ovenall used were finely illustrated, giving her a solid basis for her additional art of collage. It is amazing what she could do with simple newspaper and advertisement illustrations. The largest empire the world has yet seen, the deck also draws upon some "foreign" imagery, such as Africans and East Indians.

The text of the book is useful and clear. An introduction provides a bit of backstory on the deck's creation, as well as a brief historical overview of the Victorian era--the era when the now-classic Rider-Waite and Crowley decks were created. Then, each card is profiled, beginning with the Major Arcana, then the Minors, and finally the Court Cards. No reversals are covered. The meanings given are traditional, with an appropriate and interesting context provided by Ovenall's images and the Victorian history associated with the artwork.

I recommend this deck and book set for anyone interested in tarot readings. Beginners will be able to find clarity and help in Ovenall's evocative imagery, but old hands will find real meat for their interpretations, as well. Collectors of card decks will of course love this artistic and unusual addition. Historians and lovers of Victoriana will also love this deck for its beautiful images and for the interesting interpretation of the era contained within the deck and book.

Grade: A

Review submitted by Dindrane