One of Llewellyn's bestselling tarot decks is now available with brilliantly refreshed artwork and an updated guidebook. With borderless cards, richer colours, and stylish design improvements, the deck retains its powerful readability with a more contemporary look to engage its many fans and new users alike. Following the RWS style and abounding with medieval magicians, priestesses, emperors, and knights, the Gilded Tarot Royale will continue to inspire tarot readers for years to come.
This review is image heavy.
Recently I reviewed the Supernatural Tarot Deck. I realised as I was doing it that I hadn't reviewed my working decks, so here's the first one.
A quick history lesson before we get into the review. Tarot began as a card game, no different from poker or Go Fish, in Europe in the 15th century (ish, dates are hazy.) It didn't start being used for predicting the future until around the 18th century. The most popular version is the Rider Waite Smith; most decks use those ideas, interpreted to suit the theme of the deck. There are plenty of non RWS decks out there, but beginners are usually advised to start with RWS as they can then apply their skills across literally thousands of decks.A tarot deck is divided in 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards divided across four suits. Cards in the Minor Arcana can be pips...so the seven of wands would literally show seven wands...or pictorial...so the seven of wands would show, probably, someone defending themselves against seven wands. Beginners are advised to chose a pictorial deck, as they're easier to learn, but of course they don't have to.
I'm leaving out a lot of nuance, but this is enough for our purposes today.
So, the Gilded Royale. This is an updated reissue of the Gilded Tarot which released in the 00s. It quickly became famous among readers for its rich, deep colours and amazing artwork. The Royale keeps that tradition and even, in my opinion, improves on it. Some of the images are updated, and the cards are borderless - the image goes right to the edge of the cards. I love this kind of card, it feels as though you can fall into the image.
These cards are just a tiny bit shorter than the average tarot card, which I love. It makes them easier for me to handle.
Mine is the basic kit, with cards and a small booklet. There is a version that comes with a more indepth guidebook, and I believe from reviews of it that the box itself is larger but the cards are the same size.
As you can see, these cards are the same size as the box, which simply folds down around them.
The reverse of the cards has this amazing, beautiful design. It's fully reversible so, if it matters to your readings, you won't know whether a card is upside down or not before you reveal it. I don't mind either way on that, but I know some people find it affects the way they read.
(Edit: I realised after using them for a while that the design is actually not completely reversible; you'd have to look very closely to see the difference, but there is a slight difference in them.)
Here is a sample of the amazing designs. Look at those jewel colours and the depth of images. These are very much based on the RWS system, so a reader with some experience of that system will have no problems here. Honestly, even if you don't know them, you could follow a lot of the Minors just by looking at the images, they're so rich and detailed.
There is a slight Egyptian theme to some of the Majors, but mostly these cards are Medieval if they're anything.
Be aware that some of the cards have non graphic, illustrated nudity.
The Court cards are very traditional, except that the Queens aren't on thrones, they're moving around.
Queens are typically more active in their suits (as I understand it anyway, still a beginner!) and this is a nice way to show that. I love the details in these cards!
As I said, this set comes with a small booklet that quickly covers upright and reversed meanings for all cards in the deck. It's good for an overview, but not for a detailed reading; you might need to cross reference with another guide.
Overall, I love this deck. The colours are amazing, they're lovely to shuffle and hold, and they're designed for ease of use for RWS users. I wouldn't get it as your first deck, or at least buy a more in depth guide book as well, but they are fantastic to work with and I really enjoy them.
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