Celtic Tarots

Celtic Tarots
Giacinto Gaudenzi and Saverio Tenuta, 2000

There are now several Tarot decks which are Celtic or quasi-Celtic in nature. Each tends to have their own focus, whether it is history, the gods, the myths, the magical traditions, or the art. I enjoy these differences between the decks, although the paintings for the Celtic Tarots stand out as some of the finest artwork I've seen in this category of deck.

Celtic Tarots was published by Lo Scarabeo in 2000. It features the work of two artists, Giacinto Gaudenzi who illustrated the major arcana, and Saverio Tenuta who illustrated the minor arcana. The majors are my favorite because Gaudenzi depicted the Celtic gods as realistic flesh-and-blood characters rather than as amorphous beings who exist only in the realm of myth.

Gaudenzi’s illustrations were previously published by Lo Scarabeo as a majors-only deck titled I Tarocchi Celtici. His Trumps depict scenes of the Fomori and the Tùatha Dé Danaan (Trumps 0–IX), the epoch cycle of the Ulaid (X–XIV), and the legends of Fianna (XV–XXI). The High Priestess shows the fire-Goddess Brigh, known also as Bridget and Brigid. She is the daughter of Dagda but wife of one from the rival Fomori clan, which symbolizes her role as link between two kingdoms. When her son was killed in battle, the powerful goddess grieved but did not take revenge. Instead, her face became beautiful on one side and hideous on the other. The card depicts her transformation.

Trump XIV, Temperance, portrays Emer, the bride of the warrior Cu Chulain. Emer wept over the body of the slain hero until one of his horses – Grey of Macha – consoled her. Her grief was eased and her weeping turned to song.

The unusual creature on The Tower card depicts Aillen Mac Midhna. He was a fairy musician of the Tùatha Dé Danaan who came every year at Samhain Eve (All-Hallows Eve) to the royal Court of Temair. He played his bell tambourine so beautifully that all who heard him were lulled to sleep. With three blasts of fire from his nostrils, he would then burn down the palace, and escaped unharmed.

Oisin was prince of the last remaining Celtic clan Fianna. From the land of Tír na nÓg came the Princess Niamh, to seek a husband from the Fianna tribe. She spoke of her homeland, a paradise where time passed slowly, a place of feasting and games, where beauty and strength lived forever. Oisin fell in love with Niamh and decided to leave his homeland.

Tír na nÓg was indeed as she described, and he was welcomed with a banquet by the King and Queen. In time, though, Oisin grew anxious to revisit his family. Niamh explained to him that three years in Tír na nÓg was as three hundred years in Erin, and that the Fianna were now gone. Seeing that he could not be swayed, she warned that he must not let his foot touch the native soil or he would be stranded and unable to return. He reassured her, and set off on her white steed.

Upon his return he saw hills and ruins where houses of his friends had once been. His father’s home was ruined and overgrown. In his sorrow, he asked the local townsfolk what had happened to his people the Fianna, but all they knew of them were legends handed down through the generations that had passed. During his stay, he noticed a group of men attempting to replace an altar stone which had fallen, ashamed that there was not one among them fit to lift it. Oisin stooped forward to hurl it back into place. At that moment the belt of his saddle snapped and dropped him to the ground. There was nothing he could do; he was transformed into an old man, and the riderless horse returned to a sorrowful Niamh. Oisin was therefore the last of the Fianna.

The fully-illustrated minors are drawn by the Italian artist Saverio Tenuta, who has illustrated a number of Italian comic books. His style is a good match to Gaudenzi’s finished Trump images, and it is not immediately obvious that the deck is the work of two different artists. The differences between the majors and the minors become apparent as you look more closely, but overall the two styles work very well together.

The images of the minor arcana are based largely on the Waite-Smith deck. The little booklet gives only keywords for the minors, and interpretive ‘titles’ to the court cards. The Queen of Swords, for example, is named Judgement, and the Knight of Wands is named the Traveler. The four suits represent the mythological races of ancient Ireland: Wands are the Fomori people, the first race, symbolizing initiative and activity; Pentacles are the Tùatha Dé Danaan, the ancient gods who retreated underground once mortals dominated the earth; Swords are the Ulaid people, a warrior class and symbol of mental ability; Chalices are the Fianna people, the last surviving race of a more chivalrous time.

Review by Mark Filipas, 7/7/00