Viceversa Tarot

I bought the Viceversa Tarot because I was interested in the idea of the back view of the card. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover I really like the front view too. Unfortunately I only have the tuckbox version. Having already purchased mine, I discovered that a kit with a full book written by Lunaea Weatherstone, author of the guide book for The Forest of Enchantment also exists. I enjoy her writing style so I would have liked to have the complete kit but oh well. If I find someone who loves this deck as much as I do I might gift it on and replace it with the kit version but for now I’m happy with the one I have.

The power of the Viceversa Tarot is its ability to make you consider what the card is telling you on many levels. I know all decks have that potential but does it in a very different way. The LWB begins with a quote:

The world always in movement, turning in circles and starting with and returning to self

which is a declaration of intent for this deck. This quote was made by Macrobius in reference to Janus. In Ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus, amongst other things, was the god of beginnings, duality, and endings which aligns perfectly with this deck. As I look through the cards I can see how they encourage consideration of both the internal and external world. The book also refers to the Pythagorean school notion of two areas of learning. They argue that neither the internal or the external, should be ignored. These cards encourage you to consider both and I find them really powerful as a result.

Consider the messages contained in the cups cards below. Notice in the Ace of Cups, the potential suitor comes in after she has made peace with herself. The 10 of cups suggests the ultimate potential. How often do we let our definition of love diminish rather than expand our sense of emotional wellbeing and our belief in what is possible?

The Viceversa Tarot Cards

The Viceversa Tarot has so many messages to share and each offers insights that most decks leave to the readers interpretations. That’s not to say that each side of the card isn’t multifaceted in its own right. Rather it’s that the flip side is a reminder of other things to acknowledge/contemplate. I don’t have many decks in my collection that I don’t like. Nonetheless, this one is destined to be a firm favourite because of the wisdom it imparts and its ability to elevate understanding to higher levels.

As you can see this is a borderless deck which gets a big tick from me. The cards themselves are small – approximately 12cm x 6½cm – and super slippery which makes them easy to shuffle and just plain wonderful to work with. To differentiate between the front and the back of the card, you can see that one side is cups 10, the other is 10 cups. You can also refer to the corner detail as well if you wanted to quickly re-order them.

They follow the Rider Waite Smith system with Strength VIII and Justice XI but as you may have noticed there are no words on the cards. The Major Arcana’s numbers are in Roman numerals and the number cards use symbols. The symbol code for the court is at the front of the book. Therefore, since no card names are printed on the cards, you can choose to call them whatever comes most naturally to you. The book retains the standard Rider Waite Smith names.

The Viceversa Tarot Book

The tuckbox guidebook can at best be described as brief. As per Lo Scarabeo’s usual presentation, the already unsubstantial book is, in reality, only a fifth of the size it appears as it contains the same information in five translations – English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. For the Major Arcana, explanation is by way of between one and three short sentences for each side of the card. The Minor Arcana offers three keywords for each card. That’s it. So much could be written about this deck and I’m assuming the book that comes in the kit brings many ideas to light. But, my love and appreciation for the cards overcomes the book’s shortcomings. If you like to refer to the book then DO NOT buy just the card deck.

The Spreads:

It probably comes as no surprise that only one spread is offered in the book:

• The Glance of Janus (4 cards)

I like the card position meanings in this spread and as is to be expected it works well with the deck. I “read” both sides of the cards, finding the “but what if” and “but consider” type messages that surfaced really powerful.

Publishing details

Deck Creator:

Massimiliano Filadoro

Artwork by:

Davide Corsi

Pictured Version:

Lo Scarabeo 2017