- Deck Designer: Luis Norik
- Published Independently
- Available via the website at Versenosastros
- Reviewed by Attila Kárpáthy
Conceived by Luis Norik from Brazil, the Zodiac Path Tarot is an extended deck of ninety-eight cards. Besides the traditional seventy-eight cards of the standard Tarot, the deck contains twelve Zodiac sign cards, four seasons, and four elemental cards. Another unconventional feature is that the cards are square-shaped instead of the classic rectangular. However, what makes it unusual for a Tarot deck, it can be a useful building platform for other purposes.
An innovative addition, as the cards’ back panels are symmetrical, the cards can be read according to four positions. When the card is bottom down, it is considered regular or standard. When the card is upside down, it is considered inverted. When the bottom is on the left, it is considered waning; when it is on the right, it is waxing.
The Major Arcana cards feature Roman numerals, symbols of Zodiac sign, Element and Quality, while the Minor Arcana cards feature Arab numbers and letters for the Court Cards.
The Rider-Waite pattern remotely inspires the illustrations but represents a departure with additional modern traits. The wands suggest physical effort, the pentacles agriculture and financial activities, the swords intellectual occupations, and the cups emotional responses to various situations.
Interestingly, the graphics of the Major Arcana cards are represented in circles, while the Minor Arcana cards run several geometrical patterns, yet with identical distribution through the cards.
The Aces, Sixes and Pages are presented in an oval pattern, the Twos, Sevens and Knights in double ovals, the Threes, Eights and Queens in triangles, the Fours, Nines and Kings in squares, and the Fives and Tens are in pentagons. The additional elemental cards are illustrated in circles like the Major Arcana cards. Most likely, all these shapes and patterns may contribute to recognising, connecting and reading these cards more easily.
Architecturally, there are five Major Arcana cards associated with each season.
The first card is associated with the cardinal quality, the second the transition from cardinal to fixed, the third with the fixed quality, the fourth the transition from fixed to mutable, and the fifth is associated with the end of the season. It is not quite the standard point of view, but it opens the path for new perspectives.
It has been said that the Tarot deck is a picture book of human mysteries. Perhaps a puzzle, one may think. It has also been said that it is a map of the universe and the human soul. Others see the Tarot deck as a mandala. Traditionally, a mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various Eastern spiritual traditions, mandalas may focus the attention of practitioners as a spiritual guidance tool for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. Luis Norik shuffled all these perceptions together and laid down a brand-new construct.
Starting from the centre with the four seasons, a cosmic spiral of the Zodiac can be drawn. First, with the additional Zodiac cards, then by adding the Major Arcana cards from one to twenty. From one, the Magician, to twenty, Judgement, the cards must be placed in order from Aries to Pisces. A new, mandala-like image will emerge with all the cards in position.
To the left of the mandala, the Fool card must be placed beside the Magician, and card twenty-one, the Universe, beside the Judgement. Four other pictures can be composed with the remaining cards by adding the corresponding elemental card to each suite.
The deck is delivered in a nice tuck box with a tiny guidebook, which is in Portuguese. However, the official website has a downloadable digital booklet in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The digital booklet consists of a detailed explanation of all the cards, explains the deck’s architecture, and offers a couple of spreads and a few practical advice for reading methods.
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