The Ring Cycle Tarot

Allegra Printz has created -- and curated -- an amazing deck that blends the archetypal grandeur of Wagner's epic story with the classic symbolism of tarot. It is a pity that Schiffer did not pay more attention to the printing of Rackham's master illustrations. I own books with beautiful color plate reproductions of these works, and was ecstatic to learn of this deck. The printing, sadly, is substandard with muddy colors and a distracting two tone border. I can get lost in a lovely printing of Rackham's work, but these cards have lost something in the translation. Five stars for Allegra. 2 for Schiffer.

As a collector of Tarot Decks for over 50 years, I welcomed this deck. It is fully illustrated with the works of Arthur Rackham, famous illustrator of the 19th century. I collected this as an art deck. The illustrations are in color and are taken directly from the pages of Rackham who illustrated the Ring of the Nibelung. Printz has taken great pains to compose a deck faithful to the saga as well as to the oracular power of the Tarot. Her companion book has many interesting ideas concerning her creation, right down to musical notes matched with each card .I personally recommend this deck for serious collectors, as well as those interested in Norse/Germanic sagas.

I have confronted feelings about this deck. On one hand is a perfect fusion of tree of my favorite things: Tarot, Norse mythology, Arthur Rackham illustrations.The presentation is delicate. They took care of every detail. I loved the explanation of the ring cycle operas in the book. The box is strong and beautiful.I like the choosing of the different illustrations for the different meanings of the tarot cards. I Think it's appropriated. I had difficult in learning the correspondences with the original symbolism of the traditional tarot cards. I require time and study for working with it.Buy I have a major complain: The editing done to some of the illustrations of Mr. Rackham is very poorly achieved. They used colors that dindn't match at all with the the original style. Some of the cards like the hanged is Brunilde is so badly made that it seems scissors cut. In other cards the color variations don't make justice to the original drawings like in the dragon's cards. In resume, the idea is great and well executed. The edition in the card images y so bad and it's a mayor fault to all Arthur Rackham 's lovers.

The Ring Cycle Tarot is exquisite. Not only is the deck exquisite, the accompanying book is far more than one would ever expect. It is a work of craftsmanship that could only be the result of a lifetime of work and study in numerous disciplines. There is so much to learn from, and to grow and expand with, The Ring Cycle Tarot and the accompanying book. Each time I have asked a question, and then drawn a card from the deck, I have been in awe of how spot on and insightful the card was, and how the explanation in the accompanying book illuminated my question so clearly and distinctively. It is as if The Ring Cycle Tarot is imbued with magic. I kid you not. Everyone that I have shared the deck with has had the same response. They have just been in awe. The Ring Cycle Tarot is a masterpiece.I want the book to be translated into many different languages so it can reach as many people as possible. I truly believe it has been brought through for the greater good to help people on their path in life.

This is such an interesting deck. I've been enjoying getting to know it. The book is great about explaining the story line behind the cards.

I love the ring & I love tarot, these cards are beautiful.

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The Ring Cycle Tarot is a deck based on Richard Wagner's epic The Ring of the Nibelung opera, featuring Arthur Rackham's illustrations of the story. Rackham's exquisite artwork was what drew me to this deck. Going into it, I knew absolutely nothing about the opera. When the deck arrived, I immersed myself in the companion book and was blown away by how the author so brilliantly tied the story into a tarot system.The book and deck come housed in a box that closes magnetically. There is a removable cardboard divider, and I find that whenever I open the box, a lot of the cards have found their way under the divider, and are under the cardboard that the book lies on, which is a minor inconvenience whenever I want to use the deck. Even though the set was shrink wrapped when I received it, the top card in the deck was chipped when I opened it, so that must have happened during packaging. I would assume with regular use, the cards will chip easily. The box itself is the wonderful, sturdy quality you can expect from Schiffer Publishing.The cards are quite tall (3" x 5.5"), making my hand stretch uncomfortably to riffle shuffle. But you really do want these cards on the large size so you can see the detail in the artwork. I think they would have benefited by having no borders at all, either allowing for a smaller deck, or in keeping with the current dimension, allowing for larger images.The borders are two-toned, beige at the top and greyish blue at the bottom. The backs (shown in the bottom-most image below) are reversible, featuring mirrored images of a Valkyrie's head and winged helmet. The colors on the back are beige and blue, matching the borders on the fronts. The cards are matte with a slight sheen to them. They are a bit stiff, but thankfully not super thick like the usual Schiffer card stock.The Aces are all scenic images. The suits are named for races/groups of people. Cups are Walsungs. Wands are Gods. Swords are Gibichungs. Pentacles are Nibelungs. There are a few cards whose titles stray from the traditional tarot. We have the Hanged Woman, instead of the traditional male counterpart. Temperance in this deck is renamed Magic, and Judgement is named Aeon.The illustrations are gorgeous. My god. I mean, Arthur Rackham. The beauty of this card system is that the illustrator, once upon a time, had created this artwork specific to the opera. So the two are meant to go hand in hand. It's not a matter of taking an artist's work and forcing it to fit a story. However, the creator did have to make the artwork and story fit a tarot system, and she did so quite naturally. It flows pretty seamlessly. I did wonder about a few of the card choices, thinking "this" would go better over "there", but overall I have no complaints. It works. It's an exquisite triumph, and if I were the creator I should be beaming with pride.Tying a tarot deck in with a rich story line gives you a different perspective with which to read the cards. Instead of pulling a card and thinking, this card means this, you pull a card and see this is when "this" this happened. You have a frame of reference. A memory. A comparison based on something similar that happened to someone else, and you have their whole backstory to go with it, complete with what led up to it and what happened after, which is something you don't have with an ordinary tarot deck.Having the backstory provides a wonderful extra layer of depth and meaning to readings. Once you familiarize yourself with the story and the role each tarot card plays in it, it really makes for fascinating card readings.You get deep, textured readings with this deck. The cards you pull give you bits from a rich story line to use as a metaphor, a parallel, to your inquiry. This allows you to stand back a bit and be more objective, seeing how your situation plays out in another reality. It's brilliant. The style of the system makes readings come across as elegant, refined, classy, and a touch somber.The amazing book that accompanies the deck is an extensive 256 pages. It is genius. The author offers a brilliant way to tie the story to the deck by using the cards in the storytelling. For each act, she tells you what cards will feature in that part. I happily played along, as it was a genius way to get myself to remember how each card pertains to the story. As the story goes on, she will refer to each card as it appears in the story (sometimes more than once). This immerses the reader completely. I could never have read this deck with any real understanding if it were not for this method. I spent my free time over a few days, poring over the story with my cards, loving every minute of it.The book begins with a Table of Contents and an Introduction which tells how the author came to design the deck. She then brilliantly walks you through the scenes of the opera, weaving each tarot card into the story. After that, each card gets its own page or two, complete with a black and white image of the card, card background, divinatory meaning and reversed meaning. The Major Arcana cards additionally come with an accompanying music note and Rainer Maria Rilke quote.There are three spreads given:The Three Norns Spread (3 cards): A past-present-future spreadThe Nibelung Smithing Spread (9 cards)Ring Magical Implements Spread (14 cards)Following this, there is a section for Quick Reference Card Meanings, a biography of Arthur Rackham, a section on the Ring's Great Themes, a section on Wagner's Ring Music, and musical listening suggestions which provide the reader with some of the opera excerpts along with their tarot card counterparts. The book ends with a bibliography, epilogue (which is a single philosophical question posed to the reader), and an About the Creator page.The front cover of my book, after only a few days of careful use, has come unglued from the binding. I only hope it does not undo itself from the entire binding.This is an amazing deck and book set, whether you are familiar with the opera or not. Half the fun for me was learning the story. The illustrations are gorgeous, of course. The cards and backstory provide fascinating depth to readings. This set is a genuine treasure! I can't recommend it highly enough.Suits: Walsungs (Cups), Gods (Wands), Gibichungs (Swords), Nibelungs (Pentacles)Court Titles: Page, Knight, Queen, KingJustice/Strength: Strength 8, Justice 11Cards: 78Card Size: 3" x 5.5"Card stock: MatteBacks: ReversibleDeck-specific LWB: No LWB. Full-sized deck-specific companion book.Artist: Arthur RackhamAuthor: Allegra Printz (based on Richard Wagner's work)Publisher: Schiffer

Fascinating book and cards are easy to read and made of excellent stock - I like the slightly narrower than normal size - haven't had chance yet to see how they read long term but the Ring Cycle certainly fits the Fool's journey well.

Although the colours are a bit on the dull side and the images are quite dark, the deck is as described and is a good addition to my collection. It blends well with the Arthur Rockham oracle. Delivery was prompt and I am satisfied.

Ein wunderbares Deck! Die Illustrationen gefallen mir sehr, die ausführlichen Texte beschreiben die Deutung einer Karte in die Tiefe und nimmt hierbei Bezug auf die Geschichten der Nibelungen-Oper. Beeindruckend!