Tarot Royal Fez Moroccan

The Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot
This tarot deck,was originally designed by the founder of MENSA, Roland Berrill.  MENSA is an organization for geniuses, minimum IQ for membership is 170.  At any rate, according to the booklet which comes with this deck, Berrill had a "lifelong interest in various aspects of the occult" and his particular fascination was with the tarot, and he "believed that a link existed between tarot, astrology and certain forms of gnosticism." The concept behind this deck lies in the purported history of the tarot.  Many myths surround the origins of tarot, and one of those myths is illustrated here.  According to the legend, the tarot symbolism was a remnant of the mystical societies in the City of Fez, Morocco. After the city fell, the symbolism fell into the hands of the Romany, also known as gypsies, and was misunderstood and so the knowledge was lost until it was deciphered many centuries later. The imagery on these tarot cards seems to be a marriage of Moroccan style and Rider-Waite imagery. 

According to the little white booklet, Berrill was trying to resuscitate the imagery that would have been on the cards that were used back in Fez during the heyday of that illustrious city.  But except for the costumes and a few details of scenery, this deck is very much a Rider-Waite takeoff. All of the cards are drawn in very fine black and white pen-and-ink style, and then select details are colored in with primary colors, leaving the backgrounds and scenery in black and white.  This draws a large amount of attention to the important details on the card.  Each card is bordered in an attractive Moroccan archway shaped border in pale yellow, which makes the black and white artwork stand out even more. The Major Arcana are very traditionally Rider-Waite.  Each of the Major Arcana cards is presented with the Arabic numeral under the image, except for the Fool, which is unnumbered.  The Strength card is 8 and Justice is 11. 

The little white booklet gives the titles for these cards as being the traditional ones. The Minor Arcana are similarly untitled.  Suits would correspond to the Rider-Waite, though, and the little white booklet backs that up, so we will say there are Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands.  The numbered cards bear full scenes.  The cards are not numbered either, you have to count the number of items shown in the illustration.  The court cards are also the standard King, Queen, Knight and Page.

The Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot deck (English version): 24,00 euro

Le Tarot Royal Fez (French version): 29,00 euro

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