Tarot of the Hidden Folk

Giacinto Gaudenzi, whose Celtic deck this catalog also holds, turns to the hidden folk for Lo Scarabeo: the full seventy-eight cards in strictly traditional format, trumps titled conventionally, suits and courts complete, while the population is entirely the unseen neighbors of European folklore. The structural conservatism is the interesting choice; where most fairy decks loosen the architecture to suit their subjects, this one houses the hidden folk in tarot's standard building, folklore moving into the tradition rather than renovating it. Gaudenzi's engraved-leaning Italian line gives the folk their old-world gravity, closer to the beings peasants actually feared and fed than to flower fairies. It suits folklore readers who want the elder, ambivalent fair folk, traditionalists who prefer their theme decks structurally orthodox, Gaudenzi and Lo Scarabeo collectors, and readers of the Fairy Ring's school looking for the tarot-shaped sibling. The gauzy-winged constituency has its own well-lit shelf; these folk prefer the hedgerow's shadow side.