Tarot of Pirates

The record

I awaited the release of Lo Scarabeo’s Tarot of the Pirates with great anticipation, but I’m not exactly sure what it was that I was expecting. Pre-release details about the deck were sketchy; very few samples of the artwork were available. When I finally received my copy in the late spring, I’m not sure if I was happy or disappointed. The deck is an idealized or romanticized view of the pirate life, not a historically accurate one. The LWB states: “Thanks to literature and cinema, pirates have become a symbol of courage and audacity, the emblem of freedom and adventure. . .This romantic legendary idea rather than their true history, rich in cruelty and notoriety, was the inspiration for the Pirate Tarot Cards.” Many of the scenes depicted in the cards could have been plucked out of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series, yet I would not recommend the deck for children. The sexual situations, drinking, violence, bare breasts, hints of prostitution, and a woman apparently defending herself against unwanted sexual advances in the 8 of Swords makes the deck, I feel, inappropriate for pre-teens. That having been said the Tarot of the Pirates is a fun deck, featuring colorful comic bo

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