Swietlistej Drogi
Polish tarot with fully illustrated minors following Rider-Waite tradition.
by Alla Alicja Chrzanowska · Studio Astropsychologii
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The record
The Swietlistej Drogi deck comes from Poland. It is composed of the standard 78 cards - the 22 Major Arcana and the 56 Minor Arcana, the latter being divided up into the usual suits of Wands, Cups, Swords and Coins. The Minors are fully illustrated - a nod to Rider-Waite - but Justice is numbered 8 and Strength is numbered 11, a nod to the Marseilles tradition. The titles of the cards are in Polish and English. The most striking thing about the deck-at first glance, anyway - is its limited colour palette. Apart from a rainbow on the Fool card, the entire deck is composed of white and yellow-gold on a black background. I had my reservations about this to start with, but the limited colours really seem to enhance the images, all of which are in any case rendered beautifully and in great detail. The most obvious thing about the people in this deck is that they are black-skinned. That seems very odd for a Polish deck! Is it trying to exoticize people of African descent? I honestly don't think so. The backgrounds on these cards are not African or Caribbean or pseudo-versions of Africa or the Caribbean or the Deep South or Harlem. They are not Polish landscapes, either. In fact, apart fr
The cards
