Sola Busca Tarot: Deck Review

Review of the Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit by Paola Gnaccolini, Lo Sacrabeo Tarot, Published by Lo Scarabeo

Last year, I wrote an article The Four of Pentacles – 500 Years Ago & Today, exploring the that means of the 4 of pentacles and evaluating the illustrations in my go-to Rider Waite tarot deck to the Fifteenth-century Sola Busca tarot deck.

I uncovered some fascinating tarot historical past throughout my analysis of the Sola Busca, and I contact on the origins of the Sola Busca tarot the earlier put up. At that point (June of 2019), I had preordered my deck, however hadn’t but acquired it. The deck arrived two weeks earlier than Halloween 2019, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. It would take me almost seven months from opening the field to laying my first unfold with the Sola Busca. Here’s my tackle this reproducton renaissance tarot deck.

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First Impressions of the New Sola Busca Tarot

There have been a number of reproductions revealed of this Fifteenth-century tarot deck over the years, however many are fairly costly. The Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit was inside my “tarot card addiction budget.” The set got here in a phenomenal presentation field, with a 127-page paperback booklet (disclaimer, that web page rely consists of directions in six languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and what appears like Russian). The hinged presentation field features a ribbon to make lifting the guide and tarot deck simple.

I seen two issues the primary time I picked up the deck. It was very thick, and really slippery. I performed round with it for some time, getting the texture of the playing cards. It was so tough to shuffle that I turned annoyed fairly rapidly. I popped the playing cards again in field and determined to return again to it once I was in a greater state of mind.

It would take me almost seven months from opening the field to laying my first unfold with the Sola Busca tarot deck…

In May of 2020, whereas the world was nonetheless on lock-down, social distancing, and making an attempt to maintain our minds occupied in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, I made a decision to offer the Sola Busca Tarot a second probability.

Handling the Deck

The Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit by Paola Gnaccolini is product of very thick, shiny card inventory, making it tough for me to shuffle. I measured it in opposition to my customary Rider Waite deck and located it to be almost twice as thick.

My most popular methodology is the overhand shuffle (often known as the Witch’s Shuffle), and I discovered it almost inconceivable to combine the playing cards this fashion due to the thickness of the deck. I then tried a riffle shuffle, however the playing cards had been too inflexible to make this sensible. The “swoosh” methodology (the place you lay the playing cards on the desk and swirl them round) will in all probability the most suitable choice for most individuals who do this deck.

Identifying the Cards

If you realized tarot on a contemporary deck, studying the 500-year-old art work on the Sola Busca playing cards will probably be a problem. Just like a contemporary deck, there are 78 playing cards, however there are some vital variations that it is best to find out about. Let’s break it down by the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana:

The Major Arcana

Like fashionable decks, there are 22 playing cards within the Sola Busca Tarot main arcana. The majors are recognized by Roman numerals, so when you’ve memorized the tarot key phrases by quantity (or when you’ve got a tarot key phrase chart like this one), you’ll be capable to apply that information to those trump playing cards.

The majors on this deck should not have conventional names like The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, and so on. Instead, except for card 0 (The Fool within the Rider Waite and different decks), the majors within the Sola Busca tarot deck are named for biblical figures or well-known individuals of the time. For instance, card #1 (historically The Magician) depicts Marcus Baebius Tamphilus, often known as Panfilio, who was a Justice of the Peace round 192 b.c. His biography, together with the opposite personalities depicted within the Sola Busca main arcana, is included within the booklet.

The enclosed guide isn’t a complete information to studying the tarot. It may be very particular to this deck. The playing cards within the main arcana are lined intimately (as pictured above). There can be a piece with conventional meanings for the majors, in addition to a really high-level overview of the minor arcana.

The Minor Arcana

The Sola Busca tarot deck has 56 minor arcana playing cards, and so they’re damaged out into 4 fits, identical to a contemporary deck. However, figuring out the person playing cards could be a little bit of a problem. With the exception of the Aces, every card has a tiny Arabic (customary) quantity written someplace on the decrease half of the illustration.

The Court Cards of the Minor Arcana are totally different as properly. They are numbered, moderately than recognized by their station. So, the Page playing cards have the quantity 11, the Knights the quantity 12, the Queens the quantity 13, and the Kings are numbered 14.

The fits could be a bit complicated at first. While the swords are clearly swords, the pentacles look a bit like cymbals, the wands like scepters, and the cups appear to be lidded vessels or clay jars.

Pros and Cons of the Sola Busca Tarot Deck

The Good

• High-quality presentation field
• Fascinating Italian renaissance art work reproduced from the unique Fifteenth-century Sola Busca tarot
• Nice reference for tarot historians
• Advanced tarot readers might discover this a great way to stretch their interpretation abilities
• Interesting historic data within the booklet

The Not So Good

• Very thick, inflexible card inventory makes this deck tough to shuffle
• Extremely shiny end is slippery, which makes the playing cards tough to deal with
• The graphic design on the again of the playing cards is uninspired
• Understanding the numbering system takes a little bit of apply
• Identifying the playing cards will probably be difficult for novices
• The symbolism isn’t as obvious as in fashionable decks, so it might be difficult for starting readers

Overall Rating for the Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit by Paola Gnaccolini

I might be exhausting pressed to advocate the Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit by Paola Gnaccolini to somebody in search of a go-to on a regular basis studying deck. It is tough to deal with, and I consider most novices will discover it very difficult to interpret. However, it’s a pleasant addition to your assortment when you admire tarot historical past and renaissance art work. I’ve no regrets about my buy, and I’m glad to have the Sola Busca in my ever-growing assortment.

Sola Busca Tarot: Museum Quality Kit by Paola Gnaccolini at a Glance

• Number of Cards: 78
• Size: Approximately 3″ x 5 5/8″
• Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
• Publication Date: August 2019
• Type: Historical, Reproduction
• Card Image Artist: Historical, Unknown
• Instruction Booklet: Yes