Fenestra

Fenestra Tarot
Chatriya Hemharnvibul (U.S Games Systems, Inc, 2006)

Review
Sometimes it's easy to forget that the Tarot doesn't necessarily need to be anchored to the purely Western traditions of art. Happily, the Fenestra makes an elegant reminder.

The grey-purple borders are oddly severe, though they do set off the soft, subtle colouring throughout the deck. The foilage and some of the faces show a clear Eastern sensibility, but at the same time there's sunbursts and very Art Deco ripples in the landscapes.

The Minors are equally lovely, though aside from the court cards there's very minimal labelling, and if it weren't for a working knowledge of the Rider-Waite, a beginner might get a little lost.

The stand out card for me has to be the Nine of Pentacles, with the falconer looking both astonishingly beautiful and also perfectly competent and in graceful symbiosis with her bird.

In fact, "astonishingly beautiful and also perfectly competent" is a perfect description of this deck.