Product Description

Grim Agents of Cosmic Forces...

In the early twentieth century, legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft described an ancient tome as "the unmentionable Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred . . . a book which I had never seen, but of which I had heard monstrous things whispered." In the early twenty-first century, best-selling author Donald Tyson wove the myriad rumors and whispers of Lovecraft's dread grimoire into the epic fantasy novels Necronomicon and Alhazred. Intended as a trilogy, this tarot completes Tyson's formidable work.

The Necronomicon Tarot brings the phantasmagoric desert wanderings of Alhazred to life in a stunningly visceral deck and companion book. Seventy-eight captivating illustrations by fantasy artist Anne Stokes capture the mythic and monstrous world of Tyson's Necronomicon while remaining true to the underlying structure and tradition of tarot. Prepare to enter a world where the accursed and tormented poet wanders in search of the greatest and darkest magic — divination with the dead.

This kit includes 78-card tarot deck with a black organdy bag and 240-page companion tarot book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53213 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Hauntingly Beautiful Esoteric Deck
I want to start off by saying two things. First, this deck is hauntingly beautiful. And second, this deck is not for everyone. The subject material and design will intrigue and delight some folks or repulse and disgust some others. You will love it or hate it.

Having said that, my own opinion is that I really do like this deck, and did some back research on this before even writing this review. Reading through the book with the deck, I saw in the Introduction that the deck is based on Mr. Tysons own work "Necronomicon - The Wanderings of Alhazred". So after glancing through the included book, I acquired a copy of Tyson's Necronomicon and read through that, wandering back and forth between the book and the deck.

The deck is based on the Ryder Waite deck. It contains 22 Trump cards and 4 full suites with court cards of king, queen, knight and knave. The suits are broken into disks, swords, cups and wands. Each suit has its own theme color to make them easily distinguishable from the other suits. The reverse of the cards is a very clever design of Cthulhu, intriguingly done.

The correspondence "is designed to be in harmony with the set of esoteric correspondences used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." And reading through the accompanying book confirms this. The suits are Wands - fire, Cups - water, Swords - air and Disks - earth. This desk also relies heavily on reversal reading of the cards, so that has to be taken into consideration when working with this deck. The deck is meant to work mostly with ritual magics and meditation, and is not considered a "fortune telling" deck.

Looking at the images will tell you this as well. Ms. Stokes has presented us with some images that will really give you pause to consider. While I think they are stunning, other people I have shown this deck could not deal with it. And still others quoted H. P. Lovecraft's work as fiction and didn't take the deck seriously.

The concept of necormancy is not new, and to eventually write a book on Necromancy and call it the Necronomicon would not have been so far fetched if it had not been that the book first appeared in a fantasy novel.

This deck is a natural progression of this process, working into using a deck designed for use in necromancy and the magical arts , calling upon real and imagined images to create a world within the deck that draws you towards the ideas and concepts that Mr. Tyson explains in both of these books.

The images work well with the usual meanings of the decks, but the designs are dark, raw and not for the weak of stomach. While the card for the Two of Cups shows a priestess of Bast pouring wine for a youth and having a statue of Bast in the background and implies what we usually associate with this card as a minor card of love, we contrast this with the Four of Wands, which shows a noble woman sitting staring amorously into the eyes of "The Deep One", very reptilian looking, having a tryst. A very different view of the meaning of enjoyment, harmony and satisfaction.

Ms. Stokes designs are very powerful. The Magician card is one of the most powerful Magician cards I've seen in a while, with the Magician raising a spirit from a grave. Now that's magic!. The Fool card is Azathoth - fat, naked, dirty and alone playing happily on his pipes. Such innocence, such blindness to the world around him.

The deck continues along in this fashion, and should really been seen and felt and contemplated to understand how this deck can work for your own path. I have found it to be compelling to use, but as I said, it is not for everyone.

However, I do recommend that you take a look at this deck and decide for yourself. I do think it is a remarkable deck, and if you have read Tyson's Necronomicon, you will find this deck as fascinating a work as
the book. boudica

Dark Twist of an Old Favorite
These cards are awesome. I hate to open with such a mundane line, but there really is no other way of expressing the jublilation fostered by the dark images of this deck. The Author takes great pains to adhere to the Golden Dawn Tarot Model, and with great success. The gods, devils, and people you encounter throughout the tarot journey within this deck create a gloomy, darker miasma in the room, but the meanings ascribed to the cards couple with the images in a perfect blend of harmony and despair. True the Necronomicon is not the most happy-go-lucky text (or texts however you believe) but this deck deals with the dark in such a way that enlightens. This deck is unique in its delivery of symbolism and has a rich mythos behind it. Great for lovers of HP Lovecraft, Tyson, or just those of us who do not see sunny-faced magic bunnies dancing among candy-coated mountaintops in our dreams. (If you do see such things, this tarot is probably not for you.) This Deck is for any of us who dare to look into the chasm of the human psyche without the fear of being swallowed by the darkness within.

Pretty Art
I found this Tarot deck fun to look at and play with. While I do not believe I would use it for real Divination, still I will use it for some Pathworking experiences with the Mythos.

The artwork is pretty and the colors are truly stunning. I would like to see better drawn art but I realize that that is probably not going to happen where the Cthulhu Mythos is concerned. Thus this deck will serve as a nice way to Pathwork as well as put me in the mood to read some Lovecraft and Chtulhu Mythos works.

I gave it 4 out of 5 possible stars because I don't agree with some of the card associations regarding characters from the Mythos. I do not feel the need to justify this to anyone as it is only 'my' personal opinion and taste however if you're new to Tarot, Sorcery or Cthulhu Mythos & Lovecraftiana, then this deck will be something you want to explore.