REVIEW SHERLOCK OVERCOAT MAGNOLI PLUS
I fear that I may be struggling with working outĮquivalences: "eyeball on card means the card is part of the observation suit and observation means swords." Since I am not a Sherlockian, I don't know all the plots the cards depict, and I would have liked reminders on the cards themselves: a small sword at the bottom of the card, for example, plus a discrete, one-word prompt like "regret" for the five of analysis (five of cups). For me as a reader, this deck would have been more valuable if these meanings were made easier and quicker to grasp. For example, the five of pentacles depicting a woman's deathbed is explained as an event from a Holmes story that fits quite neatly with the traditional interpretation of the card. The meanings of the cards are made very clear in the book. Knights are peelers, a slang word for police officer like the more familiar "bobby." Queens are ladies, and kings are inspectors.īoth major arcana and minor arcana are depicted using characters and events from the Holmes canon. Pages are all too often throwaways here they are especially good. The pages are Baker Street Irregulars, that is the street urchins whom Holmes employed. Matthews reconfigures the minor arcana as observation (swords), evidence (wands), analysis (cups) and deduction (pentacles). Upright interpretations are called "the game," as in "The game is afoot." Reversed interpretations are dubbed "the fog," that obscuring meteorological phenomenon we associate with London. Matthews' interpretations of reversed cards are every bit as extensive as his comments for upright cards. Each card is accompanied by a quote from a Holmes story. It's about more grounded, detailed, day to day stuff, with Holmes as your guide. This isn't fluffy New Age stuff about how if you focus your intention you will win the lottery. Two beauties of his text are its specificity and that it does not over promise.
Matthews has a New York Times bestseller to his credit he can write. The Sherlock Holmes Tarot is one deck for which the user will very much want, and will make extensive use of, the accompanying book. The lightning-like gleam from a top hat highlights Kinghan's attention to detail. There are dramatic shadows, and Holmes assumes a posture tense with meaning as he is dragged by a beagle. In Kinghan's hands, it is alive - no anti-pun intended. The five of deduction (five of coins) depicts a woman's deathbed. It's hard to look at this card without entering into the scene, and imaging a story to accompany the image. Holmes, in a tall hat, is just glimpsed peeking out one of the windows.
Wands) depicts a train, puffing smoke, hurtling into the distance over a bridge, moon overhead.
The line of the table comes at the viewer like a Dutch angle. The scene is alive: there are chandeliers, booths with other customers, candles, bottles, curtains, and a waiter. The four of evidence - analogous to the four of wands - depicts Holmes and Watson celebrating at a pub. The minor arcana are drawn with all the color, dynamism, and detail as the major arcana. He's about to jump up with a great insight and solve a case. He is sitting, thinking - but Kinghan infuses electric life into this seated thinker. Kinghan's cards are so busy with life, they jump off the page. Between the bright colors and the stygian atmosphere, this deck depicts a collision between neon and gaslight. As is appropriate for a deck inspired by a criminal investigator, living in London, from the era before electricity, most cards depict dusk or night crossed with wisps of fog. But there are also some shockingly vivid colors: reds, purples, and chrome yellow, pulsing vividly. There are high collars, high hats, cobblestones, and distant, domed roofs seen out of coal-dimmed windowpanes. Kinghan's set pieces - one might almost call them dioramas - are faithful to the Victorian Era. This technique results in images that are reminiscent of antique black-and-white photographs that have been hand-tinted with color. His technique is ink line work and digital painting, with photographs of friends used as models. Wil Kinghan's images are aesthetically pleasing and unusual. I am a fan of tarot and I can say that this is a respectable tarot deck. If the deck contains some violation of the Holmes universe or Victoriana, it slipped right past me, and given that I'm not religious about Holmes or the Victorian Era, I don't care. So, I can't offer a cognoscente's review. I've read two Sherlock Holmes stories, which I liked, but not well enough to want to read more. I am not a "Sherlockian." As a kid, I watched the Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce movies on TV, and also the 1971 film "They Might be Giants," which I adore. Sherlock Holmes Tarot Review by Danusha V.
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