Tarot of the III Millennium

“…the Third Millennium is a new door to the future, opened after hundreds of other doors which have led us along the journey of mankind whose prehistoric graffiti contain the first step towards interstellar satellites. It is along this lengthy journey that we find ourselves again, our soul, our identity as people which have a vital need for spirituality and technology.” – From the companion pamphlet

Medieval iconography and bar codes, hidden puzzles with classic symbolism and web addresses—an unusual amalgamation, to be sure, especially for a Tarot deck! Yet that is exactly what you’ll find in the Tarot of the III Millennium by Lo Scarabeo, illustrated by Iassen Ghiuselev.

Skillfully rendered Majors in monochromatic shadings offer striking poses and unusual vantage points (I love the Hanged Man clutching a bowler hat and umbrella!). Unfortunately, the cover of the box is misleading, showing the Magician in full color. The Minor Arcana strain to tell a story—but the readers aren’t given a clue as to the characters, let alone the plot.

I’m the type of person who loves puzzles and mysteries, so the Tarot of the III Millennium beguiled. The companion pamphlet (not booklet) hinted to repetition of numbers, images and codes—mimicking the endless flow of information in modern times and humanity’s need to catalogue, mark and order. In fact, the companion pamphlet to this deck went so far to say that the fragmented images were each a part of another whole—related by some mysterious connection…or lack thereof.

So I spent a few hours with the Tarot of the III Millennium, attempting to piece together the disparate pieces of this elaborate enigma. Pretty much off the bat I saw that the Aces went together—and then got to working on the Minor suits (the Majors appear to be self-contained and rather traditional, although uniquely illustrated). I was able to piece together overlapping images for all of the Cups, but couldn’t find a place for the 9 of Cups. Could this mean something, per the pamphlet?

I then got to working on the Wands, and found two different pictures formed by the Fire suit, and the same for the Air suit of Swords. I tried to analyze the number patterns—but no meanings bubbled to my awareness. And the Coins? Only the 9 and 10 of the Earth suit seemed to go together.

The Minors seem to be telling some medieval tale of religious intrigue, poverty, subjugation and even war. But without knowing the players or the story, the images were essentially meaningless to me—both on their own as an original oracle or as a Tarot deck. Because the Majors, Minors and Courts are illustrated differently, it’s like “playing “with three different, unrelated decks.

The Minors are arranged quite unusually: blue ink drawings are coupled with small images of Tarot of Marseilles cards—the only indication to number and suit. Mathematical formulas, barcodes and other schematics also crop up among the nebulous “tale” attempting to be told by the deck creators.

Other than the mini-TdM images imbedded within the Minors, the only multi-hued imagery in the Tarot of the III Millennium is the Court cards. Web addresses on the Courts offer another peculiar motif: each URL ending refers to the specific functions of the Knaves, Knights, Queens and Kings. For example, the pamphlet says:

“The Knave represents something or someone with whom we have superficial but consequently practical relationships. The suffix ‘.com’ therefore indicates the world of business, negotiations, and publicity.”

The Knights are indicated by “.mil”, the Queens by “.net” and the Kings by “.org”, with the reasoning behind the attributions likewise given.

In addition to being the only polychromatic cards in the Tarot of the III Millennium (which, incidentally also portray mini-TdM counterparts within the main image), the Courts depict fantastical creatures performing unusual acts (like emerging from a cleric’s mouth or pouring drink down the mouth of a bald man encased in a wooden barrel). Even the humans don’t seem quite “right” in these cards.

Granted, the companion pamphlet to this deck does explain the rhyme and reason of the color choices and some of the symbolism. But I wondered if we are being toyed with considering the comment “…distinguishing the important from the irrelevant without clues or points of reference is so tiring and time-consuming”—because this echo my sentiments after working with the Tarot of the III Millennium.

The cards measure approximately 4-3/4 x 2-5/8 inches, and the backings are not reversible with their depiction of the Fool from this deck amid a schematic background of some sort.

The Tarot of the III Millennium is both ambitious and strange, which means that art deck collectors would probably enjoy having this deck for its sheer novelty. However, it’s not a working deck, in my opinion, nor one conducive to contemplation or personal growth—and certainly not a good choice for Tarot beginners.

To see 10 more images from this deck, as well as some photos of the puzzle montages, click here. Images © Lo Scarabeo. Review © Janet Boyer.

-- Janet Boyer

Comments

[Panda]

The whole point of the III Millennium deck is that it's not usable. I consider it a study deck.

Majors are stand alone, very classical, and while monocromathic, they work fine, with a certain elegance.

Court Cards are sort of uninspired, even if they are color. The only note is the Url added to them, that should convey a sense of pursose and picture the court card as a container/reference rather than as a person.

Minors are taken from 6 different large images. 1 for the Aces, 2 for the wands and one each for the remaining suites.
The images have been fractured, like a jigsaw. But they form no coherent whole. There are doubles and there are missing pieces.
They hint to a greater whole, but it can never be really glimpsed. And if it was to, it would probably not make sense.

The only reference frame is created by the Ancient Tarot of Bologna.

As usual I ask myself "why the deck". The theme for the deck is fragmentation itself. We are alien in our world. We move and we do not undertsand. We create identities through nevrosis, and too often forget the main focus (the Majors), losing ourself in little things (Minors). What sense we may get from reality is a totally subjective sense. It sia deck whose theme is the loss of direction.

Reading with the deck is of course a nightmare... but working fragmentation through Tarot may be an interesting journey for a rainy day.

If the images of the minors had been done purposfully for the deck it would have probably been easier.
The deck is currently out of print.

Panda

[Janet Boyer]

Hello Riccardo,

Yes, I got the feeling that this deck wasn't intended to "make sense"--and I remember you mentioning in an interview that you used it to "study".

However, for me, I couldn't figure out what, exactly, there was to study/contemplate--especially since the scenes and imagery were unfamiliar and disjointed.

Abstract, I like. Non-sensical--well, I guess that's in the eye of the beholder! Still, it's a neat novelty deck...

According to Amazon.com, the Tarot of the III Millennium is still available for purchase via their online store. I guess that if the deck is out of print, those intrigued should get thee to Amazon.com (or some other store that stocks it) and buy it forthwith! :o)

Janet

[Panda]

"Disjointed" is the word.

It's going OOP for a reason. It's too difficult, and at the same time too poor. ^^

I see Tarot as a possible mirror of reality and I want Tarot to express chaos as well as order, loss as well as insight, etc...
I find the avenue the deck opens very interesting. But if I were to work on that deck today I would do differently.

I frankly do not suggest buying the deck, apart for one who really really wants it. ^^

Panda

[Janet Boyer]

It's truly an intriguing premise. I so WANTED to find some semblance of a foothold to work from--because I agree that chaos and the abstract can have a vital place in Tarot and contemplation--and surely can be a mirror of "reality".

But I gotta tell you--I've never witnessed an employee of a publisher warning consumers to NOT buy a deck! :o)

Janet

[Panda]

Well...

Quote: "I so wanted to find some semblance of a foothold to work from"

The trick is: the deck has been built in order to always *hint* to a solution, but you would be looking for it without ever finding it.

And regarding last question...
1. the deck is OOP
2. we would ALL gain a lot if the right deck go to right person.
Every time a person buy an LS deck and doesn't find what he wanted it is a damage, not a gain.
3. I'm Panda, here ^_^ and I'm gonna stay Panda.

[Janet Boyer]

Alrighty "Panda". However, if you want complete anonymity when posting here, you may want to change your Type Key profile so it doesn't display your full name...

Janet