Gilded Reverie Lenormand Expanded Edition Cards – July 19, 2017

I won't let the one oversight I found (through the sharp eye of my husband) color my review of yet another amazing deck from artist Ciro Marchetti, so let's just get that out of the way now. Be aware, there is one error in the printing. The Dog card #18 has been partnered with the 10 of Spades (printed in the lower right-hand portion of the card). This is incorrect and should be the 10 of Hearts. There is no 10 of Hearts in this deck (at least the one I just purchased), but there is another 10 of Spades....the correct card #3, The Ship. So, essentially there are two cards associated with the 10 of Spades, and that is incorrect. I have heard that there may be an expansion set of cards published for this deck, if so, perhaps U.S. Games can include a revised printing of Card #18, the Dog card to correct this error.That out of the way, let me just echo what other reviewers have already said and perhaps encourage you further to check out this deck. If you have any of Marchetti's other decks (Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Gilded Tarot, etc) you will appreciate his artistic vision here in the Lenormand. He transforms this simple fortune-telling deck into one that will allow you to delve even deeper into what the cards are trying to impart to you. The artwork is absolutely stunning. I found I couldn't stop going through and looking at this deck. Marchetti and his co-authors encourage you to create stories with the cards you lay out. The artwork, the mood, and atmosphere present on the individual cards certainly makes it easy for you to do so. The packaging is supurb, a nice sturdy, beautiful box to store your cards and booklet in. Other Tarot publishers should take note of this.The deck is based on the 36-cards of the original Lenormand. The authors based their interpretations on a German predecessor of the game, The Game of Hope. Though the accompanying booklet is small, the interpretations are substantial enough to guide the reader into creating their own stories and conclusions from the card layouts.We are given three nicely crafted layouts to use with this deck. I particularly liked "The Fortune-telling Day Spread". You layout two rows of nine cards. Each pair of cards are read together and provide information on 9 aspects of your life that you may experience that day. If you do this early and write down the results, at the end of the day you can assess the results of your reading to see how accurate it was in reflecting your experiences that day. Nice!Though my primary medium these days is the Tarot, I grew up on Lenormand (and other) styles of divination being practiced by the five sisters in my Mother's family. I have a deep love and respect for this style of fortune-telling. So, if you enjoy down and dirty gypsy fortune-telling style decks (and I have quite a few), this one is one of the best interpretations I've seen to date and it takes this type of fortune-telling to new levels.

This is a class act. The gold-gilded deck comes in a sturdy box with magnetic lid; prepared to stand up to heavy use. Ciro Marchetti's artwork is soft, colorful, and reflective. The card stock on these gold gilded gloss cards is sturdy and springs nicely when bent .I went through the instruction book thoroughly. The cards are interpreted by two people; Rana George and Tali Goodwin. The first explanation is poetic, whimsical, and from the card's point of view. The second explanation is more traditional but to the point and not repetitive. Often the original interpretation from the Game of Hope deck is brought in to keep things realistic and simple. Occasionally Ciro Marchetti trumps both authors by providing a description that connects with his symbolism. While this is a Lenormand deck, the author takes some liberties with the manner in which he presents the image. For example, the Rider (1) card is represented by a young woman carrying a messenger bag seated on a carousel horse; a metaphor for life's ups and downs, moving quickly, ane bearer of information at an increased pace of communications in our society. This replaces the traditional man on a horse. I don't mind Ciro's efforts to make this deck more relevant for the 21st century. I did purchase the optional companion file which is basically a book going into more background on each card, more history; presenting helpful tables for a brief synopsis on each card and well explained additional spreads. This was well worth the $3.00 charged.In my opinion this man has made a great and sincere effort to present the purchaser with an understanding and treatment of Lenormand from every angle he could imagine. He tries to make it non-threatening, visually appealing, and fun. The idea of neighboring cards affecting the meaning of each card was introduced by examples with every card's description. He brought in other experts to "test drive" and assist him in the Gilded Reverie's development as he was making it. These experienced Lenormand readers included the well known Caitlin Mathews and Morwenna from Germany. I could go on and on. This point here is that I find it difficult to not be totally impressed by the beauty of Ciro Marchetti's presentation and the thoroughness with which he enmeshed himself in this project. Ciro Marchetti "gave his all" in creating this deck. I guess I would have to say that in the realm of Lenormand decks, this is a work of art.

Recibí las cartas y son espectaculares, la calidad de las cartas, los colores, las imágenes y el tamaño.