The Gregory Scott Tarot is a beautifully illustrated deck, but I don’t recommend it as the first deck for new readers. First, however, let’s look at the deck itself.

Published by Lo Scarabeo, the Gregory Scott Tarot is printed on good quality cardstock with a matte finish. The standard size of approximately 2.75 inches x 4.75 inches makes them easy even for my small hands to shuffle. The deck comes with the standard Lo Scarabeo booklet, with meanings in different languages and just a small blurb about each card.

Not a Rider-Waite Style

The author conforms only loosely to Rider-Waite imagery and in some cases goes pretty far off track which makes it a difficult deck if you are just starting out. I suggest learning the Rider-Waite symbolism and meanings first before moving on to decks that don’t follow the symbolism. You’ll have a good grounding in the “traditional” meaning of the cards and standard symbolism.  Many books and other resources base their imagery on the Rider-Waite, a better choice for beginners. I’m not saying you must start with an actual Rider-Waite deck! Decks such as the Modern Witch Tarot or Heaven and Earth Tarot use the same symbolism with aesthetically more pleasing, or more modern, images.

This deck retains some of the feel of the Rider-Waite; for example, the Two of Pentacles, the Three of Cups, and the Sun:

Other cards highlight some rather subtle meanings of the card or are just different:

 

In the Three of Pentacles, there is no feeling of collaboration, Strength is confusing, and the Page of Pentacles seems to be about want or scarcity.

Understand, there is nothing wrong with these cards! I find them very evocative, and reading the Gregory Scott Tarot intuitively works out just great, but for a beginner, I really feel they would be confusing.

Using the Gregory Scott Tarot

Personally, I find the imagery too focused on one meaning and the symbolism and imagery are a little one-dimensional. There isn’t a lot of nuance to this deck. In actual readings for myself, the spreads feel rather flat and I feel when I’m using it that I’m missing some of the messages. 

This isn’t a deck I’m comfortable using for clients yet, although it might work fine for daily one-card draws, since subtlety isn’t really necessary.

I’d love to hear your own opinions on this deck! Leave a comment.

 

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