Nicoletta Cecolli Tarot
Complete Deck Details
Name: Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot
Creators: Nicoletta Ceccoli
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo 2014
Deck Type: Tarot Deck
Cards: 78
Major Arcana: 22 / Minor Arcana: 56
Suits: Cups, Swords, Wands, Discs
The Nicoletta Cecolli Tarot is a 78 card deck full of haunting childlike images gracing each card. The art is simply divine and is very reminiscent of youthful fairytales, both the light and dark aspects of those stories. Most of Cecolli's art features young girls with pouty lips and pale faces. The deck is created under the same standard Tarot framework with a major and minor arcana. This is truly a deck that may invoke a sense of discomfort given the doll-like faces and mature content displayed on some of the cards. It is undeniable the artistic maturity and creativity of the illustrator. She has a background in character design which shows throughout her work.
I would personally argue that this deck and her work is a proper exercise in world building.
Although each card is associated with the wands, swords, pentacles, and cups, it is as if each image has its own fairytale! The colors may be muted but they definitely do not dull the impact of the story unfolding on each card. There is a theme of innocence running throughout the deck due to the round faces, subtle pink cheeks, and pure white hair. However, there are cards where this seemingly innocent character embodies a deep undercurrent of malevolence.
There are definitely childhood terror themes that span the deck. For example, the 5 of swords shows a young girl, similar to Alice in Wonderland, holding a large butcher knife ready to slice and dice an oversized carrot. The three of swords reveals a young butterfly girl with a sewing needle piercing her heart. The 7 of wands displays a young girl being spanked by a yellow-eyes red cat monster three times her size. You may be asking the relevance given that traditionally the 7 of wands is usually about standing your ground and protecting what's yours. There is definitely a different theme in this card. Oversized bunnies with button eyes, large monkey kings, and carrot devils run the gamut in the minor arcana which, again, seem to be a part of young child's world. The Hierophant is quite amusing but also slightly frightening- a monkey fitted in a gold robe and white gown teach three young religious initiate children who are kneeled below- this is definitely a play on the traditional Rider-Waite Hierophant where to older male initiates kneel before the pope. The Wheel of Fortune card in this deck shows a young circus girl on a human dart board stabbed, presumably to death, insinuating bad luck. The High Priestess here is a young pale-faced girl with a small gold crown and slightly wild white tresses flanking her round cheeks. She is slightly nude and encased in an ivory white castle. There is such an innocence about her that it's a little hard to believe that she embodies the full wisdom of the traditional high priestess.
I am not sure that every image fits the traditional meaning of each card--the artwork was already created and thus not illustrated specifically for the Tarot. This deck is good to help you flex your intuitive muscles. Ask yourself: What story is the little girl trying to tell you? This deck will help you get in touch with your creative side and perhaps can be a helpful tool to revisit and maybe heal childhood issues.
The little white guidebook offers explanations for each card with key concepts. Similar to most Lo Scarabeo decks, there are no card spreads included.
Overall, this deck is really a collector's deck. Personally, I love to stare at the art, however, I am not sure that I would use it to answer questions about finances, love, or professional development, or health. I would use it to get in touch my creative side- if I were a writer I would pull a card daily to trigger my imagination- invite myself to a new world with wild characters and unpredictable obstacles. If I were an artist, I would let it inspire me as I traversed the world of youthfully sweet surrealism.
