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Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot Review

Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot
by: Nicoletta Ceccoli

Nicoletta Ceccoli is a renowned Italian illustrator and animator, known for her captivating and enchanting artwork that often evokes a whimsical, Alice in Wonderland atmosphere. Her designs feature a mix of young girls, toys, and peculiar creatures, each piece drawing the viewer into a world filled with wonder and complex emotions.

I own the smaller version of this deck, which is the size of standard playing cards. It arrived in a simple paper box and did not include a guidebook. I must confess, I initially found the deck a bit perplexing and had to do some research to fully grasp the meanings behind the cards.

Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot box and back of deck stack
3 cards from the Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot of  The Devil, Justice, The Hierophant.
Here, we see the designs for The Devil, Justice, and The Hierophant. You’ll notice that the cards do not display their titles, only their corresponding tarot numbers. Experienced tarot readers will easily recognize them, but those new to tarot may find it a bit challenging if they haven’t memorized the numbers yet.

Take a moment to look at these images. Aren’t they captivating? While they may not fully capture all the subtle messages of the original artwork, there is still plenty to explore and uncover in these intriguing illustrations.

I found it particularly challenging to distinguish between the kings and queens. Since there was no guidebook included, I had to do some serious online research!

The suits are indicated by symbols at the bottom of the cards. Pages are marked with helmets, and knights with horse heads. The kings and queens have different types of crowns, but it wasn’t immediately clear which was which. The card illustrations were not very intuitive.

Eventually, I discovered that the taller crown represents the king, while the wider crown represents the queen. So, here we have the King of Cups, the Queen of Cups, and the Ace of Swords, in that order.

3 cards from the Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot of the King of Cups. Queen of Cups, and the Ace of Swords.
3 cards from the Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot of the Six of Pentacles, the Four of Wands, the Seven of Pentacles.

Many of the illustrations don’t seem to align with the traditional meanings of the cards, which I find a bit disappointing. For instance, the Six of Pentacles shows a young girl holding onto the tails of plump mice, the Four of Wands depicts a young girl and her pet bee running through a lollipop forest, and the Seven of Pentacles features a spider-like young girl.

I genuinely tried to connect these images to their usual meanings, but I just couldn’t make it work.

However, this doesn’t take away from the charm of the artwork itself. These images are delightful and captivating in their own right, whether they correspond to the traditional interpretations or not.