Over the years, an endless row of trivial redrawings, recolorings or whatever the creators prefer to call their Waite-Smith Tarot copies, have seen the light of the day, all more or less revealing the lack of fantasy of their creators. For once we have here a deck which sees the Waite-Smith Tarot from an entirely new point of view, literally from the back side. The illustrator has crept behind the scenes to see, what the characters depicted on the cards see themselves, and to see what is hiding behind their backs. By watching, for example, The Hanged Man and The Magician from behind, we see the crowds gathered in front of them. Behind the throne of the pregnant Empress her older offspring are playing happily. We see, that many a character we believed was alone in a deserted landscape, has company in one way or another, even the Hermit, who is about to be attacked by a snake sneaking close to him from behind. And who could know that the Knight of Wands is settled in an Egyptian landscape with pyramids and one-humped camels? These minor figures added to the otherwise desolate landscapes add to our associations.

Not all cards are that suggestive, several just depict the characters in a mirrored way, particularly when the original scene is seen in profile. I am not too happy either with the way most backs of thrones are depicted as a sort of "marble" relief of the normal picture. Most people, who come to look at these cards know very well already, what is on the front side.

It is not so often I recommend a modern interpretation of the classic Waite-Smith tarot, but in this case I do. It can, of course, not substitute for the real Waite-Smith Tarot, but it can inspire us to look at it in new ways. The deck is conceived by Pietro Alligo and the artwork is done by the twins Raul and Gianluca Cestaro. Published by Lo Scarabeo 2003.