Sherlock Homes Tarot
Inspired by Conan Doyle and no doubt released to capitalise on the recent success of the BBC Sherlock TV series. John Matthews along with artist Wil Kinghan have produced the Sherlock Holnmes deck. This 2014 edition by Connections takes the stories of Sherlock Homes and weaves them into the Tarot. For some the changes will be a bit much and perhaps so far removed that the deck is close to an Oracle deck. For Instance, The fool becomes Inspector Lestrade, the hansom cab the Tarot, Sherlock is the Magician, The London Times is the World. Mrs Hudson (who seems to bare a resemblance to Caitlin Matthews) is Temperance. The Minor Arcana are changed to the suits of Observation, Evidence, Analysis and Deduction. The normal reading is called the game, while a reversed reading is the fog which works well. All the cards are given their Sherlock Holmes references. This will be a deck to get out when you are binge watching Benedict Cumberbatch. A bit of Trivia as well Holmes is also the acronym of the UK Police database – Home Office Large Major Enquiry System.
from the publisher
At last, the world-famous adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are transformed into a dazzling new tarot. Original characters make up the Major Arcana, and Arthur Conan Doyle s stories are featured throughout. Victorian London, with its shadowy buildings and fog-bound streets, forms the perfect setting for the card imagery. Enter a world of extraordinary adventures and prepare to investigate your personal issues, just as Sherlock Holmes sought answers to crimes. Now you can draw on the wisdom of the first and only consulting detective.
There are few people in the world who haven t heard of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. It is thus almost unbelievable that no fully fledged tarot based on the Sherlock Holmes stories has been produced before. As soon as you match the archetypal characters from Arthur Conan Doyle s stories with the archetypes of the tarot, you see how incredibly well they fit! Who better to represent the Fool than the bumbling Inspector Lestrade? Who better for the Devil than Holmes arch enemy, Professor Moriarty? What better representative of Strength than the redoubtable Watson?
The Major Arcana is made up of key figures from the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The detective himself appears in the position of The Magician; the Hound of the Baskervilles replaces The Moon. The card treatments give a full description of each card, along with the character s background, upright and reversed meanings and a little Holmesian wisdom.
In the Minor Arcana, rather than the usual suits of Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles, we have the more Holmesian suits of Observation, Evidence, Analysis and Deduction.
The card treatments are followed by spreads that have been specially created to help us solve our own investigations.
So prepare to follow the adventures of the great detective and apply his wisdom, allied with the universal strengths of the tarot, to your personal concerns and issues. Enter the doors of 221B Baker Street the world s most famous address and meet the Great Detective (The Magician). Ask your question, then climb aboard the Hansom Cab (The Chariot) and set off in search of answers, aided by the redoubtable Dr Watson (Strength), the hidden wisdom of Holmes brilliant brother Mycroft (The Hermit), and the kindly energy of Mrs Hudson (Temperance). Consult the famed Bradshaw s Directory (The Wheel of Fortune) or seek your answers amongst the pages of The London Times (The World).