Exploring Tarot: The Gilded Tarot

Admittedly, I don’t use The Gilded Tarot deck much. The deck has a stained glass look and the cards are beautiful but this is the first time I’ve looked at it in a while. Created by Ciro Marchetti and Barbara Moore, The Gilded Tarot is an interesting deck and its depictions seem to suggest mystery and the romance and glamour of Medieval times. One card from the Major Arcana begins the three-card spread followed by one card from Swords and one from Pentacles reflecting both Air and Earth respectively. Absent are the influences of Elemental Water and Fire and the overall numerology of the reading is three or triplicities and wholeness.

The Hierophant begins the reading with a priest before a large stained glass window. He wears the typical garb of a high priest as he holds a long golden staff in his right hand. The Hierophant expresses mastery of knowledge, structure, and tradition and represents divine wisdom. He represents the Higher Self within and reminds us that what we seek we already possess. We only need to align with that truth and wisdom is ours.

I love the Ace of Swords in this deck. A single ornate golden sword appears before a dark cloudy sky, removed from its scabbard. A blue ribbon swirls behind the sword. Traditional interpretations involve manifesting thought into form along with balance and cutting through illusion. New ideas or beginnings may be forming when this card appears with clarity and purpose that may become muddled as time goes on.

The final card is the 6 of Pentacles where we see a man holding a set of scales. Pentacles representing wealth or money are in balance with his excess shared with hands reaching upward from below. He has what he needs and is willing to share his abundance with others. The 6 of Pentacles depicts success and harmony with others along with the fair distribution of wealth.

This is such a lovely deck, I really need to be using it more than I do. I love the jeweled, stained glass look to the cards. They simply glow with energy.

I view the overall interpretation as following an inner path. We create the world that we see and with The Hierophant, that begins with alignment in our Source Presence. The Course in Miracles tells us that we need do nothing. And that’s true. All we need to do each day is align in our Source Presence and begin every experience from that standpoint or inner focus. From there, our thought process manifests the world that we see around us. If our thoughts reflect Spirit, then we will see the world through the love of our collective unified presence. The choice becomes simple and the abundance shared endless.

~Blessed Be