While being a deck of cards, this is not a tarot deck, and there was a learning curve that took me a couple of days to work out. However, this is a very imaginative and interesting look at the use of dream interpretation, and I was pleased with my end results.

First of all, the deck. This is like most Lo Scarabeo decks, being 2.5 by 4.75 inches, which is hand size, so they deal and shuffle easily. The cardboard is standard stock, and it comes in a box for storage. There is the usual little tiny booklet in five languages with just enough information to use the deck.

However, this deck is not really all that hard to work with. The introduction of the booklet suggests that these images, which display common oneiric themes, can be used to interpret dreams. The last page in English suggests some spreads, which are illustrated on the inside front cover. There is a very brief meaning of the cards in the upright and reversed positions. You draw the cards, and look at suggested meanings. While this may be good for the beginner, and I have to admit I did it for a few hands, I found the images to be more telling than the booklet, and resorted to bypassing the booklet meanings and looking directly at the cards.

The cards are uncanny, to say the least. I would say they are very surrealistic, in a modern sort of way. The artwork is quite good, a mixture of cartoon and realism, almost Dali meets Peter Max in some respects. The images bounce between colorful, happy cards and shades of grey and ominous, depending on the mood the card is trying to create for the topic chosen.

There are 78 cards, plus two cover cards. There is no correspondence to any tarot deck, so you need to start from scratch here. But it's quite simple, really. Shuffle the deck, draw some cards, or fan them out and let your client draw some cards. Then look at the topic, maybe reference the booklet, but more than likely you allow the card to suggest the topic and issues and see the connections between the cards drawn.

There are 78 different topics. The images suggest the use of the topic. To give some examples:

The first card is Adolescents. It shows two young figures, male and female, I assume. The male figure is very androgynous, and could, for the sake of argument, be considered either. They stand on a pastel multicolored path, which extends into the wall. There appears to be a large gate comprised of a 3 dimensional artwork, slightly open to the outside world, which shows very grey and stormy. According to the booklet, it is read as "thrilling encounters. Good friendships. Encouragement." Reversed "Monotony, Vacuity. Tiredness."

Yes, I got friendship from the image. I also got how youth looks at their world, within vs. the outside world. Anyone with an adolescent at home knows it can sometimes come down to "us and them" types of issues. Their world is what is important, while the outside world intrudes on their reality. Well, so much for my own observations. Next card...

Number two is Tree. OK, this is very stylized, the tree is also a tower, is also the face of a man, is very stone in appearance, rather than wooden, with just a hint of organic in the form of a plant and maybe a root shoot. There are some other flowers which also appear stone. It has a "Tower" appearance, like the broken tower in the tarot deck. Other parts have an M C Eicher quality to them; stairs and passages that lead up, down and backwards. The male face appears to have an ominous look about it. It is in shades of gray, with a muddy green background. There is a hint of color in the organic plant, but for the most part, it appears to be blue grey in tones.

The booklet reads "Promising future, new home, industriousness. Reverse is Disputes, Existential reflection, family troubles." Well, I didn't get that, really. I was looking for a more spiritual meaning here, a bit darker, and nothing to do with a home. Learning curve, or personal interpretation, you can go either way with this one.

The third card I got right away. It is called "Flirting" and shows two people entwined, a more clearly defined male and female, in a very Peter Max meets Dali type of design. Very colorful, in a soft way, and very lovely. Booklet says "Engagement. Celebrations, Prosperity. Reverse: Superficiality, Fleeting pleasures, Escape." From the design, yes, I can see that, and the card reversed would be the opposite of the design.

As I pondered the use of the cards, I wondered about the connection between dreams and using these cards to interpret them. I found that it was more logical to say that by using dream symbolisms, and drawing the cards, we may find clarification to some of our own issues or queries, and that some dream issues may surface. If someone came to me and said, I had a dream and saw this particular scenario and I want to know what it means, these cards could be drawn covering the image described by the client and we could look for a connection. I found for my own personal readings, I cam up with some good connections and some different insights, based on these dream interpretations.

This is an interesting deck. It has some lovely artwork, and the use as suggested by the authors is unique in its approach. I would say if you are into dream interpretation and want to experiment with a different approach to interpretation that may delight your clients as well as offer some new insights, you may want to pick up this deck and work with it a bit. I am going to give it a try with some of my clients and see if it works as well as it did for my own personal readings.

The artwork makes this a unique deck to work with and if you are into surrealistic and oneiric symbolisms, you will find this deck to be intriguing as well as insightful. boudica