Santa Muerte Tarot

A masterpiece of inspired imagery, this tarot deck is a powerful tool for working with the mysticism associated with the Day of the Dead and Santa Muerte.

The companion booklets for most Lo Scarabeo decks are in five languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.

Fabio Listrani (Rome, Italy) is an award-winning artist who has illustrated for various international entities, including Marvel, Titan Comics, Heavy Metal, and IDW Publishing. He is also the creator of Night Sun Tarot and Santa Muerte Tarot.

REVIEWS

5.0 out of 5 stars Vibrant and full of life, especially for a "Dead" deck
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2017

Ohhh, this deck is so pretty!

Packaging: Standard LoS stuff-the two piece box (same style as Tarot Mucha is given.) It's sturdy and quite pretty. Also a bit of gold on it to add some sparkle! Really makes it stand out to me.

Book: Haven't read it in depth, but again seems pretty standard to the typical LoS booklet. It's a small bound book that fits inside the box and comes in multiple languages. Each description does come with a little "Advice of the Dead" at the end, which I think is a nice touch! The language sections are also separated by a full color picture, which I definitely appreciate--makes it easier to say within your wanted language, I think.

Card stock: Again, typical LoS stuff. If you've bought any of their recent decks, you know what you're getting. It's not the best, but is by no means the worst either. Glossy and flexible--you shouldn't have too many issues if you don't completely abuse them.

Images: The most important category! At least for me. The images of this deck are absolutely beautiful. I will say, though, that they definitely feel a bit more "Day of the Dead" than "Santa Muerte" to me, but that is by no means a criticism. The majors have their title on the bottom, with the number on the sides--there's a small border that runs along the bottom and about halfway up the sides. I'm actually quite fond of it, initially at least. The background for all of the borders is a sort of creamy tan color--it's unobtrusive and works quite well. The minors have their suit on the bottom, and numbers on the sides (with the exception of the court cards, where everything is on the bottom.) Doing a quick flip through, some cards definitely deviate from the standard RWS, but I think it'll be a good thing--I'm excited to use the deck more to get a feel for those cards.

Another fun little bit--the minors each have their own dominant color (swords-yellow, wands-red, pentacles-green, cups-blue) that should make it easier to pick out minors in a spread. The colors work naturally--to the extent that I didn't notice it immediate, and had to go back and confirm my suspicions about halfway through flipping through the deck. I've seen some decks really try to force the color thing--this one does *not* and it's beautiful because of that.

Backs: Reversible, and quite a neat back. Not a whole lot else to say, other than I like it.

Overall: Though I haven't gotten to use this deck much yet, I think I'm going to be quite fond of it. The images are so vibrant and full of life--even though all the "people" are skeletons. There's just so much color and emotion to them, I think it has the potential to be both a fun, and deep deck. So if you have any interest in this style--be it Santa Muerte specifically, Day of the Dead, or Death in general--I would recommend giving it a chance. Of course, I'll update my review if any of my opinions change with greater use.

Summer Lotus
5.0 out of 5 stars A humerus (sorry) deck that isn't afraid to tackle the shadow.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2020

I know very little about the Central American and Mexican traditions surrounding Dia De Los Muertos (never mind Santa Muerte), but I’ve always admired the intimacy the traditions place on their deceased, which my culture notably lacks. I found the bright colors and the images of skeletons to really draw me into purchasing this deck. We all are skeletons at the end, regardless of everything else! I was truly surprised at how dang fun and cohesive this deck is—it doesn’t really use traditional RWS imagery in it’s cards (the major arcana are a bit more traditional), but it doesn’t take much to make the leap to what the card is trying to get across (with the exception of 9 of pentacles, I’m a bit puzzled by that one). It doesn't shy away from "scary" subject matter either, but because everyone in the cards is already dead, it allows the reader to put things into perspective.
Some cards are utterly brilliant, out-of-the-box representations like the gunslinger in two of wands—making preparations, and other cards are delightfully esoteric and mind boggling, like XVI The Tower. I find reading from card to card quite easy and story-like, and the major and four minor all have their different color themes and shapes which make distinguishing them effortless. The numbers are on the side of the cards and if you rely on seeing the numbers you might struggle at first to distinguish the difference between 6 and 9. The cards are SUPER glossy, if that matters, but they shuffle easily and haven’t frayed for me after a months use. Can I just say that the backs are gorgeous? They really are stunning. The art work is amazing, there isn’t one card I’m on the fence about in regards to the art. If I was to make a change at all, it would be to edge this deck in ruby red. So, if you are intrigued and have a bit of RWS reading under your belt, this is a stellar, unusual deck.