The Sacred Rose Tarot

This colorful deck, inspired by Medieval stained glass artistry, draws upon the wisdom of the ancient Kabbalah and the Tree of Life. In print for over 30 years, the Sacred Rose Tarot explores Byzantine icons and the divine mysteries of nature, particularly the symbolism of the rose of the western world. The well-written booklet, with foreword by Stuart R. Kaplan, focuses on the spirit aspects of tarot.

What Customers Are Saying About Sacred Rose Tarot Deck
My impression of this deck is that if you were looking for power, you would find it here. Every person should be able to experience the wisdom held within these cards. Were I to offer my client a choice of decks (which I do), I think this deck would appeal to those who working towards personal empowerment.

There are many cards in this deck that I am drawn to. The Ten of Wands would certainly be one of them. We are used to the traditional image of an upright figure attempting to carry the ten wands. Here we see a figure on his back, hand pushing away the wands that are coming down on him. How many of us have not felt imprisoned by our responsibilities, to the point that we felt we were being attacked by them!

The Ace of Wands attracted my attention for another reason. The traditional hand with the wand in it is not coming from a cloud, but from the center of a red rose. What intense power we see manifested here!

The card of Death can be a difficult card for any deck. In the Sacred Rose Tarot, Johanna has cloaked the figure of death in a deep purple robe - the color of spirit. He still carries a scythe, but you get a bit of a different perception of him. Unlike traditional decks, where Death looks straight out at you, this figure is seen in silhouette, facing the past.

Then we have the Knight of Swords. Facing the reader, very intent and focused on the present, this Knight carries a sword in his left hand, moving forward through the fog with a look of intense concentration and determination on his face. The coloring for this card is dark purple and black.

This last card is a favorite of mine in many decks, and that is the Magician. Here we see a figure, dressed in red, with his arms upraised. Above his head we see a glowing Lemnescate. His body seems to float in space, with the symbols of the four elements surrounding him in glowing gold. An excellent portrayal of the will and absolute power that the Magician represents.

This is a deck that can be used by anyone, and can be used in many ways: in readings, in meditation, and in ritual, to name a few. This is a deck that a reader of any level could relate to and understand. It carries the gift of opening up the mind to accepting the archetypal wisdom that the Tarot personifies. This deck will take you out of who you are and point you into new directions!

—Bonnie Cehovet, Aeclectic Tarot

Back in the 1970s, when I first became involved with the tarot, I remember being very disappointed with the cards available at that time. Then along came the Sacred Rose. For the first time, here was imagery that was bright, clear in meaning, reflective and yet also very much alive. I never really took the tarot seriously until I encountered this deck, and even now, with many other fine and innovative decks having appeared on the scene, this is still the deck I consider the best. The images are reminiscent of stained glass, but really evoke an entirely different feeling than other decks. Rather than telling you what the cards mean, it seems as though the images draw their meanings out from the inside. In addition, there is none of the formal stodginess of traditional decks; you can almost smell the woods and flowers that illuminate the borders, and feel the forces the cards represent, something like looking toward the stars on a cold, clear night. If this all sounds a bit romantic, it is because the images are themselves romantic, and that kind of interaction is what successful use of the tarot is all about. This is a good deck for beginners as well as experienced readers, and is capable of producing readings from the mundane to the deepest of spiritual encounters. Highly recommended; don't leave your astral home without it.

—David Albert, Amazon customer

The Sacred Rose Tarot Deck by Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman is one of my favorite decks. Her use of imagery to convey the symbolic meanings of each of the cards is not only thoughtfully rendered, but is easy to understand and learn even for beginning tarot card readers. I love her use of color and shape to energize and give fluidity to the compositional elements of each card. Even though this deck was published in the 80's the cards are as relevant and powerful today as they were in its first introduction. A great deck for both collectors and mystics.

—Pamela Wells, Amazon customer