De Tarot in de herstelde orde

First published in 1995, this 80 card Rider-Waite clone was 'created' by brothers Onno and Rob Docters van Leeuwen, who believed that the Tarot had been corrupted over the centuries, and that through their research they had re-discovered the true order of the cards. Also, two of the original cards were deemed to be missing, namely Juno and Jupiter, which have been added back into this deck's major arcana under the new names of Intuition and Truth - making 24 trumps in all, hence an 80 card deck.*

As a result, there are several changes to the standard order of the trumps, and a couple of card name changes, but the most unique feature of this deck is that each major arcana has a different permutation of the 4 letters T A R O at the top of the card. The authors refer to these anagrams as Tarot Invocations. There are 24 of them, one for each of the newly enlarged set of trumps, and they can be arranged into 6 magic squares, which apparently is how this new re-ordering of the cards was determined. Interestingly however, when the deck was republished in 2003, eight of these anagrams were swapped around, (see images of trumps 4, 9, 15, and 20 below, where the anagram at the top of a 1st. edition card can be seen above the full image of a 2nd. edition card. Also see the image comparing the lists of trumps given in the two LWBs, and the 6 magic squares) Can't always get it right the first time I guess. See the booklet►

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But that's not all that changed in the second edition. Juno/Intuition gained her traditional second peacock, and the star on her bodice changed to a golden orb. The actual Star card changed from depicting a naked man in the 1st. edition, to a clothed woman in the 2nd! (see images below) It can't be about the nudity though, as both the man and woman are still naked in The Lovers and Devil cards. Although most of the card designs are clearly based on Pamela Colman Smith's famous illustrations, particularly the minor arcana, what gives these cards presence is the very striking, almost psychedelic background colouring technique of bold pointillism.

Above: “De Tarot in de herstelde orde” (The Tarot in the Restored Order) created by brothers Onno and Rob Docters van Leeuwen, 1995 & 2003.

Both 1st and 2nd editions are presented in almost identical tuck boxes, the difference being Juno has two peacocks on the 2nd edition box, both are complete with LWB, and supposedly the same card backs, but there is in fact a discernible difference. Cards measure 120 x 70mm on average stock. See the box►

NOTE * most of us know there was a period in Tarot's history when the images of Juno and Jupiter were used to replace the usual Popess and Pope in Tarot de Besançon decks specifically to avoid the ire of the Church. But in this deck you get all four!