Kalevala Tarot , 1996 - Kalervo Aaltonen (Rare, OOP, Preloved/käytetty)

Kalervo Aaltosen kirjoittama ja Taina Pailoksen kuvittama Kalevala tarot on merkittävä merkkipaalu suomalaisessa tarothistoriassa. Ensimmäisiä tai jopa ensimmäinen kansainväliseen levitykseen päätynyt kotimainen pakka. US Games Systemsin 1990 luvun alussa jakelemasta pakasta on sittemmin muodostunut arvokas keräilykohde.

Pakan kotelossa jonkin verran iän tuomaa kulumaa. Kortit oikein hyväkuntoiset. Kirjan kanssessa pieni taittuma mutta muuten erinomaisessa kunnossa. 

Katso videoesittely juuri tästä kyseisestä setistä:

https://youtu.be/to5WcNBePo0?si=J1x6_7cK73UamVl1

Watch a video presentation of this exact set:

The Kalevala Tarot, written by Kalervo Aaltonen and illustrated by Taina Pailos, is a significant milestone in Finnish tarot history. It is one of the first, or possibly the very first, Finnish tarot decks to achieve international distribution. Originally distributed by US Games Systems in the early 1990s, the deck has since become a valuable collector’s item.

The box shows some wear consistent with its age. The cards are in very good condition. The book cover has a small crease but is otherwise in excellent condition.

The Kalevala tarot is based on Finnish poems compiled by Elias Lonnrot in the 19th century. Kalvervo Aaltonen's Kalevala tarot manages to incorporate many, if not most, of the central figures and stories in the Kalevala, in a way that connects to tarot symbolism as well. After being disappointed in the card assignments of several mythology-based tarot decks, I find the assignments in this deck rewardingly appropriate. For example, the adventurous Lemminkainen as the Fool. Ilmarinen, the smith, as the Magician (titled in some earlier decks "the Cobbler"). Vainamoinen, the shaman, as the High Priest. Most all of the Majors align well, though there could be arguments put forth for alternates, such as Akka, the goddess of fertility, as the Empress. But this is true of any "myth deck".

In regards to inaccuracies, the Judgment card (pg. 99), depicts Ukko, the sky god, judging Marjatta's son. Apparently, Vainamoinen orders the killing of the boy, but then Ukko, at the boy's pleading, not only judges favorably, but crowns him king of Karelia. This echoes the traditional tarot interpretation of mercy. On his Three of Stakes (pg. 153), although Aaltonen describes it as a competition, the actual story in the Kalevala is one of cooperation on Joukahainen's part in offering his sister Aino for marriage. So a minor error actually reinforces the traditional tarot meaning if one ignores the stated text and looks at the story itself. Pages 10-16 contain standard tarot diagrams with the Kalevala "people" names substituted for traditional tarot titles. The author does not use the word "clan" or "tribe", rather "Kalevala people" at the top of each diagram. It's most likely he's referring to the book of Kalevala as a whole, which include Louhi, the matriarch of the rival Pohjola tribe.