It is therefore no accident that all Christian symbolism has been removed from these cards, and those cards that are most changed from the RWS model are the ones that held the most Christian imagery. Even the sexual sacrament is hinted at in the 2 of Chalices as the starry sword enters the cup in imitation of the sexual act. Furthermore such items as magical grimoires and ritual knives, magic circles and lunar symbolism lurk in plain sight amongst the background details of the cards, all indicating the pagan nature of these cats. Indeed different ways of imaging the elements is a prevalent feature in this deck.
![the silent patient symbolism the silent patient symbolism](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Halloween-1024x538.jpg)
The elements, both in their triangular symbolic forms and as the suit symbols and elemental magical weapons also recur throughout the deck, sometimes as a set of four, sometimes in lesser amounts that seem to hold some significance with their placement and numbering. The instruction booklet suggests, half humorously, that all cats are pagans by their very nature and this is indicated throughout the deck by the inclusion of numerous, subtle pagan symbols including a cauldron that appears both as a background detail and as a symbol on a number of cards. The title of the deck announces the cats as pagans and this affiliation is more hinted at than overtly explained. There are a few instances where a cats twinning tail is used to hold a staff or wand or a hat, collar or suchlike is added to the image for symbolic purposes such as the head gear on the Emperor and Empress, but on the whole such props are avoided and one is left with the impression that these are real cats performing true actions in a symbolic landscape. These cats leap, sleep and play they fight, fall and hunt their prey just as their real life counterparts do. Lola Airaghi's beautiful and delicate art work captures dozens of different felines in a myriad of poses. They are cats and they are drawn as cats. It must also be stated that the cats in this deck are not anthropomorphic, they do not stand like humans, act like humans, neither do they wear clothes or hold implements in the hands they do not have. However even a cursory glance at the deck serves to reveal that although the Pagan Cats follow the pattern of the older deck closely they also bring something new to the cards, something that is more than just the introduction of a cat in place of a person, for the subtle (and not so subtle) differences are far more important than the obvious similarities. It is impossible to assess this deck without reference to the Rider Waite deck upon which it is based. The card stock, printing and packaging all live up to Lo Scarabeo's usual exemplary standards, the tuck box also holds a little white booklet by Magdelina Messina containing two specially created spreads and basic reading instructions in a number of different languages. The titles appear in 6 different languages and the numbering uses Roman numerals for the major arcana and Arabic for the minors. Within these borders the cards are titled and numbered using a pleasingly quirky font. The images are surrounded by discrete borders in a pale cream colour enhanced by darker paw prints that march around the picture as though a cat has investigated each and every card and left its mark of approval. In structure the deck follows the Rider Waite model, it has 78 cards, 22 trumps and four suits, all of which carry the usual names and numbers, Strength is VIII and Justice is XI, the minor cards are fully illustrated and the backs, showing the faces of two cats within the pagan symbol of the triple moon are fully reversible. This is not to say, however, that the deck slavishly copies the earlier decks images and simply replaces people with cats, instead it endeavours to see the tarot from a cats eye view and imagine the meanings of the traditional cards to a cat. This familiarity of scene, setting and symbol makes the deck instantly accessible to anyone with a working knowledge of the famous and popular Rider Waite deck. Solidly based upon the Rider Waite tradition the deck plays out the familiar symbols and scenes with the aid of a myriad of beautifully drawn cats. The Tarot of Pagan Cats by Lo Scarabeo brings, not for the first time, the world of tarot and cats together in a beautiful and charming new deck. It is easy to imagine the tarot reader accompanied by a cat, purring at their side, gently pushing at a card with a softly furred paw.
![the silent patient symbolism the silent patient symbolism](https://i1.wp.com/duffythewriterblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-silent-patient.png)
It may be said that cats are the archetypal theme for tarot decks, for there seems to be something that links the two together.