Xultun Tarot
From Tarotpedia
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[edit] Description
The Xultun Tarot is a Mayan theme deck first released in the 1976. Pronounced 'Shoul-ton', (xultun) means storage place.
A special characteristic of the deck is that all 22 trumps (higher arcana) when joined together form one picture. The complete picture is known as the children's book of fire and tells the story of the soul's journey. When you open the deck, you are taking a momentary snapshot of your 'self' and where you are on the journey.
The trumps are very distinct in design from the courts and pips - see attached sample images.
Sidenote: Author Michael Owen (Tauranga, New Zealand) has written an interesting self-published book "Tarot Codex" on the higher arcana of Peter Balin's Xultun Tarot. It really is a fascinating read as there is much more to Balin's deck and book. Chapter 1 in pdf: [1]
[edit] Deck creation process
See Mary Greer's summary of her interview with deck creator, Peter Balin, concerning the creation of the deck: Timeline of the Occult and Divinatory Tarot from 1750 to 1980 at 1976
In part, Greer writes:
- "He told me that he created the deck after seeing a RWS deck one evening at a party. At the time he was a down-and-out carpenter. A friend suggested he do a deck, which he laughed at, but the idea wouldn't go away. In fact, he suddenly saw in his mind this huge painting - all one piece - which he knew was the Major Arcana - only it was Mayan. But, he knew nothing about Tarot and little about the Mayans although he had lived in Mexico for a while. ... There were many images that he put into the deck that he knew nothing about - and only later found out that they were very significant in relation to the Mayan cosmology and to the particular Tarot card."
The companion book by Balin, Flight of Feathered Serpent, includes an explanation of this subsequent research.
[edit] Creator
[edit] Publishing details
ISBN To be added
[edit] Date of Publication
- 1976 - English Edition
- post-1976 - International Edition (5 languages on the cards)
- Xultun Tarot Deck ISBN 3-85914-139-2
- Flight of Feathered Serpent ISBN: 0910261016
[edit] Publisher
- English Edition: Wisdom Garden Books, Venice, California
- International Edition: Arcana Publishing Co. / distributed by U.S. Games
[edit] Creator's website
Not known
