Tarot Matryoshka

Описание

Author and artist: Vladimir Sitnikov
Size: 75 х 145 mm
Сontents: 22 sheets. The booklet in Russian and in English, 32 pages
Material: cardboard
Condition: new, packed

What are some of the internationally recognized symbols of Russia? Besides almost forgotten sputnik and lunokhod, they are caviar, vodka, balalaika, Kalashnikov rifle –and, of course, matryoshka, the most known “Russian souvenir” for foreign tourists.
Though matryoshka is called “a doll” nobody really ever plays with it as a child would play with other dolls. Its task, like any souvenir, is to stand on a shelf in assembled or disassembled form. And yes, modern psychologists/educators do propose giving matryoshka dolls to small children so that the latter may do some rattling and find out what’s inside the former…
But we have already grown up and can see in this uncomplicated “toy” a storehouse of secret knowledge. Matryoshka is an esoteric artifact.
The whole and the part, unity and diversity, form and content, big and small: all these philosophical terms explaining the nature of the world are accessible for understanding within the symbolism of matryoshka, the nesting doll. The structure of the Universe, the structure of the Earth, the structure of the biosphere, the structure of man and his energy bodies –all of these, and more, can be revealed by the matryoshka images of finite and/or infinite nestedness of one into another.
Matryoshka is also a symbol of the search for meaning. To see the essence, to get to the bottom of the truth, to find the seed –aren’t those the main things in creativity, in science, in esotericism? Hopefully Tarot Matryoshka could assist in that search to those who are looking for meaning, purpose, and destiny with the help of Tarot cards.
Tarot Matryoshka, a traditional majors-only deck, consists of 22 cards. As a rule, the images of the Arcana correspond to the classic ones with some national flavor added. The very shape of matryoshka, the nesting of its components into each other, their transformations –all of this served to form the basis of the images of the Arcana so that they might be understood deeper and, in some cases, reveal their new and unexpected sides.
Matryoshka as a souvenir is, of course, kitsch, and this determined the style of Tarot Matryoshka. But hopefully behind its external ostentatiousness and rollickingness you’ll be able to see that very grain and that very meaning, which are hidden under the bright multi-colored clothes of the Fool.