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Simple, childlike art can be profound. Serena Ficca's
Happy Tarot exemplifies this. The Happy Tarot is adorable. You want to pinch
the cheeks of its smiling faces. Landscapes are sun-shot and scattered with
candy landmarks. In the Fool card, a lad steps, not off a cliff, but off a
cupcake. Cartoon characters, mostly eyes and smiles (only a few of the
characters have noses), rejoice, mope, and struggle. The Happy Tarot became one
of my favorite decks right out of the box. It delighted me in its use of color,
its appealing characters, and its insistence on exploring even the darkest
Tarot cards to discover what in them holds a unique key to happiness.
The Happy Tarot's images would tickle a child, or lower
the defenses of an adult querent edgy about Tarot's spooky reputation. Seeing
childlike characters in grown-up clothes taking on the challenges each card
presents, using candy as symbols for life's rewards and setbacks, might loosen
up the questioner and help him or her to gain perspective on the game of life.
Ficca combines earthier tones with brights and pastels in
a sophisticated way. An example is the High Priestess. The rich, deep maroon of
the pomegranates pop out from their sunset yellow and orange background.
Solomon's pillars are somber purple-gray and taupe-ivory, but their subdued
quality provides the perfect backdrop for the card's brighter accents: the
pomegranates, the Priestess' blue robe, and her pink throne.
Ficca's use of light is never better than on the Hermit.
The Hermit stands alone on a deep forest-green hilltop sprinkled with jimmies
and topped with a maraschino cherry. Fruit-flavored clouds float through the
night sky overhead. Stars twinkle, brightening tiny pinpricks of darkness. The
Hermit is a child in an old man's costume beard. He holds a staff and a
lantern. The lantern illuminates his face and his beard, but nothing else.
Ficca's use of light here, in this whimsical little illustration, is masterful.
It's a cute picture, a funny picture, and also, as much as any other Tarot card
in any other deck, a picture that prompts reflection and interior searching. The
Moon is another card that shows masterful handling of color. Its blues, olives
and ghostly, aurora-borealis-green-white moon combine for a striking image.
In discussing something dubbed the Happy Tarot, I must
turn to the Death card. It is beautiful, aesthetically perfect within the
deck's system of colors, characters, and composition. The image is traditional:
death on a pale horse inexorably approaches its victims, including children and
a mitered bishop. These diverse victims are symbolic of universal powerlessness
in the face of Death: neither innocence nor position allows escape to any
mortal. No one is smiling in this card, but the card does emphasize, through
color intensity and placement, the rosy, if distant dawn. Further, this Death
is riding a rocking horse. Close inspection reveals that his skull face is
merely a mask worn by a child. These touches suggest that Death is part of the
game earthbound creatures must play to achieve transcendence. I admire the
courage Ficca displayed in creating an image of death, in childlike symbols and
references, that doesn't flinch from one of the hardest cards in the Tarot
deck, but does not depart from her theme: "You can find happiness by
accepting endings as inevitable," the Happy Tarot's little white book
assures readers. In fact, all the card explanation begin with, "You can
find happiness by…" followed by the gift Ficca discovers in each
particular card.
The minor arcana are as well done as the majors. The
coins are predominantly olive green, representing earth and money, the cups are
predominantly light blue and placed near bodies of water, the wands are
predominantly red, pink, and purple, the colors of fire, and the swords are
predominantly pale blues and greys, representing air.
There are many lovely touches: the wizened face of the
old woman in a babushka in the five of coins, the overwhelmed kid throwing a
teary tantrum in the five of cups, and the spring-loaded seahorse being ridden
by the knight of cups.
Given that the swords in this deck are wooden and have
cross-shaped grips, the three of swords inevitably will call to mind to
Christian viewers iconic depictions of Jesus' crucifixion on a hill between two
thieves. The four of swords is one of the best versions of that card that I
have seen. The ceiling is made of those thin slats of wood one finds in buildings
that are hundreds of years old. Light – symbolic of knowledge and inspiration –
filters through the stained glass window and falls on the warrior in repose who
has laid down his swords, and is, perhaps, seeking guidance from his ancestral
heroes, depicted in the stained glass.
The cards in the Happy Tarot follow the Rider-Waite-Smith
pattern quite closely. The Fool and Death both have red feathers in their hats.
The woman in the nine of coins holds a bird on her wrist, one far too
flamboyantly colorful to be a falcon, but perfect for this candy-themed deck.
The two of wands character appears to be holding a globe – or a large gumball. The
staff in his hand skewers three marshmallows.
The cards are 2.5 inches by 4.75 inches and they shuffle
easily. The color coding of the minor arcana aids in getting a quick, bird's
eye view of a reading. The minor arcana cards feature their symbol at the top
of the card: wooden swords, candy canes (for wands), covered vessels emblazoned
with a heart for cups, and pentacles in the center of a coin. The knights have
hobby horse heads at the bottom of their cards; the kings and queens have
crowns, and the pages have their symbol which looks like a magic wand. The card
backs are fully reversible. They depict deep mauve clouds floating near an eyed
moon. Lollipops, candy canes, strawberries and an owl float amidst the clouds.
You can purchase the Happy Tarot at Amazon here.
