About Fournier
If you are deep into tarot, you probably have noticed that Spanish publisher Fournier has been very promising this year with the release of 3 news decks, after years of going relatively unnoticed.
Fournier is unbeatable in terms of value for money. I only own two of their tarot decks but I love the slightly smaller tarot format, the cardstock is out of this planet and the decks are very affordable.
Oh yes, I know, tuck boxes… A lot of people seem to dislike them. To be honest, I much much prefer the money to go into the actual cards than in a fancy gold-foiled box and whatnot. Besides, the quality of Fournier tuck boxes seems to have been upgraded. The El Dios box is much sturdier than the Marseille from their collection. One of their latest releases, the Tarot de Carlotydes even has the inside of the box printed with a gorgeous floral pattern! I hope Fournier will keep it this way. A well-worn tuck box can certainly add a little bit of magic.
Fournier print in Spain which is rare enough to be mentioned these days. Spain is trading under EU laws. This means there’s some strict control over the manufacturing process in terms of environmental impact, safety and labour rights.
I wouldn’t dismiss Chinese printers -some are going the extra mile to reduce their impact on the environment (I’m thinking of MPC here and its twin company Printer’s Studio)- but it feels good to know that, as an EU citizen, a mass-market deck hasn’t travelled twice around the planet to reach me!
The deck
The cards have been created by Spanish artist Javier Navarro, (quoting him) a “creative artist and illustrator” who specialised in murals, working under the brand name “El Dios de Los Tres” (the God of the Three). His art is a quirky tattoo-like graphic style mixing various cultural references in a zesty acid bright palette.
The minor arcana don’t quite follow either the Marseille or the RWS systems which can make it a bit difficult to read especially since no proper guidebook is available. Overall it’s a busy (in a good way) and motley kind of deck worth your time to decipher and appreciate for its uniqueness. I wouldn’t recommend it to a beginner though.
I love the humour sprinkled here and there (namely the Fool, the Lovers) and the general crazy, edgy energy oozing from the cards. I was a bit caught off guard when I realized what was going on on the Knave of Cups though. 😁 So you know, this is a sexually explicit card.
The LWB is a basic Fournier booklet translated in Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese. Unfortunately, it is pretty useless. As I mentioned above, a proper book written by the artist would have been an enormous plus!
My silent flipthrough:
Card size: 60x110mm/sturdy tuckbox
330 gsm
Printed in Spain
ISBN: 978-0738770192
Want to know more about cardstock and gsm? Check this excellent video by Youtuber Water Child Tarot. You will understand why thickness doesn’t always equal quality!
Louise Barescat 