The I AM ONE Tarot

Measurements: 2.35 x 4.37 inches, or 61 x 111 mm.

Back of card: Solid black. In the center, a gray six pointed star in front of a white five pointed star. In the center of it all, a darker hexagon with the word, "ONE" printed in it. Not intended for inversion, but not terribly distinctive when so.

Booklet included: Yes, 68 pages, 4.3 x 2.25 inches, or 110 x 57 mm. Instructions in English, French & Spanish

Publisher: Saint-Art.com, Los Angeles. Printed by US Playing Cards, USA.

Comments: This is a fantasy deck, one which keeps the classic sections of the tarot: 22 card major arcana cards, 56 minor arcana cards, divided into 4 suits of 10 pip cards, plus 4 court cards each.

Minor arcana are as follows:
Blue cards are named Curved Blade & signify Mental consciousness (eg, Swords)
Red cards are named Two Headed Serpent & signify Spiritual consciousness (eg, Wands)
Green cards are named Pear of Tears & signify Emotional consciousness (eg, Cups)
Yellow cards are named Stone of Age & signify Physical consciousness (eg, Pentacles)

Court cards are, in order, Knight, Queen, Prince & Princess. Where is the king? Let's check the dictionary:

Knight 1. A medieval tenant giving military service as a mounted man-at-arms to a feudal landholder. 2. A medieval gentleman-soldier, usually high-born, raised by a sovereign to privileged military status after training as a page & squire. 3. A man holding a non-hereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country (page 997)

Prince 1. A male member of a royal family other than the monarch, especially the son of the monarch. (page 1440)

Princess 1. A woman who is ruler of a principality. 2. A woman member of a royal family other than the monarch, especially the daughter of a monarch. 3. A noblewoman of varying status or rank. 4. The wife of a prince. (page 1440)

Queen 1. The wife or widow of a king. 2. A woman sovereign. (page 1482)
(All taken from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd edition, 1992)

So the Queens, Princes & Princesses are royals, Knights are not. It is implied in this deck that Princesses will eventually become Queens, but Princes will not become Kings. The Knight is presumably the Queen's consort, his male children are not heirs.

Major arcana, in order:

1. The Changer - I am master communication
2. The Mother - I am master creation
3. The Feeler - I am master motion
4. The Actor - I am master power
5. The Speaker - I am master education
6. The Unity - I am master relationship
7. The Victorious One - I am self mastery
8. The Donor - I am master of the law
9. The Seeker - I am master wisdom
10. The Royal Maze - I am master destiny (the cup of wine)
11. The Deliverer - I am master personality (the cup of fire)
12. The Hanging Man - I am master redeemer
13. The Renewer - I am master transformation (the empty cup)
14. The Reverser - I am master prophecy
15. The Thinker - I am master error
16. The Citadel - I am master perfection
17. The Way-Shower - I am master dreamer (the cup of fluid colors)
18. The Reactor - I am master pattern
19. The Doer - I am master light
20. The Knower - I am master of soul-consciousness
21. The Virgin - I am master of free will (the cup of light)
22. The Nameless One - I am master recorder

The introductory notes:
"The I AM ONE tarot deck is a game of cards based on ancient school of "Tarot" that was last used in Egypt during the late 18th dynasty. The school of Tarot was designed for royal family members only, in order to prepare kings & queens for their destiny where they will have to demonstrate the model of a perfect human being. The royal student was to achieve his/her ultimate initiation from the great "I AM" (God), before being announced ruler. Initiation takes place when the student can honestly say that he/she are "ONE", meaning the graduated student managed to obtain all qualities of life within one awaken consciousness, including all that is good & all that is bad. The royal master of Tarot was then considered an evolved human being entitled to attach the word ATON to his/her personal name (Aton is One), thus accepted by society as being wise & knowledgeable in all life matters. The Egyptian school of tarot was adopted at a later time by the Hebrews & their leader, Moses, a royal master of Tarot. His intention to bring this method of schooling unto the many people instead of keeping it in the Egyptian palace...."

This is fantasy, of course, in keeping with the fantastical nature of the deck itself. There is neither historical nor clairvoyant evidence of tarot cards among the Egyptians. By "tarot" we mean both major & minor arcanas in one deck. I have seen no evidence of a major arcana before the Italian Renaissance. The minor arcana of 56 cards is quite possibly very, very old. If some want to make it Egyptian, it would be as good a guess as any other.

The attainment of being "I AM ONE" with all the cosmos (eg, the model of the perfect human being) is the same as having Christ consciousness or God consciousness. Such a state of development makes one a Messiah, an Avatar, or at the very least, a saint. It is a useless feat for a temporal ruler. Prince Gautama, who had it, renounced the kingdom for the life of an ascetic. Confucius, who very likely had it, was driven from power & became an ascetic.

But the old Egyptian priests were very clever. Forced spiritual development was one of their specialities. Would they have used flash cards (eg, prehistoric tarot)? Perhaps. But they also used meditative techniques, hallucinogens & on occasion, near death & death itself, among the few techniques known to us.

As for the historical records, notable rulers from the Egyptian 18th dynasty were Kings Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Queen Hatshepsut, Kings Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Tutankhamen, Ay & Horemheb. (No "Aton"s here.)

At this address: reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/history18-20.htm : Dynasties XVIII to XX The reassertion of Egyptian power and the building of an empire (which, regrettably, does not want to be a link), it says, Most pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty acceded while still very young and no reference is made to brothers of the king although in a number of cases certainly more princes were alive at the time of death of their father. These young rulers did not possess much power over the military, the officialdom and the priesthood of Amen. The queen's palace also played an important role. All these parties tried to manipulate the king, who often only served to legitimize the government controlled by one faction or another. These rulers do not sound terribly wise & for the most part were not long-lived. As for Moses, tarot in the Jewish mystical tradition is notable by its absence.

As one might gather, I was not terribly impressed by this deck. If you are, enjoy.

Update, June 28, 2004: I am informed this is a copy of an earlier deck. See it here: The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age, (note the major arcana card Unity, which is shown both there, and above). These cards were channeled from an old silver dollar functioning as a modified Ouiji board & first published in the late 1960's or early 1970's by John Cooke & Rosalind Sharpe.

Yes, I thought so, too.

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