The Rosetta Tarot

A Thoth based tarot deck by M.M. Meleen

About Rosetta Tarot

Available at TarotCart.com

Rosetta Tarot card back design

The Rosetta Tarot is the first of several Thoth based and Thoth inspired tarot decks created by M.M. Meleen. It was published in November of 2011, and voted the #1 Best Deck of the Year by Aeclectic Tarot voters. It is a 78 card tarot based on the Thoth deck by Aleister Crowley, but with its own unique art. The deck is hand painted and illustrated, embedding concepts from Astrology, Alchemy, Qabalah, and the tenets of Thelema.

A universal language

A “Rosetta” is an alternate word for key or decoder, referring to the Rosetta Stone, a fragment of an ancient Egyptian granite stele discovered in Rashid (Rosetta) and dating to 196 BC. The slab is inscribed with three identical scripts in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic text, and Ancient Greek and proved to be the key to decoding the previously unknown Egyptian hieroglyphs.In the same way that the Rosetta stone ties together the languages of these cultures, the Rosetta Tarot weaves Egyptian symbolism and Greek mythologies with alchemical symbolism.Tarot is a language that allows the subconscious mind to be consciously accessed, and potentialities in embryonic form to be seen and pondered, and perhaps positively affected. It is a potent tool for meditation and self discovery. Tarot can be considered a hieroglyphic, symbolic, and pictorial language so flexible as to be able to contain the known universe and all combinations of manifestations both earthly and spiritual, tangible and intangible.As Tarot is a language, and the Rosetta stone is a key or decoder of language, the Rosetta Tarot may unlock the doors of the arcana houses and reveal secrets of the Tarot hidden in plain sight.Want to get Rosetta Tarot and it's companion Book of Seshet?

About the Artwork

Each suit of Rosetta Tarot was illustrated by hand in an artistic medium reflective of the suit's element.Wands (Fire) were done in colored pencil (little wooden wands), Cups (Water) were done in watercolor and water-based ink, Swords (Air) were done in dry point etching with a metal stylus, and Disks (Earth) were done in oil paint (pigments made from earth).The Majors (Spirit, the quintessence) were done in acrylic paint, to reflect the flexibility of the tarot as language. Each Minor arcana suit also has a little bit of acrylic added to the elemental medium to tie them to Spirit and the Majors.

  • See more pictures of Rosetta and learn about the Thoth based tradition at Tarotcart's page About the Rosetta

  • You can also see more of the original art and some examples of early editions of Rosetta at the artist's blog

The Aeon Rosetta Tarot

What makes a good Thoth based deck?

A Thoth based deck should illustrate Thelemic concepts such as the cosmic perspectives of the gods Nuit, Hadit, and Horus as shown in the Aeon card above. Thelemic approaches ideas should be present in the art and symbolism, referencing teachings of the new Aeon found in the Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley.

About the Artist

M.M. Meleen is an artist, author, and occult practitioner. Pagan, Buddhist, Jedi Knight? Probably just a Thelemite!Indeed, Mel continues to be "a Thelemite of no particular significance", not affiliated with any order.

Decks by M.M. Meleen:

Books by M.M. Meleen

Book of Seshet (Rosetta guidebook)Book M: Liber Mundi (Tabula Mundi guidebook)Spectrum Fari (Pharos guidebook)Tarot Deciphered (published by Llewellyn, co-authored with T.Susan Chang)

Other Related Works

If you like esoteric tarot, check out the Fortune's Wheelhouse podcast, a joint venture of M.M. Meleen and T.Susan Chang.You may also like the Rosetta Tarot app and the Tabula Mundi app, for iOs and Android.

All images and text copyright M.M. Meleen 2011-2024

Contact

The tarot works of M.M. Meleen can be found at Tarotcart.com