The Minchiate Tarot Deck is a modern day adaption and re-illustration of the Ancient and rare Minchiate Tarot Deck. The Minchiate Tarot Deck has 97 cards vis-avis the normal 78 cards in a tradinational deck. The 19 extra cards are in the The Minchiate Tarot Deck are for zodiac signs, the elements and virtues. This is sometimes considered a non-traditional deck. Some even consider this to be a very powerful divination tool.  


The Minchiate Tarot deck was created by Brian Williams.  

Anyone uses this deck?

Abhishek

No, but it looks interesting. Have to sell a bit more on eBay so I can get my hands on a copy, LOL!

Have you used it yourself? I've seen readings done with it on Aeclectic Tarot forum, I suppose it is as good as any non-pictorial minors deck...As far as I'm concerned the more cards in a tarot deck, the better. I read intuitively and find that the more ways I can read a card, the more depth I can get from it (intuitively from the image or the basic meaning, interpreting the number or symbols or even decoration, using a selection of interpretations of the cards based on books or quoteable quotes that I have come to associate with the card, reversed or upright). Similarly, the more different cards there are, the more situations are covered; I find that making my own deck using the RW meanings but drawing the imagery from scratch, there are certain things "missing" from a tarot deck that I have had to reassign cards to cope with; I read the Hanging Man as being in limbo or suspense rather than as a noble sacrifice. I know the Eight of Swords also carries the "limbo" meaning, but in some aspects it is more an external imprisonment rather than the internal "loose end" that the Hanging Man symbolises. Therefore the Minchiate might to some degree ameliorate that problem with its extra cards.

That's why I never really got the hang of playing card cartomancy, there is not a lot of imagery to work with and the system rests on memorisation of specific meanings rather than the free association of tarot.

The set seems to be available with a good book attached, so even people more used to the R-W system can get to grips with it. I use the Swiss IJJ sometimes, and once I have grasped the idea of unillustrated pips, I might move on to the Minchiate in order to develop more affinity with the Renaissance imagery rather than the modern Rider-Waite based decks.

I like to collect reproductions of old Tarot decks.  Brian Williams is OK, but I have and use the Ancient Minchiate Etruria from Florence ~1725, reproduced by Lo Scarabeo 1996, and distributed by Llewellyn.  I'm used to minor arcana with no expanded illustration on the pip cards and the additional major arcana are all symbols with which I am very familiar and comfortable, so no problem!  I find the additional cards bring an added richness to my readings and also stimulate my grasp of the "issues" involved in the reading.  I also read with the Mantegna Tarot, another "non-traditional" deck that is more inscrutable (at least to me).