The Napo Tarot, created by Betty Lopez, is an Argentinean inspired, Rider Waite based Tarot deck that claims to have been created with the intent to demonstrate how we are connected to the Cosmos.  The author of this deck states in her introduction “…  the aboriginal mythology of Argentina skirts around mystery, destiny, and hope.”  Ms. Lopez weaves the cards of Tarot symbology and art metaphor working with the artist “Napo” with a touch of Astrology throughout the deck.

This south-American inspired Tarot deck is beautifully rendered by the famed Argentina artist “Napo”, who is known for his soft and eccentric cubist style of water color, imbued with a great whimsical imagination.  The individual card names are lettered in Spanish (soft blue) at the bottom of the cards and English (soft red) at the top with loose, large and easy to read lettering.  The Napo-depicted drawings are all upbeat, positive in feeling and quite charming. 

For instance: the major trump “Chariot” depicts a smiling scarecrow guiding a wood wagon with a whip, which is not in use but held high pointing skyward, pulled by two farm horses, one white and the other spotted.  There is an armadillo crossing the road in front of the two animals who’s eyes are wide with surprise.  Behind the scarecrow driver is a large sun rising on the horizon. 

The cards are 2 ¾” by 4 ¾” of glossy cardstock with ¼” white border around the edge softened by another ¼” border of soft water colored beige.  The backs of the cards are very simple with four five-pointed gold stars centered in a diamond pattern; the blue background representing the sky on a “summer night”.  The four stars represent the Southern Cross and the three Maria.  The cross symbolizes the four suits in Tarot as well as the four cardinal points, the four elements and the four evangelists.

I noticed as I was playing with this charming deck that the art of Napo seems to really fit with the card’s intended message.  Betty Lopez did a masterful job in working with the artist to convey the best of both parts – the pictorial art with the intended meanings – when creating her Tarot deck.  For instance the “7 of Cups” shows five pots in the sky with a woman’s head coming out of one, a snake coming out of the other and a scarf covering something out of the other while two are down behind the individual who has their back to us.  We cannot tell if it is a woman or a man and the picture indicates to us that this person has already checked out two pots to no avail and continues to try for the third.  Of course the message is “Illusion”.    The “6 of Cups” is titled “Memories” or “Recuerdos” and shows a male adult figure handing a clay pot to a young female.  The translucent block style used in the landscape has a nice effect of movement upward, downward and sideways.

Typically the court cards are represented by Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings for each minor arcana suits of Cups, Swords, Disks, and Wands.  This would be an easy deck to learn and work with for new Tarot students and readers who wish to add another deck to their repertoire.

The Napo Tarot’s imagery, while holding to the traditional, includes the myths and traditions of Argentina although without deeper study I wouldn’t be able to recognize them.  Lopez states that the Fool has a head that is in the form of a swirl which symbolizes the “whirlwind of ideas” within and the Priestess, Temperance and other majors seems to be fairly reminiscent of other Wait Tarot trumps with the artwork of Napo offering new whimsical perspectives.  The Magician becomes the Magus who represents a very well dressed gaucho living in the country and the Pope aka Heirophant represents Old Vizcacha from the book “Martin Fierro” by Jose Hernandez.

Lopez offers two spreads in her LWB (Little White Bok):

The traditional “Celtic Cross” and the “Draw of Four Aces”.  The four Aces are pulled from the deck and placed in a straight vertical line representing the four suits: Wands –energy, work, impulse, and intuition; Disks –money, and ability to achieve; Cups –emotions; Swords –thoughts, health and struggles.  (Not so sure about the health issue as it isn’t often used in Tarot decks per se’ for obvious reasons.)

The next step is shuffling the major trumps and placing one card to the right and one card to the left of each of the four Aces.  Finally, the cards on the right represent the consciousness of the querent, cards on the left represent the unconscious nature of the querent.

Googling “Napo Tarot” will allow you to view these pretty and vivacious cards.

This wonderful deck was published in 1998, and even though there are many newer and recent decks that are almost overdone, “Napo Tarot” still stands on its own as great Tarot “reader deck” and I would highly recommend it for beginners as well as advanced readers.   

Kristin Lee-Gray, CTI

Kristin reads under the name of Windstar on www.spiritualguidedpsychics.com

Card Images from the Napo Tarot