by Ani Sekarningsih, CTGM

a review by John Gilbert

Certified Tarot Grandmaster Ani Sekarningsih lives in Indonesia where she teaches and reads tarot. In many ways she could be called the Rachel Pollack of Indonesia. She’s an astute student of tarot, an excellent writer in her native tongue, a tarot reader’s expert, a tarot reader and teacher and just a delightful person to know.

Ani created the Tarot Wayang tarot deck and wrote the Tarot Wayang book (ISBN 979-695-870-8) published in Jakarta, Indonesia in late 2002. The book is printed in both English and Indonesian. The deck is small by American standards being only 2 and 3/8 inches wide by 3 and 3/8 inches tall. It fits a small hand rather nicely. The cards are much thicker than most American cards and feel about twice as think as your standard tarot deck. The cards are plastic coated and can be cleaned with a wet rag. They seem to wear well with use.

The designs on the cards are very unique but I’m told they are based on historically recognizable people and concepts in the Indonesian culture. This is not your standard Golden Dawn-type tarot deck. It’s based on the Buddhist culture which dominates Indonesian society. The characters in the cards look more like puppets from a fantastic dream world than real people. They are puppets, stick puppets held up by sticks controlling their arms and hands. You can see the sticks and the hinges in their arms.

The pip cards are numbered 2-10 with AS standing in for the Ace. The court cards are the Emban, Kesatria, Ratu and Raja but you’ll quickly recognize them as the Page, Knight, Queen and King. The Minor Arcana cards are all color coded to designate the Element of the suit. Air is violet, Water is blue, Earth is green and Fire is yellow. This is the base color of the card and the designs are painted over this base color.

Each card is a picture of a puppet set against the background color with a number or name in the upper right-hand corner. The name of the card appears at the bottom in Indonesian. The meaning of the card is given on the sides - left side in Indinesian, right side in English.

The Major Arcana cards are painted on a black background with the number at the top center of the card. The name is centered at the bottom and the meanings are given on the sides. The Fool is Bagong and the meaning is “Choice.” The Magician is Semar and the meaning is “Creative Power.” The High Priestess is Dewi Saraswati and the meaning is “Wisdom.” The Lovers are Rama and Sinta and the meaning of this card is “Harmony.” Nice.

While the cards are not generally recognizable by the American eye, and the meanings are a little different that what most of us might expect, this is an excellent tarot deck. The meanings flow and are very consistent with the esoteric meanings of the Tarot. I particularly love “Chaos” for Dasamuka who happens to be Key Sixteen. That says a lot more to me than “The Tower.” It’s also a more pleasing card to look at.

You could use this deck just as it is without referring to the book. The cards explain themselves very well and you could build a good system for reading tarot cards using them. But if you can find your way through the language barrier, you’ll find some pearls of wisdom in this book. Here’s a couple of examples of what I mean:

Page 69: “From now on you are expected to get familiar in comprehending the background of the Arcana cards as an element. Whereas you know that God created men out of these elements completed with the soul.” You can most likely decipher the writer’s intention as an admonition to study the elements until you understand them. She also alludes to the human soul as being composed of these four elements - as is everything else in our world.

Page 72: “The Court Cards is a personal depiction of people, the interrogator, or a message.” Undoubtedly you know this refers to the client, somebody in the client’s life or a message to the client.

Page 84: “Basic character values of Tarot decks may degrade in a combination or if it is simply consists of two cards, based on the structure of the four elements and structure of Major Arcana, Minor Arcana and Court Cards.” With a little work you’ll understand this to be a discussion of Elemental dignities. Certain combinations of elements work well together, others don’t. The author goes into some detail on this subject and the knowledge she shares is well worth the time it takes to ferret out her true message.

Collectors will enjoy having this new addition to their collection. People with small hands will be thrilled with the size of the deck. Serious students will appreciate Ani’s knowledge and the message she delivers. You’re all invited to find out more about this book, deck and Ani by visiting her website at tarotwayang.com. Don’t let the language barrier keep you from learning something that might prove helpful.

My suggestion is to use this opportunity to learn more about the culture and people from the fourth most-populated country in the world (behind China, India and Japan). You’ll see some great pictures of some of the cards on her home page. You’ll learn a little more about the puppets in the English portion of her website. You might enjoy the music while you’re there. I did. I also like my Wayang Tarot deck and book. (Source: www.tarotinstitute.com)