The Dodal Tarot by Pablo Robledo – Is this your Grail Deck?

There is a thread on the Aeclectic Tarot forum about The Deck. Whether or not you believe in the concept of The Deck, I’d like to present the Dodal Tarot as restored by Pablo Robledo as one special tarot worthy of your consideration.

What’s a Grail Deck? Quite simply it’s a tarot deck that lets you enter the flow for long, steady periods of time.  If you find yourself repeatedly reaching for a particular tarot deck, you know what I mean.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that she had, and bought it. -Matthew

The Robledo Dodal Tarot

Last week the postman knocked on the door and handed me a large brown padded envelope covered with forms. After signing the slip and closing the door I opened the package to find something remarkable.

There’s often a sense of excitement upon opening up a new deck. In the case of the Robledo Dodal, it had been building since I learned of Pablo Robledo’s passion for this project through the Aeclectic tarot forum. My favorite decks are almost all based on the Tarot de Marseille. While I love and use Flornoy’s Dodal, there is something large about it that makes it exceptionally well suited for public readings.  Pablo’s captivating and provocative posts awakened a hope in me that his restoration of this famous tarot from 1701 would result in a deck with a more intimate feel.  He succeeded tremendously.

The Jean Dodal Tarot by Robledo

Inside the brown paper envelope was a hand-made wooden box wrapped simply and well in bubble wrap. Inside the box were the cards, protected through their journey by another layer of wrapping. I carefully removed this plastic, and held the deck in my hand for the first time.  The cards felt silky with just the right size and weight to give a sense of substance without intimidating massiveness.  Do you remember what it felt like the last time you held hands with someone you love?  This is how the Robledo Dodal felt to me.

One of my most beloved art decks¹ is a hand-colored majors-only version of the Flornoy Noblet.  The colors of Pablo Robledo’s deck draw the eye in a similar way. It’s a visceral, fascinating effect. I just want to look, be drawn in, and see.

Some Robledo Dodal cards

These images can only give the barest sense of what the cards actually look like. There are some better quality images on the Aeclectic thread referenced below. I’d encourage you to look there to get a sense of the feeling of depth and dimension present.

Conclusion

As you can see, I’m very attached to this Robledo Dodal. I feel a sense of connection, gratitude and rightness with it. It travels with me in my bag and has become a primary deck.

Right now there are only a handful of these Robledo Dodal tarot decks in the world². Pablo Robledo is continuing to publish them in small batches. His hope and wish is that a commercial version could be released allowing them to be readily available wherever tarot cards are sold around the world. If you have any interest in this deck whatsoever, I would urge you to contact Pablo and get a deck for yourself.

You can learn more about Pablo Robledo’s very special deck on this thread at the Aeclectic Tarot Forum.

If you are a publisher of Tarot decks, or have influence with one, please consider helping this creation find a wide distribution.  Thanks!

1. An art deck to me is a tarot that is meant to be admired or studied rather than read. [↩]
2. Just found out that only 8 copies of this deck have been produced. [↩]

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Tagged as: Dodal, Grail Deck, Pablo Robledo, Robledo, Robledo Dodal