Decks, Glorious Decks!
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Deck Review: The Lubanko Tarot
The Lubanko Tarot is raw, queer, and unflinching - an indie darling now heading to mass market with Llewellyn. E. Lubanko’s art dives into grief, desire, and truth without sanitising its edges, offering cards that confront and comfort in equal measure.
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Deck Review: The Sinagtala Tarot
Ah, the Sinagtala Tarot. First things first: this is a great little deck. It’s beautiful, rich with symbolism, and it opens the door to a whole world of folklore and Tarot-adjacent myth that many people outside the Philippines may never have encountered. It also showcases the work of the immensely talented Augusto Ayo, whose art alone makes the deck worth owning. The word Sinagtala is a Filipino term that means “the ray of light from a star” or simply “starlight.” It can be interpreted as “shining star” or “celestial light,” symbolising hope, guidance, and the eternal spirit. This ethos runs throughout the deck. As the creators, Fictionminds, put it: “The…
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Deck Review: The Erenberg Tarot
I seem to be on a bit of a massmarket deck buying spree lately – there have just been so many fab new releases! My heart will always belong to Kickstarter, but it’s such a joy when interesting, layered decks become available at more affordable prices. My latest massmarket acquisition is the Erenberg Tarot by artist and designer Steve Erenberg, and, to the surprise of no one, I’ve got lots to say about it 😂. The deck is essentially a little lovesong to his bestie, the late Stuart R. Kaplan, founder of U.S. Games. The two spent decades “travelling the world together, exploring every antique shop and flea market along…
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Deck Review: The Tempest Tarot Deck
I hesitated before buying the Tempest Tarot Deck, as it’s a little too Pippish to be ‘fully me’, but, in the end, the gorgeous and intuitive art won me over. I’m also a nautical girl through and through. It was me and Mr TarotCake’s lifelong dream to live by the sea, and two years ago we made it a reality when we moved to sunny Southsea. We now live about a 12 minute walk from the beach, and I cannot tell you the wonders it has done for my mental health! There’s something about the sea – its limitless possibility, its hidden depths and luminous horizons – that makes everything…
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Deck Review: MindScapes Tarot
I fell in love with the art for the MindScapes Tarot by John A. Rice the moment I saw it. At that point, it was a Majors Only deck BUT with whispers of an eventual 78-card version, so I decided to bide my time before buying it. I don’t tend to work with Majors Only decks (unless they play nicely with my beloved Minors Only Wyrd of Sarah Howard), so I held out. That said, I did buy an original print of the High Priestess. My wallet winced a little (don’t get me wrong, artists absolutely deserve to get properly paid; I’m just broke, haha), but I couldn’t resist. She’s…
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Deck Review: The Spacious Tarot
A while back now, I read a blog post by Tarot reader and deck creator Carrie Mallon that she and artist Annie Ruygt had no plans (for the time being) to do any further reprints of their famous Spacious Tarot deck. As it’s an old favourite of mine (you’ll see it cropping up time and time again in my deep dives) I thought to myself ‘oh, I really should spend some time with it and write a review before it goes OOP‘. Sadly, life (read: marking 😂) got in the way, and it looks like the deck is now OOP on the creators’ website. You can still pick up secondhand…
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Deck Review: The Unveiled Tarot
I don’t often buy mass market decks these days, as I try to save my Tarot budget to support indie creators on Kickstarter, but occasionally one comes along that catches my eye, and the Unveiled Tarot was just that. The first thing I’ll say is this is one DARK deck. Like, dark dark. Mother’s-going-to-lock-us-in-the-cellar-and-feed-us-pins dark. Deep, dark, truthful, uncomfortable, almost abrasive at times. It doesn’t have that ‘I’m gonna kick your (metaphysical) teeth in’ vibe that some of my other ‘Dark Decks’ have right off the bat (e.g. the Nigredo Tarot, the Manny Garza Tarot Deck, the Tarot Restless, the Cursed Auguries Tarot). It’s not that obvious darkness. No, this…
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Currently on Kickstarter: The Axiological Tarot
The other deck I’m backing currently is The Axiological Tarot by Silas Plum (the nom de guerre of artist David Zachary Witt). Plum makes weird art (in a good way!), and this is a weird deck, lol, and, once again, I’m struck by how well Tarot works as a medium for what artists want to explore. For example, Plum writes about how, at age 12, he won the East Coast POG tournament – and took home 500 identical cardboard discs as his prize. That moment sparked an obsession: what gives something value? Why do we care about objects that serve no purpose beyond sentiment or symbolism? Why does meaning cling…
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Currently on Kickstarter: The Camena Tarot
I realise I’ve been a bit quiet on the Kickstarter front (tbh I’ve been feeling a but burnt by my experience with the Sinagtala Tarot, which I’m now convinced I’m never gonna get! [edit: I got it :-)] And was very disappointed by Wizards of the Coast being their standard cockwomble selves and blocking the successfully funded Balders Gate 3 Tarot which looked A-MAZING, and they were gonna donate all profits to MSF!) However, I have been continuing to back some little gems behind the scenes – and the vast majority of my KS experiences have been hugely positive! – so I figured it was time to share some of…
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Deck Review: Divine Channels
The Divine Channels deck launched on Kickstarter when I was deep in the vortex of term time (those months when this blog lies fallow, like pretty much all of my hobbies!), so I would have totally missed it if I hadn’t spotted it on Bel Jones’ Insta page – and thank Bowie I did! I reached out to the artist and creator, Harley Hefford, and he had *one deck left* – so it seems like fate. I’m really hoping there’s a second print run at some point, so more of you can get your hands on this little beauty, because it’s an absolute cracker. (NB While I immeasurably grateful I…
