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Deck Review: The Mushroom Hunter’s Tarot
The Mushroom Hunter’s Tarot is one of the first decks I ever back on Kickstarter, and it got me hooked on the whole process. This is partly due to how the creator, Joe Buckley, managed the whole project. Regular updates, a beautiful Insta, everything on time and seamless, and a really top notch finished project. It was hard to find any flowers to do my customary “new deck photo” as the deck arrived in the middle of the bleak mid-Winter where I am in the UK, but these scrappy little yellow ones were fighting on! I wanted to photograph the deck with some mushrooms (obviously), but every time I found…
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Deck Review: Tarot of the Crystal World
One of the most recent Kickstarter decks to land in my hot little hands is this amazingly weird creation from the genius brain of Brooke Penrose. The creator describes the Crystal World as “the world reborn inside a fun-house mirror”, and that ‘beautiful-freak’ air permeates the whole deck. It really is just brilliantly odd. Part unsettling, part hugely up-lifting. The aesthetic is quite Country & Western (more than anything else, it feels like a deck a fortune teller would be using in one of my sadly missed favourite TV shows, Carnivale), and the colours are very muted. Almost sludgy; bruise coloured; the sky right before a storm – which I’m…
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Tarot Card Meanings: The High Priestess
“She is like a cat in the darkAnd then she is the darkness She rules her life like a fine skylarkAnd when the sky is starless All your life you’ve never seenWoman taken by the windWould you stay if she promised you heaven?Will you ever win?” ‘Rhiannon’ by Fleetwood Mac (Nicks) Welcome to the inner circle! The High Priestess is the second card of the Major Arcana, and she represents intuition, mystery, and the power of the unknown. In Tarot readings, she often shows up when we need to pause, go inward, and trust our inner voice. This post explores her symbolism, appearance in different decks, and the deeper meaning…
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Deck Review: The Wyrd of Sarah Howard
Ever since The Wyrd of Sarah Howard reached me from half a world away a couple of weeks ago I have been OBSESSED. Like, totally head over heels in love. The artist and creator, Gabi Angus-West, recently did a small reprint of this previously out-of-print Oracle Deck. I spotted it on Fairlight Tarot‘s Instagram feed when they posted about receiving their deck, and it was like that bit in movies where the camera zooms in on the love interest and everything slows down and goes all glow-y and shiny swimmy. It was very unexpected, because I am not an Oracle person at all. I have two Oracle decks (as opposed…
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Tarot Card Meanings: The Magician
‘One dream, one soul One prize, one goal One golden glance of what should be (It’s a kind of magic) One shaft of light that shows the way No mortal man can win this day (It’s a kind of magic) The bell that rings inside your mind Is challenging the doors of time (It’s a kind of magic) The waiting seems eternity The day will dawn of sanity (Is this a kind of magic? It’s a kind of magic) There can be only one This rage that lasts a thousand years Will soon be done This flame that burns inside of me I’m hearing secret harmonies (It’s a kind of…
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Currently On Kickstarter: The Alleyway Tarot
The deck has now arrived with me, and you can read my review here __ I own Publishing Goblin‘s last Kickstarter Tarot deck, The Alleyman’s Tarot, and, while it’s a bit unwieldy to work with, I still love it for reflection purposes, and for thinking about the ways different artists interpret the traditional card meanings. The guidebook is also a cracking read, as opposed to the normal fairly generic guff. So I didn’t hesitate in backing this new deck, The Alleyway Tarot, that follows the same principles as its predecessor. Each card in the deck is designed by a different artist, and the concept is that this is a ‘found’…
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Deck Review: The Literary Tarot
I’ve been waiting for this deck for eons, and was very excited to finally get it in my hot little hands. Obviously I firmly believe in the importance of supporting indie artists, which is why I love Kickstarter. But this deck is a bit special, as it’s created by a non-profit in support of a great project, the Brink Literacy Project by F(r)iction that aims to increase worldwide literacy rates. They do a lot of work in prisons, which is an area very close to my heart. As a criminologist who has spent time working in prisons, I cannot tell you what a difference learning to read can make to people…
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Currently On Kickstarter: The Solara Occulto Meliora Tarot
Edit: Since I wrote this blog post, my deck has arrived! You can see my full review here, and buy the deck here. Eeeeek! Very excited about this one. The out-of-print Solara Occulto Tarot has been on my wishlist for aaaaaaages. I occasionally spot a secondhand one on one of the Tarot trading forums, but they’re £££. So it was with great excitement that I saw the artist and creator Amanda Spicer is funding a second edition on Kickstarter! The Solara Occulto Meliora Tarot consists of a standard 78 card Tarot deck plus 21 bespoke oracle cards. From what I can see, this second edition is largely faithful to the…
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Tarot Card Meanings: The Devil
‘It’s unfortunate that when we feel a stoneWe can roll ourselves over ’cause we’re uncomfortableOh well, the devil makes us sinBut we like it when we’re spinning in his grin. Love is like a sin, my loveFor the ones that feel it the mostLook at her with her eyes like a flameShe will love you like a fly will never love you again’ ‘Paradise Circus’ by Massive Attack (Del Naja / Marshall / Sandoval / Brown / Jackson) Welcome to my Devil’s chains! The Devil is the fifteenth card of the Major Arcana, representing bondage, desire, addiction, temptation, and shadow work. In this post, I explore what the Devil Tarot…
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Learning Tarot: Books & Resources
I expected quite a lot of cynicism from my friends when I started learning Tarot (as I assumed they’d find it a bit ‘woo’), but most folks have actually been super interested (as well as wanting readings, which I am delighted to give), and have often asked how they can learn more about the history and mythology of the cards. I thought it might be useful to put together a (by no means exhaustive!) list of the resources I have found useful on my Tarot journey. Tarot Journals If you actually want to learn how to read Tarot (as opposed to just explore more of its meaning and history), my…
