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Deck Review: The Gentle Tarot
I’m almost done re-writing and uploading my old deck reviews to the blog (two to go after this one!), and it seemed like a really appropriate time to post my review of The Gentle Tarot by Mari In The Sky (the publishing house of creator and artist Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar), as the second edition is shortly about to launch on Kickstarter (pre-launch link here). A quick note to say that the second edition looks fab, and: NO BORDERS! I love borderless cards, so if the deck appeals to you, I’d hold out and order the second edition. I’m sure you could get all sorts of extra goodies too, as the…
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Deck Review: Ostara Tarot
One of the first decks I bought (after a vintage Morgan Greer deck) was the Ostara Tarot created by the four-illustrator team of Krista Gibbard, Eden Cook, Julia Iredale, and Molly Applejohn. It’s a really gentle deck, and was largely pretty beginner friendly. Also, one of my cats (Cat Stevens) became oddly obsessed with it, which I take as a good sign, given how discerning kits are. The below photo was taken after I extracted it from his thieving paws (those gilt edges are not claw friendly!) I photographed this deck with the beautiful wisteria that I lovingly planted and nurtured in my old garden (I love living by the sea,…
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Deck Review: Broken Mirror Tarot (5th Ed.)
Ah, the Broken Mirror Tarot… This deck, created by Sengia, was the first deck I ordered and didn’t imediately love (and the first Kickstarter Deck I had Backers’ Remorse over once it arrived!), and, after having it in my collection for two years, and working with it a fair bit, I’m still largely ambivalent about it. To start with, there is nothing particularly adventurous about any of the symbolism in this deck – it’s a pretty faithful RWS clone. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, I have plenty of RWS clones that I adore, including literal frame by frame re-craftings (like Jamie Sawyer’s stunning 1909 RWS Sawyer’s Redux Edition).…
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Deck Review: The Journey Tarot Deck
I’ve been a big fan of The Journey Tarot Deck by Teagan Michael Turner ever since its inception (you can see me raving about it on Kickstarter here and here), and now it finally exists in the physical world (and in my collection :-)) it does not disappoint. I will say off the bat that this is a pretty pricey deck, probably one of the more expensive ‘new’ decks in my collection (we won’t mention the painful amount of money I’ve spent acquiring some rare secondhand OOP gems, looking at you Bonestone!) However, you can tell the money has gone on the excellent production values (the box really is a…
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Deck Review: Le Tarot Arthurien
I’ve been SO excited about the incredibly talented Ana Tourian having not one, but two, stunning looking decks coming out (as well as the touted second edition of the infamous Bonestone Earthflesh Tarot!) I’m happy to say I now have both of them in my collection, and they do not disappoint. Here I’m reviewing the gorgeous Tarot Arthurien* that Tourian illustrated in collaboration with creator Claire Duval – and Tourian’s new solo deck, The Tarot of Echoes, will be coming up for review soon! As you might have guessed, this deck is based on the legend(s) of King Arthur (particularly the works of the French poet Chrétien de Troyes), and…
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Tarot Card Meanings: The Emperor
Ah, The Emperor... The Emperor is the fourth card of the Major Arcana, representing structure, leadership, responsibility, and the power to create order from chaos. In this post, I explore the meaning of the Emperor Tarot card - from traditional symbolism to modern deck interpretations, and how we can make peace with this often divisive figure. I have to admit I have some natural resistance to this card - which is probably quite understandable for someone who has 'ftp' [fuck the patriarchy] tattooed on their wrist! Both visually and symbolically the card has a lot of “masculine” energy, and strong connections to the laws of society and the powers that…
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Deck Review: The Lacuna Tarot
This is a weird little deck (N.B. I got mine through Kickstarter, but you can now buy it from the creator’s Game Crafter page). I definitely would NOT recommend it for novice or inexperienced readers, or folks who prefer a straight-talking, to-the-point, traditional-type deck. Hell, I feel I’m a reasonably experienced Tarot reader by now, and I’m not sure I’d recommend it for me! None of this is to say I dislike this deck: I like it. But it’s a very personal deck; it’s basically like wandering into someone else’s brain while they’re in the process of giving a reading. Everything is veiled and imprecise, like the thoughts that flash…
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Deck Review: Sawyer’s Path Tarot
Prepare yourselves for some serious gushing because I really really really LOVE this deck, the Sawyer’s Path Tarot by Jamie Sawyer. It’s fun but it’s also deep. The art manages to be both quirky and cute, but strangely haunting and emotive. I first saw it on @tarottidbits78’s beautiful page and was like “oh noooooo” because I’d promised myself no more decks, especially not (understandably) expensive indie ones with international postage costs, but the minute I saw it I knew it HAD TO BE MINE! I bought it as a pair with the Tarot 336, and I also got the Tarot Transitions, but I’ll introduce them all separately, because they all have very different…
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Tarot In The Wild: Interpreting this (borked) Celtic Cross spread from ‘Heartbreak High’
I love it when we get to see some Tarot in action on a TV drama. What I love less is when it’s clearly been chucked in there by someone who doesn’t understand Tarot – I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on this! This spread was one pulled for one of the female protagonists (Harper) in the Heartbreak High Netflix reboot (well worth a watch!) Harper is 16/17ish and gets her cards read at a festival/rave. Apologies for the crappy photo, but we only get to see the spread for a split second, and, while we are shown the final two cards (The Hermit and the Three of Swords)…
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Deck Review: The Prismatic Tarot
I’ve had this deck for over a year now, but I decided it was a good time to finally review it as the creator has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the second edition. This is a chance to get hold of a copy of this deck, which has been OOP for a while, so if you like it, now is your opportunity! I have the now sold-out first edition (which I am reviewing here), but the creator, Kelsey Showalter, has confirmed that there will be no major changes to the second edition, just some minor touch-ups, and a swap to more slippery cardstock to aid shuffling. The Deck: Look, Feel,…
