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Deck Review: The Twice Told Tarot
I fell in love with the Twice Told Tarot when I saw it on Kickstarter last year, and immediately backed it. Created by Travis McHenry, alongside artist David Scaglione, its quirky style really appealed to me. Unfortunately the Kickstarter was cancelled – boo. But then the deck was included as a possible add-on to McHenry’s next project, the True Oracle of Nostradamus – hooray! So I bought the TOoN just to get my hands on the Twice Told Tarot (as I thought that would be the only way to get hold of a copy). Turns out you can currently pick up a copy via the Bloodstone Studios online store –…
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Deck Review: The Curious Travels Tarot Deck
I sadly missed the Kickstarter for the Curious Travels Tarot Deck by Arozear (Amelia ‘Mia’ Rozear) 💔. But then discovered the artist was releasing a mass market version with US Games ♥️ (NB the mass market version is now available, and you can buy it through a variety of retailers, e.g. here). Even better, they then did one last print run of the indie version, which I managed to get hold of. This made me v v v v v happy as I’ve had my heart broken before by missing out on the indie versions of gorgeous decks. My only sorrow is not being able to get one of the…
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Deck Review: The Healing Waves Tarot
The Healing Waves Tarot is currently out of print after a limited run, and I was after it for aaaaaages before I found a secondhand copy that wasn’t gougingly expensive (it was still pretty pricey though!). It’s definitely worth snapping up if you can find a reasonably priced secondhand copy. Otherwise you can join me in hoping that the creator, Nawan Junhasiri, does a second print run and/or works with a mass market publisher to release a prêt-à-tarot version [UPDATE: see postscript at end of post for more info, this sadly seems very unlikely]. Unfortunately the guide book is only available as a passcode locked pdf, and as I bought…
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Deck Review: Out of Hand Tarot Deck
First up, I should say that I love all of (the incredibly talented) Jamie Sawyer‘s decks, and this one is no exception. It’s a companion deck to the Pocket of Peers Tarot, but works just fine as a standalone deck. Jamie worked (and still occasionally works) as a tattoo artist before designing Tarot decks, and you can definitely see the influence of ‘tattoo style’ art in her drawings, which I love. The deck is (mainly) first person POV of hands engaged in activities that speak to the original themes of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. It’s very wry and clever, but also super wholesome and comforting. Packed full of Easter Eggs, working…
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Deck Review: Queer Revolution Tarot
The Queer Revolution Tarot is a Kickstarter deck I recently backed by Utah-based artist Kate Wilhite. Salt Lake City (and its inhabitants), which we see throughout this deck, is the real star of the show. Wilhite writes about her art: “because the state is religiously oppressive, queer and trans people tend to collect in the city, creating a queer bubble where we can live authentically and safely. I paint people in my community who live between binaries as a way to explore my own identity and to show the world how beautiful queer radical authenticity is.” What shines through in this deck is the love and kinship the artist feels…
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Deck Review: The Tarot of Oneness
The Tarot of Oneness by Robyn Voisey arrived when I was going through a rough time due to a bereavement, and I really appreciated its gentle, healing energy. I um-ed and ahh-ed over backing it on Kickstarter when I first saw it, as it’s not my usual bag of tea. Too kitschy, too twee, too happy-clappy; the images too hyper-realistic. But I am so glad I did, because it reads like a freakin’ dream. SO intuitive. It doesn’t so much speak to me, as sing me a personalised love song. The Deck: Look, Feel, and Finish It really is such a bright, joyous deck (look at those colours!). It’s all…
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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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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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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…
