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Recent Posts

  • Live Tarot Reading
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  • Regular Readings: Love Southsea Market, Portsmouth (UK)
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  • Deck Review: Figuratively Speaking Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks
  • Decks, Glorious Decks!,  Kickstarter Decks

    Currently On Kickstarter: The Solara Occulto Meliora Tarot

    May 10, 2023 /

    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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    Lucy 1 Comment

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  • Decks, Glorious Decks!,  Kickstarter Decks

    Currently On Kickstarter: The Genius Garden Tarot & The ‘Journey’ Tarot

    April 26, 2023 /

    Edit: Since writing this post, both these decks have arrived :-). You can read my review of the Genius Garden Tarot here, and buy it here. You can read my review of The Journey Tarot here and buy the deck here. After not backing anything on Kickstarter for ages (trying to be strict with myself!), I’m currently backing two gorgeous decks. The first is the Genius Garden Tarot by Jessi Huntenburg. This is a super cute, hand painted, standard 78-card deck with a warm, hopeful art style. I love the way when you spread the deck out the card backs make it look like the hands are extending into one…

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    Lucy 3 Comments

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Newer Posts 
        Tarot Cake: Lucy Neville

A weird, ADHD little magpie. An academic by day (Psychologist and Criminologist), I am fascinated by the connections between Tarot and the human condition.

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Lucy

thetarotcake

Taroting my boat down that crazy river! Join me on my Tarot journey. Visit my blog for in-depth musings on meanings, symbolism, decks, & readings ⭐️
Forgot to post yesterday, but I’m reading Tarot Forgot to post yesterday, but I’m reading Tarot at the @lovesouthsea’s Christmas Market at Portsmouth’s historic dockyard @phdockyard today! Come along, 10-4. I also did a “live” reading yesterday for some of the team from @expressfm that will go out today on the 11-2 slot. Exciting! (There will be some deck reviews and my Hierophant deep dive coming up soon, I promise! Day job is always all-consuming at the start of the academic year) #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #TarotReadings #LoveSouthseaChristmasMarket #ChristmasMarket
Further motivation to get my butt in gear with dec Further motivation to get my butt in gear with deck reviews - today my copy of the #FarOutTarot by @gabi_angus_art turned up 😁🩵. The Wyrd of Sarah Howard, also by Gabi, is the darling of my life, in my Top Three All Time Decks, and I also own a copy of the Tarot Avatara. But for some reason I always dithered over ordering a mass market copy of Gabi’s first deck, the #BonefireTarot - and now I know why! It’s because I was destined to get an indie copy as an add on during the Far Our kickstarter campaign 😊. Can’t wait to get to know both decks! #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #HappyPost
VERY busy evening reading at our students’ Hallo VERY busy evening reading at our students’ Halloween party last night 🎃 (I’m a lecturer for my day job! I did tell them I couldn’t do readings on likely degree outcomes as it would be a conflict of interest 😂), and then today I’m back on my stall at @lovesouthsea market. If you’re in Portsmouth and fancy a reading, come on down! #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #TarotReading #Tarotreadings #LoveSouthsea #LoveSouthseaMarket
The start of term has been kicking my ass, so it’s been a bit quiet on the Tarot front. Things are easing off a bit now, so I’m looking forward to getting to know - and reviewing - this amazing deck that arrived in the post yesterday, the #NigredoTarot by @papowero. I’ve been looking forward to this deck for years! 🖤 #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #HappyPost
Been a bit swamped with the start of term (I’m a Been a bit swamped with the start of term (I’m an academic in my day job), hence the Tarot posts taking a bit of a knock, but I’ll be back running my Tarot reading stall at Love Southsea Market (@lovesouthsea) today! 🙌🏼🩵 So if you’re near Portsmouth (UK) please come along! #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #TarotReadings #LoveSouthsea #LoveSouthseaMarket #TarotCake
Finally, we have my favourite card in the #Figurat Finally, we have my favourite card in the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot, the Five of Swords (the Swords suit in this deck is just so strong!) I think it does a great job of capturing the futility of hurting others, particularly those close to us, and speaks to the ‘Pyrrhic Victory‘ theme of the card. Sometimes we feel like we’ve ‘won’ when we argue and fight with those we care about… but at what personal cost? It reminds me of the (gorgeous) Tom Robinson song ‘War Baby‘ (which is both about a fraught romantic relationship, and the escalating global tensions in the 1980s) where he sings, ‘I don’t think I could stand another ten years of this fighting / All this stabbing and wounding, and only getting my own back‘. A very clever card. The Figuratively Speaking Tarot is a super smart, very original and intriguing little deck, and I heartily recommend it. Prices start from $42.99, and you can buy the deck via @little_husband’s page. You can also back her new project, the #FigurativelySpeakingMermaidTarot, on @kickstarter. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
This gorgeous Four of Pents card from the #Figurat This gorgeous Four of Pents card from the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkein’s ‘Conversation with Smaug’ which was one of my favourite pieces of art as a kid, so it was an instant win for me 😍. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
I’m back running a Tarot reading stall at Love S I’m back running a Tarot reading stall at Love Southsea Market (@lovesouthsea) tomorrow! 🙌🏼🩵 So if you’re near Portsmouth (UK) please come along! #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #TarotReadings #LoveSouthsea #LoveSouthseaMarket #TarotCake
The Seven of Wands is my favourite card in the Tar The Seven of Wands is my favourite card in the Tarot, and I think of it as the activist / speaking truth to power card. When I first saw this version in the #figurativelyspeakingtarot I was a bit like ‘huh?’, but the more I thought about it the more I realised how clever it is – the bold, brave Statue of Liberty and all she represents, with some demonic claw (I wonder who that could belong to…?) trying to undermine her by stealing a wand from her crown. I am always a fan of the King of Swords as the strategic chess master, so I like this image. It captures his foresight and wisdom, but also his sometimes limited (after all, the King can only move one square at a time!) and very black & white way of thinking. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
I love the Ace of Swords in the #FigurativelySpeak I love the Ace of Swords in the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot using her sword of insight to slice through the veil and peer at the viewer; and I also really like what Bee has done with her Six of Swords. Often in this card – as we move from one period of our life to another – the Swords are still depicted as ‘with’ us (i.e. in the RWS they’re still inside the boat alongside us, so even as we move to calmer waters we’re still bringing all our historical metaphorical baggage with us), but here they’re being discarded as the figure makes her way along the beach. Sometimes we have to take all our anxiety and negativity, and the endless ‘what ifs…?’ our thought processes torture us with and just… let them go. Just as the Eight of Cups speaks to walking away from something that has given us emotional satisfaction but has now run its course, so the Six of Swords here can be seen as walking away from ways of thinking that once served a purpose, but have now become counter-productive. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
The Three of Swords ripping out her own heart with The Three of Swords ripping out her own heart with her bare hands is a real gut punch. Sometimes this card can represent externally imposed heartbreak and betrayal, but other times I think it really speaks to our own internal conflicts, especially when we (sensibly?) decide to follow our heads not our hearts, and in the process cause ourselves a lot of pain and grief. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
The Ace of Cups as a warm cup of coffee with a ste The Ace of Cups as a warm cup of coffee with a steaming heart drawn in the milk froth is lovely, and I appreciate a nakey Knight of Cups, seeming as he is the fuckboy of the deck! I love the six cups here depicted as sandcastles (made from the ‘cup’ of the bucket) – it really captures the nostalgia for simpler and easier childhood times represented by this card Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
I love how comforting and nurturing The Moon card I love how comforting and nurturing The Moon card is in the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot, with the figure curled up in foetal position inside the moon’s glowing embrace, contrasted with the radiant, active energy of The Star. I like this depiction of ‘the world [as] your oyster’ – instead of the sweeping scale we often get on World cards, we have here the idea of having mastered the world (and ourselves), and now holding it within the palm of our hands. The image also reminds me of Earthrise, which is concordant with the card’s message of taking time to reflect on all that we have lost, gained, learned, and created during our life. It brings to mind Apollo 9 astronaut Russell Schweickart’s quote upon looking at Earth from space, “From where you see it, the [Earth] is a whole, and it’s so beautiful. You wish you could take one [army] in each hand, one from each side of the various conflicts, and say, ‘Look. Look at it from this perspective. Look at that. What’s important?‘… We see the Earth now as it truly is, bright and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats… and men and women as riders on the Earth together, on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold, brothers and sisters who know now that they are truly brothers and sisters.” Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
Now onto some of my favourite cards from the #Figu Now onto some of my favourite cards from the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot. One of the things I really like about both of @little_husband’s decks is her clever subversions of gender, so I really like The Empress as a Queen Xenomorph here. Far from the usual soft and gentle barefoot-and-pregnant depictions we see in traditional decks, this card shows the fiercer aspects of motherhood/maternal devotion. After all, no one is more ferociously protective of her children than the Queen in Aliens! I really like this ‘everyday’ kind of High Priestess, depicted here as a woman studying with her cat; and the image of the Wheel of Fortune as the wheel of a ship. In ‘Wild Card‘, Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt (@litwitchure) write that it’s no coincidence that The Wheel of Fortune card is often depicted as a compass or the wheel on a ship: “you don’t have to be an experienced sailor to know that travelling by boat means you’re at the mercy of some very powerful elements. Sometimes, when a storm races through your life… you just have to wait it out”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
As the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot is a DIY-style G As the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot is a DIY-style Game Crafter jobby, the box is a bit basic – a fairly lightweight tuck box that does get scuffed up pretty fast if you use the deck a lot, like I do. If you’re planning on regular use, it’d be worth considering putting the cards in a more robust case. The deck is printed on good quality mid-slippery cardstock, and comes with a very small leaflet that talks about the deck creation process. There is therefore no guide as such, but the deck adheres reasonably faithfully to RWS concepts (though often in novel and delightfully leftfield ways), so it’s not a problem if you’re already pretty familiar with card meanings and symbolism. The illustrations are all in watercolour, and have a really charming, naive quality to them that makes the whole deck feel really raw and authentic. It’s hard for me to verbalise without sounding like a weirdo (plus ça change), but doing a reading with this deck is like sitting down with an old friend. A quirky, slightly zany friend whose ‘out there’ views on life make you reflect on your problems in a completely new light, leading to surprisingly innovative resolutions. Also, I haven’t included it in my review, because it’s from a non-trad-Tarot booster pack, but can we just take a moment to admire the ‘Particular Friends’ (oh my god they were roommates) card above? Given my day job involves researching women who enjoy m/m porn, erotica, and slashfic, I adore this card lots and hard. In my head this is the cover for some homoerotic Plunkett & Macleane fan fiction, which I want to read 😂. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
I’ve had the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot @little_ I’ve had the #FigurativelySpeakingTarot @little_husband for a while now, but Bee launching a #Kickstarter campaign for her new deck, the #FigurativelySpeakingMermaidTarot, has prompted me to finally get round to doing a deep dive and a review! First things first: as is well documented on this page, I have zero self-control when my weird little ADHD magpie brain decides it likes a deck and FIXATES <wallet releases muffled screams of pain in background>, so I bought LOADS of the booster packs for the Figuratively Speaking Tarot, and then sorted out my ‘favourite 78’. So please don’t assume that every card I’ve selected on Insta is definitely in the ‘official’ FST deck, as some might be cards I’ve subbed in from one of the booster packs. As far as I can tell, they’re all still available on Bee’s Game Crafter site, so if I feature a card you love below, you should be able to find it in one of the booster packs somewhere! Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #FigurativelySpeakingTarot
Backing this new deck, the #FigurativelySpeakingMe Backing this new deck, the #FigurativelySpeakingMermaidTarot, on #Kickstarter was a no-brainer for me, as I love artist @little_husband’s Tarot and Tarot-esque paintings on here (especially her BG3 teaser cards, I would DIE for a hand painted BG3 Tarot deck, be still my beating heart), and I also already own their first (huge, sprawling!) Tarot deck, the Figuratively Speaking Tarot. The Figuratively Speaking Mermaid Tarot is an absolute beaut, featuring all of Bee’s gorgeous watercolour artwork and more thematically consistent than its predecessor. There’s so many gorgeous cards in this deck, but I am particularly obsessed with this preggo seahorse merman Emperor. While I appreciate the traditional ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ energies that are represented in the Tarot, the fact that certain aspects of our human experience are so essentially gendered within some of the archetypes is a bit… eh. So by incorporating the idea of the seahorse – one of the few creatures where the male carries the eggs after fertilisation – Bee gives us this brilliant subversion of the typical stern ‘tough love’ Emperor vs. a barefoot-and-pregnant Empress. AND I AM HERE FOR IT! Male-archetype-as-father no longer seems a cold, remote thing – here he plays a vital, nurturing role in bringing about the future. I also REALLY want the deck to hit the stretch goal that unlocks the card with the mermaid figurehead, ‘Unrequited Love’. It’s just SO beautiful! Actually, what I really want is this card as a full-sized piece of art to put on my wall. A girl can dream. BACK THE DECK NOW! Full post on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #KickstarterDeck #KickstarterTarotDeck
Finally my favourite card in the #AlleywayTarot: I Finally my favourite card in the #AlleywayTarot: I bloody love the re-imagining of The Tower as Revolution! I do so many readings where when The Tower comes up the querent is like “uh oh”, and will not be persuaded that while The Tower is a difficult, messy, painful card, it’s not necessarily a bad card. The idea of revolution sums this up very well. Revolution is painful and destructive. It is rarely something any of us would wish for (what we want is peaceful regime change, lol), BUT it is sadly often essential to create the kind of world we aspire to. And there can also be a glory and a catharsis in the obliteration of all that oppresses us, of the weight of the history of our oppression. The guidebook explains that The Tower is “the destroying of the old for the new, with the knowledge that you will have to dig deep to enact this change, and to stand by it… The belief that you can make the change, that it can be better, and the will to see it through… is the crux of earning a better life for yourself”. The gorgeous art for this card, with its clear throwbacks to Delacroix, is by Linzi Silverman @linzisilverman Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
This gorgeous Eight of Wands from the #AlleywayTar This gorgeous Eight of Wands from the #AlleywayTarot is just so pretty, and Ariel is perfect to represent this card in a Shakespeare-themed deck (the card is taken from the #BardsArcana). The Alleyman says, “I like to think of it as a series of arrows in the air, coming to strike in a rain of shafts”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
OK, so this card from the #AlleywayTarot is confus OK, so this card from the #AlleywayTarot is confusing for me. I assumed it was the Queen of Swords - partly because Spades = Swords, and that sure looks like a Spade to me! – and partly because the imagery really speaks to what the Queen of Swords represents for me (in short, the wise, no-BS, slightly scarred but steely strong Queen of Logic, the war widow). However, apparently it’s the Queen of Wands?! Ermmm… Anyways, the Alleyman himself told us to do whatever we want with the cards, so for me she’s the Queen of Swords, and that’s that, lol! She has known pain and loss, and she knows death is an inevitable part of life, but she is not afraid. All that she has endured has made her stronger, and now she is ready to nurture that strength and resolve in others. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
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Recent Posts

  • Live Tarot Reading
    In Readings
  • Regular Readings: Love Southsea Market, Portsmouth (UK)
    In Readings
  • Deck Review: Figuratively Speaking Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks

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