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Recent Posts

  • Deck Review: Figuratively Speaking Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks
  • Currently on Kickstarter: Figuratively Speaking Mermaid Tarot Deck
    In Decks, Glorious Decks!, Kickstarter Decks
  • Deck Review: The Alleyway Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks
  • Deck Reviews & Interviews,  Decks, Glorious Decks!,  Indie Decks

    Deck Review: Figuratively Speaking Tarot

    September 16, 2024 /

    I’ve had the Figuratively Speaking Tarot by B. Miller for a while now, but Bee launching a Kickstarter campaign for her new deck, the Figuratively Speaking Mermaid Tarot, has prompted me to finally get round to doing a deep dive and a review! First things first: as is well documented on this blog, 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 [FST], and then sorted out my ‘favourite 78’. So please don’t assume that every card I’ve selected below…

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    Lucy 1 Comment

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        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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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
Stefanie Caponi’s (@moonvoidtarot) Five of Sword Stefanie Caponi’s (@moonvoidtarot) Five of Swords from the #AlleyWayTarot portrays the Pyrrhic Victory theme of the card very well – with its central figure holding tight to the swords at her heart and her hip, even as she herself is pierced through the throat by the swords of others. The Alleyman tells us, “when we… walk around with a weapon others will see us as a threat. If you get this card, it means you think you’re in competition with others, and when you fuck around, you find out”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
I love this day-dreamy Seven of Cups from the #All I love this day-dreamy Seven of Cups from the #AlleywayTarot, which captures the whimsical and escapist element of the card perfectly. However, as the guidebook warns us, the danger of this card is “falling for the movement of the currents with gleaming golden fish when they are actually just fish. Beautiful to behold, certainly, but in a world separate from ours”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
It’s probably not surprising how much I love thi It’s probably not surprising how much I love this Two of Cups from the #AlleywayTarot given in my day job I have researched and written this book about why m/m porn and erotica is so popular with women. Just such a gorgeous card – its inclusion on the Kickstarter page actually led to me buying the #ErosTarot by Chain Assembly, so I now have the card twice 😉. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
I more commonly see the idea of metamorphosis repr I more commonly see the idea of metamorphosis represented in Death cards, but I think it works really well in @elizakingsburyart’s Judgement card from the #AlleywayTarot too. As the guidebook explains, “[Judgement] is the shifting of things towards rejuvenation, much as a cicada’s life spins between the graven earth and the open sky… It is the shell of ourselves inside that is growing, healing, changing, ready to emerge through our flesh to consume the version of us that filled this space before”. (Original card from the #StarStringTarot) Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
The lilac-drenched High Priestess from the #Alleyw The lilac-drenched High Priestess from the #AlleywayTarot, with her crescent moon face, is a really beautiful card. The Alleyman writes of her misshapen candle as a metaphor for our intuition; “[she] is a candle in the dark, and waiting too long may see the candle burn to the nub, or a strange breeze taking it away from you. Do not hesitate when you see it”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
And now for some of my favourite cards from the #A And now for some of my favourite cards from the #AlleywayTarot. I really like the slightly ominous vibes of La Muci’s Magician card. To me this card follows in the tradition of the earliest Tarot decks, where The Magician was depicted as a mountebank or a street-performer. Instead of the more straightforwardly magic portrayals we see in many modern decks, this Magician is as a trickster, a con-artist gifted in the art of smoke and mirrors, but lacking any actual substance. An old fashioned swindler hustling for money. It wasn’t until later that Paul Christian renamed The Juggler as The Magus, and changed him from a fairground hustler to a metaphysical miracle worker. The Alleyman agrees with me, writing in the guidebook that The Magician is “the Batman of magic. If he can prepare he can take on anything… [But] The Magician is not an impossibly capable dude, he’s the veneer of preparation. The Magician can’t actually handle anything, but in this situation he is ready”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
The #AlleywayTarot comes in a pretty chonky displa The #AlleywayTarot comes in a pretty chonky display box, with one of those cheap looking plastic inserts to hold the cards, which is something I personally really dislike. It’s annoying to take cards in and out of, it looks crap, and it means the whole deck isn’t particularly mobile or user-friendly. It does mean the paperback sized guidebook fits in the box though, which is handy if you’re someone who likes storing deck + guide together (I would take a smaller box + separate LWB personally, but that’s just me). The guidebook is designed to look like a ‘dime store’ pulp book, which I dig. It contains a colour guide to each card with some info about the artist, the overall card meaning, and then The Alleyman’s often irreverent interpretation. The card stock is OK – thin-ish (but not so thin they’ll warp) and shiny. But I love, love, love the cacophony of back designs. Spread out like this the deck looks so bright and interesting and inviting – I just want to dive in and do a reading! Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
Also a little PSA that I’m back running a Tarot Also a little PSA that I’m back running a 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
The concept of the #AlleywayTarot personally reson The concept of the #AlleywayTarot personally resonates with me a great deal, as I have my own ‘found street card’ collection. Ever since I was a little kid, every time I have come across a discarded playing card on the street, I have picked it up and hung on to it. Forty-two years on (well, more like 37), as I wasn’t doing it as a toddler/pre-schooler!) What are their stories? How did they end up abandoned on the street? What happened to their deck-mates? I honestly find them fascinating. And no pairs so far! Maybe one day I’ll collect a whole deck… ;-). It’s also long been my dream to create my own Magpie Deck from all my favourite Tarot cards across my Tarot deck collection. So you can see why both The Alleyman’s and The Alleyway appeal to me! The Alleyway Tarot a pretty ambitious project, with over 100 new cards. I bought all the add on cards b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶, but as it turns out I don’t really think it needs that many cards. It can feel a bit overwhelming. I have enjoyed going through and picking my ‘favourite 78’ to work with though! “I’ve scraped gum off the bottoms of my shoes with my deck. I like my shoes better than some cards. The reason why? Cards are a dime a dozen. I’ve nabbed cards off the ground for a reason. No one cares. It’s paper. My real message here is nothing is sacred enough not to be changed. So fuck it all up. And most importantly? Do it with kindness for people. Items, objects, all this is temporary… What really matters is the face of the person you’re talking to. Reading for. Respect their hands. But not the cards. Never the [cards]” - The Alleyman Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
I own Publishing Goblin‘s first #Kickstarter Tar I own Publishing Goblin‘s first #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 #AlleywayTarot, 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’ deck, cobbled together with individual cards that ‘The Alleyman’ has magpied into his life over the years. It’s a really clever concept, and a great way to support multiple talented artists. Many of the cards come from pre-existing Tarot decks, so it’s also a really neat way of discovering new artists/creators and decks you might like. A little try-before-you-buy taster deck! Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AlleywayTarot
Here’s my favourite card from the #AustinOsmanSp Here’s my favourite card from the #AustinOsmanSpareTarot, The Juggler. I love how much of an absolute chancer this dude looks, lol. Spare is clearly following in the tradition of the earliest Tarot decks, where The Magician was depicted as a mountebank or a street-performer. Instead of the more straightforwardly magic portrayals we see in many modern decks, this Magician is as a trickster, a con-artist gifted in the art of smoke and mirrors, but lacking any actual substance. An old fashioned swindler hustling for money. It wasn’t until later that Paul Christian renamed The Juggler as The Magus, and changed him from a fairground hustler to a metaphysical miracle worker. However, there are obvious links between these two concepts (which Spare notes on the card, referring to his Juggler as both showing willpower and knavishness). For example, The Magician is associated with the ancient Greek god Hermes, who was both a trickster god (and the patron god of thieves) and a god of wisdom. Some times this card may represent someone who uses sleight of hand and distraction to make us believe something impossible has happened. BUT, I say: fake it ’til you make it! Sometimes acting like we believe in our dreams means that we end up… believing in our dreams! In #WildCard Jen Cownie & Fiona Lensvelt argue that the Magician “harnesses the powers of the universe and manifests that energy how he pleases. You could call it a tricky, but really the Magician represents the privilege of confidence, whether that comes education, wealth, love, someone having your back, or special guidance… He has the ultimate superpower: of not being encumbered by self-limiting beliefs”. And Bakara Wintner reminds us that “the Magician asks us to contemplate the value of using tricks in service of the higher Self… [In this sense he] toes the line between the true miracle-worker and the trickster.” Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AustinOsmanSpareTarot #AustinOsmanSpare #AOSTarot
You can enter a competition to win a #TarotOfOxali You can enter a competition to win a #TarotOfOxalia deck over on the @artofplay insta page 🩵 - it’s such a lovely deck and free is always good 😉. You can find the deck on #Kickstarter and I’ve blogged about it on my #TarotCake website
The colours on the Three of Spades/Swords (‘DARK The colours on the Three of Spades/Swords (‘DARK LOVE CARD’) in the #AustinOsmanTarot are gorgeous. And I chose the King & Queen of Spades (Swords), because I think this is one area of my practice that is quite influenced by cartomancy. I do always think of the Queen as embodying ‘widow’ energy – specifically, I think of her as the war widow, someone who has been through many battles, lost a great deal, gained much hard-earned wisdom, and now knows how and when to pick her fights. Ditto the King, though I think of him less as a widower and more as a veteran – he is the master of logic and argument, but he hasn’t always been. Many battles were fought and much was lost before he gained the insight he has today. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AustinOsmanSpareTarot #AustinOsmanSpare #AOSTarot
Again, I’m really struck by the compelling combi Again, I’m really struck by the compelling combination of description and drawing in this tranche of cards from the #AustinOsmanSpareTarot. I particularly like the golden band of energy seemingly connecting the different energetic interpretations of the 6 of Diamonds. And the 4 of Clubs (Wands) has some great descriptors: “Merry making… Gaiety card”. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AustinOsmanSpareTarot #AustinOsmanSpare #AOSTarot
The Ace and 5 of Hearts/Cups (‘heartsick’) in The Ace and 5 of Hearts/Cups (‘heartsick’) in the #AustinOsmanSpareTarot shows how busy some of the cards are, yet they’re also mesmerising. I think part of my appreciation for this deck is rooted in my love of marginalia, and understanding people’s idiosyncratic systems and processes for making sense of the world (one of the reasons I became a psychologist). The 3 of Hearts makes the cut because I’m always going to be a fan of a card that starts out with ‘A KISS. LOVEMAKING’, lol. Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AustinOsmanSpareTarot #AustinOsmanSpare #AOSTarot
The slightly deranged looking Lovers remind me a b The slightly deranged looking Lovers remind me a bit of The Twits 😂, but I’m here for it. I also like The Lovers as ‘trials surmounted’. Then we have the Wheel of Fortune, with its demonic fish person and half-satyr half-merman (and the incredibly specific ‘large yielding at stock exchange’ if coupled with the Ace of Spades in a spread! Like… how? I would assume 99.9% of my querents have nothing to do with the stock exchange, and as I say in my disclaimer ‘I am not a medical doctor nor a financial advisor’). Full review on my blog #TarotCake, link in bio #Tarot #TarotCards #TarotDecks #MyTarotJourney #LearningTarot #TarotReaders #TarotReadersofInstagram #TarotCollector #NewTarotDeck #DeckReview #TarotDeckReview #AustinOsmanSpareTarot #AustinOsmanSpare #AOSTarot
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Recent Posts

  • Deck Review: Figuratively Speaking Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks
  • Currently on Kickstarter: Figuratively Speaking Mermaid Tarot Deck
    In Decks, Glorious Decks!, Kickstarter Decks
  • Deck Review: The Alleyway Tarot
    In Deck Reviews & Interviews, Decks, Glorious Decks!, Indie Decks

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